Botanic Gardens

Monday was a free day at the Botanic Gardens so we went to check it out. I realize now isn't the optimal time to see everything, but it's been on my list of places to take Matthew and I figured worst case scenario we could go some place different on a walk and I wouldn't be spending any money.

Here's Matthew walking on a path in the Chinese garden.

Something I learned is that although to most Western peoples the path may seem disorganized and chaotic it is meant to encourage discovery and spontaneity. They frequently have little buildings called a Ting which means pause in Chinese where you can sit to reflect on the beauty around you.

Matthew was excited to see some cacti. The building itself was closed, but he was happy to find this one with all it's "pokes."

There is a building with tropical plants (which Matthew wanted to go through twice; once at the beginning and again at the end). They had a laminated page that was a little scavenger hunt and Matthew really liked carrying it around with his erasable marker, checking things off.

So all in all it was a successful trip for us. I am definitely looking forward to going back again in blooming season.

My cute boys

It's hard to stay mad at him too long when he's so gosh darn cute!

I wanted to write down a few of the funny things Matthew has said lately (I need to do better at this because there are so many that I forget).

M at the dinner table: Daddy, some day I'm going to be old enough to vote.

I think he is kind of understanding that his sister is in mommy's tummy. He likes to walk over to my belly and say "Hello baby! What are you doing in there?" He also gives his sister kisses :)

He came home from preschool one day and said "Mom, I know how to be a big brother now." "Oh yeah?" "Yeah, I'm not going to hit my sister." "Well, that's a good start Matthew."

He is becoming very independent! He wants things done in specific ways and sometimes I have a hard time figuring out/understanding them.

His imagination has been going wild! He is very into good guys and bad guys. He likes to play guns and "tackles" (cardboard tube wars). He is also requesting a super hero cape (I know there is someone out there who has a pattern left over from Super Saturday and if I could get it from you that'd be great!).

He has been my great little helper, one of many things he's helped with is shoveling the snow. Sometimes he wants to do our neighbors too. I try to encourage him, but normally my body won't let me do any more so I just "supervise."

Isn't he the cutest!

I have to give a quick shout out to my wonderful husband. He has been so great dealing with all of my unexpected moods and he never makes me feel bad about them (I think he understands that hormones are not the most rational things). He steps up with Matthew when I need him to even when he has had a really stressful, long day at work which happens most days now. He is such a great provider. He got our taxes done and submitted the end of January and we were able to finally get our Subaru fixed-the check engine light had been on for a loooooong time. Now it's like a brand new car!

Last week he went skiing with some of his coworkers, one of whom was up visiting from Australia. The Australian (Greg, I think?) and Brian thought it was fun to have some who likes to ski and photograph to spend some time with. Greg captured this one of my man-
Brian and I have had an ongoing "argument" about whether or not he is cool. He says he's not, I say he is. I think this pictures is definitely supporting my argument. Even now I have a hard time believing that we are together; I mean I obviously am lacking in the cool department, but maybe he has enough for both of us :)

Condo Weekend

We invited the Paulsons up to the condo for our January weekend. Melissa and I went up early and the boys came up when they got done with work. I wasn't paying attention and we missed our turn off :( Luckily I can blame it on pregnancy brain and Melissa didn't seem too mad at me!

We made puppets and put on a show.
(I got some video too; I'll try and remember to upload it later . . . )

We also made sugar cookies. Melissa says she has a hard time with messes like this, but I think she did great and the kids didn't eat all of the dough so we did have a few to frost :)

Long time no blog

I think this is the longest I've gone without a blog entry :( We have been staying busy for the most part. Being pregnant as a mom is harder than being pregnant with your first one. Sometimes the combination of a temperamental preschooler and a hormonal crazy mom presents some challenges.

Everything has been progressing normally with this pregnancy so far. I measured perfectly at my last appointment. Next week is the glucose test. I'm feeling contractions every once in a while, but nothing out of the ordinary or to be concerned about. I am beginning the adjustment back to sleepless nights. Little Miss likes to start moving around just when I'm able to fall asleep. By the time she's settling back down I'm wide awake. And then there are the bathroom trips and the crazy dreams that periodically wake me up too. But oh well, if that's all I have to complain about then life is pretty good.

I've also been having cleaning spurts that I try to make the most of. I know that in a few weeks I'm not going to feel as motivated about cleaning so I am doing as much as I can now.

Now on to get caught up on all the other posts . . . .