More pictures!

 We had another ultrasound on Thursday, which helped us get a better idea of our due date.

Awww

So, the new due date is April 13th, 2013, which makes me 12 weeks as of today.  That is pretty close to what we got last time.   

I was pretty sure already that I was getting close to the end of the first trimester.  My morning sickness is lessening (I still have bad days, though) and I'm getting some energy back.  I definitely have a little growing belly, too!

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I have more pictures from last week, too!

I got some shots that pretty well sum up what most of my pictures look like.

Exhibit A

Exhibit B 

Anyway, I finally got a chance to put Blake into this adorable onesie that my mom gave to Hollie a few years ago!  For whatever reason, maybe it didn't fit while the weather was warm, Hollie never got to wear it.  At the beginning of this summer, it was still too big for Blake, but now at the end of summer as the weather cools off, I knew this was the onesie's last chance!  So, on a warm afternoon, it made it's first (and maybe last, for Blake anyway) appearance, for a trip out to the playground.

Everybody loves the buttons

Hollie says she wants to draw something before we go 

I don't remember who she said she drew!

Her face, though?  Probably the result of this being the 20th attempt to get a clear picture.  She's a trooper! 

Finally at the playground!

Yes, we got some animal crackers!  Hollie can't resist the box with the string, and Mommy can't resist the nostalgia.

Hard at work!  I think she was trying to trace letters in the mulch, and it wasn't working very well.

What Blake did, mostly.

Happy girl.  :)

I call this one: "Not yet, Hollie, I want to take a picture!"

Funny story

So, this afternoon Hollie's school had their annual picnic lunch at a local park.  It was a potluck, so that morning I made a big ol' pan of jambalaya.  The girls had both been a little congested yesterday, but they were good as new this morning.  We probably should have skipped it, just because they had been sick so recently, but I had been really really looking forward to meeting some other parents, so we went (hence scrambling to cook a quadruple-quadruple recipe on the day-of, instead of the night before as I had intended).

We got to the park just a few minutes late, but it seemed like there weren't very many people there.  Maybe five families.  I let Hollie loose and carried the food to a table (left sleeping Blake in the car).  The few other moms that were standing around told me right away that someone with a smartphone had checked their email and seen a message sent out this morning that the picnic had been cancelled due to weather (which obviously no one present had seen).  It was overcast and I think it had rained overnight, but we hadn't had a drop all morning.  I learned (later) that last year's picnic got quite a bit of rain and it was a bit of a disaster, and I guess maybe they cancelled this time because they figured with even a slight chance of rain, people would be scared of a repeat experience.

Anyway, someone said, well we might as well eat, but we quickly remembered that the school was going to provide the plates and utensils, so we had nothing to eat with.  I heard scattered mumblings of, well that's a shame, and I guess we'll just let the kids play for a few minutes and then head home.  I just looked at all the bowls and platters of food on the table and said, Whoa-whoa-whoa, let me run down to the Fred Meyer on the corner and I'll get us some things to eat with.  Someone said, hmm, good idea! and the others agreed.  It seemed like an obvious solution to me!  I couldn't believe they were all about to just leave!!!  So with Hollie under another mama's watchful eye, still-sleeping Blake and I drove a half-mile to the grocery store and were back in twenty minutes with plates, utensils, and paper towels.  All we were missing was something to drink, which the school had said they would also provide.  Someone brought a few water bottles from their car, and we had ourselves a picnic.  At that point I think we had two main dishes and about four desserts, so it was a sugary lunch at first, until more people showed up late (unaware of the email) with salads and other main dishes, thankfully.

We had a great time, plenty of food, and everyone commented that they were really glad they had stayed.  I hope the school reschedules the picnic, so we can do it again!                   

Picture overload

I have a lot of pictures to post.  I intended to do one enormous post, but it was too much, so for the sake of your time and mine, I'm going to break it up.  More to come in a few days, maybe!

First "real" day of preschool - September 5th

...and somebody sneaking up behind!  (Little Sister loves the backpack)

A little before-school game of chase-[the backpack]-around-the-table

Fast forward a few weeks...

Headed outside for some playtime (and off she goes!...)

My girls :)

Hold everything...there's something in my toes!

action shot

They're drumming on the dark blue one together

Jammin'

Love this one!  She was holding onto me, just watching Hollie play behind me.  I tried a few times, and this was the best picture I got.

I'm not sure what happened here...whether Blake got pulled or Hollie got pushed.

Either way they both thought it was great fun.

My cuties.  :)

That one of Blake is our new computer background.  We occasionally put different icons in her mouth.

Big smile!

Blake is one serious baby.  It takes a lot for her to crack a smile like this.  I was trying (unsuccessfully) to play hide-and-seek with Hollie (she always told me where she was going to hide, or wanted to tell me where to hide), and here, Blake found me!

After we got inside - dancing (sans music) in the kitchen.

I finally felt inspired to write this morning.  There is a blog that I read regularly, Moments With Love, written by an amazing mother of NINE (six biological and three adopted) - including, most recently, twin girls born last month.  She wrote again today after a long (and understandable) hiatus.  After reading her short update, I couldn't help but think, if she can post right now, I have no excuse!

Anyone reading this knows, of course, that Baby #3 is on the way.  We are all sooo excited!  Except Blake, but she will be someday.  :)  I ask Hollie sometimes if she thinks the baby will be a boy or a girl (she almost always thinks girl), and what the name will be.  It's usually Tweetie or Daisy.

I don't feel great.  I'm taking vitamin B6 for the nausea, instead of the prescription meds I took before.  I feel pretty queasy, but I'm getting through the day and keeping food down.  I really don't feel like eating anything, except...

I'm craving anything spicy, as usual.  I'm drinking orange juice by the gallon...it's the first and only thing I want when I wake up.  Also, something I never craved for either of my first two...sushi!  It still sounds so weird to say I even like it, but when we moved up here, Daniel convinced me to try it (saying that if you're going to eat sushi anywhere in the US, this is best place), and now I'm sort of hooked.  Nothing raw - ever.  But man, those California rolls really hit the spot, especially now.

My due date...depends on who you ask.  If you count 40 weeks from my LMP, the due date is April 2nd.  Based on the ultrasound we had last week and the size of the baby, the due date is more like April 17th.  Either way, I'm happy - the baby has a chance of being born on my birthday...or tax day!

The girls are doing great, as usual.  Blake is walking like a pro, and she loves climbing into all the little kid-size chairs we have.  She's still nursing, though I can tell my, ahem, supply, is tapering off because of the pregnancy.  She was a bit upset about this at first, but she doesn't seem to mind much now.  She's definitely not ready to give it up, though.

Hollie, out of NOWHERE, has started drawing faces, and asking me to write letters for her to copy.  I know they wouldn't have started on letters at school already...that summer program was more for fun than academics.  I guess she may have seen other kids drawing faces, but I've always drawn faces for her at home, too (she regularly asks me to draw friends and family members).  Anyway, check these out...

The blob in the middle is the kitchen counter.
Hollie is at the bottom, with the big eyes.

Blake is at the top, with no arms, and the only one with hair.

Mommy and Daddy are the small ones in the middle, but I can't remember who is who.

The one on the right does not have a funky mustache - those are arms.

Don't you just love the feet?

       A self-portrait

This is Tweetie, the puppet she made at school.  

Have I mentions that she names everything Tweetie?  
Not like the Looney Tunes bird, but the pet bird in the Berenstain Bears book.
He's been growing steadily more colorful everyday. 

Anyway, here is where the teacher put her name on the back.

She copied it later at home.

It's not perfect, but we were blown away!

Oh yeah, I got our camera replaced!  Yay!  Here are a few others I've taken over the last few days...

 Hollie took this one - it's the bed she made for her animals on a shelf.

Talking about...something!

 Love that tongue!

 Tried to get one of both of us...unsuccessfully.

Yes, most of these are of Blake because everytime I want a picture of Hollie she makes her "scary face".

 Okay, I got one "happy face" upon request.

Caught!

Yeah, this is DEFINITELY not happening anymore.

Love the face though.  :) 

 Somebody got creative.  Her hands were the same.

 Caught again!  Looks like she had help this time.

 This might be my favorite picture of her.

That's all for now!  I have my first prenatal appointment later this week.  Hope to post more pictures soon, too!