14 weeks

I just realized I hadn't posted anything about the new baby other than telling you all about it.  So here's a picture of me at 14 weeks.

Yyyyeaaahhhh....

I've been completely in maternity pants for weeks now, and my wedding ring has already been shelved.  I've been expecting it this time around though, I got enormous with Kate, and they say you get even bigger with the second so...heaven help me come July!  Does anyone have a pool I can live in this summer?

Other than getting big, and feeling exhausted 24/7, everything is awesome.  I've been very blessed again with NO morning sickness. (I'm sorry.  Really.  Don't hate me okay?)  So far, this pregnancy feels the exact same as it did last time, which makes me think it might be another girl.  *fingers crossed*  Don't get me wrong, I'd be completely happy if I was having a boy, but it would be so fun to have two little girls, and let's face it--easier.  Easier in the fact that I wouldn't have to really buy anything, every baby thing I have is pink and pretty.  A boy would mean having to buy everything all over again.  So...we'll see.

Kate is very excited to be a big sister, even though I don't think she really understands what's going on.  She will point to my belly when I say, "Where's the baby?", and give it a hug and kiss.  She's also been playing "baby" with her baby dolls everyday now, but  I don't know if that's just a little girl thing or if she's excited for the baby.  She's very sweet with other people's babies so that gives me hope.

I have NO idea about names.  Kate's name was picked out since high school.  I actually had two names picked out for my girls, Kate and Emma.  Well, Sherice just named her little one Emmalyn, so that's out-- and Emma Watson is the girl who plays Hermione in  Harry Potter, so I really couldn't do that.  A few names have been tossed around-- Annie, Jane, Alice, and Lucy and for a boy-- maybe Devin or Troy.  Jack is still my absolute favorite boys name, but my cousin Kim named her boy Jackson (dang you Kim!) and Dustin hated it anyway.  So... I will be more decisive once I find out the gender I'm sure.

Any suggestions?

Kate's Song

Yesterday was a bad day.

Kate threw temper tantrum after temper tantrum, and would cry over every little thing. Last night was the first night since Kate was a newborn that I sat down and sobbed out of frustration and exhaustion. To top it all off, she woke up not once, not twice, but 5 times last night! Needless to say I am exhausted today, and I'm very glad I was able to take a nap.

Today I noticed that she's cutting another tooth. So at least there is an explanation to yesterday's madness.

I tell you all this because I did want you to know that Kate does have an "off" switch, even though it might not last very long. When she is uncontrollable, I will hold her close and start to sing her song. I've sung it to her ever since she was a newborn, and let me tell you-- it has magic powers.



If you watched Sesame Street as a kid like I did, you might recognize it. It's "I'd Like to Visit the Moon" by Ernie. It's a song I always liked, and when my brothers and sister were little I taught them to sing it one summer while I played my guitar (badly). It has always stuck with me, and I'll probably never forget it.

Yesterday I probably sang this song to Kate about 7 times. When she gets sad or angry all I have to do is start singing this song, and she will calm down immediately and listen. See? Magic. Sometimes the magic only lasts until the end of the song, but at least it's about a minute and a half of peace. More times than not though, it will calm her down completely.

I wanted to blog about this because it's something that's really sentimental to me and it needed to be written somewhere. It's a tender moment between us and I want to remember it before she gets older and won't let me sing it to her anymore.

Who knows how many more times I get to sing it?

WTH?

(that "H" stands for heck.)

This girl is not even two years old, and already she's giving me a glimpse into her teenage years.

I remember when my family got our first cordless phone and I thought that was a HUGE deal.  Do you remember?  Do you remember the days before the internet, email, facebook, and cell phones?  I used to write my cousins letters for crying out loud.  These kids will never know the joy of getting a letter in the mail.

Yeah... she's texting!  (sorta)

Look at that pose!  She looks like her Aunt Lacie!

Enjoy playing with my phone now Kate, because your daddy has sworn that he's going to buy you the "Zack Morris" phone when you turn 16.

Phoenix Zoo

Yesterday we took advantage of Dustin's day off work, and the beautiful 70 degree weather and took Kate to the zoo! I knew Kate would love the zoo, but it surprised me just how much she loved it! She would try to talk to all the animals, mimic their sounds, and was heartbroken if we didn't let her say goodbye to each and every animal.

I think the monkeys were Kate's favorite.  When we saw the baboons, she yelled "Monkeys!", without us even telling her what they were!

This was the first time I had even been to the children's portion of the zoo.  I have to say, it's pretty cool!  Kate especially loved the petting zoo. 

We had so much fun! We will definitely be going back as much as we can while the weather is this nice. And maybe next time I'll get in a few pictures...

Photo shoot giveaway!

In honor of the new year, I'm hosting a GIVEAWAY for a photo session on my photography blog! You have until January 21st to enter and I'll be picking a winner at random on January 22nd!

http://prettypixelphotography.blogspot.com/2011/01/excited-for-2011.html

Good luck!  There's no time like now to get your pictures taken, the weather is beautiful here!

A New Year, New Goals

I was just looking at my last years goals to see how I fared:

Learn how to decorate cakes: well, I never did take a class, but I did do pretty well on my daughters birthday cake. But I guess I still failed that one.

Use my sewing machine: Accomplished! I've made curtains, pillows, blankets, quiet books, burping cloths and a nursing cover.

Take more hair classes: Big fail on that one.

Pay down debt: Another accomplishment! Dustin and I paid off our car (with our tax return) at the beginning of last year. Of course, we've accumulated more debt since then, so this will be a goal for this year as well.

Read the Book of Mormom: Yes? I'm reading D&C right now, but I can't remember if I started reading it because I was finished with the BOM or not.

Go to the temple more often: I'm ashamed to say that this is another big FAIL. My goal was to go 6 times and I've been a whooping 0 times. That is just horrible. HORRIBLE.

Make my house a home: I think I've done a pretty good job with this, so I'm going to say...accomplished.

(Not on my initial resolutions but was added shortly after) 
Buy a good camera: Definitely accomplished! Not only did I buy the camera I had been eyeing for years, I've been learning photography and have built a side business in it. So fun!

So, let's tally up my scores. 4 accomplished, 3 fails and 1 maybe. That's pretty good in my book!

So here's what I need to do this year:

1. Redeem myself from last years goal and GO TO THE TEMPLE! I definitely need to go before this second baby comes because I know it will be forever before I can get back so... the goal is to go AT LEAST twice before July.

2. Continue working on my house. I want at least one thing upgraded this year, and I really REALLY want that thing to be the backyard. Right now its a forest (nay, jungle) of dead weeds and I want nothing more that it to be a place where Kate can play. She loves being outside, but its a hassle to always have to take her to the park instead of playing in our own yard.

3. Be a better photographer. Right now the top two things on my list are get a new lens, and take a workshop or mentorship of some kind. But, both are expensive so we'll see how that plays out. Still, I'm working on my skills everyday, so I know that this is an attainable goal.

4. Gain 30 pounds. Haha, maybe that goal should be to lose 30 pounds after the baby is born. The real goal here is to eat healthy. I do not want to gain as much weight as I did last time, but sometimes it's just out of my control because I ate healthy with the last pregnancy too. 

5.  Pay down debt.  Of course.  This is always a goal of ours! 

6.  Be a good mother and wife.  I think I'm an okay mom now, but I know I'm in for a monster of a change come July.  So my goal here is to transition as smoothly as I can and be a good mom to both kids.  My goal for being a good wife is to look pretty for Dustin and have dinner ready when he gets home.  Be a feminist all you want, but these are two things those 50's housewifes had right!  Also---go on dates more often!

7.  Have a clean home!  I'm trying really hard to get on a cleaning schedule.  A schedule that will hopefully become a habit!  Have any of you heard of flylady?  That's what I'm trying to accomplish here.  I really like her schedule, so that's my plan.  I realize I'll have bad days, but overall I want to not be embarrassed if people unexpectedly stop by my house.

Okay, I think that's enough.  I think I'll be able to accomplish all of these because I haven't set anything too ridiculous.  Hopefully.

also-- on a completely different side note:  Has anyone been able to get the cute fonts working lately?  I used to have them, then I took them off for a few months, and now I want them back.  But I can't get them working at all?  Is it something to do with blogger's new stupid template designer or something?  I have tried EVERYTHING.  I am beyond frustrated.  Can anyone help me?  Anyone?

Christmas

When the smell of breakfast had finally awoken everyone, it was time to get the party started! We had a hard time waking Kate up, she's never up that early!

(Almost) Everyone waiting to come down the stairs!

Lately I had discovered that Kate loves Beauty and the Beast. So that was sorta the theme for this Christmas.  We got her a Belle doll, dress and shoes. Santa also brought her her first bike!  We also got her a stuffed dog from Build-a-Bear, a Blue beanie baby, a Blue's Clue's book, and a my little pony.  Grandma Watson gave her a baby doll crib and baby doll, a doll house, and some cute clothes!  Aunt Lacie gave her a fisher price car, and Aunt Bethany made stuffed animals for all the kids!

I got Dustin NBA 2K11, and The Expendables.  Jaron gave him another Killer Bunnies expansion pack (we now have about 500 cards...awesome), and he and Beth (mainly Beth) made this awesome Killer Bunnies trophy! 
I think our games will be getting even more violent with at trophy at stake.  We also received a Phoenix Zoo membership and a wagon from Dustin's parents.

Dustin got me a new pair of shoes (he also got Kate some matching ones), 500 days of Summer, the first season of Community, the first season of Glee, and Glee Karaoke Revolution.

After we were done, we hopped in our awesome rental car, and went to my parents house!  I love that they live only 30 minutes away!  For some reason I don't have any pictures of Christmas with the Foree's.  Boo :(.  I know I brought my camera, but maybe I was just too tired to get it out?  lol.  We ate our traditional sugar cake.  Mmmmm....it's the best.  And my mom had made this awesome hot chocolate.  It's basically a hershey bar and half and half.  So delicious, but really rich, so watch your portions. 

After we feasted we exchanged gifts.  I had my mom and I got her a Scentsy warmer and some scents to go with it.  Dustin had Alex and he got him The Blind Side and some nerf guns.  Jared had Dustin and he got him Inception on blu-ray (awesome!).  My pregnancy brain is spacing on what else was exchanged at the moment, but I remember what my brother got me!  Andy is probably my biggest supporter of my photography and he bought me....a portable light studio!! I'm totally intimidated by it, but super excited to learn!  It will really help my with my newborn shoots, and open up some business for me during those hot summer months.  I'm so SO excited!

My mom also made blankets for everyone (I'm cuddling with mine right now), and she gave me the best gift of all.  She scrapbooked my wedding!!  I had made one a long time ago, but I don't know where it is, and I know it's crappy, and now that I think about it I don't even think it's finished! lol.  So I'm so grateful to finally have my wedding pictures documented!  She also made Kate a really awesome gift as well. It's a card-table tent!  I had one growing up and I LOVED it.  I'm so grateful Kate has one now, and she plays in it everyday.  I will definitely have to post a picture of it so you can see what I'm talking about.

All in all, it was a FANTASTIC Christmas!  It was so fun spending all that time with family.  It was also awesome spending some extra days with my brother Andy!  Thank you everyone for all the awesome gifts we received!  We love you!!