Dance & First Trip to the Lake

Well it has been a while since I posted and I am sure more has happened then just these two events, but I am only going to post on these two.

Little Miss had her dance recital and did great. She kept herself moving and some of her friends around her as well. She loved it and wants to keep going. So we have two months off and then back to dance class we go.

We also took a quick trip to the Lake. It was the first time there for her and she loved it. She wanted to be in lake the whole time we were there. Daddy did most of the swimming with her, as a hot day at the beach took it's toll quickly on this prego mommy.

Big Sister

Well Little Miss is certainly starting to talk more and more about her baby sister. She loves to kiss my belly and talk to her sister, which works great since she is the right height to be right at my belly. We have done a little shopping for the baby and let HB pick it all out.

 

Here she is showing off some of her sisters cute new stuff...

Aunt Lisa as you will notice she still likes Minnie Mouse

and insisted that her sister have one too

One proud Big Sister

Dad/Grandpa's Birthday

Well there is no doubt that we all are getting older and with me getting older I guess that means my dad has to get older too. He recently celebrated his big 60th Birthday with family and friends. It was great to be there with him and his brothers to listen to them remembering their growing up and some of the stories from their childhood, just nice to be around family. I didn't get many pictures of us all as we were too busy chatting for the most part, but happy to share what ones I have.

It was a good time for the adults and kiddos.

 

Happy Birthday Dad

We love you

Surprises, Roller Coasters, Rides and Family Fun

Recently daddy decided it was time for him and Little Miss to enjoy some roller coasters, games, junk food and family fun so.....he surprised us both with a trip to an amusement park.

Needless to say everyone had a great time and really enjoyed the day together even though it was a little cold.

It was a great day and she didn't even make it 2 minutes out of the parking lot before she fell fast asleep for the whole ride home.

Baby Is.....

Well I am skipping a few posts in between here, but I figured it was time to announce that we are having a little girl.........

We are all very excited and big sister keeps kissing my belly and talking to her sister, so we couldn't be happier. Little Miss did some shopping for her sister and really is excited to have her little mini me dress just like her. She is going to be a great big sister for sure

She is measuring right on track. She measured in at 11 ounces and about 7 inches long. She is very active and shy all at the same time. She was doing everything in her little power to get away from the ultrasound waves, but we were still able to see her. We got to see her stretch her legs and arms out and see her little fingers and toes. She appears to have the same cute little nose like her big sister as well. We are very excited to be having another little princess.

Quick Trip to New York

Recently I had the chance to join my co-workers for a quick trip to New York for a special dinner and while there we had the chance to visit the 9/11 Memorial. I have to say it was a very surreal experience, as not so long ago I stood on the rooftop of the World Trade Center with my closest friends and explored the many flags that used to hang inside the building from all over the world.

 

Today as I stood there and listened to the water of the infinity pools and felt the warmth of the names I touched, I could not believe it was the same place I was at years ago. It is a beautiful memorial and a very calm and humbling place. There were people there from all over the world and to hear the whispers and see the tears of loved ones standing with their hands on the names of those they lost was unexplainable. As I stood at the Ladder 131 section of the memorial I could feel someone there with me, as I turned around there were two officers there calmly waiting to lay hands on the names of, I am guessing their family or friends that they lost. As I slid to the side I witnessed them walk slowly to the names and stand in support of one another. As I continued on my way around the memorial, I noticed that they did not move. I was there for a decent amount of time and each time I looked their way they were still there just calmly talking and supporting one another, very hard not to have tears in my own eyes as I watched them and the pain they must feel.

 

 

Easter

Easter was nice and calm this year. It was a rainy day so we stayed inside and just welcomed the calmness of the day. After a little while we went to my mom's for a nice Easter lunch, but had to leave early due to someones lack of listening skills...but we still had a great day.

Easter Egg Hunt

This year for Easter we went on an Easter Egg Hunt with my Step-sister and her kiddos, along with the Grandparents. It was like watching a cartoon when all the kids went after the eggs. One minute there was a large sea of bright green grass covered with brightly colored Easter Eggs and then in the blink of an eye the eggs were all gone and kids were searching to see what was inside the eggs they collected. HB and her cousins had a great time...

 

After the kids were all done collecting their candy from the eggs, we went out for lunch. The kids had a great time and I know that HB was good and wore out by the time she got home.

Pregnancy rambles...

Well all I can say is every pregnancy sure is different. With HB I was nauseated in the morning, but after a nice greasy breakfast I was good and was really only "sick" one time with her...well with this little pumpkin I have been sick, sick, sick. Even with the sickness though, I can't help but have anxiety and excitement every day. To watch my belly change and know that some of the little flutters I am already feeling are the baby amazes me every day. Some people don't believe it's the baby, but trust me there ain't no gas moven' like that in me, this little one has already made a nice home in my lower abs to where the Dr. and I discussed the fact that my ab muscles are already splitting and that is why I can feel this little one already...pretty crazy!!! I don't feel the baby daily by any means, but he/she got me good once when I was all curled up in a ball on my couch that the movement freaked me out so much that I screamed, just like I did the first time I felt HB move. It's a good scream, just an unexpected feeling for sure, but magical.

I went from all day sickness to nighttime sickness, which is not easy to deal with when you have a four year old running around. Speaking of my four year old, she has been amazing during mommies sick evenings, she covers me up as I lay on the couch, gives me a kiss and tells me everything will be okay....she has no idea how much that melts my heart. She also loves to come and sit next to me when I am sick in the bathroom or she makes sure I have my bowl encase I get sick on the way to the bathroom...she is a great little helper, not so sure she is going to want to help much with the baby at first, but time will tell.

We have told many of our friends and family about this little one and everyone seems to be pretty excited. One of my best friends and I are only about 7 weeks apart so that is fun. She has a cute little belly right now, to which I am gaining on her for sure, and she is hoping for a little girl. Love her dearly, as she takes care of HB for us so she was very excited to learn she will have this little one with her all day too when I go back to work after maternity leave.

Oh Maternity leave, how I am already trying to figure this out...I am such a planner....not sure which one of my parents you can blame for that, but I know my sister and I got it from one of them. In more preparation we have been redoing our house, I will post some pictures of that later on and I have been getting some things for the baby at very low prices so we are getting prepared for sure. I have a feeling this time is going to fly by really fast, but I am going to try and soak it all in at the same time.

Until my next entry...(hoping to just write more on here...we will see how that goes)...have a great day and enjoy Easter as it is coming right around the corner.

Here is HB's First Easter....

Precious Pumpkin

Well after some precious bumps in our road and one angel in heaven we are happy to announce that we are having another baby. I had a feeling I was pregnant and since I had MLK Jr. day off from work what better day then to test when I am home with Rob. I got up early took my pregnancy test and got a great positive (YAY!!!!) took HB to school went to the store got a nice card for Rob and some breakfast and home it was to surprise him with our new addition news.

 

We decided not to tell everyone, as we just wanted to keep this our little secret for a while to make sure all is good with the baby. It was very hard for us to do, so yes some people knew before others, but we really tired our best.

 

Well at the 5 week mark I am sick....nauseated all day and all night and sometimes actually getting sick in the evening. This little pumpkin surely must be growing good because I was nauseated with HB, but when I would eat I would be ok....not with this little one. We are very excited and can't wait until March 15th to see our new little one.

 

Well March 15th is finally here and we are off to our 9a.m. doctors appointment. Anxious and nervous the whole way there, but with Rob by my side I knew everything was going to be good. We got in and were so excited to see our doctor again and his nurse, they are really great people. We did our usual joking around and laughing together and then it was time to get an ultrasound and see the baby.

Once in the room and all prep and ready a glimpse of the baby came up on the screen and the nurse, student dr. and our Dr. were all like "there's the baby!!!!" Needless to say I started to cry with tears of joy. The doctor was learning the new ultrasound machine so we got the chance to just watch the little one move all around for almost 20 minutes. The baby was sooo active, shaking his/her little hands above their head and kicking and just moving all about....we were all in amazement. Every time the doctor thought he had the machine figured out the baby would do something cute and distract us all, it was a lot of fun to say the very least. We even got some great pictures....if you look close you can see little ones eyes, nose, mouth and ears...so in love we are already!!

 

Once we were all done with our running around we went and got HB from school and brought her home to tell her the big news. We got the pictures out and her new Big Sister shirt and talked to her about the baby. She is bashful about it all, but is warming up to the idea. If you ask her about being a big sister she just gets shy and doesn't want to talk about it, but she is interested in my belly and what's going on in there so that is all good.

 

We are all very excited and I couldn't have made it through these sick weeks without my mom coming over to entertain HB while I get sick and sleep and also without Rob. He stayed home with me a couple of days just to make things easier and has done so much around the house and with HB that without him helping I would be miserable and we would all be wearing dirty clothes...Lol

 

Love in one Very Happy Family

 

Sledding

Well Daddy had a day off...........YAY!!! So we decided to take HB sledding. Here in our little town there is a huge public area where tons of people go because it has some great hills, so we packed our sleds up and decided to join half the town to go sledding.

It was a great time and she was all smiles, so were we just watching her run around and truly love being outside.

First Hair Cut

Well after 4 years we have finally reached the point where little miss was ready for a hair cut/trim. She did NOT want to do this at all, however her dad and I got her talked into it, along with her daycare providers telling her it would be OK, so off to the Beauty Salon we went...

First it was time to get her hair washed...

Then the first few cuts...

Gotta have it blow-dried (Special Thanks to her Dance Teachers, both here, that did her and mommy's hair)

Ms. Kelsey thought it would be great to curl HB's hair...

 

All done and beautiful

 

She looked so grown up this day and she loved every minute of it. So we now have a Beauty Salon loving little princess who only wants Aveda hair products now....we have created a monster...but she is one very special little princess so we are more than okay with that.

Snow Fun

The other day Daddy took HB out to play and needless to say they had some fun...

Here is HB just before she nailed mommy with a snowball... good thing I turned around so it missed the camera...she really has an arm on her

She topped her time out in the snow by eating some...after making sure it was all clean

Good Old Family Fun

Childhood Memories

Well just recently my Grandma passed away after her long, strong battle with cancer. She is now with Larry, I believe, happy and pain free for both of them. As I had the chance to spend some much needed time with family during her passing it really brought back a lot of memories for me.

Grandma and Larry had a good deal to do with the way I turned out. I remember staying with them and waking up to the sounds of them eating their cereal and just smiles on their faces. I remember riding in the old red truck and helping Larry shift, or riding in the big brown Cadillac with the HOT leather seats wondering if Grandma really knew how fast she was going. Going to watch Grandma get her "Bee Hive" hairstyle done, oh the smell of Aquanet Hairspray...and it was a lot of hairspray or the evening before the hair appointment when she would take it down and brush it out...let's just say her hair would get big! Playing in the sprinkler in the back yard with my sister, playing basketball in the driveway and even playing with the Big Wheels (wore those tires flat) and the Skip-"thingy" outside for hours with my sister. I also knew where the candy was hiding in the kitchen, which was in the pie holder on the table, and I could always count on Larry to share freshly cut cheese slices with me during the day and ice cream in the evening.
 

There are a lot of memories with them growing up and I know I will remember more of those memories as the time goes on. There are two special things that they taught me; Larry taught me how to read, if you know me you know that was a struggle for me from the very beginning and if it wasn't for him I would have never been able to go and achieve my Masters degree. Grandma taught me how to be strong, not only was she strong when she was battling her cancer, but she was strong overall. She had the will and the way no matter what it was. She had this never give up attitude that I can only hope I learn over time.

She (they) will be forever missed