25 Weeks and Growth Ultrasound

I'm actually 27 weeks as I write this and we just got the ultrasound today...but here is my 25 week belly shot.  I feel fine and this baby boy moves almost constantly.  He is measuring 3 days ahead of schedule (how the OB comes up with this stuff I do not know), is in the 57th percentile for weight (2pounds 6 oz).  I predict he will be smaller than Liberty's 9lbs 22in, and come early rather than late (7 days!) like she did.  I've gained 20 pounds so far.  Liberty is the most enthusiastic sibling in the world and her little brother isn't even here yet!  She often brings him toys or blankets and will start a random dinner conversation with "I think we need to buy our baby boy a crib at Target".  lol  She thinks of him constantly.  Actually, for her weekly show and share at preschool she is bringing her "BIG SISTER" book.  She has started a pile of toys for "when our baby boy comes" and always wants to add to it things she sees that we have stored away (like the infant car seat/bumbo/etc).  Daily we watch videos of when she was a tiny baby.  She seems to have a real grasp about all the things our baby won't be able to do.  She told the OB today "Our baby will only have a tiny bit of hair."  And she mentions how he will only drink milk and won't have any teeth and how we'll have to teach him to say mama/dadda.  I'm amazed at how interested she is and it's hard to push off the excitement...but we've started to tell her that her brother will come "after Halloween" so she can at least have some sort of tangible milestone of time.

From BUMP baby #2

face - closed eyes, nose, lips, and arm/wrist/hand - I think the middle picture is the only decent one.

Weekend (GNO, Farmers Market, Splashpad, Potluck, Playdate)

Friday - Girls Night Out at Pizzeria Bianco!
Saturday - Breakfast at Gilbert Farmers Market + Petting Zoo + Splashpad.  Dinner and swimming at neighbors!
Sunday - Neighbor girls over to decorate cupcakes and play play play.  Cookout with family in Fountain Hills.

Amazing what a totally empty weekend can turn into overnight:)

Random Pictures

dress up potty break

From 2012_8_8 - Cupcakes and Dressup

8am cupcakes

From 2012_8_8 - Cupcakes and Dressup

ebay helper - anyone in the market for some bears my aunt collected?

From 2012_8_20 - Skirt by Kris

2nd Day of Preschool

From 2012_8_16 - Preschool

1st Day at Preschool!

Liberty is in the 3s program at Wilkins Learning Center. She goes Tuesday/Thursday 8:45am-11:45am. Dropping her off for her first day went great - she happily held Mrs. Ratliff's hand to the playground area and gave me a hug/kiss goodbye. I went to my car and cried a little and then had to get going to my MOPS group that meets during the same time.

The first thing she told me at pickup was "I made a beautiful painting for you mommy!" and we went home with like 3 crafts already! (we don't have an easle at home, so I think that's particularly thrilling - and she got to use LOTS OF BLUE PAINT). I asked her teacher if she was at all weepy and she said she wasn't. And I asked if she went potty and she said she DID ASK HER and went - which shocked me because I put her in shorts that had a button/zipper that I've never seen her do - so I think she got some major help. I asked Liberty who helped her get her shorts off and she said Mrs. Ratliff - so I guess I believe her:)

Eventually I got 4 stories out of her.
1 - "A little girl told me "NO!"" - and then that story developed into how they were going to be friends if the little girl named Camryn would be nicer to her. lol
2 - "I got to be a princess and everybody brought me food" - and then the story grew to how she sat in a red chair and was given popcorn. When I asked if anyone else got to eat popcorn she said no - so I'm a little suspicious of this story - and then she did say some of the food was pretend.
3 - Then Liberty started singing a song "pokey pokey bumble bee - can you say your name for me?" So I think they played a little name game song.
4 - "I ate teddy grahams, fig newton cookie and 3 mike&ikes candies!" - and "I threw away the bag in the trash" so I noticed she only ate the special "junk treats" I packed as snack and left the healthy stuff alone:)

Pinetop Tournament 2012

Each year we go to Pinetop to remember my Uncle Willie and have a memorial golf tournament. And every year it rains. No big deal - except this year it rained out the golf game - when some had only played a few holes. It was still a fun weekend of a dinner on Friday night, Saturday golf (lunch for non-golfers), and an after party cookout at my parents rented cabin. This year was especially fun because we shared a rented cabin with the Helsels and the cousins bonded. Most of my extended family comes and we see them for the afterparty which this year involved lots of toys and Liberty playing (mostly) unsupervised for a few hours - which was a peek of what is to come with older kids. All MY cousins were there (9) and some of them are young enough to play with Libs or adopt her as their special buddy.

Andy Visits!

happy happy joy joy. Uncle Andy came on an airplane to hang out with us! This was the best news to Liberty who frequently asks him to "come over and pretend with me?" (usually via her play phone). Liberty kept calling Andy her "dear uncle Andy". She also would tell me that he is her "best friend in the whoooole world" - which is a phrase she had reserved for mommy/daddy - but no longer. We swam, combated a haboob, organized the playroom, cooked out, went out to Liberty Market and Postinos and played played played. As we dropped Andy at the airport Liberty said "I miss him. He can come back whenever he wants" You heard her Dear Uncle Andy.

Waterbeads

I've been wanting to do this project for awhile. This past week while we were stuck inside on a hot day we grew these waterbeads (just add water for a few hours) and then spent the rest of the day pouring, squishing, sorting, dumping, spilling, etc. waterbeads.  It was a lot of fun - they feel so neat and are clean and reusable.  I took a ton of pictures and don't really have the time to go through them, so here is the entire album.  P.S. you can get these at walmart for like $1 in the floral section. Here is a link with much better pictures of these little beads: http://www.meetthedubiens.com/2012/07/water-marbles.html

21 weeks and 3 days

my bump.  The most adorable part about this bump is I'm still 6 pounds less than I was BEFORE I GOT PREGNANT WITH LIBERTY! So, happy slow weight gain party for me.  On a less vain note, I am feeling the baby boy kick a lot more lately and am feeling fine except for tiredness which I normally wouldn't mind except it makes me never finish my bookclub books!  Making some progress on names...2-3 name list...hopefully soon we'll decide.

From BUMP baby #2

What Kind of Animal Quiz

Liberty loves our new little game we call "What kind of animal?" where I quiz her about things animals do - like "What kind of animal likes to eat honey?" - "A BEAR!".  Or in Liberty answering style "How about BEARS!" This video is 5 min long because she decided to go on some cute tangents about hummingbirds and Shamu...

From 2012_7_20 - Waterbeads and what kind of animal VIDEOS

Watching a show

Here she is watching a show with "her baby boy and Madeline".

From 2012_7_20 - Waterbeads and what kind of animal VIDEOS

Princess and the Pea

Just a few bedtime notes about our picky princess.
1 - must have socks. Preferably clean ones with lots of blue.
2 - must have a very particular arrangement of stuffed animals.
3 - usually will need pajama pants even for nap (or shorts if it's too hot - not a skirt). Pants under a nightgown.
4 - she will not give up the socks even when she's sweaty.
5 - cupcake blanket must be flat.  She is never under covers.
6 - sound machine must be turned up if she hears motorcycles or cars going too fast.
7 - wants to wear a pull up even though she doesn't need it and is always dry.
8 - stalling tactics include: glass of water, going peepee last minute, telling daddy goodnight I love you AGAIN, telling her dogs/cats sleep tight, reading "one more tiny tiny really really short book" - or "just a half" of a book.

From 2012_7_20 - Waterbeads and what kind of animal VIDEOS