The "Surprise"

Well, I hinted at a surprise a while ago, although by now, all 4 of my blog readers know the big news! :)

We are expecting McBaby #2! Due March 17 (St. Patrick's Day!) although the last measurements indicated March 12... we'll see.

We are very excited of course, and a little nervous about this new adventure. (Will we ever sleep again? How do you get 2 kids on the same nap schedule?)

So far everything looks great. I'm 15 weeks along today and thankfully past most of the nausea and exhaustion! I've had 2 ultrasounds already (I'm considered "Advanced Maternal Age") and the little guy/girl is jumping and rolling and growing like crazy!

Hopefully we'll find out the sex in about 5 weeks, and then the great name debate can really begin! I love thinking about names and so far have lots of favorites. I'd like it to be kind of old fashioned (like Amelia), possibly Irish, and not too weird, but not too common either.

Here is my favorite photo of the little jumping bean at 12 weeks waving hello. We'll keep you posted as the weeks go by!

First Day of Pre-Preschool!

Amelia started her two mornings a week preschool program last week! It seems a little funny to call it "preschool" already, but she calls it school and she is enjoying it so far! There have been no tears, and she will talk non-stop for about 5 minutes when I pick her up, describing her day. I only understand about 1/3 of what she says, but so far I've heard about the potty, a birthday party, toys and a teacher fixing her shoe :) So cute! The time apart is weird, but nice for both of us I think. I'm able to go to the gym and take a long shower without feeling guilty! Today I vacuumed the entire house (glamorous, I know) without Amelia screaming and crying because she's terrified of the vacuum.

I hope she continues to like school and make friends and love her teachers! I'll keep you posted.

Here are a few photos from her first day.

Cheesing it up at the front door.

You want me to go WHERE?

It was a rainy day and she LOVES this umbrella from Maddie :)

Oh, they have toys and other kids here... Hmmm, might be ok!

Photo Overload

Hat time
Fun in Grandma W's pool

I want her hair!!

Stylin' in the rain boots

These are a few photos from the "tumblers" class Mia took this summer. She LOVED it and learend a lot of skills. I blame this class for the crib scaling issues we are having lately :)

Playing in the water with Ben

This is my backyard. I wish. Beautiful Norfolk Botanical Gardens.

Pretty little Swallowtail in the Lantana

Me and Shana in front of the roses we pruned in February!

TGIS (September)

September is my all time favorite month, followed closely by October, and then maybe May. I used to be a summer girl, but in my old age I have grown tired of the heat and bugs and feeling like I am cooped up inside. Jeez, I sound just like my Dad ! :)

Anyway, I am so excited that the weather is a bit cooler, I've had windows open all week and we've been taking more walks to the playground again. A few tidbits from our lives this past week or so:

1) Amelia can get out of the crib. This is not good. We put her down for a nap today, after a gorgeous beach morning (guaranteed nap activity, right??) and sat on the couch to relax. Two minutes later we were greeted by our daughter with a guilty smile on her face. After a few more tries, we gave up and she had no nap. Tonight at bedtime, she tried it once, but was so tired that after our second goodnight attempt, she crashed. We are now frantically searching the Internet for crib tents and other options. Not ready for the big girl bed just yet!

2) Amelia starts PRESCHOOL on Thursday! Yikes! It is really just 2 mornings a week but she will be with lots of other kids in a school environment. I have mixed feelings about this. I think she will really like it, but I know I will cry like a baby the first time I leave her. On the other hand, I'll have 6 HOURS a week of "free time"! What should I do??

3) We are still being kind of lazy and inconsistent with potty training, but as anyone with young children knows, there is rarely any "alone" time in the bathroom for the adults in the house. I can tell that some of the potty training is sticking because when I am finished in the bathroom, Amelia heaps praise on me like "Good girl Mommy! I am SO proud of you"! It is so funny and maybe a little embarrassing!

That's about all for now. We hope to enjoy this long weekend and spend time doing some yard work, and hanging out with friends. Again, photos are coming... Some nice ones of a trip to the Botanical Gardens and Butterfly House and maybe even a surprise :)

Happy Labor Day and Welcome September!

Cali

We lost our best friend last week. Our faithful, funny dog Cali passed away after vets discovered that cancer had taken over a large portion of her internal organs. We know in our hearts that we did the right thing but we are still so very sad about it.

The house is much quieter (even with a toddler running around) and our routines are changed. Nighttime is tough because for almost 13 years, the last thing we did was let Cali out, listen to her bark a few times, do her thing, eat a bite of food, and run upstairs to sleep under our bed. In her younger days she slept on our bed, but that was tough for her lately. Plus, she liked to sleep diagonally and take up way too much room.

We have so many happy memories with Cali. She was a sweet, happy, smart dog and quite the world traveler. She loved going for walks, eating cat food, having her ears rubbed and just being with us. We worried about how she would act when Amelia arrived, and she responded with incredible patience and understanding and the occasional "why me?" sigh.

Friends have reminded us of her funnier moments: Being spray painted green at a St. Patrick's Day party, being caught red-handed on the top of the dining room table eating the feast before another party, racing up and down the beach and at the hills of St. Mary's Lake. We know she had a good life and as Sean liked to say, she knew it too because she came from a life on the streets :)

We will always miss and love our Cali girl. We know you are up in the big, fluffy human bed in the sky, eating cat food to your heart's content and snoring as loud as you want. Good dog!

The Peanut

We got to experience yet another joy of parenting the other night: "Foreign Object Removal!"

Apparently Amelia shoved a peanut up her nose during snack time, unbeknownst to Mommy (I'm up for Mom of the Year this year). A few hours later, she told us about it. Lucky Sean was watching her while I was at the gym. He tried to get her to blow it out, he tried the snot sucker, he tried tweezers. Nothing worked. He called the after hours number for our pediatrician and got the most fantastic tip ever! (Thank goodness for Daddy! I think I would have panicked after Googling, and probably rushed to the ER!)

Anyway, by this time I was home and feeling really guilty. The doctor's tip was to basically do reverse CPR on Amelia. Sean laid her down, covered up the unblocked nostril and gently blew into her mouth. Lo and behold, the peanut came shooting out the other nostril! How cool! And soooo much better than a night in the ER!!!

Needless to say, no more peanuts until she's 18!

2 Year Stats

Just a quick note about Mia's 2 year old check up. I like the idea of printing out this blog one day and having a record of this stuff !

Height: 34 1/2 inches (1 1/2 inches too short to go on all the rides at Bush Garden's Sesame Place! But we are going to try it this Fall anyway!)

Weight: 28 lbs

50-75% for both.

She's healthy and happy and was a perfect angel this time at the doctor's office! Barely shed a tear for the one shot that she needed! On a slightly disconcerting note, there has been fluid behind her ears for the past few check ups. The doc wants her to come in again in a few weeks, and then again a few weeks after that to monitor it. I really hope she hasn't had fluid there since her only (known) ear infection back in October!! She shows no signs of hearing loss and her verbal skills are great, so we'll just have to see what happens.

I have some cute photos to post as soon as I find where that stinker has hidden my camera!

The Little Lady's Birthday Party

We had a great little party for our little ladybug. I made ladybug cupcakes which turned out super cute and we had a great visit with friends and family :) Amelia had been so looking forward to blowing out candles, and she did a great job with her single "Number 2" candle! Thanks so much to those who were able to make it! Mia had a blast. We missed you Engels but hope to see you soon!

I'll put lots more photos of the party and of some of our summer fun on the photo website soon!Stay cool out there!

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Our dear Amelia,

We wish you the absolute happiest of birthday's today! Every day we are further amazed and delighted by you and your charming, cheerful little self. You come up with such funny things and are such a big girl that it completely blows us away. We see ourselves in you, but we also see an independent, smart, brave little person and we are astounded at how well you have turned out so far! We hope we are doing something right! We know you will continue to grow and change, and challenge us this year and we hope we can keep up with you. You make us want to be better parents and people and I guess that is what this is all about. We love you so very much. Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

All our love,

Mommy and Daddy

And now, back by popular demand (well, Grandparents liked it last year....), the Amelia highlight video! Enjoy:)

Photos for You!

Grandpa W and Grandma Sharon flew down in the new plane for a quick visit! It was Grandpa's birthday and Mia got lots of practice singing the birthday song to him :)


Testing the controls :)

This is fun!

Another (better fated) Amelia aviator ?

Coloring with Zach and Maddie

Being goofy!

Happy Fourth of July on the Battleship Wisconsin

I love the Crepe Myrtles in Norfolk! We have 3 beautiful trees in front of our house in full bloom.

Que pasa?

Long time no blog again. I've had the longest lasting cold of my life and haven't felt like doing too much. Of course, we have still been very busy--places to go, people to see, birthday parties to plan! For now, I just want to document a few of the cute (and not so cute) things my Mia has been doing lately. My mom always suggest that I write them down because I'll forget, and I couldn't agree more!

1) Cute Sayings: Some of her favorite foods are "mac and cheese-a-roni" and "pop-is-cools" (popsicles). I just love how she pronounces these! She is also fond of saying "Have a good day" and "Thank you so much". So polite :)

2) 2-year old behavior: We've started doing the "time-out" chair in response to certain behavior (hitting mommy!, running away down the driveway!). I don't really think she gets it yet. She will pinch me on the arm and then say "time out chair"! Like it is a fun place. Hmmmm, need to re-think this.

3) Singing: She's such a singer! I told her that her birthday was coming up and she loves to sing the Happy Birthday song. My dad was here for a quick visit (on his birthday) and we made cupcakes. Amelia sang him the birthday song about 25 times :)

She's also practicing the tricycle and loves her gym class! She'll grab hold of the uneven bars and swing like a monkey all day long if we let her.

I have some fun photos of Grandpa W and Grandma Sharon's visit along with various other events. Look for them soon!

Little Girl

I was just looking at Amelia and thinking how much she looks like a little girl now. She's grown taller and her legs are long and skinny. Her legs are also covered in bumps and bruises and scrapes and mosquito bites, and lately, band-aids. She wears pigtails an ponytails and attempts to brush her hair. She has started picking out her clothes and shoes and she likes to take off her clothes (and diaper) too. She will use her potty whenever I put her there and I think I need to start getting more serious about potty training.

It is just so amazing and sort of sad that she will be 2 in a few weeks. Some days she seems to be at the cusp of the "terribleness", like when she runs away from me at the playground or snatches toys from her friends. Other times she is so loving and affectionate and will hug and kiss me all day long. She loves to kiss my "boo-boos" (or freckles) and say that they are "all better". She sings and "reads" and has opinions and is just fascinating to watch grow up! Not too fast though, little girl. Please, not too fast.

Oh, Happy 4th of July to all! I'll post next week about what we did!

Having an "almost 2 year old" moment