Catch up pictures

I have been slow to post pictures of our recent activities so I thought I would post a few to help catch up.

One of Addy's favorite activities is bouncing. Here she is at a bounce house play center in Omaha. Most of the bounce houses were too big for her so I think we will stick to our favorite indoor bounce house in Lincoln.


Speaking of our favorite indoor play center in Lincoln, here is Addy chasing bubbles there with one of her buddies.


We also made a visit to a local 'dinosaur museum' with some friends. Addy had a great time exploring all of the exhibits and loved to see the pretty rocks. I think we will have to add the dinosaur museum to our regular play rotation. :)

Pregnancy update

This is such a busy time of year, but in the midst of our chaos I have remembered to take a few pg pictures. We are pretty much ready for the little one, but are quite happy to wait until the middle of March to meet him/her. :) My Dr says all is going well and I am measuring right on target. Addy is happy to feel the little one move, but quickly grows bored of the activity. This past week, Addy had the chance to practice her bossy big sister personality on her cousin Oliver. It was cute to watch, but really made me a little sad to see Addy so grown up. Oh, and in case you missed it, my gender guessing poll closed (I was using it as a countdown to Christmas) and the verdict is boy. Or as David says it is a 50/50/90 chance. Meaning you have a one in two chance of guessing correctly, but the odds are 90% that you will get it wrong. ;)

Here I am at 27 weeks


28 weeks, this is probably a cheating shot, the black sweater makes it hard to actually see anything. :)

Another kitchen update

David has once again spent his two weeks off from work on our kitchen remodel project. He has really done a great job and I am confident that before too long, we will be able to rest on our laurels. The first two pics are before shots. The first is the more open area of the kitchen, what used to be a 4th bedroom. This is the space the island occupies now. The second shows the cabinets and lovely carpet and wallpaper. I am so happy we finally went ahead and started the project. I am even happier that we have made it as far as we have.




The next two pictures are looking down the length of the island. In the first, you can see the finished back splash.



This last picture is just a nice shot of the slate tiles. I am so in love with my rock kitchen. ;)


In a day or two, I will update again and show the floor with all the tiles laid. David is just working on cutting the last of the pieces. David has once again done a great job in his time off of work. Grouting is still to come, but I am happy to report that will be done quickly.

7 Random Book facts

TAGGED: 7 Random Book Facts
Tagged by Christy, http://bearpawcamp.blogspot.com/, this is kind of a short, book themed, get to know you tag. Here are the rules:


1. Link to the person who tagged you and post the rules on your blog.

2. Share seven random and/or weird book facts about yourself.

3. Tag seven random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.

4. Let each person know that they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.


#1 I am pretty sexist when it comes to authors and only rarely read books written by men. I am not sure I understand this, but it is sadly true.


#2 Almost as a rule I cheat and read the endings of books before I get too far in. I don't want to read a book where I am not prepared for the ending.


#3 I keep all of my favorite books and often reread them. Right now most of them are boxed away until we get to building shelves upstairs, but luckily I can get my favorites at the library.


#4 I LOVE Dianna Gabaldon's Outlander series. Addy's middle name (Claire) actually came from the books.


#5 I am collecting all of the original Oz books for Addy. I am trying to keep to editions published in the 30 and 40's, but some are 60 and 70's. There is certainly a sort of thrill to the hunt.


#6 I think my all-time favorite book is Tully by Paullina Simons. I first read it as a teenager and still cry through it. I also read Simon's Bronzed Horseman series. That is another great series, too bad most were only published in Europe and Australia. Luckily, the internet exists.


#7 I love finding new authors and reading books that I wouldn't necessarily have picked up on my own. Feel free to make any suggestions, I think I have about three months to get all of my reading in for a year or so. ;)

Ok, I am tagging:
Miranda at http://cmtrebesch.blogspot.com/
Kristi at http://ourtotallyawesomeblog.blogspot.com/
Diane at http://marensworld-diane.blogspot.com/
Anne at http://thomsenlord.wordpress.com/
Jen B at http://littlemonkey-joshua.blogspot.com/
Becca at http://babygreenbean.blogspot.com/
Emily at http://emilyandowenkillham.blogspot.com/

Twinkle twinkle little star

Part of our bedtime routine is singing with Addy. We rotate through a pretty long song list, Addy's favorites range from the trendy Wonder Pets to classics such as Addy had a little Kitty. Every time Addy sings twinkle twinkle little star it melts my heart. Here is a little clip of her magic. :)

A few random pics

Addy's hair needs to be cut, but in the meantime I have been experimenting with my french braiding technique. The first picture is from the front, which actually looks normal. The next picture is a side shot that reveals that my french braiding style bears no resemblance to a real french braid. Maybe my technique is more French-Canadian?





Last week, we had a warmer day so we all treked outdoors to put up some Christmas lights and remind ourselves that we never actually removed the leaves from the yard.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

This year I have a lot to be thankful for family, friends, good health, a truly blessed life. :) I hope everyone has a wonderful and happy Thanksgiving this year!

I wanted to share this picture of my in-progress ring sling project. Because I have Addy available I thought I should use her to try out my new sling. Addy wasn't at all interested or even cooperative, but luckily David was home and between the two of us we out maneuvered our two year old. ;) Overall, I am really pleased with how it is going to work. The bottom of the sling should be pulled down to Addy's knees/lower thighs and I could tighten the sling a little more, but not too bad for a work in progress.

Mamarazzi

Sometimes I get the feeling that Addy wishes she weren't so darned cute and hounded by the Mamarazzi all the time. I know celebs like Brad Pitt feel like they have it bad, but Addy claims she has it worse. ;)

Addy is happily enjoying a banana and a little quiet time before leaving for the morning.


Somehow Addy is alerted to the presence of the Mamarazzi.


Put that camera away! Can't I enjoy a moment of peace?


Well you can forget about me giving you a decent picture!


I said, No pictures!!

5 Things MeMe

Diane tagged me for this MeMe:

5 Things on My To-Do List:
Laundry
W. Moms Club-playgroup
Sewing projects-nursing pads and ring sling
Vacuum
Flu vax

5 Things I Like to Snack On (remember I'm pregnant!):
Graham crackers with frosting
Fruit
Rice cake bite size things-cheddar flavored
Chocolate of any variety
Ego waffles


5 Things I Would Do if I Was a Millionaire:
Move to PNW, somewhere in the mountains
Put away kids college accounts
Make impacting donations
Make super energy efficient changes to house
Help out family

5 Places I Have Lived:
Grand Forks, ND
Everett, Wa
Clifton Park, Ny
Zaragoza, Spain
Lompoc, Ca

5 Jobs I have Held:
Research Analyst, Evaluation Consortium, SUNY Albany
Asst. Manager at a book store
Graduate Student (fellowship)
Babysitter
Mommy

4 People I'm Tagging:
Miranda at Life on the Farm
Christy at Notes from the Nordstroms
Kristi at Hang on Baby Jesus. This is going to get bumpy.
Jen at Team Brown!

23 week baby bump

I have lots and lots of pregnancy shots from when I was pregnant with Addy so now that I am starting to show I want to get some pictures of the new little one and her/his future big sister. This pregnancy feels a lot different than my first in some ways but in other ways it feels like deja vu. Next week, I have another appointment and the opportunity to redeem my previous failings with the one hour glucose challenge test by passing it with flying colors. I know the three hour glucose tolerance test isn't that big of a deal but I would like to skip that this time around. Luckily, my appointment is before Thanksgiving! :)

23 week baby bump


Addy is such a little cuddle bug


Addy right before this week's tumbling class

Adventures with Tractors

On Monday a great friend organized a trip to the Tractor Museum at UNL's east campus. Addy loves tractors so I was thrilled to take her to see so many tractors in person. We were also able to visit the Tractor Testing Lab where the students who led our group of preschoolers were fabulous with the kids.

Addy could not get enough of the fork lift, I had to drag her out of it only to have her drag me back to it for another turn


One of Addy's favorite thing to do was to try to reach the shifter and foot pedals on all of the old tractors


As Addy calls them, this is a John Deere Green Tractor


This is one of the huge testing machines, I guess they attach it to the tractors to determine the engine's capabilities


Addy insisted on trying out an Oliver tractor in honor of her cousin Oliver

Sneak peek

David has been working quite hard and finished the painting, blinds, and has the back splash up (not grouted yet- it is setting still). I thought it would be fun to show off his hard work. I think he is looking forward to returning to work for a little down time.

The paint in real-life looks pretty similar to how it photographed, I LOVE how the back splash looks.

Tumbling class

One of the highlights of Addy's week is tumbling class, or did I give that away in the title? The class is geared for 2-4 year olds and only lasts half an hour. They start each class with stretching and a few activities to warm all the kiddos up. Then each parent and child can run through the set up stations at their own pace. Before class is over all the kids come back together for another group activity. Usually it is running through an obstacle course the instructor has set up for them. The class is perfect for Addy because at just 27 months she doesn't have the patience for a more rigid class and really she is just there for the bouncing.

Stretching with Daddy


Doing the butterfly with Mommy


Walking on the big balance beam


Swinging on the bar


Crawling through a tunnel on one of the obstacle courses

Kitchen remodel update

Some of you may know that we are slowly redoing our kitchen, slowly because we are doing most of the work ourselves. We did have the island custom-built, but David even designed it, oh and of course we had the granite counter tops installed. Although, I collected most of the granite myself from all of my days spent in the mountains mapping outcrops. ;) We were able to keep our base cabinets (David sanded them down and refinished them) and just bought new doors and drawer fronts (David also stained those!). It is nice to be able to recycle the existing cabinets because our cabinet maker thought they were from the 40's. Our (well, David's) next step is to paint the walls, put the new blinds up (to match the rest of the house) and tile the back splash. He has two weeks off from work so it might be tight, but I hope we can get it all done. His next two weeks off will be spent tiling the floors. It would be great to be done with this remodel by the New Year, failing that our absolute deadline is before the new baby makes an appearance! Here are a few pictures of the current state. Next time I will try to get a picture with the tall pantry cabinets too.

Some of the existing cabinets, we are going to take down the window box/cabinet

The rest of the existing cabinets, you can see we went with a single basin sink, we LOVE it.

Looking down the length of the island.

The island, looking at the overhang part, we will have bar stools around it for eating in or game playing.

Our new little one!

Here are a couple of the long promised ultra sound pictures. I ended up just taking a picture of the printed pictures so I apologize if the quality isn't as great. We have a 3D picture of the baby's face, but it is hard to see even in person. It is neat, but the 2D are much easier to see at this point.

Here is the best profile shot of the baby.


Here is a 'footprint'.

Leaf jumping- Addy style!

It is hard to believe now, but Monday we had ridiculously beautiful weather so Addy and I took the opportunity to 'rake' up some of the billion leaves in our yard. Addy's preferred method of raking required a badminton raquet and a Winnie the Pooh ball. Addy being Addy could not resist the chance to do some good old fashioned leaf bouncing. We never quite got around to bagging the leaves so our yard actually looks worse than before, but a good time was had by Addy and me. Hopefully tomorrow I will get a chance to put up some of the 20 week ultrasound pictures we got last week.

The last Halloween post, I promise!

We were pretty busy Halloween day, a final Halloween party, our town's parade and tick or treating with Grandma Deanne.