Homebodies

Just a few pics from around the house... Today we actually made it to the library! We got our card quite a few weeks ago but for some reason haven't made it back. Today we desperately needed something to do - so we went. Reese checked out her first library book EVER! She has been obsessed with pumpkins lately, mostly due to their presence everywhere with the upcoming holiday. They had fall and Halloween books on display everywhere and we found one called Mouse's First Halloween. She was soo excited to get a book with pumpkins in it (hopefully it doesn't get destroyed - it makes me nervous since I don't really let her look at non-board books very often).

These pics aren't from today but another day when she decided she wanted to watch Elmo's World The Wild Wild West. She loves it! Her favorite part is when they do the country dancing. I don't know why she does this but at that specific part she always pulls her Elmo chair in the middle of the room and dances around the chair like crazy - it's quite funny. She even had to make sure she found her hat, Elmo and horse to watch the show with. It was nice for her to be entertained so I could get some laundry folded (without any help).

This is her dancing around her chair.

Today we got a little more creative and made a slide out of my folding sewing table. I realize its probably not the safest thing in the world, but thankfully she is still light enough to not break it. She was so excited to show Daddy when he got home for lunch.

Weeeeee!

A day at the park...

So Todd had the day off and I really wanted to be out of the house as much as possible -- so we went for a nice morning walk, picked up some ice cream, and even made it to the park. I realize the park pictures are getting kind of boring since it's the only place we go here in town. Last week we did try out another park on the other side of town but it just wasn't as toddler friendly and it was a lot dirtier.

Reese is no longer afraid to climb all over the equipment but she is still very much an observer. She loves to watch the other kids and laugh at all they do. There were some wild boys running and jumping on everything so she kind of stood in one place the whole time (the bridge is her favorite). I'm surprised they didn't bounce her off for how wild they were acting (I also think they were a bit old to be playing on the equipment, but I won't get into to that whole peeve again).

We did explore a bit more of what the park had to offer. One of Reese's favorite things (for some odd reason) were they picnic tables under the pavilion - apparently they are really fun to walk back and forth on. Odd I know.

We hung out around big trees too.

The splash park was supposed to close Labor Day weekend but for some reason it was still going today and Reese eventually was brave enough to touch the water on her own. Normally she's deathly afraid of it. There were a lot of other little girls running through the fountains but she didn't quite get to that - she did get completely drenched. We didn't really come prepared for her to get in the water, but we figured if she wanted to get all wet it's only a 2 minute drive home.

She even tried to taste the water a few times, and as you can tell she was completely drenched from head to toe. Luckily we found a spare diaper and a T-shirt of mine (in the trunk) to change her into so she wouldn't freeze.

We haven't been up to much else. Todd has been in Idaho Falls everyday for work training. He did get a promotion at work so we're happy about that. Really that's about it. No plans coming up either.

You just forget...

So not anything to report... but I was just bored tonight so I decided to go through some of Reese's old pictures. I'm sure it had to do with the idea of having another baby around and it just seems like so long ago that Reese was even considered a baby. Now she's a running, talking, dancing, singing -- little girl. I almost don't even remember what to do with a little baby! I suppose I do have a good 4 1/2 months to figure it out once again. I talk to Reese everyday about the baby in mommy's tummy and she likes to give the baby kisses, wave, and say hi to the baby. I'm pretty sure she doesn't quite get that there really is a baby in mommy's tummy (since she also seems to think there is one in hers) and she has no idea what a 'little brother' is, but it will be fun to see how she acts when he finally gets here.

I was honest to goodness shocked when the ultrasound lady told us it was a boy. I thought for sure we were going to have a few girls before any boys. There hasn't been hardly any differences so far this pregnancy compared to my pregnancy with Reese. I don't really get too sick, although I was a teeny bit more nauseous this go around. My aversions to food has been about the same - except I'm not going crazy over ground beef and fresh pineapple like I did with Reese. I really don't have any cravings this time -- I'm just lucky to find anything on a daily basis that appeals to me -- food just lacks it's luster for me still (except Banquet chicken pot pies - I eat about one a day).

So everything went well with the ultrasound - I'm measuring right on schedule. Half way through!! My due date is February 4th - just in case you didn't know. The little guy is very active and I've been able to feel very obvious kicks for a few weeks now. Todd has even been able to feel a few too (which I don't remember that happening this early with Reese). I have absolutely no ideas for names at this point -- and had quite a few girls names in mind, but boys are too hard. Everything is either too blah or too strange for us. Todd already told me that it's up to me but he still has to like it. So I'll be racking my brain for the next 4 months for something he approves of. This time I think I'm going to keep my names more to myself - I got tired of all the weird looks and comments when I told people we were naming our little girl Reese. It gets awkward when people obviously don't approve right in front of your face.

I just thought I would let you all know about what's been going on with the pregnancy thus far -- it's been pretty smooth sailings so far (minus my extreme lack of energy and emotional breakdowns). I'm definitely ready for the weather to cool down - I'm already uncomfortable. It's going to be tough when the little guy gets here since Todd will be back in school and working full time and I'll be home with just me and the kiddies. I suppose you just do it -- other people have survived in similar situations so I shouldn't worry too much. For fun go through my archives from Dec 07 and on up to see what I mean about not remembering Reese as a baby... I may or may not have cried a little. Enjoy!

It's a BOY!!!

For anyone interested... I haven't been paying to close attention to my emails I get from some of my expectant mother websites, but I did notice a free offer today -- I think the word "free" in the subject jumped out at me. Free nursing cover from uddercovers.com! Just type in backorder in the promo code when you check out and only pay shipping and handling -- it's a $32 offer!!! Just thought I would share -- for yourself or they can make great gifts too!

Feeding the Goats.

The Past Week

So Reese and I spent another weekend in Preston this week (Todd had to work all weekend so it wasn't very appealing for us to sit at home alone all day). We didn't only go down there to cure our boredom we went to a birthday party for my two nephews on Saturday, and Sunday there was a baby blessing for my cousin's baby.

Here's us at the birthday party for Dylan and Mason. It was kind of a free for all when it came time to open presents. The little boys were easily distracted by whatever gift they were given and they would forget about the other presents still left to open (enter Reese and Brooklynn - the helpers).

Hanging out at Grandma Nan's for Sunday dinner. After the baby blessing we headed over to Nan's for dinner. My Uncle Kent and his family were also up for a visit and I am so grateful to my cousins Vanessa, Kyle and Savannah for entertaining Reese while we were there. Reese loves them so much! P.S. for dinner we had some NFC (Nan fried chicken-the most yummiest chicken in the world) -- it was sooo good!

Yesterday Todd had the day off and we were able to go down to the Eastern Idaho State Fair in Blackfoot. It wasn't too crowded since we went during the day and there was even a slight breeze so it wasn't even too hot to walk around for a few hours. The booths were all pretty much the same as they are every year. We always like to go look at the photography and art exhibits and of course to see all the livestock. Reese especially like the petting zoo the local pet store set up. You could walk into a caged area and they had lots of goats, llamas and even an emu walking all around you. They also had lots of other animals in pens to go around and pet pigs, ducks, alpacas, donkeys, puppies, chickens and bunnies. We actually made more than one stop here while we were there at the fair.

This llama was such a snoop. They had little cups of feed you could buy and this guy was practically mugging everyone looking for some pellets to eat. Reese loved the goats, they were so friendly (mostly looking for munchies). We also saw a couple of animal shows... silly animal races and a team of show dogs who did all sorts of fun tricks.

They had a little kids discovery place set up too. Where you could ride little peddle tractors, rope a plastic cow, play in a sand box (which was really filled with corn feed), and even milk a cow. Ok, so it's not a real cow -- but Reese had fun giving it a try. We walked through all the livestock barns too. Reese got to see a lot of horses (including one barn filled entirely of humongous clydesdales), mini-horses, pigs, chickens, rabbits, goats, cows, and pigeons. Of course the best part of the fair was the food. They have sooo many options to choose from - even deep fried peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (but that didn't really appeal to us). Last year we had yummy dutch oven but this year we just got a plain ole' corn dog (hand dipped though) and hamburger (it still tastes better coming from the fair). On our way out we got a Tiger's Ear to enjoy on the ride home - this is a gigantic (and I mean gigantic) scone for those of you that don't know. So we had a really fun day!

A couple videos from the zoo...

Denver cont...

Awkward hug. You may not be able to tell from the picture but these two girls loved each other. Reese was a loud wild woman like usual and I'm afraid a bit of it rubbed off while we were there. I'm sorry Torben and Angela.

Ava is a busy little girl who loves to hold onto you while you walk her around and gets very upset when you stop.

Playing in the dollhouse --- Reese loved it. Reese and Ava would chase each other in and out of the house all night.

Bed time stories.

Snack time.

Yes we are Bronco fans. Sadly we weren't able to make it to the actual game while we were there - but we still had a fun night watching it on TV. I don't know why Todd is giving off the stink eye.

Reese's make-do booster. It's a good thing Denver is a big city.

Saturday we went to the Museum. Above if you can tell is Todd, Ava, and Torben under the the thermal scanner.

Reese looks kind of goofy but there was some kids that wanted to go down the slide so we had to make it quick.

Reese also loved the dinosaur exhibit. It's a good thing little girls aren't too appetizing to fossils.

Can you hear me now? Trying on the deer ears.

Geez were they really that big?

Denver

So last week our little family went to Denver to spend a few days with Todd's brother Torben and his family. On our way down we stopped for a bit in Brigham to visit Reese's Great Grandma Roxcy. Reese loved to play around in her backyard and look at the neighbor's dogs with Grandma. We opted to fly this trip since it would only be an hour flight versus a 8 or so hour car ride (not my idea of fun with a 1 year old - plus Reese is still free to fly since she's under 2).

This would be Reese's 2nd trip on a plane. We were a little more nervous for the take off and landing this time around since she is a lot more aware. She surprised us both and laughed the whole time. She loved the whole airport experience too - I'm pretty sure she pointed out every single airplane within sight. We had nice BBQ the first night. This was the most time I've ever spent with Torben and Angela and it was really nice to get to know them better. We are so grateful to them for letting us stay and all that they did to ensure when had a great time (which we did)!

The first full day in Denver we went to the zoo!! The biggest zoo we have been to yet. If you're wondering why I have just random pictures of animals they are for Reese... she really likes to look at them -- so I tried to snap a pick of anything that would cooperate. Above is some strange thing called a Tapir.

Reese and Ava chillin' in their strollers.

Checkin' out the polar bear - you can barely see his head poking above water in the distance... he would get a lot closer but I always missed the shot.

Reese loves penguins.

Josie this on is for you... I hope you especially like the poop smeared all over his butt.

Reese's very favorite -- elephants!

The whole group. Sorry the picture is so pixilated. I accidentally saved it at too low of a file.

This is my favorite picture from the day... Reese's expression kills me.