Gideon's First Haircut

I've been putting it off, because he is so young still, but this afternoon I broke down and cut Gideon's hair.  I'm not overly attached to my baby's hair, if I don't like how it is growing in, I trim it.  Gideon has had this long patch on top with some tufts on the sides and today it looked to puffy because of the stuff growing in underneath.

I took nearly an inch and a half off the top.  It was a challenging experience, using the clippers on a wiggly baby, but we made it work.

Most people probably won't notice, but I really like how it looks.

 He seems pretty pleased with himself.  Apparently I didn't traumatize him.

 Gideon's been dealing with some rough teething issues so we are trying out the amber beads.  He seems not to mind the necklace under his shirt.  At this point I'm willing to try anything.  Thankfully his 4th tooth just broke through this morning, but if these first four teeth are an indicator for how the next 16  will come in I'm scared.  Good thing we kinda like this kid.

Gideon's First Foods

See this happy guy?  He insists on getting bigger and bigger despite my begging and pleading for him to stay little.

 There is something about putting my baby in this high chair that made him seem so much more grown up.  He's a newborn no longer I suppose.

 This morning Tyson gave him some rice cereal and this afternoon during snack time I mashed up a banana for him.  He ate it all and then wanted the bowl.

He's also scooting around now.  He isn't crawling, but he scoots like an inch worm and gets frustrated when it takes too long to get to the item that he wants.

Four Months

Our little guy continues to get bigger and bigger.  Today he is four months old.  He started rolling over both back-to-front and front-to-back a couple of weeks ago.  He scoots a tiny bit, but he isn't making it very far, which is great!  I'm not ready for this kid to be really mobile yet.

 He sure is a happy kid.  He talks and talks to us and smiles at everyone, eventually.  He is also ticklish, very ticklish.  His laugh gets caught in his throat, but every now and then he lets it out and it is so sweet.

 I can't say how big he has gotten because my scale is dead and we haven't been to the doctor for his check-up yet, but he is growing and growing.  My arms are getting tired holding him, I can say that much.

 Gideon is a very curious child.  He examines everything very carefully and takes in the world around him.

 His little mohawk is adorable!

Big Sister in Training

Lily loves babies! She gets so excited when she sees one and she wants to try to take care of them. Lately she has started taking some of what she sees and has begun applying it to her play with her baby dolls. I caught a few sweet moments this morning that I wanted to share.

Here she is taking her baby doll for a ride. Apparently the shopping cart is capable of doubling as a stroller.

And when they got done with their walk she tucked her baby into her little bed in the laundry hamper.

I'm still not sure that Lily really understands that we will be having another baby here soon, but I'm sure that when Charlotte finally decides to make her appearance Lily will be very excited and an eager little helper.

Getting Ready for Baby

The time has come, and I am finally getting little spurts of energy, so I am getting things ready for this baby girl to make her appearance. It is about time since I am 37 weeks today so she could decide to come any day now, or really any day within the next four weeks.

Up until this point almost everything that I have done has been for Lily. We have been so focused on getting her new room and the family room finished that we hadn't done much in the way of prepping for Charlotte. Though really, moving Lily out of the nursery was to make space for the new baby. I finally finished getting everything of Lily's out of the room which of course left it a mess. Yesterday I put it back together. The crib is still missing a mattress because the one that we have is on Lily's toddler bed. I plan to buy a new one next week when a coupon and a rewards code that I have will be effective. Gotta save whatever money I can, right?

And to make it her space, I replaced Lily's name on the wall with Charlotte's. I had some left over fabric from the bedding that I made back when I was expecting Lily so it worked out perfectly.

I also had Tyson get some of our baby supplies out of the attic in the garage. Of course we needed the infant car seat, but I also wanted the bouncy chair. Lily loved it when she was tiny and they are so handy. I washed everything and once I put it all together Lily had to test it out. Just making sure that everything works for her baby sister.

We are getting so close, and I'm starting to get antsy. So, if anyone has any ideas of how I can keep myself preoccupied over the next few weeks I would appreciate them. Lily keeps me busy for the most part, but this cold weather is keeping us indoors much more than either of us would like.

Double Digits!

Just 99 days to go to my due date! (Tyson is counting down to getting 6 weeks off work)

Our Baby Girl Has a Name

We have finally decided on a name for this little girl! Very exciting for me because I love getting to call her by name instead of "the baby". We kinda settled in it a couple of weeks back, but we decided to go ahead and use it for a few weeks before really telling people, just to make sure that we really liked it as much as we thought we did. And well, we love it!

And, because I am feeling a bit impish, this is how I'm going to tell you all, in a scramble! Put the letters in the right order and you'll see what it is.

Hint: The first letter is "C"

An Eventful Week

I kept intending to make posts during the week but I never seemed to find the time to sit down and type them out, so it is all going to be one big post.

This last Wednesday Tyson and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary. A lot has happened in the last three years, between buying a house, changing jobs, having a baby, college, expecting another little one, and the list goes on and on. We are grateful for our little life though. We may not be rich or famous, but our simple little life together is a great blessing!

Also, this last Friday Lily Ann turned 18 months old. Our little girl is a year and a half now, how time has flown! She is still growing like a weed, around 27 pounds and 32 inches tall. She has become so independent and loves to test out everything. Last week she managed to climb out of her crib, and then fell to the ground. So, we turned her bed into a toddler bed. Which is fine at bed time, but nap time is another story. We have gone back to the crib, but only because she is under the weather and doesn't try to climb. Once she gets over this cold though, she'll be back to her dare-devil little self and the toddler bed will probably be back to stay.

She insisted on wearing this hat all day!

And in the new baby news, this last Friday I passed the 24 week mark. Might not seem like a big deal, but that means that I am just a few weeks away from entering the 3rd trimester of this pregnancy. I am constantly amazed at how quickly this pregnancy is passing. By the time that the holidays are over I'll just have 9 weeks left.

We had another ultrasound this Friday since our little girl was less than cooperative last time. This time she was even less cooperative, but the tech managed to see what she needed to. Our baby girl (who was clearly still a girl) was looking perfect. She kicked, punched, and somersaulted all through the ultrasound. It was interesting to see it all on the screen as I felt it. I keep telling Tyson that he is missing out. It is a very strange, but exhilarating sensation to feel a baby move inside of you.

Picking a Name is Hard!

We are working on a picking a name for this baby girl and I am finding it terribly difficult. It isn't really narrowing down a list, but creating a list in the first place. I don't remember it being this hard last time. We had names picked out pretty early on, and while we changed our minds after finding out that we were having a girl, we still settled on a name very quickly. I loved having a name for her early on. We called her Lily for months before she was born and when she finally came to us I felt like I knew her and I never questioned her name because it was her name, and had been for a while. I didn't worry about whether it fit or not because it was who she was.

This time however, we decided to hold off on thinking of names until the ultrasound. When we were told that this baby is another girl I really felt lost. I started looking through name lists and books and I am about as lost as before. I suppose that we still have a lot of time to select her name, I just hope that this name fog will lift and we will be able to select one soon. I would like to be able to call this baby by her name.

It's Another Girl!

We had our big 20 week ultrasound this morning and everything went perfectly! The baby is looking perfect and is measuring right on schedule. Oh, and we are having another girl! I'm very excited for Lily to have a little sister so close in age.

So, here are a few pictures.

And some little video clip. The first is the baby waving "hello" and the second is her heartbeat.

I love having a toddler!

I have spent most of the month at home with Lily. She is advancing and learning new things everyday, but since she has hit the big milestones I forget to report on her progress.

Anyway, this stage is so much fun! We have started to get more bumps and bruises though, which is to be expected with a toddler exploring her world. September brought us her first bloody nose. I honestly have no idea how to stop a bloody nose for a toddler. They don't hold still, they just cry and want to cuddle. So we cuddled and we both ended up covered, but she recovered quickly.

Lily loves her puppy as much as ever. I honestly wish that this dog behaved half so well for me as he does for her. She has taken to examining his teeth, pulling at his gums, and using him as a soft chair a he just lets her.

And of course, she is getting more independent and is trying to make more decisions for herself. This is her way of telling me that bath time is over.

She still isn't talking much. She has a few words that she says regularly, but for the most part she just points and squeals. I'm not worried though, her comprehension is fantastic! And she is so obedient, I say bed time and she grabs her baby and walks into her room for story time.

As far as the current pregnancy goes, it is going to sound crazy, but I honestly keep forgetting that I am pregnant. If my jeans still fit I think that I might forget entirely. We have scheduled our anatomy scan though and I am getting very excited about that! So watch for an update on the 15th.

Sunday Updates

It is actually a quiet Sunday afternoon at our home so I thought that I would take a few minutes and give you all an update on the happenings of our little family.

This last week Tyson started the fall semester at school. He is taking yet another full load of classes on top of his full-time work schedule so he is a busy busy man these days. I'm actually quite impressed with how he manages it all and still seems to find time to be a husband and father.

We had yet another doctor appointment on Friday since our last one had to be rescheduled (silly OB was off delivering a baby) and everything looked great. She didn't have to look long at all before finding a good strong heartbeat, around 160bpm. At this point I really rely on those appointments to tell me that everything is okay because this baby is still too small for me to feel it yet.

And finally our little Lily is still growing like a weed and is more and more adventurous every day. She has discovered a love for climbing on everything and learns new things so quickly that I just can't keep up with her. Over the last few weeks she finally started playing with her blocks. She used to just bang them together, but now she builds!

A funny little story, my parents have a little shih tzu named Jasper. They keep a leash on him in the house as he is still hose training a little bit. Anyway, when we go visit Lily loves to walk Jasper all around the house. Well at home she seems to think that Oscar's tail is also a leash and all afternoon she has been trying to walk him around the house by his tail and she keeps getting frustrated when he won't comply. So, to give his tail a break I put him on his leash. Here's a little clip of Lily trying to walk her 55lb puppy around the living room. Apparently it is a little harder that walking a little shih tzu.

Lily has also started "singing" along in church. It is very entertaining!

Baby Doll

My daughter does not get attached to her toys at all. She has toys that she likes, but nothing that is a favorite. She doesn't care much for her stuffed animals. The only one she pays much attention to her is My Pal Violet, and that is just because it talks to her and calls her by name. So anyway, I have not bothered getting her a doll at all because I figured that she would treat it with the same indifference.

I finally decided that she needed a baby doll. I have told her that we are having a baby, but I am certain that she has no idea what I am talking about. So I figured that if she had a baby doll she could get some understanding of what a baby is and perhaps I can teach her how to be sweet and gentle with it.

So tonight while we were out shopping for a few other things we picked up a basic little baby doll. Lily has been fascinated with it ever since I picked it up off the shelf. She touches the little hands and feet and nose. I told her to give a cuddle and this is what she did.

Hopefully this can turn into a helpful tool to aid us in preparing her for becoming a big sister.

Announcement

Lily has something to say...

We are expecting our 2nd baby!

Our due date is March 4th and we will find out the gender somewhere around the middle of October. We are so very excited!

We had an ultrasound this morning to check a few things out and our little baby was looking perfect, around 3" long at the moment with a heart rate of 165 bpm.

Lily's FIRST Birthday

Well, last week our baby girl turned one. I'm not happy about it, my baby is growing up far too fast! But, there just isn't much that I can do about it so I will just have to accept the fact that my sweet baby girl is going to grow up.

Last Friday evening we had a little birthday party for Lily. It was a crazy day and well, Lily had a rough time. She had been doing great up until it was time for cake. She was very interested in the candle and reached for it right after it was blown out, and well, she got some hot wax on her finger. She cried and wouldn't touch her little cake again.

When I tried to give it to her a little later she just turned her face away and cry.

So we thought that it would be good to try opening up a present or two. Her aunt Ali helped her out.

And her aunts and uncles tried to help as well.

She loves this little ride-on toy that her Grandma and Grandpa Kesler gave her. She has been pushing it all around the house and pushing all of the millions of buttons. She also likes to hide her little toys in the seat.

A little later on we opened a few more presents with help from Tyson.

She loves all of her new toys and everything. It was getting late though so she really didn't get a chance to play with them that evening.

The next day we had lunch at my parents house to celebrate Tyson and Lily's birthdays and Lily got a second go at a birthday cake. She wasn't interested at first, but once I cut her a little slice and she could see that it was bread-like she just went for it. She wasn't very interested in the frosting, rather she mined her way into the cake to get the cake and avoid the frosting.

Later that day, once her Grandpa Hansen finished putting it together, she got to try out her new Cozy Coupe. She really likes it and has playing in it everyday since.

She also got to try out her new rocking horse. She loved the one at her Grandma and Grandpa Hansen's house so I was so excited that her aunts and uncle gave her one.

All in all it was a wonderful birthday. We love our sweet little girl!

Another Baby Sweater

I know, so many projects, but I love baby sweaters. They are so quick! This was a three day project and super simple.
Anyway, this project was fun because I played a little bit with texture. The texture doesn't show up well in photos, but it is cute. Oh, and I made up this pattern! This is my very first original project.I've got another original design that I'm working on that I am really excited about. I am learning how to do some lace designs and they are fun, but they take a little while.

Yet Another Project...

I was reminded by Britney that I never posted any of my little Mary Janes on the blog. I've really gotten quick at making them and I have tons of different colors of thread so Lily has lots of little shoes now.
Here are two of our favorites.If anyone would like the pattern let me know. I made a lot of adjustments to the one that I found and worked it into four different sizes.