So, what's new?

Since the snow/ice storm, we've gotten our lives back to normal. The storm left as quickly as it came and we all headed back to a full week of work and school.


Some funny things Ella has said or done lately:


- Grummy bears (gummy bears)
- Pooka dots (polka dots)
- Tinkerbells (fruit snacks; one box we bought had Tinkerbell on it so that's what she thinks they are called)


Poop story: After she went to the potty, she proceeded to let me do the clean-up. Right before we flushed, she said they were "babies" and after flushing, she said "bye poop." Then, ran to the kitchen to tell Daddy "I poop in potty like big girl."


Our nightly routine: We rub cocoa butter on our bellies and brush our teeth. One night, Ella followed that with stating she needed to brush her hair so she could be beautiful. She then asked me "you want to be beautiful?"


Another story: While eating mints, I told Ella I didn't want any more bc they're hot. She climbed on the couch, wrapped her arm around me, looked me right in the eyes and said "they may be hot honey." 


Last weekend, Ella and I went to see Beauty and the Beast 3D. This is what she insisted she wear. We were at the gym (I took her to the Kids Club there while I worked out) and afterwards, we had 50 minutes to get lunch and head to movie. Oh no, she made me drive home, run inside, change her, and run back out so we could get to the movie on time. Forget lunch! Popcorn for me, M&Ms for her!

 Ella's first attempt at dressing Mrs. Potato head

 Ella and Otis bonding at the hotel we stayed at the day/night we lost power

Wiping the baby's booty

We're about 98% there on potty training. Actually, there was no official training - she just finally decided she wanted to do it. However, we still have to wear a pull-up during nap at school and then at bedtime. Speaking of naps, I sure wish she would take those on the weekends! This child hasn't taken a nap at home since she turned 2!!! It wears me out because that means I get no breaks and have to drag her on all the errands I run.

I'm either 22 or 23 weeks prego. I can't remember as I've had a hard time keeping up with it all  this time around. I think it's 23. Let's just say I'm ready for it to be over with and leave it at that:) It's kind of scary to think that 45 or so days from now, I was on bed rest with Ella. I hope that doesn't happen again. Especially since it falls just perfectly around the time we head on vacation and to a wedding.

We're kind of getting settled in the new house. We've spent more $$ the last month it makes my head spin but I guess that's what you have to do when you move into a much larger space. We get our bed tomorrow!

I'm enjoying picking out Spring clothes to be made for 2 kids!!! Sounds so weird! And, it's even more weird to be picking out boy clothes! But, it's fun.

We're getting excited about our trip to Maui the end of February. It will be our last vacation as a family of 3. About a week after we get back, we head to Park City for Paige's wedding. I can't wait!!!

That's all I have for now. Maybe I'll get to actually taking some real pictures with my camera, not phone, one of these days:)

Snowmageddon, Snowpocalypse, Whatever You Want To Call It

It's been an interesting week, that's for sure! Snow started coming down around noon on Sunday and hasn't stopped. The Western WA area has been under all sorts of Winter Storm watches and warnings ever since. The first day or two was kind of nice because I had just gotten back from a week in Vegas at CES and enjoyed working from home. However, by Wednesday, we were all going stir crazy. We were sure that the temperatures would warm up, per the forecast, and by early afternoon today, we could head downtown and go into work. Not the case!!!

We woke up to Ice Storm Warnings. Then, the power went out around 8:30 a.m. Our neighbor came over to tell us that our gas fireplace works with D batteries so we got excited about getting some heat. Well, what do you know? The battery casing was corroded and useless! Brian was hell bent on getting us out of the house so he spent 20 minutes or so breaking layers of ice off my truck. After testing the roads, he felt confident we could find some food nearby and warm up. Well, he got the truck up the hill but didn't want to head back down it and get stuck, so off we went on a snowy adventure to get to the car. The roads were pretty bad and our gas light came on several minutes after driving. So, our next adventure entailed searching for a gas station that had gas. Let's just say there weren't many in the area. We headed a few miles down the interstate and finally found one. We stood in line for about 45 minutes waiting our turn!! I was getting really worried we were going to get to the front of the line and the gas would be gone. People were filling up many tanks of gas to take home (annoying!!!). They put a $50 gas limit for each transaction. We finally got gas and off we went to Bellevue in hopes the mall was open. It was, and we enjoyed a nice, warm meal at The Cheesecake Factory. The snow started to really pick up while we were there so Brian started calling hotels. We secured a room and headed back home to get clothes. At the bottom of our neighborhood, stop lights had power. We were hoping we had ours back on. Not the case. So after a quick pack-up, we headed back out to the hotel. The roads were continuing to get bad but we made it and now we're safe and sound!! All I can say is - What A Day...and I REALLY DISLIKE SNOW! I have no clue if we will be able to make it to work tomorrow. I know Ella is going crazy. She hasn't been in school for 2 weeks!! She really misses her friends. And, we miss our adult time, even if that means going to work.

 Morning iphone pics from our porch

 Yesterday, we walked down the street to Grandview park by our house. Above is a view from the park looking down at the lake behind the dog park. You can usually see the city of Bellevue in the distance but not yesterday:)

 Snow video for Dad:)

 My little snowman creation

 The big hill the kids and many adults were sledding down

 Otis not sure about all of this

 View of the park. Ella is out there swinging in the distance.

 

 Ella spent a lot of time reading to us

 On our walking adventure to the car this morning

Sitting in the gas line praying we would get some gas

Our area got about 8 inches of snow while others got over 18 and the mountains just got dumped. Some of you more experienced snow people might think this is all hilarious, but Seattle doesn't get much snow and we're just not prepared at all making roads quite challenging. Add ice to all of this and it's just no fun!

Let It Snow

It's snowing here...and won't stop!

 All Ella wanted to do was clear the snow off of everything...

 Our new casa covered in snow

 Making rather large snowballs!

Around the New House

Loves lotion

Trip to IKEA

Christmas 2011

We headed home the 21st for Christmas with our families. It was really nice being home and visiting with everyone. Saturday, we headed to Sean and Alicia's for Christmas with my Dad's family. The guys had fun shooting pool and playing table tennis while the girl's sat around and did what we do best, chit chatted.

Sunday morning, Santa came. Then we had Christmas with my parents before heading to Gran and Pop's. That evening, we headed to Brian's parents to wrap up the day. Ella got so many goodies. She's spoiled!! Oh, and Brian and Ella spoiled me with a new Macbook Air!

Monday was a nice day of rest and relaxation. Boy, we needed it after a crazy Christmas day!

Tuesday, Ella and I headed to Nashville to see my college girlfriends and all of their babies. I can't believe this was the first time I had seen any of the kids! Ivelisse's oldest is almost 3!!! That's how long it has been. We had a blast! Thank you Paige for allowing us to destroy your house for a few hours. It's so funny to look back at our college days together vs a house full of babies now!

Wednesday, Emily, Ella, and I went to Nikki and Walker's to meet sweet Ivy! The girls had so much fun playing and it was so good to catch up with Nikki and Walker.

If only we lived closer, we wouldn't miss out on so much!! Below is a slideshow of our week home. Enjoy!!

This free slideshow design customized with Smilebox

It's a...

Well, Ella was hoping for a girl, but it's a boy! On December 19th, Brian's wishes came true. He is no longer outnumbered by emotional girls:) In true Parent's Slack with Baby #2 style, we don't have any names picked out yet. But, below are some ultrasound pictures to tide you over until then.