Busy week!

 We are redoing our main bathroom! Our first real, hugely expensive renovation: new mirror, sink, and vanity! It was worth the $$... I think it's a beautiful update, and Sophia can actually use this sink by herself! (The old 1950's faucets were too hard for her to turn and regulate the temp with!). More to come!

 I just love this outfit. Sometimes I look at pictures of Sophia and just wonder where the baby went...

 More tulip love! We also have a hyacinth that's up and blooming and all the irises have popped up. I was also surprised to see our perennial herbs already flourishing in the garden, as well as a hearty row of catnip and a row of lettuce!

 Last night (thurs the 26th) was Sophia's big school carnival. I am VERY tired today!

 Sophia played "chase" with Santi and Jack for about an hour. Santi and Jack had their faces painted like tigers and were growling and chasing Sophia and she was just screaming with laughter. Sophia seems to play with the boys more than the girls???

 Sophia and Santi (whose real name is "Santiago;" his family is from Spain). She just loves him and was following him around and hugging him... he would smile and shrug her off. He didn't know what to think!

 When we got home we found ducks right by our house!!! They are nesting in a drainage ditch! I LOVE our location right in the city, but near a river, where we get to see so much wildlife (especially ducks, geese, and other birds, and deer). There is also a moose running around the north side of the city. Love it. :)

 Sophia threw them a bunch of bread. I can't believe how close they let us get! The boy duck hung back and let the girl duck eat almost all of the bread. He was quite the gentleman.



 Sophia pretending to be pregnant :) She stuffs dolls down her shirt!

 On Friday night Sophia had her last preschool Skateland Party of the year! She loved trying a race car arcade game with daddy... check out the intensity!

 With her lovely friend, Larissa, who forced her mom to buy Sophia matching glow accessories!

 Sunday was a nice day and of course we headed up to the barn to play with Margie! Sophia just loves having picnics up there :) We also went up to Grand Forks all day Sat and had a GREAT day with the in-laws: Travis, Carmen and I all went for a horse ride, Sophia loved seeing her cousins and had a hilarious time with them, and we had a great dinner out later... and I didn't take a single picture! Bad!

And a "almost 16 weeks" tummy shot! Sorry about the poor quality... it was a quick snap in the bathroom this morning! My latest huge craving: anything BBQ!!! Definitely have a little tummy :) Might be the baby, might be the BBQ ;)

Sophia's Big News!

Today when Travis and I dropped Sophia off her teacher, Ms Maria, talked to us for a minute and let us know that Sophia is officially reading!!!! I've been feeling for some time that Sophia has been reading, but Maria was waiting for a particular milestone: Sophia can consistently sound out the letters of any word and make the leap between the sounds and the word! Yay!!! Sophia can read by herself!
We are super proud parents :)

MORE Margie!

 I know that everyone else thinks he or she has the MOST kid-tolerant pet/s, but I think our pets really deserve that prize!!! Actually, this begs the question: why are pets so very tolerant of children? What is it about kids that pets seem to recognize and provide extra allowances for?

 Saturday was an incredibly beautiful day in the bi-polar weather state of Minnesota!

 Check out that CONFIDENCE! Her legs are coming down, she's nice and relaxed in the saddle, and even has moments of NO hands on the horn! Here she turned in the saddle to wave to the camera. Big progress!



A Hiccupy Performance!

Sophia just learned this "happiness" song in her music class and it is SOOO cute! I wanted to record it for the blog, but, as luck would have it, she developed the hiccups right when I pressed "record!" I decided it was cute anyway, and the hiccups are so funny, so here it is!

PREGNANCY STATS

Well, I hit a milestone today and decided that it should go down in history! Then I thought maybe I would add a few more remarks on the pregnancy thus far. Here is goes:
1. My ultra, mega 14.5 weeks pregnancy milestone: Today I am wearing maternity pants for the first time! :) I am so glad that I kept my bigger clothes from my last pregnancy, because I've been able to get away with "normal clothes" for the entire first trimester. At this point my size 10 pants are still very comfortable, and most of my size 8's are also good (and even one weirdly sized 6!), but I "outgrew" my only pair of work khakis many weeks ago. Today I decided that I was tired of not having khakis in my closet, so I busted out maternity khakis! No maternity shirts yet, though. That would really be throwing in the towel!
2. I had my 2nd prenatal appointment on Friday the 13th. I have gained exactly 5 pounds since my annual exam back in October (back when I was still marathon training!), and I'm just fine with that.
3. When I was pregnant with Sophia I was paranoid about everything. I knew in my heart that she was a delicate little girl, and I coddled her even in the womb. This baby? I feel like this baby is TOUGH. I have the feeling this baby will be bigger and stronger. I feel like it's either a boy or a major tomboy. I haven't switched to organic shampoo, I'm not making flaxseed fruit shakes every morning, and I even use bugspray with DEET. I feel like this baby can handle it!
4. This pregnancy is different, but many of the symptoms are the same. I get the most terrible headaches. My skin is going crazy; which includes zits on my back (?!) and hands SO dry that they're covered in little scabby things. My sinuses are also starting to go crazy, just like they did with Sophia. I also craved spicey foods with both pregnancies; like mustart full of horseradish and jalapenos. BUT, so far I don't crave the sweets that I wanted with Sophia. I think that's helping my weight!
5. Current Cravings: Jalapenos on everything!!! During the entire 1st trimester I ate mostly sandwiches: avocado, jalapenos, pickles, lettuce, tomatoes and cheese on whole wheat bread. Yum. I'm not a fan of greasy food right now. The only way I really enjoy our weekly pizza is if it's smothered in jalapenos. I've also been craving fruit: apple juice, pears, strawberries, and Edy's natural strawberry popsicles are the biggies. I have not been crazy about chocolate or my usual fave, Ben and Jerry's ice cream. That's a big dietary shift for me! Also, for about 2 months, I could not stand tomato sauce (pizza, pasta, etc.). That took a big bite out of our vegetarian options! Luckily I seem to be over that, but it's still not my favorite.
6. My energy is coming back, but I still crash and burn. I haven't picked up a book since about 6 weeks. I fall into bed every night! Magazines are the only thing keeping my foot in the literary world!
7. I CAN'T SLEEP!!! The weird, vivid dreams are letting up, but I still can't catch a break. It's mostly the bladder issue, but I also just can't get comfortable anymore. I'm also just sleeping more lightly than usual. Every time Travis turns over or a cat meows I'm awake and ready for action!
8. Another note from my prenatal appt on the 13th: We had a hard time picking up the heart beat, which I don't remember ever happening with Sophia. My CNM's nursing student tried to pick up the baby's heart with the doppler. She tried and tried, but all we heard was a weird whooshing sound. I asked what was wrong and they both started laughing and said the baby was moving so much she couldn't nail it's heart beat. Then the CNM tried, and, after several minutes, he finally managed to pick it up. It's a wiggler for sure!

Puppies

 The tulips bloomed yesterday! They were a bit closed because we had some clouds, but love the color!

 Last night Sophia and I rode bikes to our friend's house because their wolf hybrid just had PUPPIES!!! The puppies are 4 days old, but already seemed pretty big and were REALLY moving around! They were SO cute!!! Sophia and Aria had a great time hanging out too, and of course Leslie and I always enjoy a little girl-time! Icey (the white dog) is not the mommy wolf, but she IS a very sweet, protective auntie.

 Check out the markings on this girl! They are just stunning.

 Love the face markings! Most of them have that ferret/badger-like mask. Love the stripe!

Love :)

2 more pics from the media debut!

Well I finally figured out how to grab the other two photos from the newspaper! For someone who spends 8 hours a day on the computer sometimes it amazes me how long it can take to figure out simple things!

 This photo was HUGE and on the front page of the section (not section A, unfortunately! Next time! Haha). Look at that air! Surely she will be a hurdles girl in Track & Field just like mama!

I LOVE this picture. For those of you who have known Sophia from day 1 I know that you understand how thrilled I am to see my little girl bloom into a social butterfly! 

Feeling Baby

I wasn't going to post this, but then I decided that I should, since this blog is pretty much my only regular journal. For the last couple of days/nights I have been wondering if I've been feeling the baby. On Saturday night I woke up at 4:30am and thought I could feel strange pressure "inside" my abdomen. (That's why I was playing Easter Bunny at such an ungodly hour!). Anyway, it felt like something pushing, but not against my skin. Somewhere inside. Sunday evening I sat on the couch while Travis gave Sophia her bath and just focused on my belly, because I thought I was feeling something again. Last night, I woke up at 3:30am and I'm quite certain it was the baby who woke me! I could feel a very small, hard spot against my skin; just below my belly button and to the right. I rubbed my fingers around the spot and could distinguish a very small area of pressure. It was rock hard... it was something pressing me in a tiny area. A tiny foot? A tiny hand? A little head? I rubbed the hard little spot and willed it to stay forever. I focused on the tiny spot and sent all my love to the new baby. After a few minutes the hard little area softened, and then was gone. It felt like holding the baby's hand for the first time. I hope the baby could feel all my love!

Happy Easter!

 We kicked off Easter on Saturday afternoon, by turning my Grandma Gale's carrot cake recipe into cupcakes! Best cooking risk I've ever taken! ;) YUM!

 Saturday dawned chilly, but warmed up nicely and was a beautiful day! These are the trees and plants around our house... I love seeing the new leaves!

 Saturday evening we continued my family's tradition of dyeing hard boiled eggs...

 Sophia was so proud of the eggs!

 At about midnight on Saturday I assembled Sophia's Easter basket/present. At 4:30 a.m. I snuck into her room and put them on her bed... another one of my family traditions!

 Sophia finding her loot at about 8a.m. on Sunday! She devoured a little candy before I could stop her!

 Her big Easter present: a remote control airplane that carries cars, from Cars II (her favorite movie). She had been coveting this since Christmas. When Travis and I saw it go on sale in January we snagged one and saved it for Easter!

 After allowing a little time to play with her Easter loot, we headed into the living room so Sophia could find her dyed eggs that I had hidden at 4:30am (another family tradition!).

 Fortunately, Sophia LOVES hard boiled eggs!

 The airplane was close by all day... she even asked if she could nap with it! (I said no).

 I love this pic because that is a total Warner face. I have seen pictures of my mom, uncle, brothers and myself where we are all making that face!

 The Easter feast! Sunday was 5 hours of cooking, which resulted in: A white vegetable lasagna, sweet potatoes, fresh pineapple, twice-baked potatoes, strawberry salad, and green bean casserole (the garlic twists were frozen... I had to do a little cheating!). Followed by carrot cupcakes, of course!

 Travis insisted on taking a pic of his plate!

Oh! The carnage! Haha. We also took the dogs and Sophia on her big-girl bike for a long walk to Woodlawn park on Sunday evening... we had to walk off some calories! Sorry we didn't take any pics... it was such a beautiful evening too! Happy Easter everyone!