Let's start off with Labor Day weekend...I know that seems like ages ago. We went camping with a ton of our friends and had a fantastic time. Yes, we got rained on but it didn't seem to bother us. It probably helped that our friends were staying in a huge motor home that has all the amenities of a real home. :) But the kids still wanted to be outside so unless it was down pouring, we bundled the kids in their rain coats and rain boots and let them splash away in the puddles. The campground we stayed at gives hay rides on a big flat bed trailer and Anna loved it!! She kept saying "more" "more" and waving to the people walking by. I think Anna's favorite aspect of the weekend was that there was so much room for her to explore and we were OUTSIDE all weekend. The girl would live outdoors if I let her. :) We were cozy in a cabin for the nights, so we stayed nice and dry, but once she woke up it was time to move and shake outside!
Here is Anna amongst our "tent city" that we set up for the weekend. She LOVED playing with baby Katen!! ALL the kids got lots of hugs and kisses from Anna over the weekend. :)
Example of all the "Anna kisses" that were distributed over the course of the weekend.
On a walk back to the campsite after our hay ride...she was so excited!
Anna taking her turn on Jaxson's sweet ride!
This last weekend we spent in Spokane for my cousin Aaron's wedding. It was a VERY fun weekend as we got to stay with Sara and Greg and the kiddos. We weren't able to leave until Saturday morning, so by the time we got into town we were only there a couple of hours until we had to leave for the wedding. Sara and Greg were gracious enough to watch Anna for us for the night so we could actually enjoy our night out at the wedding...thank you guys!! We had a wonderful time visiting with family we hadn't seen in a long time and just enjoying a little "couple" time. It was so nice to hold hands throughout the ceremony and gaze adoringly into each others eyes at the reception. Those things go out the window with a 21 month old to run after, and I forget how nice simple things like that can be. So thanks again Sara...and I'm glad she was such a good girl for you! Sunday was spent watching football and eating lots of cheese dip...seriously, what more do you need? Actually, I would have been perfectly happy with just the bowl of cheese dip. :) Sara and I took a little girls time Sunday afternoon and met up with our other friend Megan for lunch. Megan directed us to a perfect little cafe where we sat outside and enjoyed our delicious lunch while we caught up and had some laughs. The beauty of it all is that I get to reconvene with these girls (plus Tara and Megan) in just a few more weeks for our annual Girl's Weekend! Can't wait! Dane, Anna and I took off on Monday morning for the long trek back home and made it in time for Dane's football practice and his night of work (yuck). It was a wonderful weekend with dear friends and family.
My cousin Aaron looking ever so handsome and his stunning bride Casey...what a gorgeous wedding it was!
Me and my man...if I look a little uncomfortable, it's because I was...more on that later.
This is pretty much where Dane and Greg spent the better part of their Sunday. Note: the bowl of cheese dip on the floor...delicious.
Anna enjoying her after dinner treat of a Dove ice cream bar...she kept saying "mmmm" while eating it. :) About 1 minute after this picture was taken, it fell off the stick onto the ground.
Little Dane (that's what we call him to differentiate between my Dane and Sara's Dane) thinking quite highly of his ice cream bar as well...his ended up in the grass as well, which he proceeded to pick up out of the grass to continue eating it. :)
Miss Aubrey girl on her beloved swing. She was kind enough to let Anna use it as well, which she LOVED!
Nathan looking freaking adorable on the slide...seriously, can the kid get any cuter with those curls and smile? The ladies are going to be a knockin'!
Here's my Anna girl going down the slide not so gracefully. Thanks auntie Sara for the help!
Okay, so this post is getting a big long, so I need to wrap it up. But I can't do that without mentioning the fact that Anna is going to be a big sister! This probably isn't new news to any of my readers, but if the word passed you by and you didn't know...now you do! We will be having our second little munchkin in April...official due date is April 8th (we'll see about that though). Dane and I are THRILLED and I keep telling Anna that mommy is growing a baby in her belly and so now she lifts up my shirt and kisses my belly. It melts my heart. I will be 12 weeks next Wednesday and will go in for my first doctor's appointment. We went in when I was 10 weeks for the appointment with a nurse and to get blood work done, and we did have a little scare. She tried finding the heartbeat and had no luck. Two other nurses came in to try and they both failed as well. I was trying to tell myself it was probably just too soon, but of course on the inside we are panicking. So we had to wait 3 LONG hours until they could get us in at the hospital for an ultrasound. So with my heart pounding I got up on the chair and there we saw the hear beating at 160 beats/minute. Perfect. We got a picture of our little gummy bear and left with smiles on our face and tears in our eyes. I will keep you all posted on our progress. Oh, by the way, you should be thanking me that we waited until now to tell everyone, because every post would have been filled with moans and groans about how EXHAUSTED I've been and how I nauseous I have felt. Thankfully I think the nausea is subsiding in a bit and I'm just waiting to catch my second wind one of these days! Stay tuned...any bets if it's a boy or girl?
Side note: The picture of Dane and I above at the wedding was taken as I was struggling to breathe while sitting in my dress. I'm not even 12 full weeks yet and I'm already busting out of my clothes and resorting to maternity clothes in some instances. I wore that dress in my friend Megan's wedding while I was pregnant with Anna...16 weeks along! I could barely zip it last weekend while I was 10 weeks and a few days...where is the fairness in that? I literally had to go in the bathroom and unzip my dress for a few minutes over the course of the night just so I could breathe! For those of you out there with only one child who plans to have more...WARNING...you will start showing WEEKS AND WEEKS earlier the second time around! Trust me, it happens.
