Children's Museum

The kids group from our church decided to plan a day to the children's museum so that we could all get a group discount. When you say discount, we are THERE. This was our first time there and we were pleasantly surprised at all the fun options there for kids.

 We had to get on the gear before we could board the fire truck.

 In deep thought on the fire truck

 In the train making room...we had lots of trouble with that pesky bridge

 Bubble laboratory! This girl loves bubbles and these were the biggest bubbles of all time!

 Shopping at the store, picking up stuff for dinner

Getting creative with the paints

Cool Kid

Reilly found Daddy's glasses and enjoyed the view!

Reilly and Camden

Here are a few memories with Reilly and Camden! They have a lot of fun together and are partners in crime. Camden does a great job of saying Reilly's name and also calls me Cole. Reilly isn't quite there yet...but any time now!

After Camden found one of Reilly's necklaces, it was reading time! I didn't set any of this up - they got the blanket and all cozy all by themselves!

Then they climbed up onto the love seat and lounged a while.

This was the Easter egg hunt hosted by CCU. They didn't find too many eggs because there were older kids around who actually knew the drill. It worked out though because they really don't need candy anyway. Reilly did get to lick a melted snickers out of the wrapper though.

We also had a day at the zoo. It was the kids, Lauren (Camden's mom), Chris and me. Camden didn't want to hold my hand, but was very happy to hold Reilly's.

This picture is a little out of order but here they were hugging goodbye. How cute!

They were able to see an orangutan up close and we could hardly tear them away!

Final catching up

For some reason Reilly thinks Bears on Wheels is one of the best books ever. Not that is a bad book, but when you read it 10 times a day it just gets super old. I was so thrilled that Chris was reading it to her here...because that meant I didn't have to.
Reilly has really enjoyed playing outside during this crazy warm weather, but the flower pots have been her downfall. She plays in them whenever I'm not looking. Once I happened upon her playing in the potting soil, asked her to stop and went back inside for 30 seconds. I come back outside to find her IN the pot. There is no question that she has been eating it too.

Checking the mail while we're outside has become a daily ritual and she asks about it all day until we go outside and do it. She just says "mail? mail? mail?" It's also a great excuse to put her shoes on, so she points to her feet and says "shoe!"

We were also given a swing set by cousins, and Reilly has enjoyed it so much. It keeps her entertained for a good long while as well, so that's AWESOME.
Here Reilly is having a little afternoon snack with Mommy. Since I am around 20 weeks pregnant (we have an appointment tomorrow and hope to have a better estimate of when we're due) I have multiple meals a day... and I always have to share. Reilly won't let it be any other way.

That is all for now. Be sure to scroll down though because I did two posts before this one (all in the same day. Yes, I know that breaks the code of conduct for bloggers.)

Iowa Trip

This is how Reilly reacted when I told her we were going to IA. Just kidding. I don't even know what this picture is from, actually.

It was a last minute decision once some plans changed and I saw that the flights looked good to and from Omaha, so away we went! We got in late Thursday night and flew out on Monday morning. Reilly was good on the plane as usual, but things always go better when we have an open seat next to us. The flight back we didn't, and we were both happy to get out of there and be home. :)
Bethany and Liam came to my parent's house as well and it was great to see them both! Reilly enjoyed helping us giving Liam a bath. Holding him like you see here was a true chore because this boy doesn't know how to bend and sit! So, I had to support pretty much his whole weight because he was a stiff as a board in the bath tub.
My dad was able to take a few days off as well, so he and Reilly had some good bonding time at the piano.

We of course made a few trips to Bamboo Village plus did some hometown shopping. All in all, a great vacation. I am pretty sure it will be the last time that I travel with Reilly by myself though. I just don't have the energy anymore!

From months ago...

Sorry I have been a lame blogger lately. As I sit here typing my kitchen floor needs to be washed, the kabobs need to be skewered and I need to figure out what I'm making for a small group snack tonight. Two weeks in a row I was feeling very summery, so for small group I made strawberry shortcake for one week and blueberry buckle for the other. Now I am afraid that I set the bar too high. It's a terrible place to be. But anyway, since it's been so long since I blogged I thought I should bump it up to the top of my list - even though I have plenty of stuff to be doing. :)

Reilly loves fruit in general (even when it's bitter and nasty by my definition) but when we bring out the smoothies, she's all over it. We do water them down...but don't tell her that!

This is her enjoying her after-smoothie face in the mirror.

Months ago I spoke about snow pictures, and these are it! I have no idea when these are from, but we did indeed go out and play in the snow. I very accidently got snow in Reilly's face and that was when the fun stopped. Can't blame the kid.

Now whenever it's chilly out or snowing Reilly puts a hand on her chest and says "brrr!"

And Then There Were FOUR

We just had our first appointment two days ago (Monday the 27th) and we found out that we are around 15 weeks pregnant! Now, last pregnancy I was more aloof, but I definitely have felt every day of this one. I thought I was around 11.5 weeks when we went into the appointment, but it turns out they calculate the weeks differently and actually start counting before you're pregnant. Weird, I know. So, I haven't been pregnant for any longer than I thought, but I do have 4 LESS weeks to count down to. So, that's GREAT! The estimated due date is 8.23.12 with the disclaimer that they really don't know for sure. It is mostly my fault because I failed to keep track of things on my end. Last time they were able to calculate it because I wasn't so far along for the first appointment. But, since this baby is already so big, they did their best at measuring. We will have a better estimate at our 20 week ultrasound, which is only a month away.

I was definitely more nauseous this time around which was disappointing. My first pregnancy was so easy that I didn't even know I was pregnant. I was really hoping that would just keep repeating itself, but no such luck. The worst is over though and I'm well into the second trimester. Lately I've also be able to stay up past 8:30pm, so that's treat. Running after a one and a half year old PLUS not being able to just lay down whenever you want takes a pretty big toll on your energy levels. I've also had to get up to go to the bathroom every night since week five and a lot of the time can't fall back asleep. It doesn't do me any favors.

Reilly has been talking a lot more lately which is fun. She knows at least 15 animals noises with an elephant being the latest. She also SAYS elephant by just rolling her tongue around. And this is how new languages are born. One of our favorite animal noises she makes is a giraffe. And what does a giraffe say? Reilly would tell you "YIP!" We couldn't figure out why she would say that until we realized that her plastic giraffe named Sophie makes a rubber squeak. We just play along. Reilly points to about 10 different body parts and has tried to say some of those names too. She also somehow gets personally offended every time we try to pick up her toys because when she sees what we're doing she runs over and says "nooooo!"

I've got Camden here today along with Reilly and they are quite a Team Disaster. I always have a dilemma on these days because I never know if I should stay up and clean up the huge mess they've made, or if I should just ignore it all and take a nap. Although, it's also a nice partnership because Reilly loves to peel oranges without caring to eat them. This results in a lot of peeled Cuties lying around our house that don't get eaten. When Camden is here though, he is happy to take care of any food that Reilly is getting rid of. Especially oranges. One less orange I'm stepping on makes for a happy mom. :)

That's all for now. Cheers.