My Blog has been abandoned...

My mother-in-law asked me this past Saturday if I was "done with my blog". I guess I have been neglecting keeping it updated, but I feel like the only thing I have to talk about lately is pregnancy related or snow related. Both of those subjects getting boring really quickly!

Today the sun is shining and it's 50 degrees! The snow is s-l-o-w-l-y melting, and it seems like Jocelyn and I can finally get some good outside time. Just not in the yard--that is still covered in the snow. On Sunday we all got up and went outside. Todd needed to shovel the waist-high snow off of our sidewalks, and Jocelyn needed to be reminded of a time when the sun actually shone. She had a blast just playing in the driveway, "helping" daddy shovel, and then she spotted her tricycle in the garage, drug it out with the helmet and wanted to ride! We rode up and down the street a few times until my back just couldn't bend over anymore! Jocelyn had so much fun and I am looking forward to the warmer weather and having more options of things to do. I wonder if Jocelyn realizes that the cold weather and snow is coming to an end and that she will soon be able to play outside once again? She hasn't really had much time in this world to realize the pattern of seasons...she may have thought it would be winter forever. How horrible!

Jocelyn has come a long way with speech. I can understand almost all of what she is saying now, but other people still need a translator. She leaves off the beginning sounds of most words, something we are working on together and with her speech therapist. I have no worries that she will catch up to her peers in no time! She has been having fun this winter going to the library for story times as well as multiple playdates and PALS program. Without all of those things, we would have gone crazy!!

I have also been neglecting my picture-taking duties. Jocelyn seems to have finally passed the stage where she doesn't want her picture taken, and moved on to wanting her picture taken so that she can see it. That's good because I feel like I haven't taken a picture of her in months. I also need to get some professional 2-year shots done. I'm thinking about scheduling something in the very near future. For now, here are a few new ones:

Sleeping Beauty

Wearing Mommy's shoes!

And just for good measure...evidence that baby girl #2 is still growing. I am nearly 23 weeks now!

Baby girl is definitely not to be forgotten...she makes her presence known very well now with strong kicks and punches. She's already fighting for attention! I don't remember feeling Jocelyn quite as much this early on. I can see movements on the outside of my belly as well. This is the funnest part of pregnancy for me. Baby's not too big to be making me uncomfortable (well, uncomfortably big anyways--my back is already hurting and the sciatic nerves is on the rebound as well), but she's big enough to be felt and make lots of movements. I swear she's doing somersaults in there! Jocelyn is also starting to notice my belly more and tries to pry open my belly button to see the baby. I've received plenty of belly kisses and rubs (from Jocelyn), and are the cutest things! Being pregnant this time is a lot different for me. I think if may be because I already have a child and it makes me more aware of what's coming. I can't wait to see what she looks like, what her personality is like, and how Jocelyn enjoys being a sister and interacts with her. The clock is ticking...only 121 days to go, with lots of fun stuff going on in between to keep us occupied!

Growing, Growing!

Just look at my Jocelyn!

March 2008

March 2009
March 2010

I just can't seem to figure out where all the time has gone. Oh, and I also can't believe how bald Jocelyn was and how much hair she has grown!

She has a Name!

We thought picking a name for baby girl #2 would be much harder than it turned out to be. We have agreed on her name, and are both thrilled with the choice!

Proverbs 22:1~ A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.

It's a Girl!!

Our Jocelyn is going to be a big sister to a baby girl! Sisters! I have to admit that I was surprised that we are having another baby girl. I had three dreams about this baby so far, and in each one the baby was a boy. I guess it's natural to imagine having one of each, and Todd questioned as to how sure she was, but the ultrasound tech was sure that this baby is indeed another girl. I am excited to have two girls. I love having one girl, so I'm sure I'm going to love having two! Just remind me that I said that when Jocelyn is 17 and new baby girl is 15! Yikes! Two teenage girls!

Baby is measuring right on time with a due date of July 8th, 2010.

Everything looked perfect and healthy, and my little placenta "issue" is no longer an issue!

She's waving in this picture. Can you see her little hand above her forehead?

We are pretty sure that this is going to be our last baby, so we wanted to surprise everyone with the gender in a creative way. When I say creative, I mean I went on the Internet and searched for fun ways to announce gender. That's where I got all my ideas. I wish I could be creative enough to think of these things myself.

On the way home from the ultrasound we stopped at Michael's to get some pink ribbon so that we could let our out-of-town family know that baby was a girl!

Then we went to Giant Eagle, and I got a white cake mix so we could surprise Todd's mom, grandma and aunt with a gender cake. One drop of red food coloring makes a nice pink!

I also got in contact with some friends of my parents and had them take my mom and dad an arrangement of "It's a Girl" and pink balloons. They were surprised and wondered why their neighbors knew that baby was a girl before they did! :)

The next question everyone asks once you find out gender is if you have a name picked out yet. I will answer that question for you now. We do not have a name picked out yet, nor do we really even have any possibilities yet, but we have decided that we aren't going to tell anyone her name until she is actually born. Sorry, but at least there will still be one surprise left to tell once she arrives!

We are so happy to have a healthy baby and cannot wait to have her as a part of our family!

"Stuck"

She doesn't seem to enjoy being stuck much, but she got used to the snow and started having fun later...

Blizzard Photos Part II

Starting the bundle-up process...

Snow pants

Ready to go!

This is our street
The other direction

Our house

The view from our garage

The steps up towards our house

I have some videos I will upload later...

Brooke & Jocelyn's First Blizzard!

So the weather people are calling this the Blizzard of 2010. The last time Pittsburgh saw snow like this was in March of 1993. I still lived in Charlotte at that point, so I didn't get to witness it. I have always wanted to see this much snow...and now I have! We stuck a yard stick out in the snow this morning and here's how much we have so far. It's still snowing, though...

There's usually a couple of steps down into the side yard...

Our large bush...falling over!

Look how high the snow is up on the fence!

Can you see the car that's parked on the street to the left of our porch pole and above the bench?

Wow!

We want to take Jocelyn out, but we aren't sure what she will do. I'm sure she can't walk in it! Maybe we will just put her on the sled and pull her around!

Oh, and Todd just cannot wait to shovel!!! ;)

The Bump!

Maybe I should change the sidebar of my blog from 'Watch Jocelyn Grow' to 'Watch Brooke Grow"!

Here's the belly at 5weeks, 4 days...before anything really started happening...

Here it is today at 18 weeks...
And this one is from when I was 17 weeks pregnant with Jocelyn...

I've only recently given in to wearing maternity pants. I had been using the rubber band method and a Bellaband for a few weeks, but it was just getting too uncomfortable. I can remember being so excited to start wearing maternity clothes when I was pregnant with Jocelyn. This time, not so much...I wanted to stay in my regular clothes as long as possible. I refuse to buy lots of maternity clothes--clothes you will only be wearing for a short time (ha-I say short, but it feels so long). I barely spend money on clothes when I'm not pregnant--I'm not going to do it for clothes that will be unwearable in a few months!

OK, baby--you win--I knew you would, I just keep reminding myself that the growing belly indicates a happy, healthy growing baby as well!

Cabin Fever

Cabin fever is an idiomatic term for a claustrophobic reaction that takes place when a person or group is isolated and/or shut in, in a small space, with nothing to do, for an extended period (as in a simple country vacation cottage during a long rain or snow). Symptoms include restlessness, irritability, forgetfulness, laughter, and excessive sleeping, distrust of anyone they are with, and an urge to go outside even in the (less miserable) rain, snow or dark. Cabin fever can also be known as a term for a lack of sexual intercourse.[1] The phrase is also used humorously to indicate simple boredom from being home alone.[2] The term was first recorded in 1918.[3] Other references have the term in use at least to 1906. An 1820 reference is to an actual fever, common in Ireland, resulting from eating watery potatoes during wet years.

Cabin fever - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Indoor Fun

When it looks like this outside when you wake up in the morning, and the forecast calls for more snow, wind, and freezing temperatures, you have to come up with things to do that do NOT require bundling up and going outside! Why? Because Mommy doesn't want to!

Homemade Playdough!

We'll just make one of these inside today!

Art!