Eggs and Fun

We went to Aunt Stacey's house for some pre-Easter fun. All of the cousins came over to eat lunch together, dye eggs, egg hunt, and then have a bunny cookie. It was a fun day. The kids all had a good time dyeing eggs (and their hands). The weather was perfect for a family-filled day outside.

Butterfly sandwiches and cheetos!

Eating lunch together

Dyeing eggs for the first time

Evan's goodies

The kids after egg hunting

Evan decorating his cookie

Evan then proceeded to lick all of the frosting off and eat the rest of the cookie :)

Bowling

Evan recently discovered the sport of bowling and has developed quite the liking for it. From computer games, it progressed to Wii bowling, and then we finally took him "real bowling" at Boardwalk Bowl in Santa Cruz. He had a blast, although the ball weighed 6 lbs, his shoes were a size too big, and he took one slip down the lane. It was very entertaining for us all. He is now settling for playing his plastic bowling set at the house again.

A Spare!

So proud to have his own shoes and ready to go "real bowling".

A little help from Daddy.

Such a big ball for a little guy.

Evan's excitement when he hits the pins...

And Evan's disappointment when he missed the pins...

The Greats

Evan got to visit his great-grandparents while in Santa Cruz. First we visited Grandma Maley on her 86th birthday. Evan sang to her and enjoyed playing with her birthday balloon.

Later that afternoon, we headed to see GG and Gramps Reich at their house. Evan got to build with the legos with Gramps. It was nice visiting them all.

Life's A Beach

We decided to head to Santa Cruz for 3 days, so we took Evan to the beach on the only sunny day we had. He had a blast building castles, walking in the freezing cold water, finding shells and sticks, etc. It was a fun afternoon.

In With The New

We've gotten a few more wonderful gifts this past week, and I also surprised Bryan with another one last night when he returned home from working a weekend away.

The first gifts are from our parents. Bryan's parents bought us a new double stroller and my parent's bought us the matching infant car seat. Evan was very excited about these things, as he knows he and Kaylee get to both ride in the stroller together. He's taken a spin or two around the house and even pushed it around himself a few times. He's an excited big brother.

The big surprise of the weekend was not planned at all. The nursery had been a very pale blue before (too pale for my taste)and I think it needed a change. My best friend came to hang out this weekend and agreed, so we were off to Home Depot and painting before we knew it. Here's what Bryan came home to (and loved it by the way).

So... what do you think???

Appointment and New Posts

I had my 28-week appointment today. Tomorrow I will be entering the world of the third and final trimester. It is so weird to think that this pregnancy has reached the point of bi-weekly appointments, baby showers, and final preparations. Only 11 weeks left for me according to my doctor and her outlook for my c-section.

Good news is that I only gained 2 pounds at this visit. I am still down 14 pounds from where I started. I'm aiming for gaining the "pound a week" from here on out that most doctors strive for. If I gain that (and only that, pleeeease) then I will be 3 pounds less on delivery day than where I was in early October. That would be quite an accomplishment as my weight worried me from the day I found out I was pregnant again.

Other than that, Kaylee's heartbeat was strong and I am feeling great. Loving all of the kicks and hiccups.

ALSO... there are a bunch of new posts so be sure to check them out also!

Kaylee's Room

As a special gift, Bryan's family pitched in and bought Kaylee's bedding and nursery decor. It was such an exciting thing when the shipment arrived this evening. Bryan and Evan put the crib up, Nancy did some pressing, and we starting putting a few things together. We are still waiting to put the dresser back in the nursery and then we will hang all of the wall art, etc. But here's a sneak peak of what the bedding and decor looks like. I love how "girly" it is.

THANK YOU to all who pitched in for this wonderful gift!! WE LOVE YOU!

Evan Turns 3!

Evan turned 3 on Saturday! The weekend was full of excitement for our little guy. Nana Reich came to visit on Friday, bringing Evan a ukulele from Hawaii that he absolutely loves. Nana and Evan played "Happy Birthday" on it Saturday morning.

After singing, Evan got a special treat for breakfast... a birthday donut with three candles!

Later in the day, we opened a few presents before picking up sandwiches and heading to watch Daddy work a baseball game. Evan had a good time cheering for all of the guys, telling them to "hit the ball" and "Go Tigers!" It was quite cute.

For dinner, we headed to John's Incredible Pizza in Fresno. We ate, got ice cream with sprinkles, then headed out to play games. Evan was having a blast!!! It was so much fun to watch him try all of the games. He still asks if we can go back, insisting that he has money so we can go.

Evan, Daddy, and Nana... tired from a long day of fun.

Sunday, we headed out to church with Nana and James (James drove down late Saturday night to spend time with the birthday boy). Evan spent his first Sunday in the 3-year-old class at church and seemed to adjust well. Mommy thought he seemed too small to be in there :(

After church we picked up Evan's birthday cake and lunch before we headed home to celebrate some more. The whole family, and a few friends, came over for cake and ice cream. It was a fun little party and Evan seemed to be having a great time. Here's a few photos of our silly kid.

Rose Garden

Two weekends ago we finally got to working on our front yard. We hated the sago palms that hid the house and grew in the walkway, so we were finally ready to do away with them. With the help of a family friend, Bryan was able to make some changes to the gardens. Evan was in the middle of it all too. We chose to plant a rose garden for more color and lay some wood bark down to help with the weed problem. Here's a few photos of it in the middle of the transformation and the finished product.
We have switched computers lately so I can't easily pull up photos of "before", but if you look back in December of 2007, you can probably catch a glimpse in the blog from when we purchased the home. I'm not so savvy with the links. LOL.

My Hobby

Many of you know that I love to scrapbook. I have more stuff than any one person probably needs, but it's such a fun thing for me to do. I think preserving memories is a great hobby. Recently a few friends asked to see some of my work so I'm including just a few pages from Evan's 1st year album and my wedding album. Enjoy!

Please excuse some of the bad cropping. I was trying to avoid getting a glare on the pages.

Compliments For Mommy

I had to share some of the sweet things Evan said to me today while he sat beside me and watched me check email, etc. online...

"Mommy, you're cute."

"You're sweet, Mommy."

And my all-time favorite that caught me by surprise...

"Mommy, you're perfect".

Aren't children just the best? I'm know I'm a bit partial, but I think Evan could brighten anyone's day. He is the sweetest, most loving child I have ever known. I love hearing him say "I love you" about 30 times a day. His kisses on my nose, his cuddles, all the help he gives me around the house. He's one of a kind! He loves to play with my wet hair after I shower, telling me "I love your hair". And the other day he told me "Mommy, you're soft" as he rubbed my arm. I just love my little guy to pieces!

With that said, a funny from last night... as I said, "Ouch" over a sudden pain in my chest, Evan perked up and said, "Oh, did Kaylee kick you in the face?" LOL. Bryan and I about lost it and had to explain that Kaylee had nothing to do with it. Funny boy!

25 Weeks

I had another check-up today with the doctor. I'll be 25 weeks tomorrow and I'm progressing well.

I was certain that I had done some damage with my weight this past month, but actually I had only gained a pound and a half. Not too shabby! I continue to be down about 16 pounds or more since I first got pregnant so that is pleasing :)

My glucose test results were fine and I do not have gestational diabetes. She did say I am just slightly anemic and could take extra iron if I want, but it's not a must.

Little Kaylee's heartbeat was strong today and she made sure to give Dr. Singleton a few kicks as she felt around on my tummy. She definitely likes to make her presence known these days.

So, that's all for now I think. I have a few little projects I've picked up to work on for the nursery. I have some wooden shelves and some wooden letters that spell her name to paint. I did that with Evan's room before he came and it was fun to put my personal touch on things. Not related to baby, I'm busy scrapbooking our 4-day family vacation to Disneyland too. I'm just keeping busy to pass the time!

The Munchies

Yes, I have had a serious case of the munchies lately. I want everything from chips and queso to rainbow sherbet. Hmm... wonder if those would be good together? LOL. I've done so well with holding myself back from snacking too much, but this week has been a struggle! Where's a personal chef when you need one?

Prayers

Often times we reach out to others for prayers for our family and friends. The prayers of many around the world can mean so much in times of need. Today, I ask that you lift up little Eli Ryan Wedehase. He was born Wednesday, the 18th, at 4:01 pm to a sweet young family that attends church with my mom. Jason and Tanya also have a young daughter, Paige, that you can include in your prayers.

At a regular scheduled ultrasound part-way through Tanya's pregnancy, it was discovered that little Eli had some issues with his heart and would require surgery shortly after birth and again multiple times as a small child. Eli was born Wednesday and yesterday went through a 12-hour surgery to repair his tiny heart. This battle is not yet over as he now faces recovering in the weeks and months to come. I'm including the link to their blog so you can read their story and share it with others as we join together in lifting the entire Wedehase family up in our prayers.

http://wedehase.blogspot.com

Thank you for taking the time to read this and more importantly, for blessing them by praying for them.

Snowboarding

I mentioned that we got Bryan all new snowboarding equipment so I thought that I would show it off for him. We got such a steal with all of the end-of-winter and President's Day sales. Bryan complained about his old boots especially, so it was nice to find some that worked well.

And of course, he was itching to try it all out. Luckily we've been having random storms for the last week or two that keep producing a little rain and plenty of snow in our nearby mountains. Yesterday Bryan and a friend left early and headed to Sierra Summit for a day of snowboarding. He had a blast and raved about how wonderful all of his new stuff felt and worked on the runs.

Bryan told Evan a few days ago that when he gets bigger (7 or 8 years old to be specific) that he would teach him to snowboard. So Evan has gone on and on about how when he gets to be "7 or 8 or 9 or 10" that he can go. Yesterday morning, he came to my bedroom and I told him to crawl in bed with me. "But where's Daddy?", he asked. I told him that he'd gone snowboarding. "But I'm not 7 or 8 yet and I can't go!". I had to convince him that there would be other chances for him to tag along. All day he proceeded to talk about snowboarding and even listed all of the gear he was going to have to get. Later, at my sister's house, my nephew (Noah is three months older than Evan and potty-trained) mentioned that he wore underwear and Evan wore diapers because he was still too little. Evan's quick response was, "Well maybe when you get bigger you can go snowboarding too." I thought it was hilarious. And I guarantee you that when Evan turns 7, he will indeed be on a snowboard because he will not forget.

My Sweet Valentines

We did something a bit different this Valentine's Day. Bryan and I already went out about a week early so we got to spend our whole Valentine's Day as a family.

First, we gave each other our special cards and treats. Evan was very excited about his and continued to tell us "Happy Valentine's Day" all day. He especially loved his chocolates :)

After we shared gifts, we headed to Fresno for the day. We did tons of shopping and took advantage of the President's Day sales. Our main goal was finding new snowboarding equipment to replace Bryan's old and uncomfortable stuff. We managed to eat Chick-fil-A for lunch (thank you to whomever built the one in Fresno, this pregnant lady is forever grateful!), and I got to check out some scrapbooking stuff at Joann's. Evan and I loved looking through the fish store and pets store, where I fell in love with the tiny aquatic turtles. We made a few more stops before heading home.

Once home, we ordered a heart-shaped pizza and enjoyed a tasty meal together. While we had planned to make and decorate sugar cookies too, our day was just too long and busy. We did get to those the next evening though.

Name Calling

Many of you have begun to ask what name we have in mind for the little one on the way. Well, I will start by saying that I like many names and Bryan is the much pickier one regarding this subject. He came up with Evan's name and I agreed. This time, this name was on a long list of about 25 girls names I liked, and one of only four that Bryan liked on my list. Others eventually got pushed to the bottom for one reason or another and this was the one Bryan liked most and we decided to go with it. So her name will be...

Kaylee Marie Reich.

For those into name meanings, I will admit that it's taken some time to find a meaning worth sharing. LOL. My middle name is Marie and I never knew that one of the most common meanings is "bitter" or "sea of bitterness". Well, with Kaylee being a form of Katherine, meaning "pure", I dreaded a name meaning "pure bitterness" :)

BUT... in searching more, I have found that Marie can also mean "wished-for child".

So her name means "pure wished-for child"

The closest runner-ups: Elliana, Paige, and Avielle (pronounced awe-vee-el)

Disclaimer: In case our little one has tricked us and somehow comes out a boy, lol, his name will be Brady Christian Reich.

Movin' And A Groovin'

This little one inside of me has decided to finally kick and squirm in such a way that I actually know she exists. Since about Wednesday evening she has been very active, almost always kicking in the exact same spot on my left side or just below my belly button. She's not such a charmer with the constant squirms between 5am-7am every morning though :)

And another exciting note, Bryan finally got to feel a kick last night. Seems the timing had never been quite right before and he always missed them. But last night in the car, in the parking lot at church, he finally caught one! It was very exciting. I think the Applebee's and Chocolate Malted Krunch ice cream for dessert helped it along. I just love feeling her move. It's one of my favorite parts of pregnancy.

Just Another Day At The Doctor

Today I had my 21-week check-up. I am pleased to announce that all looks well. I was down another half pound and I'm feeling good. The results of the ultrasound a week ago were all normal, so the official due date is still June 18th. The doctor mentioned today that we will probably schedule me for a c-section on either June 12th or June 10th, depending on her busy schedule and how things progress for me, etc.

With Evan I had an emergency c-section, after laboring 16 hours and having a contraction that would not stop, and the hospital here as a No VBAC policy (vaginal birth after cesarean) so my doctor is required to schedule a repeat c-section. BUT... if I go into labor on my own before that, she said she doesn't believe in stopping me unless there is a medical safety reason. So I am hoping to go in labor before my c-section date!

Anyhoo, just some background information :) I feel great and heard the sweet music of her little heartbeat today. It's always such a relief and such a joy to hear.

Thanks for your continued prayers and encourage. We all appreciate it.