The Bunny, The Bunny, Oh I love the Bunny

Yesterday we took a trip to Stonebriar mall to grab a paint deck from Pottery Barn Kids and let Jackson go see the "horsies," his word for the merry-go-round in the food court. We always buy 3 tokens and he usually only wants to go twice, so we bring the extra token home for next time. These pictures are actually from a couple weeks ago when I took him to ride the carousel during another (surprise!) trip to Pottery Barn Kids.

Jackson loves riding the carousel, and when we pull into the Nordstrom parking lot, he is on a mission! He runs through the parking lot (holding our hands, of course) and into the store, where he immediately starts to shout "hor-siee! hor-sieee!" Yesterday, when he got in line, he shouted "Horsie! Horsie! Yaaaaay!" while jumping up and down, clapping. Another woman in line laughed at him and asked if he was excited. Umm yeah, you could say that.

After riding the horsies, we had a small snack and I ran (read: waddled) to the Sears-end of the mall to see if the Easter Bunny was there. Jackson HATED the Easter Bunny last year. Every time we went to Willow Bend he would start to cry if we walked past the Easter Bunny's picture station. Obviously, we never got a picture. This Christmas though, Jackson met Santa Claus and ran up and hopped in his lap before I could even ask to see a price list! So, we asked him while we were eating if he'd like to meet the Easter Bunny. He said "Buggy!" (Jackson for "bunny") and jumped up, ready to go.

Meeting the Easter Bunny was fine, but Jackson didn't really want to sit next to him. Even though there wasn't a line, I didn't want to take up too much time, so I let him sit on my lap to take the picture. I think it turned out really cute! Steven and I decided afterward that it really was best because Baby B got to be in the picture too (kind of). After the picture, Jackson gave the Easter Bunny a hug and couldn't get enough of waving goodbye to him from outside the gate. I am so glad that he had a better experience this year than last year!

24 Weeks

Is it really already 24 weeks in to this pregnancy?! I always associate 24 weeks with "you could go into labor." I have had a couple friends who have delivered their children this early and many of them have grown to be beautiful, healthy children. Then I think how NOT AT ALL ready we are for Baby Girl to come meet the family. She has a lot more growing to do and we still have a few more things to take care of before she gets here. On the other hand, we have all the "essentials" ready to go: car seat, crib, bassinet, and onesies. A trip to Babies R Us for some teeny diapers, and we will be all set.

Anyway, here is my 24-week update!!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 24 Weeks

Size of baby: According to BabyCenter, one foot long (about the size of an ear of corn) and just over one pound.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Not sure, but I will find out tomorrow at my 24-week appointment.

Maternity Clothes: I am still wearing regular jeans and the Bella Band a couple times a week, but since I went to Old Navy and bought two pairs of (cute!!) maternity jeans last week, I have been wearing mostly maternity clothes. My shirts are split - sometimes maternity, sometimes not.

Gender: It's a..... GIRL!!!!

Movement: Lots of kicks!! I was right when I said that they would be uncomfortable soon, I have had a few kicks to the bladder that have made me go a little cross-eyed already. I still love feeling her kick and move around in my belly. She kicked Jackson yesterday when I was lifting him into the car - sibling rivalry already!

Sleep: Still pretty good. I am still sleeping on my stomach some, but Baby B doesn't seem to mind.

What I miss: These days, the only thing I am really denying myself is alcohol, so I guess I miss that. It's nice having lower dinner bills when I go out though - drinks are costly!

Cravings: This week I am craving Starbucks' Old-Fashioned Donuts and all things with sugar in them. Yum.

Symptoms: My hormones are out of wack. I feel like my emotions are all over the place, but Steven is very sweet and supportive. I still cannot stop nesting, but it has migrated from cleaning to shopping. This is not good... but at least I am starting to feel ready.

Best Moment this week: Steven told me last night that he wants to learn how to make bows and braid hair. I think it is so sweet that he is so excited to be a girl-Daddy and I have a feeling that Baby B will be a big-time Daddy's Girl.

Our Play Group

Every Friday we get together with Jackson's (aptly-named) Friday Play Group. Waaaay back in 2009, I was looking for a way to meet some new people and found a Mommy Meetup Group online. I went to my first meetup, and I remember being so embarrassed that my baby (10 months old at this point) was so active and getting into things, while almost all the other babies were lying or sitting so nicely on their blankets. I was so grateful for the other older baby who was also very active, a little boy named David, whose Mom seemed really nice too.

Over the next couple months, we continued going to play dates, and saw David (who we found out was called "Davey" by his mom) pretty often, and started to meet some other great moms and kids. The only problem was that there was no consistency. The demand for play groups was too big and the number of people willing to host was just too small. Also, people who host when it was convenient for them, which could be any time during the week and changed all the time. In December, we were invited to Davey's first birthday party and I started talking to some of the other moms (who I had gotten to know in the past few months) about the possibility of setting up a standing playdate with the same people every Friday. I wanted to have a chance to get to know some friends (rather than acquaintances) for both Jackson and me. We put together a list of 9 moms we thought would be interested, and I sent out an email to see who might be interested. Everyone responded that they wanted to participate. I was over the moon.

Over the next year, our group settled a little bit. One mom went back to work, another moved away to be closer to her family. Luckily, we had some great additions as well. We picked up another mom after she came to meet us for Happy Hour (gotta have play time for the mommies too!), and two more moms whose sisters were already in our playgroup. During this time, our babies became toddlers, right before our eyes!

Now, our play group is in our second year of playing together and the kids have become so close and our activities extend way past our individual houses. We go to lots of parks, story time at the library, Chuck E Cheese, bounce houses, and lots of other day trips. Then of course, we have Mommies' Nights Out, and host showers for each other. It is so great that we have found a support system and group of friends for our little ones.

So that is our play group. Yesterday was our turn to host and in the afternoon we played with Jackson's friend Addison for a few hours while her mom went to a meeting. I have some great pictures that I will post later. They are pretty cute.

Gettin' Educated

My two favorite boys in the world are both excellent students.

Of course, Jackson's course load is a little lighter than Steven's.

Tonight was Jackson's first open house. We got to go to his classroom and see all the great projects he's been working on this year. They turned their classroom into a jungle! Guess who the monkeys were?? I wish I took a picture... the teachers put the kids' pictures on monkey bodies, and used their hand prints to make hands and feet. Too cute!!!

Jackson loves his teachers, Miss Lisa and Miss Lara, so so so so much! He talks about them all the time and even lets Miss Lisa rub his back when he takes a nap - not even Mommy is allowed to do that! He will definitely miss being in their class next year.

After Jackson's open house, Steven's parents took us out to dinner to celebrate some really exciting news our family received this week. News we've been waiting months and months to hear.

Back in December, Steven applied to a PhD program at UTD (The University of Texas at Dallas). The chances he would make it were slim - he hasn't completed his Bachelor's degree yet (graduates in August) and therefore, doesn't have a master's degree either. And even though his grades are outstanding (3.8 on a 4.0 scale), his GRE score wasn't as strong. Even still, he applied to the program and we just waited. And waited. And waited...

On Wednesday Steven found out that he was one of 12 students admitted to the program. Over 200 (!!!) people applied.

We are so proud of our smarty-pants Daddy.

Beach Babes

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Meredith had the awesome idea to take the kids to the beach. But... where to find a beach in the middle of suburban Texas? Turns out the Village at Fairview (only a short drive from all of our houses) has a beach park on site. What?!

The kids loved it. This park is SO COOL!

Jackson took some time to get used to the sand. I put him in his crocs in case he wanted to keep his shoes on, but eventually he just decided to go barefoot. He hung pretty close to me for a good 20 minutes or so before deciding the big slide was worth taking a chance with the sand.

There was so much to do and so much space, but the kids pretty much hung with each other the whole time. First they explored the area around the play structure, then they sat with us and had some snacks. Next, they found an open area to chase each other and throw the beach balls we brought for them. Finally, they settled down in the sand with some sand toys and a dump truck and practiced filling and dumping everything in sight.

While they were busy exploring their environment, I chatted with the other moms about lots of things, especially having second kids. About half our play group already has second (or third!) children, and then a few more are expecting our second kids, and a few are thinking about expanding their families, so it's a popular topic. Recently, I've been particularly interested in how to transition clothes and toys from one kid to the next (especially when the "next" child is a different gender, as in our case). I really appreciate the advice and insight I've received from my great momma friends.

One benefit to an ocean-less beach park, no waterline to watch. We joked that if we closed our eyes, the highway traffic flying by might sound like waves crashing on the shore - haha. At one point, Jackson heard an airplane and pointed up in the air to tell me about it. I was lucky enough to get a picture (see above). It warms my heart to see these kids socialize with each other. They definitely recognize each other and Jackson talks about his friends when he's away from them. I hope we continue to keep in touch with each of their families as they grow up!

22 Weeks

Oooh! It's been 6 weeks since I last updated this blog about the pregnancy!

Here is the latest:

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 22 Weeks

Size of baby: According to BabyCenter, 11 inches long (about the length of a spaghetti squash - what is that even??) and almost one pound. What a growth spurt in only 6 weeks!!!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Not sure, but I guess it's around 5 pounds.

Maternity Clothes: I am holding on to my pre-pregnancy jeans & Bella Band for dear life, but I have worn maternity pants to church and have been wearing more maternity shirts lately.

Gender: It's a..... GIRL!!!!! We are just beside ourselves with excitement and I even cried when we found out (tears of joy!!!).

Movement: Lots of kicks!! I love them and remind myself that they will be more painful later on, so to enjoy the little ones while I can.

Sleep: We got the new mattress and sleep has been GREAT! I also have my sleep pillows washed and ready in case I need them soon.

What I miss: I went to visit a friend last month and we usually enjoy going out for drinks together, and it was sad to miss out on that this time. One night, we had ice cream instead (yay!).

Cravings: Godiva dark chocolate truffles... so amazing. Also, I have been craving McDonald's chicken nuggets of all things! I never ever ever ever ever eat at McDonald's, ever! And since I've been pregnant, I've had them a few times and really craved them!

Symptoms: Still nesting, but on the bright side, our house has never been tidier, and even the closets are looking pretty good. I really need to finish organizing the secondary bedroom closets, and then it will be time to get the garage in order.

Best Moment this week: Hearing Jackson try to say his sister's name (which we are keeping secret until she makes her arrival!).

My Bed in Ruins

I am feeling so blessed tonight. I think it helps that my house, while it's not perfect, is so much tidier than it has been since I got pregnant. The one month I took "off" from being a homemaker, has resulted in 3 months of playing catch-up. I can only imagine how this house will fall apart when the baby comes! On the other hand, I take comfort in knowing that I have amazing friends and family who are so supportive and I will have them to fall back on when things become overwhelming. Of course, I will also have Steven, and my "big helper," Big Brother Jackson.

In addition to having a clean (enough) house, we had the funniest thing happen yesterday morning. No April Foolin' except on us. At 6:00 in the morning, I woke to the sound of cracking, and our bed fell down on Steven's side. He rolled over, looked at the break, and said "Well, I can't fix that." So I replied, "Let's just go to the guest room and worry about it later." We were both so tired! When we finally woke up, we talked about our options and decided it made the most sense to keep the head board rather than an actual bed, but get a new mattress, box spring and bed frame.

After our play date at the (ever-popular!) train park, Jackson and I headed over to the mattress store to check out what was available. Jackson thought he was in Heaven! He ran right up to the salesman, who introduced himself to Jackson. Jackson gestured to me and said "This is Mama." I nearly melted. He has always been so polite, but lately he has kicked it up a notch between introducing me to new people and even holding doors! He may have been born in Japan, but I am definitely raising a Texas boy!

Anyway, Jackson had such a great time climbing on all the beds and I narrowed our search down to a few options, so I decided to bring Steven back to give them a test drive... umm... test nap. We found a winner!!! And with the help of our sweet friend Cale and his truck, we were able to pick the mattress and box spring up today. Yay!

Speaking of our new bed, it is our bedtime and time to enjoy it! I hope to have another post up soon about the baby... it has been almost 6 weeks since I last updated (oh the shame!) and we have a lot of news about Baby Haynes 2!