First Peek

I had another doctor appointment today. Baby #2 is about 11 weeks along at this point and only about an inch and a half long. He is rolling about and waving when we peek at him on the ultrasound. One good thing about being labeled "high risk" is that nearly every week I get to spy inside and see how he is growing.

I also got extra health insurance today so we don't have to worry about all the medical bills headed our way. That's a huge weight off our mind. My clothes are starting to get tight already, I guess it happens earlier the second time around. Thankfully I am still feeling pretty good and the days pass quickly.

Toy Story 3

On daddy's day off we decided to take Peter to the mall to go see Toy Story 3. We made a big deal out of it! We used a Disney Gift Card we had left from Xmas and bought Peter a few of the stuffed toys. He went as a walking advertisement for the movie!


Peter loves his Buzz and Woody dolls, even though he sometimes gets confused over who is who. He likes to make them both "fly up high". He was a hit with the other kids though. They all wanted to see his toys.


We got to the theater a little late, so decided to wait 30 minutes until the next showing. That was ok though because it gave Peter some time to run in the play area and burn off some energy before hand.


Peter is getting so brave lately. He keeps jumping off things higher and higher. I swear this stage coach was probably 3 feet off the ground, he looks like he is flying! Of course, he still wouldn't let go of his toys!


We had a good time at the movie. It got to be a little long and the last 30 minutes Peter was kinda restless. Most of the time though he just liked to yell "Buzz!" "Woody" at the screen and clutch his stuffed friends. Thankfully, we had brought some Peter friendly popcorn and fruit snacks so they helped pass the time. There were some moments in the movie that he thought were "scary!" and he quickly learned who the bad guys were which was fun to watch. Mommy and Daddy got a little choked up at the end when the little boy, Andy grew up and had to say goodbye to his toys. (To be honest mommy is high on pregnancy hormones and had a full on waterfall going down her cheeks.) All in all though it was a great movie!

Agua Linda Farm

Last weekend Peter and I headed an hour out of town to go visit Agua Linda Farm for their Garlic & Onion Festival.


It was another 100+ degree day. Supposedly it was cooler on the farm, but it didn't feel like it. We were melting on our hayride into the fields.


Peter laid down in my shadow to try to hide from the sun. The fields in Arizona are nothing like what I'm used to in Iowa. They seem so much more dusty and barren to me, but then I'm used to the rich dark top soil of the midwest.


Peter liked to make silly faces at me on the hayride.


But he had fun. He liked to watch the tractor that was pulling us and say "hi" to the other people.


We even got to see some donkeys! They came right up to the fence to see us.


That was a real treat for Peter since he has been on a Shrek kick. One of the main characters is a donkey so it was really exciting!


After our hayride we just kinda played around on the farm. We got some garlic burgers and sat down in the shade under a bunch of trees. They had a band playing classic rock music that was pretty good. Peter ran around the yard hiding in tall grass and wildflowers. It was a great afternoon.


They even had some pet geese that the toddlers were trying to pet. While other kids would inch forward and try to touch them Peter just ran right up to them wanting to tackle the geese. They of course ran away pretty quick so he never got very close.


It was beautiful there and made me wonder if we could ever live on a farm. It was so peaceful and relaxing. And Peter had the greatest time enjoying nature and the simple things there. It was fun to watch him.


One of the highlights though had to be the horses in the petting zoo. Peter learned how to feed the horses hay. He had the biggest smile on his face watching them eat the food he was giving them.


I even got a fun video of him feeding them!

Playing Catch Up

I haven't written much on here this past month so lets do some quick updates! The pictures are just random cute ones.

We joined the YMCA! I was able to get a great deal for the next 6 months so I snatched it! We have a family membership so we can all go plus their gym has one of the most highly recommended child watch areas in town. Every time we go Peter runs giggling into the play room towards all the toys. He has a blast there which means that I can get a full work out in and feel good about what he is doing. Some of our best friends are members also so the kids get to play together while we work out together. So much fun! We have gone every day for the past week! It feels good to help my body get ready for this pregnancy. Plus I haven't gained any weight and my blood pressure is down!


Peter can go to the movies! The movie theaters here all have a summer movie program in the mornings where they show cartoon movies and the kids get in free. (I think they are hoping you'll buy concessions, which usually does happen.) We have seen Shrek 3, Curious George, and Monsters Vs. Aliens. Peter doesn't like to sit in his chair the whole time and sometimes wanders down a few seats, but he does pretty well. I have to sneak in my own air-popped popcorn from home since he can't have the buttered stuff.



The current obsessions: Shrek, Hulk, Spiderman, Robots. The Care Bears movies are starting to get worn out. If I let him he'd watch them 3 times a day. He always wants to watch the "Bears" and is starting to be able to name the characters and say "Care!" I need to find some Care Bear books somewhere. He is also currently on a kick of finding things that are "scary". His snake is scary, tigers are scary, monsters are scary, Hulk is scary. He thinks this is incredibly funny, especially when he succeeds in "scaring" us with a loud growl.


Peter is very good at making friends. He likes to say "hi" to other kids when we are out and about. I always get a kick out of him whenever we go to McDonalds because he will just grab some older kids hand and drag him onto the playground to play. Since Peter still doesn't talk much the older kids just look a little confused and don't know what to say. But they go with him and have fun leading him through the tower of tubes.


We are working on getting the dog trained a little more. Over the past few months he has gotten into a habit of tearing apart kleenex boxes or hunting for food around the house if we leave her out while we are away. He is now confined to his crate whenever we leave the house. It has taken a lot of stress off of us, has kept the dog healthy (all that kleenex was NOT good for him), and lets the cat get some relaxing time while we are gone. It's also nice to come in the house and not have him jumping all over us the moment we open the door. Peter has started to help this week. He helps open the crate door, says "Box!" and then closes the door behind the dog. Sometimes he will even grab his collar and lead him into the box. It's cute to watch him help.


John celebrated his birthday at the beginning of June. He got lots of nice cards from the family and we took him out to eat at Red Lobster. John ate about a pound of crab legs as well as an entire lobster tail. Ok, well maybe not the entire thing...he did let Peter try a few bites. Peter kept trying to peek inside the empty shells. Peter also got his own kids plate with steamed flounder and he ate that right up. His favorite thing by far was the Cherry Sprite in his own kids cup. And of course, he had to run to escape the table several times to wave "hi!" to the lobsters in tanks by the front door. Peter has since liked finding crabs and enjoys using his hands like pincers.



Other than that, can't think of too much. About to enter Week 9 of pregnancy. Baby is about an inch long now and its organs and muscles are functioning on its own. Peter totally understands that an ultrasound picture is a picture of a baby. Anytime he sees one he yells "Baby!" and comes running for my tummy. He tries to peek in my belly button to see it and goes "Knock knock!" which is code for COME OUT! I have a feeling it will be a LONG time until January.

Baby Update - Week 8

We got to see our new baby on ultrasound this week and even listen to its heartbeat!! Peter had to come with me to the doctor, but John was able to meet us there so everyone joined me for the ultrasound.

We told Peter we were looking at the baby in mommy's belly. When I had to lift my shirt up to show my belly Peter was ready to take his shirt off too and look at his belly. Then he watched the baby on the tv. The doctor even printed out a picture of the baby (basically just a blob) and we gave it to Peter. He likes to pull it out and yell "BABY!" It's super cute.

They were able to get a more accurate due date this time. We are due on January 22nd, 2011.

So far no big symptoms. I'm tired, duh! I'm chasing a toddler all day! And I've already started to get numbing of my hands at night, which didn't happen last time until the final trimester. Other than that not too bad. We're having fun so far!

Bubblepalooza

We recently went to the Tucson Children's Museum for their Bubblepalooza Celebration. Peter was excited to get out of the car and see a bunch of bubbles taking over the museums front yard.


He anxiously waited for his turn to play with the bubbles and liked to watch them fly from the automatic bubble machine.


I should have brought his sunglasses, he kept looking straight up into the sky towards all the bubbles.


Finally Peter took his turn at one of the giant bubble boxes. He dug around in the soapy water to find the perfect toys.


There were so many to choose from! He loved the giant bubble makers the most.


He tried with all his might to blow a giant bubble.


He also found a little racquetball kinda birdie thing. Blowing into it cause a little waterfall of bubbles which was pretty neat.


Cute shot of my boy and his baby blues. Those eyes aren't changing color anytime soon!


Peter loved to get close to all the bubbles. He learned from all the other kids that you are supposed to try to catch them or clap them. He had a great time running around after bubbles. He took a great nap that day!

Wild Nights

Ever since Peter was sick at the beginning of May we have had a heck of a time getting him to bed every night. It has become the most dreaded part of my day. I feel like I am a soldier heading into war some nights!

What makes it worse is that he has been such a good sleeper up until now. We never had much of a problem keeping him in bed or getting him to sleep. Maybe its just the Terrible 2's rearing their ugly head.

Just as an example this was my other night:

7:00pm Get Peter a fresh diaper, a drink and head to bed.

7:10pm Read books

7:30pm Put Peter in bed, turn on nightlight and music. Turn off lights and leave room. I also put up a baby gate on his door just to keep him in there.

7:31pm Peter starts getting out of bed. He does a little light show flipping his light switch on and off in a strobe effect. Mommy keeps goes back to turn it off and put him back in bed. Peter opens his door and bangs on the baby gate trying to knock it down, he succeeds 3 times.

8:15pm Mommy gets fed up. She pulls out the duct tape and tapes the light switch off. There is peace for a few moments.

8:25pm HUGE CRASH.

8:26pm Mommy runs to the back room and sees Peter standing by the gate innocently looking up...nothing seems wrong. Mommy turns on the light.

8:27pm Mommy screeches as she sees that Peter has dumped the entire fish tank onto his bookshelf. The entire bookshelf, books, and the floor are soaked with water. Mommy grabs some towels and goes into the room screaming at Peter to "GET IN BED NOW!!!"

8:30pm Mommy finds the two fish flopping about between some books. Quickly plops them in the little water left in the bowl and rushes to the kitchen to fill it with more water.

8:32pm Mommy is on the floor putting towels on the worst of it and trying to sort through what books are salvagable. Yelling at Peter "YOU SEE THIS?? THIS WAS YOUR FAVORITE BOOK! NOW ITS TRASH!" "DON'T YOU DARE GET OUT OF THAT BED!" "DON'T TALK TO ME, BE QUIET!" "NO, BED!"

8:45pm Mommy realizes that she has lost it and is seething as she wipes of board books on the floor. Notices that the water got UNDER the bookshelf too. Empties off the top of the bookshelf and lugs the ENTIRE thing to the other side of the room in order to get under it. "LOOK WHAT YOU DID!" "STAY IN BED!" "IT'S BEDTIME!"

8:55pm Mommy throws 6 soaked towels out of Peter's room and into the laundry. Drags a fan into Peter's room and aims it at the still damp corner. Turns off the light. "DO NOT GET OUT OF THAT BED!"

9:00pm Peter is quiet as mommy wipes up more books in the living room and spreads them out all over the floor to dry.

9:05pm Peter finally falls asleep...2 hours after bedtime.

In Case You Missed It...

So how many of you noticed Peter's t-shirt in the last post???

That's right! Peter is going to be a big brother!

WE ARE PREGNANT!

Still too early to know much, its about the size of a blueberry at this point. Mommy has had some bouts of morning sickness but overall has been feeling great. The doctors say my blood sugar/diabetes has been very controlled over the past 3 months so everything looks perfect.

Jen is about 6-7 weeks along and due in January 2011. We are SUPER excited to have another addition to our family!

(Sidenote: I think we are gonna have to change the title of the blog at some point to include the new addition! I'll let you know when that change comes.)