The 2nd Trimester

At 13 weeks I have officially embarked on the 2nd trimester of pregnancy. I have started feeling much better over the last couple of weeks... the queasiness has dissipated... the exhaustion has lifted... and I'm starting to feel more connected to the baby (it's becoming "real!"). I actually feel very comfortable right now. My vivid dreams have subsided and I'm getting great rest at night. I'm still able to sleep in my favorite position (my stomach) and am still able to get by without the maternity clothes. I have a little tummy though! And I love it! I'm thinking about the baby a lot more and I can feel the maternal bond forming. I'm excited to be in the 2nd trimester! I don't feel at all impatient like I did with Sophia. I'm enjoying pregnancy as much as I can!

 Week 0! I took this pic right around the time I likely conceived... notice that I already look sort of pregnant! Haha (I no longer fit into those jeans!)

 Week 7! I had gained about 5 lbs by then (I've since lost some of that), but was also dealing with one of the major early symptoms of pregnancy: bloating!!!!

Week 12 :) A genuine baby bump started to appear around week 11!

Birthday party!

 Last night (Thursday, March 5th) we headed to Chuck E Cheese to help celebrate Wyatt's birthday! Wyatt is the cutest little boy in Sophia's preschool class... he is just a hoot! Almost the entire class turned out for the celebration, but what really amazed me was how many other people were at Chuck E Cheese on a BEAUTIFUL day and a school night! The place was PACKED!

 Sophia just loves the mechanized cars.

 She finally figured out how to pull herself up into the play tubes by herself!

 The make believe band... this always makes me think of my 3rd or 4th birthday party at Chuck E Cheese in Georgia. We have a home video of the party and used to watch it a lot when we were kids growing up in VT and were Chuck E Cheese-deprived!



Sophia has quite a spread in today's newspaper! The photo below is from the online paper... there are even more photos in the printed paper, but the online version has a video from her class! Check it out: http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/356157/

The article was about starting young children in structured activities, like ballet. I think it's a pretty well-balanced article, and I feel good about having Sophia in a few structured activities (part-time preschool during the school year, ballet once a week during school year, and swimming and art in the summer). The ballet in particular has been great for teaching Sophia to focus and pursue something with discipline! I also agree that it's important to let kids lead activities, and we spend LOTS of time in our city's parks or just outside enjoying walks and bike rides (and horse rides!), and Sophia loves choosing a science experiment every week or two from her science books (right now we're growing mold and watching a piece of paper break down outside... she chooses! The mold is GROSS!). Of course Sophia also has a vivid imagination, and spends LOTS of time every day conducting her own activities and even doing her own art projects with her art kits. I feel pretty good about Sophia's life balance. She seems fairly normal and happy so far! :)

MORE Margie!

 Travis had Tuesday off, and it was a BEAUTIFUL day, so we headed up to the stable when I finished work! Sophia is now practicing "reins." We tied a rope around Margie's neck so there won't be any jerking on her mouth while Sophia gets the hang of things. :)

 Margie is a GREAT trail horse, but seems a bit rusty on the arena... Travis and I are working hard to teach her to hug the rail and transition smoothly! Sophia loves throwing out commands (like a show announcer!). Her favorite command is "Canter! Canter!"

Cowgirl Training in Progress!

Another little riding video!

I don't really enjoy it when Sophia acts like a sassy little pop star, but Travis enjoys it immensely and insisted that I post this little video!

Another Fun (And Insanely Busy!) Weekend

 On Friday night we headed to the Rodeo at the Fargodome! We got there an hour early and managed to get AMAZING seats... they were actually "Gold Buckle Reserved Seats" (as in, you have to pay twice as much!) but we arrived before the ticket-checkers did and, as luck would have it, nobody bought our particular seats. :)

 Warming up...

 Calf roping!

 Sophia was quite the sticky cotton-candy girl!

 The broncs... sorry for the blurry pictures, but they just move so darn fast!

 The rodeo clown... this rocket act was his funniest. Otherwise, his acts were largely political and thus only appreciated by half the crowd... ugh... even the rodeo clowns get into election year bickering!

 One of Sophia's favorite events: the cowgirls running barrels! The cowgirls were awesome: big hair, glittery belts, sparkling saddles, and AMAZING, beautiful horses. Not to mention incredible riders! They all ran the barrels between 13.18 and 14.2 seconds!

 Sophia's other favorite: the bulls. As you can see, this cowboy barely made it out of the gate! There were some crazy bulls! Out of 18 rides only 3 bullriders stayed on long enough to score!

 When we got home Sophia asked for her horse pajamas and then jumped on her trusty paint rocking horse for a ride across the kitchen! She loves rocking it hard enough to make it travel!

 On Saturday morning we had ballet, and then headed out to the stable to see Margie. Note the one hand on her leg... Sophia's riding confidence is soaring!

 It's been so exciting to see Sophia suddenly start to evolve in her relationship with horses. Of course Travis and I hope that she will someday love them as much as us, but we've always been open to the possibility that she won't be horse-crazy, and haven't pushed it... however... she's starting to exhibit signs! We watched the cartoon "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron" on Saturday night and Sophia cried almost the whole way through (I never noticed how many trials poor Spirit is put through!). At one point she was bawling after the "bad guys" roped Spirit and I asked her why she was crying and she said "I just really love horses!" :)

 Sunday turned into another record-breaking beautiful day in the upper 70's, and we pulled down the bicycles, pumped up the tires, and made the 40-minute bike ride to Trollwood Park in North Fargo. Sophia loved it!

 There are 3 playground structures at Trollwood, and digging stations... Frolf courses... trails... picnic tables, etc. It's a beautiful park! 

 Picnic time!

 When we got back home Sophia was inspired to try her "big girl" bike. I miss her little trike already :(

 On Sunday night Travis, Sophia and I went to the American Legion's 93rd annual Membership Dinner, where I was presented with an award for Meritorious Service. :) I feel so lucky to have a job that I enjoy... it seems like everything falls into place and the job keeps getting better and better!

Photo op with my boss, Tom, and our part-time Admin Assistant (she has my old job!), Bonnie. It was a fun night, and very moving! What a cap for an incredible weekend! (And check out all the sun I got this weekend!) Haha

A Few Recent Sophia-isms

"I love you the bestest!"
"You're sweet."
"Your bedroom is my office."
"I'm working on my health insurance." (???)
"I'm going to work now! I'll be back!"
"I'm too exhausted" (to talk about her school day. She says this everyday when I ask how school was!)
"I'm just little." (Her favorite new excuse).
"Why? Why? Why?"
Me: "Why don't you like Shrek anymore?"
Sophia: "Because yogas are too scary!"
(She means "ogres.")
"I'm pregnant!"
"I love sperms." (Sophia LOVES conception/fetal development videos. However, this has expanded her vocabulary in embarrassing ways!).
"Tadpole and me can ride Margie double-saddle." (She calls the fetus "Tadpole").
"I'm flying to the city of Japan, in Italy."
"Can I have a pet worm?"
"Why is there no fun for me?" (I was asking her to clean up her toys!)

The family meets Margie!

 Travis leading our niece, Jaylin, and her little brother, DJ, double-saddle!

 Travis walking Jaylin

 Sophia's turn!

 Lindsey leading DJ around

 DJ, double saddle with his mama, Lindsey!

 Obviously not a flattering pic of our horse, but Lindsey and DJ look so cute!

 My father in law, Ralph, had quite a ride. He goes fast like his son!

 Sophia and DJ really played well together. I have to admit that Sophia seems more interested in playing in the country than playing with the horse, but that's ok too! We all have a great time out there!

 More Ralph and Margie

Wait a minute... Is that a pink glove on Ralph??!! ;)

 It was a beautiful day but a bit chilly! Baby Ava was well bundled!

1. Lindsey getting to know Margie! Margie did really well with Lindsey... Lindsey managed to turn her trot into a proper jog and collected Margie's canter beautifully. They were a good team!