Marbles Museum

Last Wednesday, Ellie, Ashlei and I went to the Marbles Museum in downtown Raleigh. It's a museum for kids of all ages, even one year olds! Here is a lot of what Ellie did:

Drove a car
Dressed up as a firefighter
Played with trains
Gathered vegetables in the garden
Went grocery shopping
Splashed in the water
Pretended to be a pirate
Built a fort
Threw peas

Went down the slide
Played with fruit
Climbed through a tunnel
Jumped on a trampoline
Twirled a hula hoop
Danced in a tutu
There's a lot more you can do, Ellie wasn't quite old enough for the other stuff. Tons of fun, we loved it!

Cute and Not So Cute Ellie

Last week, Ellie wasn't been her normal happy self. We ended up having to go out to keep her occupied, she never seems to be her happiest when she's home. One morning we went on a walk and she looked too cute, so I decided to try to get a picture of her. I was able to get one shot of her with Kayla:
Then the rest turned out like this:
We went on our walk and surprisingly she wasn't very happy. I had to sing most of the walk until the very end I reclined her and she finally was quiet. Of course I found her like this when I got home:
Isn't she just adorable!

Go Muddies!

Zach, Ellie, and I went to a Mudcats baseball game this past Sunday. Now the title says Go Muddies, but actually Zach was pulling for the opponent, the Tennessee Smokies, who were a Cubs minor league affiliate.

This was the first baseball game Ellie had been to this year (of course Zach and I saw the Cubbies in Chicago). We weren't quite sure if Ellie would sit still and have a good time, or need to be up and walking around, but she ended up doing great! We went with our friends and their kids and had a blast. Ellie would clap and dance and yell. She sat for a while and watched the game, but mostly liked to be up and playing with the other girls. After the game Ellie got to experience her first fireworks show (we missed them on the forth because we were traveling). She was scared at first, but I think she was pretty fasicnated by the colorful lights (just not the loud noise).

We forgot our nice camera, but got a video. Enjoy :)



Here are a few I stole from one of our friends:
Ellie and Fiana watching the game

Fiana, Ellie, and Grace
Ellie, Hannah, and Fiana dancing

16 weeks

I went to the doctor today and the baby's heartbeat sounded perfect! I also found out when we will find out the sex of baby b! I didn't think he would want me back in two weeks, but he did! So we will find out July 20. We are super excited and will definitely post the conclusion.

So how is baby b growing? Here's a tid bit of info that I got this week:
Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length . Right now, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too.

What your baby looks like:
Make sure you take our poll, you only have 2 weeks left!

15 weeks

Baby B is the size of an apple! Here's a picture of my belly:

I'll go to the doctor next Monday, so I'll let you know details afterwards.

In Mom's Shoes

Ellie loves to play with my shoes. Today she pulled out her favorite heels, so we decided to put her in them.

2 years and Chicago!

Zach and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary by taking a trip to Chicago over Father's Day weekend. It's amazing that it has been two years and we never thought we would be expecting our second on our two year anniversary. There have been hard times, but also some very precious sweet times. We are glad we have made it through all the changes the past two years have brought us, and the first years of marriage. We have been so blessed to been given the gift of Ellie and then a second baby on the way. Definitely not what we would have planned, but we are so glad we aren't in control, God has a much better plan!

The Lord has blessed me so much by not just giving me a beautiful daughter, but an amazing husband who is also an amazing father. My love for Zach grows deeper and deeper as I watch him as a father to Ellie. It is very evident that he cares about us above any other earthly thing. He is very supportive and VERY involved. I don't think there is a day when he's not gone on a business trip that he doesn't change Ellie's diaper and help me around the house. He loves to serve both of us and I am extremely thankful for that! I am so proud to claim him as my husband and daddy to my children :) I look forward to many more years where our love will continue to grow and to watch him father our two (maybe more later) children!

So, about our trip... Chicago was a blast! We visited museums and the amazing Shed Aquarium, went kayaking down the Chicago River, took a dinner cruise on Lake Michigan, and went to a Cubs game! Zach and I went alone and were very surprised how much we missed our little girl! Four days was too long for us, we were ready to get home to see her smiling face.

Welcome to Chicago! It was stormy the first two days:
Go Cubbies:

I bought tickets online, it warned the we could have a limited view due to posts in the way. Never thought it would be this view:
(luckily we were able to scoot down one seat and were able to see much better!)

The trip definitely seemed to be destined for trouble. We choose Chicago because not only does Zach absolutely LOVE Chicago, he also had received two free night stays at the Palmer House in Chicago. Wednesday morning, the day before we left, we were looking for the gift certificate. We had placed it in our office, but we moved the office to the garage and ended up losing the certificate which they say they have to have. After stressing out about it all morning Zach decided to use his Hilton points to get us a free stay even though he wanted to save them. We got most everything packed on Wednesday and woke up early Thursday morning thinking our flight was at 9:45a. I had allowed plenty of time to make sure we didn't have to rush out the door, but at 7:15a Zach receives a text saying our flight was leaving at 8:20a! The airport is about 20 minutes away and I had just woken Ellie up! We ran out the door, barely making it to the airport on time to check-in and make our flight, but luckily we made it! That was just the beginning of the trip... we have a few more stories while we were in Chicago, but I'll leave those for you to ask me later. The end of our trip ended in the same manner. Zach and I made it to O'Hare airport and were checking in to our flight. Well the computer told us our flight had already departed, we had mixed up the departure time with the arrival time again! This time we missed it completely though and had to take the next flight. We still had a great time and made it home safely and we were able to brush it off farely quickly :)

Shed Aquarium:



(this was the best aquarium I've ever been too! HUGE and a lot of fish and other animals)

Summer Time

She has so much fun! Lovin' summer time...

Boom Boom Pow

Ellie absolutely loves the "Boom Boom Pow" song by the Black Eyed Peas. She can really get down, but it seems like every time I pull out the video camera she becomes shy. I was able to get her to dance a little bit one night before bed:

12 weeks

Recently I have been terrible at updating the blog, mostly due to the first trimester pregnancy blues (that is morning sickness, fatigue, and a lot of wanting to do nothing). Now, however, I am official done with the first trimester and feel so much better! I am still not getting much sleep, which leads to more fatigue, but have been able and willing to do much more.

I had my second doctor's visit this Monday and everything went perfect. The doctor informed me this pregnancy should be just as boring as the first and we have no problem with that! I got to see baby two again and he/she was squirming all around. I have another picture, but it's not even worth posting because it's basically a blurb. The doctor I saw is not very good at taking ultrasound pictures, next time I'll choose another one to take better pics. My next visit will be in four weeks just to check on the baby. It's so nice to have nothing to worry about and to be able to still take care of Ellie, Zach, Kayla, and the house.

So update on Ellie: She turned 14 months old today and is learning more and more things everyday. She still isn't saying many words but babbles a ton. We have been going to the pool a lot the past two weeks and she is loving the water and watching the other kids play. I'll be posting some videos and pictures soon. Remember to cast your guess below!

Make Your Picks

We thought it might be fun to let everyone take a stab at guessing our second baby's actual birthday and sex. Feel free to use what ever backwoods unscientific method you want for your prediction. Below I have tried to anticipate all the totally unrelated information many people think is an indicator of sex or gestational length.

• The official due date is 12/22/09
• So far the baby is VERY average in size as measured through the ultrasound
• Laura has gained less than 1 pound so far
• Laura has had irregular frequent bursts of fatigue and sickness the first trimester
  
• Laura had NO sickness and very little fatigue her first pregnancy
• Laura has had NO cravings for any particular form of ice cream
• Nobody was upside down when the baby was conceived
  
• The baby was NOT conceived on a full, new, waxing or waning moon.
  

Fill out the form below with your predictions. The winner gets a HUGE prize.

New Chair and Pool

Ellie loves sitting in chairs her size. So I went out hunting for one that wasn't too tall that I would have to worry about her falling out of, so this is what we found:
She gets so excited when she sits in it, it is absolutely adorable!
We also decided to buy her a little pool her size for the backyard. We have a neighborhood pool (which she likes more since there are other people she can play with and observe), but this makes it easier on me so I don't have to always get in if she wants to get wet. Here is a picture of her eating the squishy wet ball:
Here is one of Ellie playing with her bucket:
Ellie still doesn't like to explore things very much, she LOVES watching people and interacting with them. Sometimes she can be shy, but most likely she hardly seems to know a stranger. No matter where we are, Lowes, the mall, a restaurant, if a stranger even smiles at her she is willing to go straight into their arms. We aren't sure how we feel about this, but it has made life a little easier since she loves almost everybody. She's definitely a little social butterfly :)

Sleep Over!

This past week Ellie stayed with my sister and her husband for two nights! Zach and I didn't have any plans, we just thought it would be nice to have a little break. We were very curious to see how Ellie would handle two whole days without mommy and daddy, but she did fabulous! It didn't even seem like she noticed we weren't there. She had a great time, but we sure did miss her at our house. Life just isn't the same without our sweet little girl running around.

An update on baby #2: I am almost 11 weeks and the nausea seems to be getting a little better. I mostly feel sick in the morning and then when I get tired at night. I will be going back to the doctor the second week of June and will most likely have another picture for you!
Zach is in the process of finishing in the garage so he can move his office out there. We decided since he already is so distracted by me and Ellie, adding another baby will make it nearly impossible for him to work efficiently in the house. The garage seems more secluded and you can't hear everything that's going on as well. We hope it'll work, we gotta stay in this house a few more years :)

Annoucing Baby No. 2!

So this is how it all started:One positive pregnancy test. At least this time it only took one to convince us, last time we took four and still weren't convinced! So you might ask were you planning to have another one so early? Well, the answer is no. We had one slip up, and well it only takes one time! We are proud that we made it that far, and are really excited that the Lord blesses us so easily. Children truly are a blessing, and we are delighted the plan the Lord has for us.

We went to the doctor today to have our first ultrasound, my favorite part! We saw the baby's heartbeat and him/her move around! Everything looked fabulous and the baby measured exactly as planned. The expected arrival date is December 22, 2009, my dad's birthday! It may not be our choice of timing, but it's awesome to have the baby due on my dad's birthday. Ellie and baby 2 will be 20 months apart. Here's a picture for proof:

So Ellie is officially a big sister! We told our family by making a shirt for her and letting them figure it out. It was fun, a few mixed reactions... but overall excitement all around. We know our family can definitely give out love and plenty of it! Here is Miss Ellie Baker in her new shirt:
You might be wondering how I have been feeling and if this pregnancy is as easy as the last... well, it definitely is much different! I started having nausea around 6 weeks, have trouble sleeping at night, and have been very moody (poor Zach). I started taking vitamin B6 to help with the nausea, and it has been better. I am very careful of what I eat to avoid getting sick, and I try to rest a lot. Zach has been a HUGE help by helping with Ellie whenever I need it. Sometimes we feel like how are we going to do it, but then we look at Ellie and know how much easier it is to trust God with our future. We are so blessed to have our friends and family to support and love on us. Zach, Ellie, and I hope that you will pray for us over the next 7 months as we prepare for our new addition!

Kisses For You

She just started this adorable thing this weekend:



We love it, but can only get her to do it when she's tired.

Uh-oh

Happy Birthday Madi!

Our good friends' daughter, Madison, is turning 2! She had her birthday party this past Saturday since her mom, Mikel, is due with their second baby girl right around Madison's actual birthday. It was a beautiful morning to have a party. Here's the birthday girl and Ellie:


Ellie was a little shy at first (not normal for our little girl), but she warmed up quickly and became herself. I was droopy from the benadryl and tried to stay off my foot, but definitely enjoyed the party and the delicious and CUTE cake!
Birthday girl with her mom, both oh so beautiful:

The Chick-fil-a cow came and made an appearance! Almost every kid was scared of her. Ellie warmed up to her pretty quickly:


Thank goodness we have a good friend who likes watching Ellie, with me being droopy, I was definitely not on top of my game. Elizabeth Ramsey stepped in and was great with Ellie:

Madi got a huge tub of animal crackers as a gift, Ellie was quite interested in it. She kept trying to figure out how to get the crackers out:

Here is a typical moment for Zach. He was caught eating right off the birthday cake! Luckily Mikel didn't mind.

Birthday banner #2. I made another banner for Madison. I thought it turned out well :)

Cornhole:
Another beautiful shot of Ellie:

So Pretty

We have had such beautiful weather the past few weeks, even though we've gotten quite a bit of rain as well. I'm kinda sad it's getting so hot, because the 70 degree weather was perfect! Our azalea bushes have been blooming and they are so beautiful, I had to go take some pictures of them and of course Ellie!Ellie enjoys walking so much! The world is definitely a new place now that she's walking.

Zach and I are extremely blessed to have such a happy child! She has four teeth coming in and she barely whines or fusses! She has been picky with her food and wants to sleep a lot, but keeps a smile on her face!


So I must tell you what happened this weekend. Friday morning I was bitten by two fire ants. I don't think I have ever been bitten by a fire ant because I definitely had an allergic reaction. I almost immediately started breaking out in hives everywhere, and then within an hour my foot began to swell. I took some benadryl, called the doctor to make sure I shouldn't come in, and then passed out! All weekend I basically slept because I kept benadryl in me, poor Zach! I tried to stay off my foot, but we kept pretty busy... so I was on it a little more than I should've been. Today the swelling is almost gone! I had to take a picture for the memory:

It doesn't look that swollen, but it definitely was! I couldn't even get it into a shoe!

New Do

When Ellie eats, she almost always rubs her hands on her head. This is the result:

Birds

We bought a bird feeder on Saturday! We absolutely love watching all the birds that come to chow down.