San Fransisco

A little over a week ago, Alex and I got the chance to take a get away to a place neither of us had ever been. We had a great time exploring the city, eating a variety of food, and going north to the Redwood Forest and Napa Valley. It happened to be the Chinese New Year, so we got in on the parade too (right by our hotel). It was really nice to spend some timetogether, especially after the hectic four months we've had with Alex traveling so much. Thank you to our parents for taking fantastic care of our little munchkins.


The Famous Trolly Cars


Walking up hills to work off our ice cream...look at that view!


The Golden Gate Bridge


The best breakfast we had the whole time...a little diner off the beaten path. Not the Animal Clinic, The Lighthouse:)


Muir Woods, north of San Fransisco


Alex wine tasting before our tour through a vineyard.

A Sweet Baby Girl!

We had our sonogram Monday to see if the baby was growing well and we got to find out that we are having another sweet baby girl! I was really suprised. When we started the sono I told the sonographer that I was sure we were going to have a boy. I'm not sure why I felt so strongly that way, but I had already made a list of positive things in my head either way; boy or girl. We are really excited, and she looks great. She's measuring right on everything seems to be growing and functioning the way it should. I am amazed at the miracle of life and how every little detail weaves into creating a baby. She was moving around, yawning, and waving her right arm. We even got a picture of her doing the "thumbs up" sign.

Awww....the world of sisters. I didn't grow up with a sister, so this is new territory to have two girls. My good friend said she saw wardrobe wars in our future. Probably so:) Feeling so blessed to have a son and almost two daughters. Plus, the bonus was that Alex made it home just in time from a two week trip to go with me.

Making Valentines

We took on a little project of hearts and glitters in honor of Valentine's Day. Oliver made valentines for his classmates at preschool (with a little help from Meredith). It's been snowy and cold here, so it was good to have a project to work on this afternoon. We also made sugar cookie dough so we can make heart cookies and decorate them for his class.

Snow Day

The snow began last night and when we woke up the ground was covered in white. It's still snowing. Schools are cancelled and Alex and his dad are working on the basement, so the kids and I are hanging out (need to post updated pics of the basement soon). Here are a couple of the kids and Daisy playing in it.

The Big B

And I do mean basement. We started to remodel our basement two years ago in an endeavor to create more space in our house. Since our house is old (build in 1927) it has posed some interesting challenges. Alex (with the help of some friends and our dads) has done the work himself. We started with replacing the heat and air. The old heater had the repair recipts from 1962 laying on it when we moved in seven years ago. A time bomb waiting to explode or break. We had ductwork put in throughout the basement and had the furnace moved to the corner to take up less space. Then came drain tile and a sump pump to keep it totally dry. Then plumbing, electrical, and framing. We just passed our final inspection today through the city of Wichita. Yahoo! We are going to hire the drywall hanging and finishing as it's a majorly dirty project, and Alex has to be gone so much. When it's finished we'll have a family/play room, full bathroom, laundry room, and storage room. I need to dig up some beginning stages pictures to post, and get down there and take some recent ones of the process. Targeted finishing date: before baby gets here. Can't wait until it's finished...and of course we have vowed we won't ever take on any home project like this again. We'll see.

Christmas

Oliver holding one of his two new baby cousins, Lena. He's getting some good practice.


Christmas Morning

Our best attempt at family pictures.



My sweet girl and me.

I'm Back...

I haven't been good at updating my blog this month. Alex just returned from a two week work trip and it was all I could do to just keep the kids fed and clothed:) I am, however, starting to feel better. At almost 11 weeks, the sickness is subsiding. I am getting more and more excited, and can't wait to find out if this sweet little baby is a girl or a boy. We debated on whether or not to find out since we have clothes and bedding for both sexes, but neither of us can wait. We kind of consider it our suprise halfway through. We'll keep the name a surprise, for an added bit of fun...and I welcome any girl name ideas anyone has.

We will be home this Christmas, which is nice since Alex has been on the road so much these last two months. We'll spend Christmas Eve with Alex's family and Christmas Day with mine. I did so much of my shopping online this year, and we cut back all around on gifts, which has been a relief. I'm so looking forward to spending time with our little family and our extended family.

I'm hoping to get a good picture of our family at Christmas to either snail mail out or email. Kind of behind on that...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!