That Little Monkey!!!!

So today I have two funny things to share about Claire. First of all, on Sunday we were watching Baby Einstein. She loves the Baby Noah DVD that has tons of animals. In the DVD they visit different regions and tell you about the animals in each region. Well, apparently Claire has decided that the outback is her favorite region. Whenever we get to the outback she yells "OUTBACK!" So we trained her...now if you ask her where a kangaroo lives she'll answer "outback!" So funny what they pick up!

On a separate note, we've come to discover that our nickname for her, "Monkey", is very fitting. On Tuesday morning at 4:00 am she scaled her crib and came down the hall. I heard her say "mommy" really close by and there she was, standing in the hall! I think she was pretty darn proud of herself, too! :D

As for the baby who has yet to be nicknamed (that will come after we hear a strong heartbeat), s/he seems to be doing well. The kid has been giving mommy an internal workout...I'm exhausted! I'm also starting to feel a bit queasy these days but it doesn't last long. Only a week to go until we see the doctor!

The sweetest thing!

All I have to say is that if this new baby is half as sweet as Claire, we will be the luckiest parents alive! I swear, my child is the sweetest, most loving toddler around and I just adore her (I should, she's my daughter)! Her new thing is kisses. I don't mean little kisses. I mean big, fat, juicy smackers! Now every night when I put her to bed I kneel down on the floor and put my kissy lips between the slats in her crib. Claire scoots over to me and plants a nice big kiss right on my lips and plays with my face. We do this when she wakes up, too. This has now become my favorite part of the day! She also gives big hugs now and says "hug!" She is very affectionate with her stuffed animals and baby dolls, too. She is spreading her love around...which is great now, not so much when she's a teenager! :)

And something funny to share, this morning at 3:00 am Claire decided she didn't want to sleep anymore. She stood in her crib saying "MOMMY! I DONE! BOOK!!!!!" It wasn't so cute at 3 in the morning but now I look back and smile. She finally went back to sleep after I told her a couple of Curious George stories and sang to her. :)

We told the family

Today is my dad's birthday so we decided to tell everyone today! We go my parents on IM with the video conference so that they could see and hear us. I told my dad that Claire had a special birthday message prepared for him. I then asked her what is in Mommy's tummy and she said "Baby!" We told Link's parents later on in person and did it the same way. It was very cute! So now the immediate family knows (I called Jeff to tell him and will call James later...once I find his number)! Now it is starting to feel real! :)

Here we go again!

Well, here we go again! Last Wednesday Link and I were SHOCKED to discover that I'm pregnant! Don't get me wrong, we know what causes it BUT it took us eleven months to conceive Claire! We decided early on that we wanted our children 2-3 years apart. Link perferred 3 years and I preferred 2. I convinced him that we should start trying sooner rather than later since it took so long to get Claire and voila! Two months later I'm knocked up!

So how did I tell Link this time? Last Wednesday I took a test after Link left for work. When it showed up positive I started pacing. I was so incredibly shocked that I didn't know what to do with myself. When Claire woke up I told her she'd be a big sister (I had to tell someone)! :) That afternoon I pulled out Claire's crayons and paper and I drew a picture of our family (like those cheesy ones you see on people's cars). I wrote on the top "Dear Daddy, I'm going to be a big sister!" I then let Claire scribble all over it. When Link got home I had her give it to him. It was pretty cute.

So the basics: I'm due March 14th. The kiddos will be 27 months apart. I'm feeling pretty good. I'm extremely exhausted and run to the bathroom ever 30 minutes or so, but other than that, I feel great! No real nausea...even less than I had with Claire although I know there is still time for it to kick in. I also get really bloated at night and look like I'm already 5 months along. Tonight I had a craving for Panda Express but Link said it sounded gross so we had our usual Wahoo's instead. :)

Until next time....