A DAY AT THE ZOO

Yesterday we decided to do the 2.5 hour drive to Asheboro, to go to the zoo.
We'd heard that the zoo here in North Carolina was a nice one, and we wanted to do some fun outdoor things with Luke before the weather gets to hot, and before the baby is born.

The zoo here is HUGE... so big that there is a tram that takes you between the two sections of the zoo, and a shuttle that will drive you from one parking lot to the other if you start and finish on different sides of the zoo... I've certainly never been to a zoo with any of those 'services'

Luke wasn't as interested in the animals as we had thought he'd be... he was loving the new environment we'd brought him too, and the freedom we gave him to run and walk at his leisure, but he more frequently pointed to plants and water than he did at animals. LOL.... I guess everyone has their own interests.

His favourite animal though of the ones he did pay attention to was definitely the otters... yes, I know... 2.5 hours to the zoo to be fascinated by river otters. LOL...
They had a big enclosure, where you could go 'underneath' and look through a glass window into the water that they were swimming in... kinda like if you were at an aquarium I guess.
The otters were very people friendly and not at all shy about coming right up to the glass to entertain the people. I wish I could have caught on camera the moment when Luke had his face right up to the glass, and an otter swam right up to him and put his face at Lukes... Luke got a bit startled and took a quick step back. LOL...

 

 

POOPED after a long day... barely made it back to the car without falling asleep in the stroller

IT'S A GIRL!!!

Today I am 19 weeks 1 day, and we went to the OBGYN for my mid pregnancy ultrasound.

As the title says, "IT'S A GIRL"!
We'll be naming her Kate (though we haven't decided on a middle name yet)

I'm sooooo super excited.

Everything looks healthy and well with her.. she has all her limbs and 10 fingers and toes, and we are feeling so excited to meet her. Jake still needs a little while to completely wrap his head around having a girl, but I think she'll end up being daddy's little princess before he knows it. :)

 Trying to Suck her Thumb

Here is a little video clip of her... she was trying to flip over when we were watching the ultrasound. LOL

It feels quite surreal to finally have seen her, to know that she is a girl, and to be feeling her move.. in no time at all I'm going to be the mommy of TWO...
I'm so blessed, and I can barely contain my excitement for this new addition, soon to join our family.

LIVING ROOM MINI MAKEOVER

I decided that my living room, which is my 'stay at home mom' office, needed a mini makeover... I hated the decor, and I wasn't a fan of the colour.

So, for my birthday, Jake bought me some oil canvases I wanted, and I used a gift card from my family to buy a few accessories.
Then, we (to Jakes absolute despair) repainted the bottom portion of our living room walls for the THIRD time since moving here... (Who knows WHAT we were thinking, painting our walls green in the first place....???)

We didn't make any major changes, but small ones can make a big difference, and I'm much happier with the living room now, than I was before.

We've since ordered a couple of faux leather recliners to create more seating space. They should arrive later this week. I'm excited to have a more fully furnished living room, with decor I like :)

16 WEEKS

I had my 16 week prenatal appointment today, and everything seems to be going well.
Nice strong, fast heartbeat, and I'm in pretty good general health.

I was excited to be able to book my '20 week' ultrasound, which will be on April 29th... I'll be just over 19 weeks by then. I'm SUPER excited to know what we're having.

I think it's a girl.. Jake thinks it's another boy.
This time around, I am less phased by what we get... i'd be equally happy with either... a brother for Luke would be awesome, and a little princess for me would be super exciting... so I'm gonna be smiles either way, as long as he/she is healthy.

I've also in the last few days, started to feel 'rolling flutters' of movement in my lower tummy... It's exciting to feel the baby so early this time... it was still a few more weeks until I felt Luke. In no time at all, I'll be feeling full fledged kicks, and that oh so unpleasant boney butt in my rib cage. LOL.

In other news, Luke has learned to say, 'NO'... not my favourite word, but it's been so fun to have him actually verbally responding to things or protesting with words... I'm sure the novelty of 'NO' will wear off quickly though. LOL

Yesterday I had a funny moment with him.
He took my hand and pulled me to the kitchen, and pointed to the fruit snacks (fruit gummies).
I opened a bag, but before handing them over to him, I bent down to his level and asked him,
"Can you say Fruit Snacks?"
He just looked at me, and very matter of factly said, "no"

LOL... well then, that's settled...
And so he went on just to eat his fruit snacks.
May not seem so funny to you, but considering I've gone for almost 2 years with a child that uses no verbal communication, it was a sweet, and funny moment for me.

And that's all our news for now.

SATURDAY MORNING CHORES

Luke is at the age right now, where he likes to 'help' with everything...
He particularly LOVES to be outside, helping in the yard.

I hope his enthusiasm for 'work' lasts a while. LOL... 

A SUCCESSFUL FIRST NIGHT

Last night was the first official night we tried Luke in his big bed. We had put him there a couple days ago, but just to see what he'd do, not really planning on insisting that he sleep there.
Last night, we tucked him in, and said prayers with him like we usually do, and then left the room and closed the door. After a few minutes, Luke came out of the room, without a word, holding his snuggle monkey, sippy cup, pacifier and night light (all things that he associates with bedtime). I took him back into the room, explained again that this is his new bed, and tucked him back in. By the 3rd time, he was pointing to the bed each time I explained that this is his new bed, and he seemed to start showing some more understanding. After about 20 minutes and 4 escape attempts, he was fast asleep in his big boy bed... and all without any fussing or crying. What a big boy.

He woke up and walked out again one more time a little later in the night while we were watching a movie, but also without fuss, allowed me to tuck him back in again.

I slept with one eye and one ear open all night, hoping he'd be ok... my baby is growing up so fast.
At 7am, he woke up, and instantly hopped out of bed, grabbed his 'bedtime goodies' and came to our room to jump all over us. I was so proud of him for how good his first night went, though it wasn't as fun having him in our room right after waking up. LOL.. usually we leave him in his crib for another 20-30 minutes or so, while we slowly wake up... I guess we can't have it all.

I'm so happy that he's showing such good signs of transitioning well, but at the same time my heart is aching just a little bit, that my baby is growing up so fast. I'm feeling like such a proud mommy today.