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.

Hogle Zoo

I know it's been a while... I don't know when blogging became such a chore. Spent some time down in Preston last week to go to my nephew Ethan's birthday party and the next day we went down to Hogle Zoo. Todd actually had a couple consecutive days off in a row so we decided to make the most of it. It was also the week of my birthday and it was a request of mine (not Reese) to go down to Hogle Zoo. We usually manage to make it there once a year. I was excited to take Reese though since she is really into animals and can make about every animal sound. I was especially excited for her to see an elephant in real life (rather than just cartoon elephants tromping through the jungle in Jungle Book). We also stopped in Logan to pick up my nephew Mason on the way down. Reese had a blast with Mason in the car they each took turns seeing who could scream the highest and who could motor boat the longest -- not as much fun for Todd and I but they were entertained. The elephants were one of the first on our route around the zoo. Reese and Mason were both soooo excited. We stood and looked at this one elephant probably longer than any other animal. Reese was actually upset when we moved on but calmed down when she realized we were moving on to see more animals.

The animals at the zoo were all up close and out and about --- which is amazing... usually you can see some feet or tail fluttering somewhere in the grass but really all the big animals were out walking around and up really close. The rhinos were right at the window -- I don't know what Reese thought of them - they really are quite strange looking.

My personal favorite the giraffes.

There were lot's of babies at the zoo that day too... a baby giraffe, snow leopard, meerkats, some other kind of wild cat, orangutan, and some others I know I'm forgetting but they were all so dang cute. The baby snow leopard was playing right by the window, the 6 little baby meerkats were only a month old and they were so funny to watch and the baby orangutan was playing peek-a-boo under a canvas blanket.

We also rode the little train.

It was a really fun day... it was really hot so we moved on to each exhibit pretty quickly but we were able to see the whole park before anybody got tired and cranky. We stopped and got a sandwich at Wendy's and ventured home.

The rest of the week not much else happened... Friday we met up with some friends at Texas Roadhouse for birthday dinner, Saturday we went down to Pocatello for a wedding reception (a high school friend of Todd's) and Sunday was my birthday. Todd made me breakfast in bed: french toast, bacon, eggs, juice and a bowl of fresh fruit-- so yummy! He also spent all day getting dinner ready too: Ham, twice baked potatoes, fresh baked rolls and of course a Rainbow chip birthday cake. All my presents were really great too. A few favorites: new shoes (some slip on kind so when I'm big and fat I don't have to worry about trying to tie them), a new book, 10th anniversary Les Miserables CD, yummy candy and much much more. Thanks to everyone who sent me birthday wishes/goods it's nice to know people are thinking about you.

This week: tomorrow I have a Dr.'s appt and I should probably be setting up when I get my next ultrasound so we can find out what we are having finally. For those of you wondering I really don't care what it is... a keep thinking it's another girl (which would be nice financially since we already own everything in pink), but really either is fine. I need to go get a new drivers license which stinks - I actually like my current picture and I'm worried what this one is going to turn out like. I think that is pretty much it for this week. Later next week we are heading to Denver to see some family for a few days -- yay another vaca!

Mini-vaca

So this past week Todd, Reese and I were out of town. Yes all of us together, finally! Todd was finally able to take some time off work so we could have some-what-of a vacation. We started off Wednesday stopping in Downey the first day to spend some time with Todd's family. The next night was the first day of Preston's Famous Night Rodeo Weekend. Everyday there is a parade, carnival, rodeo and sidewalk sales. Thursday we spent the afternoon in Logan meeting up with old friends for lunch and later we did go to the parade. Reese spent most of the time on one of our laps - since she was a little too scared to run around and pick up the candy. She loved all the horses and waved at the pretty girls riding on the floats. Later that night after putting Reese to bed Todd and I made our way to Logan again to go out to a movie. It's usually 6 months between each movie we get to see at the theatre. We of course saw Harry Potter. My mom's house was a little crowded this weekend so she brought down my grandma's trailer for us to sleep in, the closest thing to camping we will probably do all year. Sittin with Grandma waiting for the parade to start.

Reese and Ethan.

Ethan (who constantly wanted me to take pictures of every silly face he could think of).

Dylan wearing Reese's pink cowboy hat and drinking a coke. This is what his father gets for dropping him off in grandma's care (no worries the can really was empty, but he liked wearing the PINK hat)

Our little cowgirl decked out in full garb. Hat, button up, wranglers, and boots.

Friday we spent a good part of the morning helping my brother and his family move into their new house. Later that afternoon we hit the sidewalk sales (which were very unexciting - unless you are looking for jewelry or girls hair bows - because that's all there was at every other booth). We watched the parade again, had yummy dinner at grandma Nan's house and then Todd and I went to the Rodeo (which we do every year). We decided to leave Reese at home with Grandma and not take her to the rodeo - since lately she hasn't behaved too well at public functions - she is one independent lady.

Saturday was another lazy day. We had a nice BBQ with my old high school chum Ashley and we were able to catch up. We did go to the third and final night of the parade and made a lap around the carnival to snag at least a bag of cotton candy. Sunday morning we headed back to Downey and went to church with Todd's family, had dinner, stopped in Pocatello on our way home to visit Amanda and Shawn and finally made it home last night. It all went by too fast! Now were back in Rexburg and Todd is back to work. I don't know if I've mentioned that Todd doesn't have school this semester so I will at least see him in the mornings everyday for the next 5 months! Woo Hoo!!

Also I did have as Dr.'s appt a few weeks ago and everything is looking good so far. We had an ultrasound but just to tell how far along I was for sure. Due date set for February 4th. I do have pics and a video from the ultrasound but haven't got around to scanning anything yet, but I promise there is a baby growing in me. So after the appointment it's feeling a little more real and I don't feel like poo for nothing.