The Newest Member of Our Family!

No, the baby did not arrive early, but her anticipated arrival gave us the push we needed to finally buy a new car!!!

After months of searching we found "the one" and we actually purchased it!

We looked at a few other cars before we were even pregnant with baby 2, but we just didn't feel like we actually needed a new one. Sure, the Civic was tiny, but it was safe and reliable. Yes, it was a hassle getting Jocelyn into and out of her car seat, but that didn't really give us the push we needed to buy a new one. It would have been nice to have a bigger car, but it just wasn't necessary.

Once I got pregnant again, the thought of having a car that I didn't have to bend over into the back seat, hoist Jocelyn up and over the side of her car seat, all while trying not to hit her head off the interior roof became appealing once again, but it still didn't mean we wanted a monthly car payment, so we put if off a little longer. Now, with baby's arrival only about 3.5 months away, and seeing that having two car seats in the back of the Civic was going to be practically impossible, not to mention the lack of space when it came to travelling with two children, we bit the bullet. We knew we had to do it. The time felt right, the price looked right, and the car looked great.

We drove an hour north of Pittsburgh to look at it. Todd said we would NOT be coming home with a car, but I brought the title to the Civic with us, just in case. ;) Well, we did end up saying goodbye to the Civic yesterday. OK, maybe just Todd said goodbye--I said good riddance! I was the one doing most of the Jocelyn hoisting anyways, and this belly isn't getting any smaller!

Anyway, here she is and we already love her:

Welcome home 2007 Honda Pilot! Be a good car and don't give us any problems! You may take up the entire driveway, but we love you anyway! :)

A Beautiful Day for a Picnic!

We have really been enjoying this streak of warmer, sunny weather. Even though we don't have the patio furniture uncovered yet, we couldn't pass up a great day for a picnic!

The Highlight of Her Day!

Tuesdays are library days--one of Jocelyn's favorite things to do!

Miss Dolores is head of Children's Services at the library and does the Book Babies program as well as the Toddler program. Jocelyn, who affectionately calls Miss Dolores, "Es" is one of Jocelyn's favorite people! She runs a wonderful program that both the children and parents enjoy! As for Jocelyn, she just loves going. I actually think she would be fine if I just dropped her off at the door and left her there until the program was over. I can't tell her we will be going to the library without her wanting to go immediately, and if I make the mistake of telling her at bedtime the night before, I will not be greeted with my normal "Mommy!" in the morning when I go to get her, but with, "Babies? Es? Bye-Bye?" She just can't wait to go to the library to see all of her friends and Miss Dolores!

The following picture is of Jocelyn with Miss Dolores back in June. I need to get a more up-to-date picture sometime soon!

Today, after the Toddler program, Miss Dolores was stamping the children's hands. Jocelyn LOVES getting these stamps and it is truly the highlight of her day!

Jocelyn got a sheep stamp today! For the rest of the day we she will dodge washing the tops of her hands. She will want the sheep to last until Daddy gets home so she can share her "eep" with him as well!

Thank goodness for Library Tuesdays!!!

There's Something Wrong With This Picture...

Could it be that Jocelyn is standing in snow with rain boots~or~ could it be that Jocelyn is standing in the snow and does not need a coat on? If you answered 'yes' to both statements, you are correct!

A Touch of Spring!

Yesterday, Jocelyn and I got to enjoy one of the warmest days we have seen in a long time! It was in the 60s and we didn't even have to wear our coats. We got out the outdoor toys, and Jocelyn played for a couple hours without a single complaint! It was great!!

The snow is finally melting, and the yard was very swamp-like, but Jocelyn found the fun in it all. Luckily she has already been outfitted with a great pair of rain boots (Thanks MeMe!). They really helped keep her feet dry and keep her tennis shoes from getting muddy!

It was definitely a day much-needed for both of us...and we are looking forward to having another nice, warm, outdoor-playing kind of afternoon today as well!

Oh, and another exciting bit of information: I can now put Jocelyn's hair back into pigtails!!! Hooray!!!

To the Computer Savy...

I think I've been hijacked and I need help! I would appreciate and ideas or solutions to the following problem:

I cannot get to Facebook. Every time I type the address into Internet Explorer, I get redirected to Hotmail. Sometimes this redirection has occurred when I try to go to sites other than Facebook, but most of the time it happens as soon as I try to go to Facebook.

Todd installed some sort of spyware program, but it hasn't helped. He only downloaded the free version, though...maybe we should pay for it?? We really don't know what is going on or how to fix it, but it's driving me crazy!

Please, if you have any ideas, leave a comment on my blog. All my blog entries are imported to Facebook, but if you comment on Facebook, I will not be able to see your suggestions. You must go directly to my blog (http://www.thetarbar3.blogspot.com) and leave a comment there.

Thanks...and maybe I should mention that we have Windows Vista.

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...