Happy 5th Anniversary!

Happy 5th Anniversary to Mike & I today! We're not planning much, just dropping Amanda off with my mom so we can go to dinner and a movie. Hey, when you're parents, you look forward to an afternoon without the kids!

Anyway, here are some pics from the last week or so...

Last weekend Mike's sister Kathy and her son Zach came out to visit us. We were supposed to go to Legoland, but Amanda got sick so we couldn't go. Here they are jumping on the trampoline Sunday morning.

Zach loved Sophie and was always running after her. Here is trying to coax her out from under the boat.

Amanda got this backpack for Christmas and up until now hasn't shown any interest in it, but the other night she was watching Dora and suddenly realized SHE had a backpack too! So she had to put it on and try it out!

And finally, Thursday night I left her alone in the bathroom for about 10 seconds so I could go grab some washclothes out of the dryer. When I got back, this is what I found...

Yes, she learned to flush.

2 year pictures

Got Amanda's 2 year pics back from JCPenney. I wasn't happy with the photographer, so I don't think I got any really *great* ones, but here they are in no particular order:

Building a Family... one baby at a time...

Well, we did it. We took the plunge (again). I am pregnant with baby #2, due to join us on or about August 6 this year. Today was my 12 week appointment with the doc, so I am officially through my first trimester. It has been surprisingly easy compared to when I was pregnant with Amanda in that I didn't have any morning sickness/nausea like last time. Although I am definitely more tired than the first. When I asked the doc about that today, she said it was because this time I have a 2-year old to take care of! I hadn't even thought about that! I work all day, and then come home and run around with Amanda... it only makes perfect sense!

Anyway, here's a (crude) pic of the ultrasound they did today. Sorry for the quality, the scanners at work aren't the best. The top one is supposed to be a close-up of the face, but it just turned out to be a big blob. The bottom one is a bit clearer, the baby is directly in the middle with the head to the right, and one tiny leg sticking up from the left side.

I find out if it's a boy or girl around 16-18 weeks, so a little over a month from now. If it's a boy, we're probably done having kids. We both want two, but Mike REALLY wants a boy. So if it's a girl, we'll most likely have to try again after this.

Edited to add: If anyone out there has any advice for adding another baby to the family, PLEASE leave me a comment... I'm very nervous about how Amanda will react to the new baby!!

A little late... portraits from Nov/Dec

Near the end of November we decided to have annual portraits done to give as Christmas gifts. In 2007 we had pictures done of Amanda with her cousin Andrew at JCPenney and didn't exactly have the best experience (Like I said... hit or miss). So this year we decided to have a freelance photographer friend (Thanks Alena!) take pictures of all of us at a local park. So my sisters and I, plus our two children got all spiffied up and headed to Balboa Park. Amanda seriously acted up and we didn't get the best pictures, but here are some of the best ones that I like.

This was our Christmas card photo:

And a cute one of Amanda.

All of us walking along the lake

Amanda was obsessed with Alena's bike and wanted to sit on it. But... the reason I'm posting this is you can see how skinny I've gotten from a side view! Holy cow, I still have my child-bearing hips, but side view, you can totally see how much weight I lost!

Gathering in a tree. We ended up not using this because my face is in so much shadow. Plus, Amanda would NOT put down her snacks. By the end we gave up and just took the picture with her holding it!

And this is the photo I think we ended up using (I thought it had ducks behind us though?)



This one is just cute. It shows Amanda playing peek-a-boo with Mike who's standing behind the camera *lol*

Happy 2nd Birthday Amanda!

Amanda turned 2 this Saturday the 17th. It was sort of a non-birthday birthday. We're having her party at the end of February when Mike's family is coming to visit. I sang "Happy Birthday" to her when she woke up, and several family members called to wish her a happy birthday, but other than that it was a normal Saturday. I don't think she knew the difference :)

Mike & I are looking into getting the kitchen remodeled. I think we found a custom cabinet guy, but after going to a local kitchen store, we're not sure we can knock down the wall between the kitchen and the dining room now. We have a finished attic above and the kitchen has a bump-out where the window is that starts at that wall, that both could be supported by beams inside that wall. Since it'll take 5-6 weeks to get cabinets, we don't want to put big holes in that wall now and live with it for 2 months while we wait for cabinets. And our house is so old, I don't think we can get the original plans anymore... so we're sort of at a standstill on where to go next in the process.

Learning to count

Amanda's learning to count! For weeks now she would count "1...8 9 10" (Imagine the 8-9-10 is really fast), but last night she actually counted "1, 2, 3...6, 7, 8, 9, 10". Ya, I know, not perfect, but we're getting there. She also recognizes the #5 when she sees it, so that's good too.

She also moved up to the next classroom at daycare effective yesterday (15th). She's no longer in "Infant" class, but "Transition". This is the class where they have mini-potty's especially sized for little kids learning to use it. I was actually a little worried when they said they wanted to move her there this month because she has shown *NO* signs of wanting to learn to use the potty. She'll (excuse the language) crap her pants and is more than happy to sit in it for an hour before someone finally changes her diaper. But luckily they still change her diaper and will only potty train once she shows signs of wanting to learn. *whew*

So anyway, last night I got a few pictures of her counting. She stood on her step and started counting my coasters that she grabbed from the living room

And this is up in our attic, she started trying to "hug" Sophie, and when that didn't work, she decided to give her kisses. I think Sophie was just putting up with her...

After-Christmas glow

Amanda got a *lot* of presents for Christmas, and I haven't had a chance to take a picture of her playing with all of them (as she loves them all! Thank you!), but I did snap a few pics of her playing with her new "babies". Great Grandma and Grandpa gave her these, and she adores them. She calls them "my babies" and is always asking to take them on a walk, or feed them, etc...
Here she is setting them up in their high chairs:



Feeding them:

She even takes them in her high chair with her when it's time to eat:

And these are from the other night, Mike is trying to teach Amanda how to play with Sophie: