Tis the Season

What a great Christmas we had this year! Shae is at such a fun age to enjoy the holidays. He may have gotten a little spoiled by Santa and his grandparents (and a whole lot of other family members), but it was so wonderful to see his excitement.

Waiting patiently to open gifts

Getting the hang of things later that night

 The day after Christmas, getting ready to try out his new big boy toy!

This kid has no idea how good he's got it ;)

Shae has also been enjoying the never ending supply of snow this season. He loves getting pulled around in his sled, eating snow, and...

...helping daddy shovel!

Two peas in a pod

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

The verdict is in. Shae will be sharing his parents with a baby sister! Our little peanut cooperated during our ultrasound last week and we were able to see that it's time to start investing in the color pink!

To say that I'm excited would be an understatement. Of course we would've been happy with either a boy or girl and giving Shae a little brother would've been exciting as well, but it's just so fun to be planning for a girl this time around. I'm thrilled to get the opportunity to have a son and a daughter, and I can't wait to watch that little girl captivate her daddy's heart, much like Shae has. Also, I absolutely LOVE having a little boy; even more than I ever could have imagined, and part of me is really grateful that Shae gets to stay my one and only special little man.

Here are some photos of the little beauty at 19 weeks:

And the proof that she's growing fast:

20 weeks

Ho Ho Ho!

We've been talking about Santa a lot lately. We've seen him in cartoons, we've been singing songs about him, and we've been practicing our "ho ho ho's!" But there's something about seeing the big jolly guy in person that can understandably be a little scary to a one year old.

We did enjoy watching Santa and his elf, Albert perform again this year. We even got on the stage and did a little dancing with the big kids. But when it was picture time, Shae preferred that Daddy stay close by. And by close by, I mean between him and Santa.

 Watching the show. Look familiar?

 Shae gave Santa five!

Daddy snuggled close to Santa while Shae waited patiently to be done with this nonsense. 

How badly do you want to kiss this face?!



A Sweet Boy and a Growing Belly

Time for another addition of Shae Does the Cutest Things!

So many come to mind, but I'll try to narrow it down. My pride for this boy is overwhelming.

Shae is turning out to be one polite little boy, as his new most often used word is "please!" He has been saying and signing "more" for quite some time, and we've been encouraging him to say and sign "more please." Well he finally got it and even put his own little twist on it. He's combined the signs into one unique motion and just says "please." He says it all the time! He's also learning to use this new request when he is frustrated and needs help with something. I love this! Instead of getting upset when he can't get his blocks put together the way he wants, he'll say "please," meaning "please help, Mommy." I've actually seen him start to get frustrated by something and then stop, turn to me, and say, "please." It's amazing what you can teach such a young child with a little patience.

Shae has also begun telling his first stories. His favorite goes like this: "Mawy, gobble gobble. Vrrrrm! Boppa" ... or something along those lines. For those of you that don't speak one year old, he's recalling part of our Thanksgiving Day. Grandma Mary made a turkey and Grandpa cut it with an electric knife. He's been telling us this story multiple times a day and Thanksgiving was almost a week ago!

One more thing I'll mention is that Shae loves the Christmas tree. He walks around it saying, "Oooh, aaah," which we've taught him to do. We've tried to keep the unbreakable ornaments towards the bottom because he just can't help but to take them off for a closer look now and then.

As for the little sibling, he/she is doing great! We had another doctor's appointment yesterday and got to hear that sweet little heart beating at 150 beats per minute. Shae didn't really understand what we were listening to, but he keeps trying to imitate the sound and then says, "baby!"

I've also been feeling a little bit of very faint movement now and then. I just love the 2nd trimester! I'm feeling better, feeling movement, and starting to show. Yes, that belly is finally popping!

 Here I am at 11 weeks, shortly after I began to show. (Yes, that is new baby belly, not Shae leftovers.)

I seemed to stay like this for a little over a month, until...

pop!

16 weeks

Finally looking pregnant and not just bloated! :)

Our next appointment is two weeks from tomorrow, where we will do our big ultrasound. I'm so excited to find out the gender and also to see those adorable images of our growing baby!!!

Lunch!

I can't get enough of Shae saying "macaroni"! It's a word that only us, as Shae's parents, can decipher. It sounds like gibberish, but we understand him every time he says it...which is often as it's clearly his new favorite food. That and green beans and peas (weirdo). Don't worry, since he's eating it so often, we're giving him the all natural, enriched macaroni (with extra protein since he's decided to become a vegetarian).

TV or No TV? That is the Question.

It's fascinating to me to observe all of the different types of parents out there. One great place to do this is ECFE (Early Childhood Family Ed). There's a certain mother in our new ECFE playgroup who loves to talk about her children (even more than the rest of us) and brag about her parenting skills. "The television is never allowed on at our house," she proudly proclaimed last week. I try not to judge other people's parenting styles too much, but I couldn't help but to feel that she was judging those of us that allow the TV to be turned on from time to time. And I can't help but wonder, what's the big deal?

I certainly don't park Shae in front of the TV all day, nor would he actually watch it for very long if I did. But I do see some benefits to some television and videos.

1. Imagination and Exploration: One example: Shae has a couple of Baby Einstein videos that showcase animals from around the world. He loves watching all of the different animals, imitating some of them, and repeating many of their names. We do frequent the zoo quite often, but even the zoo can't show him so many animals and places up close and personal.
2. Learning Opportunities: Sesame Street! Seriously, letters, numbers, colors; he's absorbing a lot of information. Of course I talk of these things throughout the day with him as well, but there's no reason Elmo shouldn't reinforce these concepts from time to time. Shae always seems much more interested in what Elmo has to say than in what Mommy has to say.
3. A Better Mommy: I'm pregnant, okay? Sometimes I'm exhausted and I need a little break from chasing this very active boy around. A little down time on the couch with my boy can do me a world of good and re-energize me for some more chasing and playing.
4. Safety: Yes, safety. When I've got a hot pot of boiling water on the stove, things going in and out of the oven, and I'm cutting up veggies for dinner, the last thing that Shae should be doing is hanging out under my feet. And the last thing that I should be doing is allowing him to be around all of that or running out of my sight (which he loves to do these days). I pop in a video and I've got him distracted for a good 20 minutes (in my sight) so that I can move about the kitchen with my sharp knives and hot food.

So yes, my son does watch some television from time to time. He does so in healthy increments and he seems to be developing just fine. In fact, he seems to be doing better than just fine! He's a smart, playful, curious boy and I couldn't be more proud of him!

Shae watching Baby Einstein with his Elmo remote :)

As far as a pregnancy update goes, I'm feeling much better! We were 15 weeks along as of yesterday. The nausea started to pass a few weeks ago, but I was still feeling like I had been run over by a truck 24/7. I was also more pale than ever and I figured my iron was probably getting too low again (this happened when I was pregnant with Shae too). I knew I wouldn't have my blood tested again for another few weeks, so I decided to just go ahead and start taking additional iron supplements and that seemed to do the trick. Hooray!

I'm a little surprised that my belly isn't popping much more yet. I was expecting to show faster with this being my second pregnancy, but I seem to be staying pretty steady for the past few weeks. I was also surprised that I haven't gained any weight so far...and I actually want to! Even when I was feeling sick, I was always able to find something that I could eat, and now that I'm feeling better I'm eating more and more. I know I gained some weight in the first trimester with Shae, but every pregnancy is different I guess. I'm sure everything is fine, but I'm anxious for our next appointment (next week).

King of the Jungle

What a fun Halloween we had this year! Shae was at a fun age to enjoy his costume, pumpkins, and ghosts ("Boo!). All of the scary roaring he'd been doing the last couple of months led to the perfect Halloween costume made by Grandma Mary: a lion. He was the cutest and scariest lion I have ever seen. He loved wearing his costume and "scaring" us with his roar. He especially got excited to see himself in the mirror and would roar so intensely that his whole body shook. I didn't get that on video, but I did get some little roars while walking around the house. You'll also see him scaring Rocky who was locked in the office because he looked a little like he wanted to attack the lion in our house.

We started the festivities this year by visiting Grandma Kathy and Papa the day before Halloween. Cousin Blaise was also there dressed as a dragon. It was a fun little party! On Halloween we visited Grandpa Gary and Grandma Mary and then Grandma Lori, Grandpa Bob, Auntie Kimberly, and Uncle David. If I haven't said it before, Shae is so lucky to have so many wonderful grandparents that love him so much!

On Halloween night, we eagerly awaited the trick-or-treaters in our new neighborhood, but didn't get as many as I thought we would. I'm sure we'll get more next year as our street fills in a little more. I thought that Shae might get a little scared by some of the trick-or-treaters, but he instead got upset when they left. I think he thought they were coming over to play!

 Posing with his pumpkins

 Waving his tail

 "Ball"

 Shae and Blaise

Daddy and Mommy with their little lion