We are having the best time with David’s sister in town. Andrew has loved getting to know his Aunt Jenn over the past couple of days and he is really warming up to her. On Saturday we had a little picnic in the park with some extended family. Andrew literally ran and played for 4 hours straight. His little face was blood-red and he got very dirty but loved every moment that we spent outside. We even took a hike through the woods and he probably walked 1/2 a mile by himself. He was so tuckered out by the time we got home that he was ready for his bath and went to bed without any fuss at all.

Yesterday we went to church and then took Jennifer to one of our favorite little eats here in DC, Buca di Beppo! We then came home so that Andrew could get a good nap and honestly, we needed a little rest as well. Later in the day we went to Tysons Corner, my favorite mall in the area. Andrew was so great the entire time. He stayed in his stroller for about an hour while Jenn and I looked around a few stores and had our eyebrows threaded. Side note: I highly recommend eyebrow threading. It was pretty much painless and the result looks AMAZING! Back to the update…Andrew saw a little water fountain in the middle of the mall and become inthralled with it. I dug some pennies out of my purse and showed him that you can throw them into the water. He had the best time doing this and kept asking for more. It is so cute to watch him grow into such a little boy. I let him walk from one end of the mall to the other end, where the play area is, and he waved at almost everyone that we saw along the way. After playing for about 20 minutes at the little play area there, we went to Jasons Deli for some din-din and then a little stop at Target before heading home. We didn’t get home until after 9 and Andrew was still in great spirits. He is such a great little boy and we are so blessed to have him in our lives. He never once cried that he was tired, hungry or unhappy. He is definitely our adaptable kid!!

Andrew has started playing this new game where he hides things and will then go back and play with them later. This has become quite a funny thing lately and I have to chuckle whenever I find things in different places that are rather unusual. A couple examples are:
Lost-my toothbrush. Found-in the side pocket of the Glider/Rocker!
Lost-David’s walkie talkie. Found-in the cabinet in our dresser!
Lost-PS3 remote batteries. Found-behind the entertainment center!

My favorite so far has a little story. For Christmas, David’s Grandma gave everyone in the family a framed picture of herself. I have placed this on the mantle for us to enjoy everyday. Andrew has learned that he can climb in a chair and get the picture down. He loves to look at and talk to his “Granny” almost everyday. One day, the picture went missing. I search everywhere until I found it here

He had placed her into his toy-bin! I can only assume that he wanted Granny to be able to play with his toys! I can’t help but laugh at how cute he can be.

We had a lot of fun with Andrew this year during Easter. Unfortunately is was too cold and rainy for us to go to our church’s Eggstravaganza. Andrew had a cold and I didn’t want to make things worse so we decided to have our own in the backyard Sunday after church. He did great at first but then turned his basket over and dumped all of the eggs out onto the ground. Nonetheless, it was a fun time. We had a great Easter service at church and then my friend, Jenn, and I cooked a big Easter dinner with all of the fixings! This was our very first time preparing dinner on a holiday all by ourselves so it was a lot of fun. We spent the afternoon hanging out and then David grabbed a few pictures of us in our Easter outfits!

Yesterday we went to the doctor and found out that we are having a baby girl! We are very excited and look forward to Andrew having a little sister in August. They also moved my due date up to August 16 because the baby was measuring at 20 weeks and 2 days! Everything on the sonogram looked good and the sonographer couldn’t find anything wrong. Thank you, Lord!! We are officially half-way there and it gets more and more exciting the closer we get. I can’t wait to buy tons of cute little pink and purple things for our sweet girl.

Today marks my 17th week of pregnancy with baby #2. So far everything has been completely different than when I was pregnant with Andrew. I didn’t have bad morning sickness at all. I got a little nauseated if I didn’t eat as soon as I felt hungry but I never once threw-up. I was really tired during my first trimester and have definitely had bursts of energy during the second. I felt the baby move for the first time around 14 or 15 weeks which is pretty normal for the second child. I started feeling things shifting around in my tummy about a week after I found out I was pregnant but I hear that most women feel these changes. I am definitely already showing and actually look as if I am about 4 weeks further along than I actually am. This is because I went through a time when I felt constantly hungry. It seemed as if I couldn’t get full so I literally had to eat every 2 hours no matter what. The last time I saw the doctor I told her to check to make sure there weren’t two heartbeats in there. She laughed of course and said she could only hear one (a strong, healthy one)!

Because I no longer have a job, I am on David’s insurance and am not able to use the same doctor that I used with Andrew. This has been an adjustment and a heartbreaking one. I loved my other doctors. They were very proficient and really didn’t want to waste my time. They would get me in and out as quickly as possible and I really enjoyed that. The new place is horrible. In the first month I had to go in 4 or 5 times for each individual thing that needs to be accomplished in the first visit (fist sonogram, blood work, physical, paperwork, actually seeing a doctor, etc). Talk about a waste of time. It took a toll on me and I was very emotional that first month with them. Things have gotten a little better but not much. At one appointment I had to sit in the waiting room for an hour which is something that I never had to do last time. I have a feeling I am going to be a stronger woman after this experience is over.

I know that Andrew doesn’t truly understand what is going on. He likes to rub my tummy and of course stick his little finger in my belly button and giggle. I do know that his world is going to be rocked in August because he is quite the “mommy’s boy”. Yesterday I asked him who was in my belly and his reply was “Andrew”. It was so cute. I keep trying to tell him that his baby brother or sister is in there.

Now that the weather is finally starting to feel like Spring, we have been taking advantage of being outside. Today we woke up early and headed over to Black Hills Regional Park in Maryland. We had a great time walking the trails and being outdoors. Andrew did great considering the fact that he is only 17 months olds. As soon as he got out of the car he started running. He didn’t care where, he just wanted to go. As long as he was leading us, he was a happy camper. He didn’t really want to be in the Ergo whenever there was so much space for him to run and play. He had a few meltdowns but did really well for the most part. David was able to capture some incredible moments from the day for us to share with our family and friends.

“I just don’t understand why they won’t let me walk. I know the way back!”

“Hi Daddy!”

“I’m a big boy! Look at me!”

“My mommy and I had to take a break! Mmmm…good water!”

“My Daddy carried me most of the way in this silly thing they keep calling ‘the ergo’!”

“Look at this!”

“Come on, guys!”

“I saw my first real horse. His name was Sergeant Pepper!”

“This is a fun day!”

“More water!”

“This time my daddy helped me so that I wouldn’t spill it on my clothes.”

“I gave this flower to my mom. She really loved it!”

“I found this cool rock and sat down to take a break!”

“I love my mommy so much!

Andrew has become such a great eater. He is completely self-sufficient with a spoon or fork and will eat whatever we eat. We are so proud that he can feed himself and we no longer have to help him. Now we try our best to eat as a family every night and it has quickly become my favorite part of the day.

“Where’d it go?”

I love mandarin oranges!

These pictures were taken before Andrew had his first real big-boy haircut. He looks so much like a little boy now and he can even wear it spiked now!

We finally got an actual snow day today. DC was hit with almost 8 inches of snow last night and this morning so we have spent the day playing inside and hoping that warm weather will come soon. David is off of work on Mondays so we took Andrew outside this morning to play in the snow for a little while. He of course loved it but everywhere he stepped the snow came up to at least his knees. This morning as the storm was passing through he kept pointing outside saying, “It’s cold…burrrr!!” He also adds a little shake whenever he says it. He is so funny!

The snow was beautiful and we had a blast with Andrew but we are now really looking forward to the arrival of Spring so that we can play outside.

Andrew turned 17 months old last Friday. He is growing into such a little boy. He has started running instead of walking and is constantly on the go. Anytime David or I get ready to go somewhere, he starts pointing at his coat and saying bye-bye. He loves the outside which makes me so sad. It has been so cold that we haven’t been able to take very many trips to the park. The worst part is that we usually go 4 or 5 days without even going outside. Needless to say we are really looking forward to the arrival of Spring.

He has some new favorite words. Cracker, bowl, cheese, more and mama are at the top of the list. He also goes around saying “Where’d it go?” all of the time. It is so cute to hear him using sentences. He will also mimic any noise that you make.

We are proud to say that in August we will welcome another little one into our family. We are so excited to provide a sibling for Andrew and can’t wait to meet baby #2. I feel just as excited about this child as I was about Andrew. The good part is that the morning sickness has not been as bad as it was with the first one. The biggest hurdle is that I am extremely exhausted! I take a nap almost everyday when the boys are napping and that gets me through until bedtime. Other than that, I have had a pretty easy time.

Please keep us all in your prayers once again as I will be pregnant throughout the summer. I did fine last time with just swollen ankles. Let’s hope that is the