Catch up time

It is time for me to try and catch up on some of what has been going on.

We just went to Clara's 15 month doctors appointment. She is back off the charts for her height at 33 inches, and her weight keeps going down and is now about 64%. But I guess that is totally normal for active kids, and she is definitely active. She hardly sits still for a moment now. She loves not only to walk but to run around everywhere she can. She also loves to talk. When we were at the doctors office Clara was pointing at some pictures on the wall and asked "wha is sat?" (what is that), the nurse stopped what she was doing and turned around and asked me if she really just said "what is that." And the funny thing is she has been saying that for months now. Some of the things she says are...

"where di go"-where did it go

"der go"- there you go

"ticko"- tickle

"agi"- again

also she puts where in front of other words such as mama or dada

"der is"-there it is

"uh-oh"

mom

dada

mommy

daddy

bapa -grandpa

mama, mom, bapa, ama(she is just about every name in the book) -grandma

"no"(she will actually say this when she knows she should not be doing something, but she still does it of course.)

"moi" -more

"Hi"

"Bye"

Beep

"Ow"-ouch

"ka"- walk

"by" -bike

"beby"- baby

"babble"-bubble

Uh-oh

"Beii"-belly

"baoon"- balloon

"baaw"- Ball

"wow"-wow

"shhh"- shhh

And she says a bunch of animal sounds including:

Cow- "mmm"

Horse- blows a rasberry

Chicken- buc buc

Elephant- blows rasberry along with actually using her voice to sound like an elephant, if that makes any sense.

Duck- "cack"

Owl- "who, who"

Cat-"Moow"

Dog- "woof"

Snake-"ssss"

Monkey- "ah, ah"

Bird- She tries to whistle but she just blows air from her mouth.

Goat- usually comes out as a scream because she is trying to make her voice shake like a goat.

Sheep- "baaa"

Lizard- Sticks her tongue in and out (so funny)

Shark- She makes a biting gesture.

Tiger/Lion/Bear- "cccccccccc" I guess that is how a growl is spelled out???

Pig- She snorts a couple of times.

Elk- "ew, ew"

She also knows where her head, hair, ears, eyes, nose, mouth, arm, elbow, hands, fingers, belly, belly button, legs, toes, knees, and feet are.

Some of her favorite things to do are swimming of any kind (splash pad, pool, reservoir etc).

She also loves to take showers and baths, anything with water really. She loves to play in the dirt and sand with shovels or toys. She loves to go on walks in the stroller or walk herself. Lately she has loved to ride a bike or toy car, thanks Cowley Family.

Pointing out animals is one of her favorite things to do as well. She loves animals but likes to look not touch (thats my girl)!

She also loves to read books and the past few days will grab a book sit by me and just babble and babble on while turning the pages, it is SO cute! She also loves to sit on big people chairs, couches, you name it. I think she just wants to be a big girl. She actually plays better with the older kids, about three years old-ish, and seems to like to play with them more than kids around her age. She loves to point out all the babies as well or even pictures of babies, I guess that is a good sign considering there will be a new baby in the house in December. One more good thing is that she is finally learning to be soft, although most of the time she prefers to be rough, at least she knows how.

Now on to pregnancy. So far this pregnancy has been quite a bit different than the first. I am sure it helps that circumstances are quite different also. Before I had to be to work at 5am and would sit at my desk basically all day. This time around I am out and about much more. I have to be up most of the day because Clara does not really take a break. But I have been trying to take advantage of her nap time by also taking a break. It is amazing how tired I get, and I am sure most pregnant women feel the same way. I was more sick this time around in the beginning than I was with Clara also. But I think the biggest difference is that I am now 19 weeks and just starting to show for the past week or two. People would tell me all the time, including Chris, that they forgot I was pregnant because I did not look it. LAST TIME was a whole different story. If any of you knew me then I am maybe you remember. I was a lot bigger a lot faster with Clara. It is actually kind of comical to look back and see that difference. The first time I was afraid to move a muscle, or walk to hard with too much bounce etc. This time not so much...at all. I go on long walks every day and sometimes do a little jog. I am up all day and have occasionally been doing toning exercises. It is just so different. This is HOW different. I went to my OB appt. last week and asked if they could tell me what I weighed at this stage of pregnancy last time. They did. I am a whopping twenty pounds lighter already! HOLY COW! No seriously, I was basically a cow last time. Ah well I guess nothing I can do about it now. So let's just say I am doing quite a bit better this time around and it should be much easier and much faster to lose the baby weight.

I can now feel the baby kicking! I have felt it for a week or two now but it keeps getting a little stronger. This is my favorite part of pregnancy when you can FEEL that you are making a tiny little baby inside of you.

Also, we find out in less than a week what we are having!!! Chris and I have both felt like it was a boy from the beginning, just like we felt Clara would be a girl. Even when I was a little girl I just pictured myself having a bunch of boys. I always wanted at least one girl, and I got her! But I just feel like now I just have boys ahead, which is kind of funny because I have NO idea how to deal with boys. I am clueless, and honestly afraid! They are so...boyish!!! I guess there is no point in worrying though, especially since I don't even know the gender yet.

Summer has been so much fun with Clara, taking her outside and watching her discover new things and just enjoy life. I often find myself laughing out loud at all of the cute or silly things she does. I also love to just spend time with Chris and Clara. When I am with them everything is right. I just could not be happier.

Clara getting into everything now, including toilet paper.

Chris' sister Nicole got married to Kevin and we just love them both.

Clara and "papa"

She had a blast with all of her cousins at the wedding.

Caught eating crayons.

These are pictures from our trip to the zoo. She loved seeing all of the animals, riding the merry go round, and the trian.

Ah, and she now loves to feed herself and almost refuses to eat anything unless she is attemting to eat it herself. It is just so much easier to take all of her clothes off for dinner time.

And these are some of our family pictures we had taken. It was kind of a rush job since I had already found out I was pregnant. Thanks Val and Nicole!