Washin' the Dog!

Laela and Allie Mae have such a love/hate relationship; however, most of the time it is LOVE! Today Laela requested that she be Ro's helper and give Allie a bath. Of course! It was a phenomenal day outside. (If you do not live in North Texas, be jealous! Our high was 85 and it was almost chilly!)Anyway, Laela got on her best swimsuit and she was ready to be a helper.This seemed to drive me crazy, but it didn't slow Laela down at all!!!They scrubbed and giggled and just had a blast! And we now own one happy, CLEAN dog...

Big Sister...

Forgot to post these pictures that we took awhile back. We snapped them back around April, but they are still cute. Laela is going to be such an awesome big sister! Just today she was putting some money in her piggie bank and she told me that she was going to use it to buy the baby a new set of clothes when he got his dirty. :) I LOVE HER!

First day of school...

Forgot to post the picture of Laela on her first day of school. She started a new school the same day that I went back to school, August 15th. Laela cried at drop-off for the first few days. She even got upset and tired by the time I picked her up on the first two days. Then week 2 came and she was already turning that around. By the end of the week, she was doing GREAT! She is constantly talking about her teachers and everything she is doing in class. Laela shares several new activities with us each day and seems genuinely happy to go to her "big school". She has been singing and dancing like crazy, talking more (if that is possible), and overall in a better mood. WE ARE THRILLED that we made the change and we are so happy that this seems to be a great start to a fantastic year! Oh! By the way...it might help a little that there is a donut shop next door to her new school. The rule is..."Daddy can take me to the donut shop ONCE A WEEK!" :) Honestly, I think they both enjoy that morning stop!

34 weeks...

Pregnancy Highlights:
How Far Along: 34 Weeks
Size of baby: Gotta be almost 5 lbs...right??? I have a sono on Tuesday, so I will let you know!
Maternity Clothes: I wear maternity bottoms but the tops are a mix of maternity and regular.
Gender: It's a boy!!!
Movement: He is VERY active - especially in the afternoon and at night. Much different than Laela. Sometimes it feels as though he is rearranging my inside parts. Not friendly at all.
Sleep: SO TIRED from school, so sleep isn't too bad these days.
What I miss: My old blue jeans, bending over without people thinking it is the end of the world, and a normal size belly button.
Cravings: Nothing crazy. I eat a lot of hot dogs and sandwiches, but that is just because I don't feel like cooking. :)
Best moment this week: When a few teachers and parents at school commented that I looked great!This week Laela requested to have her picture without mommy. Hmmmm...what a TOOT!

Our Wonderful News....

Most of you know now, but just in case...

We are expecting baby number TWO!

(I started this post 2 weeks ago and did not finish, but here you go...)
At week 13, we found out that it is a boy and I was 31 weeks. This pregnancy has been different than with Laela. With Laela, I did not even know until the first trimester was complete. With him, I knew on week 2. Crazy, I know. But trust me...this has been a long, long 7 months. I was tired from the very beginning and I don't know if it was just in my head or due to the fact that I have a 3 year old! I did get sick one morning on the way to school. (Oh thank heavens for Ro. He came to take my car to get washed, and the poor carwash man, probably hated his job that day. Sorry guy!) I was never sick with Laela. The weight gain has been more with baby #2. I know, I know. It is the second, but seriously! It could be worse, so I try not to complain too much. Let me also note that this has been the HOTTEST summer since the Earth started to revolve!

Between you and me...I am a little worried about baby boy. When we first found out, the first thing that popped in my head was..."oh no, he has a little weenie. I don't know about those things." I do know about girls, and bows, and dolls, and painting fingernails. I don't know much about dirt, and trucks, and how things work. I have kinda grown used to it now. Maybe due to the fact that he has BEATEN up my insides and I just know that I have to live with it. Literally, I tell people that I feel like there is a mini carnival in my belly! This baby is so different than Laela. Hmmmm...I hear that boy's love their momma's. Let's hope so, because I just realized that I can not take another strong-willed, fiesty (with a personality just like her momma) Laela Grace. :)

Pregnancy Highlights:
How Far Along: 31 Weeks
Size of baby: Little over 4 lbs. I found out on that week that he was measuring at 34 weeks. YIKES! Big boy that I am growing this go round!
Maternity Clothes: I wear maternity bottoms but the tops are a mix of maternity and regular.
Gender: It's a boy!!!
Movement: He is VERY active - especially in the afternoon and at night. Much different than Laela. She would move at night, but nothing like this big guy!
Sleep: I am sleeping okay. I toss and turn a lot!
What I miss: Sleeping on my stomach!
Cravings: For awhile I was loving La Madeleine chicken caesar salads. Now I will eat most anything.
Best moment this week: Seeing him during the ultrasound appointment this week. I love to watch and see exactly what he is doing in there!

Now...we are up-to-date...
Here I am currently. Obviously, I am not excited about pictures, but I do love to look back at the ones I took when I was pregnant with Laela. Laela was feeling left out and wanted to join, so of course I welcomed her into the picture! Look how she posed...too funny!!!Pregnancy Highlights:
How Far Along: 33 Weeks
Size of baby: About 4.5 lbs. I found out last week that my belly is back on track. He may still be big for the number of weeks, but the measurement was just right for the week. YEA! Also, I didn't gain any wait. :)
Maternity Clothes: I wear maternity bottoms but the tops are a mix of maternity and regular.
Gender: It's a boy!!!
Movement: Still crazy in there!
Sleep: I am tired!!! First week back with kids at school and it was exhausting! I had no idea what a big belly will do to you when you teach and are up on your feet all day.
What I miss: Being able to breathe without huffing and puffing. I need to start running again as soon as this big guy is delivered!
Cravings: Nothing. Actually eating less since being at work so much. Plus the heat has really gotten to me these last two weeks.
Best moment this week: Laela kissing my belly good-bye one morning before I left for school.

This summer I was able to work on his room. I did not complete it like I thought I would, but here are a few pictures to get you in the know. It took me forever to choose the fabrics, but once I did...we were good to go! Thanks to Jana for making the bumpers and quilt, as well as advising some of the other room ideas. Thanks to Jana's sister, Emily, for helping with the fabric choices and thanks to Jana's mom for giving her wonderful sewing advice! I will show completed room pictures soon. I just have one more little project, otherwise the room is complete. Here are two art projects that I made. If you look closely at the fabric, there is one with giraffes, so I put a few giraffes in the room. I saw these prints online and I made them into my own! I am absolutely loving the nursery! I love the gray. I love the giraffes. I love the different fabrics. I love it!

Bowling...

I forgot to post about going bowling back in mid-July. We joined The Garcia's (minus Joel) and The Hodges' (minus Will) to have a little fun! Laela absolutely loved it! She used one of the little ramps and did awesome. Laela toted the ball over, count to three and RELEASE! A few times she said it helped to watch it from down low. We need to go bowling more often and Ro will have to join us, because Laela says that she needs to go bowl with her daddy!

(Sorry for the bad picture quality. I used my phone and there was a lot of movement! Better than nothing.)

San Antonio!

This year, we did not plan a big summer vacation. It was just too hot, I had a ton of projects to do, and Ro was busy at work. However, we did end up plan a long weekend in San Antonio...just the three of us...and we had a blast!
We flew down, just because we found GREAT deals on tickets and it was more convenient. So...of course we had to stop and eat in the airport! Laela was such a good helper with the bags and she did great at the check point, so she was able to talk daddy into getting her a KitKat bar. (Funny thing is...I was in the bathroom while this purchase was made. hmmmmm.)After getting in and check-in, we looked around the resort. (We stayed here . Oh man! We would recommend this place to anyone!) Then we headed to the Riverwalk in downtown San Antonio. The first thing Laela saw were the tour boats going through the canal and she had to go on them! It was pretty warm out, but we had a blast! She was all smiles the entire ride. Then off for mexican food where she was starting to go coocoo!The next day we did a little shopping and then hung out at the resort pools. It was fantastic! All of the pools were kid friendly, but there were also plenty of adults. There were intertubes to go down the lazy river and Ro even went on the big "adult" slide. He said he was a little scared, but he made it out alive!Of course we made it to Sea World too! We got there when they opened and it lasted a good four hours. I thought that was pretty good time for the three of us. We got to see the Shamu and sea lion show, as well as ride several rides...like the Shamu roller coaster! (Oh...Laela did not like that one too much.) It was an awesome day and the girls got a nap during the car ride back. :)The rest of our time there was spent at the pool relaxing. We all enjoyed it so much! Laela even took my picture one afternoon. I looked like a beached whale, but oh well. No one cared. We were on vacation. Oh! I almost forgot! The resort made smores every night at 7:00. Seriously. You would just get in line to get your marshmallows, roast them in the fire pit, and then go back to get your graham crackers and chocolate. YUMMMMM-O. I will tell you that we enjoyed those two out of our three nights! Excellent summer, family trip. We WILL go back!

A few of my favorite iPhone pics...

Sometimes I just snap random pictures with my phone, but I don't ever do anything with them. Well, I was just thinking that I would post them...with no explanations...and you can come up with your own stories. :) Here are a few of my favorites from this summer! Happy Wednesday!

Changing diapers!

Laela has been talking a lot about being a good helper and changing diapers, so I was not surprised the other morning to find her...changing one of her babies' diapers on the changing table. Then, as I watched for a minute longer, she even gave the baby a paci to calm him during the changing process. (she found a stash of new paci's in a drawer and has now taken over them!) Oh man...she is going to be a WONDERFUL BIG SISTER!

Circus time!

It is so amazing to see how Laela changes each year that we go to the circus. The circus has just been something fun that Ro and I have done and now we have gone the last 3 years with Laela. I love this tradition!This year's circus was not the best that I had seen, but it was definately fun for Laela! She sat and enjoyed almost the entire show. Of course she was very interested in every animal, but she really noticed the clowns this year. Funny part was...she was very bothered by the "big, tall people"...AKA clowns on stilts. I don't know why, but she did not like them and she continues to tell me that she does not like them! Oh well. We made it through. We were so proud of Laela for not asking for anything while we were at the circus. Some kids will want everthying they see and throw a fit if they don't get it. Well, Laela play with and checked out every toy they had to offer, but she did not demand to have any of them. I love that about her! Just after intermission, we did ask if she would like to go look and pick out something and she said sure! Her and daddy came back with a cool elephant snowcone cup. She enjoyed the many colors!Overall, great experience and we will be there again next year!