It's a...

GIRL!! We are super excited. Mike and I both kind of felt like this baby was another girl, and we were right. No, we are not disappointed about not having a boy. Bailey and Avery are so much fun, we are excited to have another little girl running around! However, we are having a really hard time coming up with a name...

This pregnancy has been another challenging one. I was so sick up until about 22 weeks. I was really beginning to despair, thinking I was going to be sick until June. Mike suggested that I try taking Zantac, and once I did, I started feeling better. Finally. 

Bailey has been a huge help. During the worst of it, she would get herself up, dressed, and then help Avery get dressed. She would get both their teeth brushed and even pour both of them cereal for breakfast. All I had to do was get up and brush their hair. Avery was also a little blessing. She is such an independent spirit that she was mostly happy reading books in bed with me, watching movies, and listening to books on tape while I stayed in bed all day. The little sweethearts also made their own dinner on the nights when I was the sickest- PB&J. They even thought they were pretty cool doing it.

I am feeling much, much better and am hoping that the next three months fly by. These last few weeks I've finally really popped. Yesterday, a friend of mine saw me and laughed. She couldn't believe how big I'd gotten in the half week it had been since I had seen her. Today at the grocery store, another pregnant mom made a comment about how she was only in the second trimester, and look at me. Yeah. I'm only a few days into the third trimester. Oh well. I knew it was going to happen.  (:

Trip to Utah

Last month, thanks to Mike's sister Shelli and her job at JetBlue, we were finally able to make it out to Utah. We had not been out there since right before Mike graduated medical school. It was a quick trip- we were only there for a week and had a lot of people to see in just a few days.

We spent the first few days visiting with Mike's parents and his sisters Shelli and Lori and their kids. Bailey and Avery had a great time playing with their cousins. I was actually really surprised by Avery. She disappeared and I didn't really see a whole of her those few days. It was very unlike her. I'm glad that she felt so comfortable around her cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandparents that she was able to play with them and not just hang out with mom and dad. Both girls even fell in love with a dog! And there is the picture to prove it.

On one of those days, we went to the Tree House Museum in Ogden. It's a really great place. Bailey and Avery had a blast.

We even got a picture with President Obama, or really a picture with a card board cut out of President Obama. (:

The rest of the week we spent in Provo with my mom and brothers. It was fun to eat at all our favorite restaurants, visit our old University, and play games. Unfortunately, we didn't take any pictures.

We made it home late Sunday night, and true to our luck, we came home to a flooded kitchen. That cursed upstairs bathroom leaked again while we gone- this time it was the sink. Next time we go on vacation we are turning off the water!

Valentine's

Every year, Grandma Windy sends Bailey and Avery new Valentine shirts. They of course, can't actually wait until Valentine's day to wear them. Aren't they cute?

I was a huge slacker when it came to actually getting the girls Valentine's this year. My excuse? I still wasn't feeling great. Mike had to stop on his way home so that we could surprise them at bedtime.

Bailey had seen the stuffed dogs at Wegman's earlier in the week. I really didn't want to get them yet another stuffed animal, but she had her heart set on it. Luckily, there were two left when Mike got there Valentine's evening. They have been greatly loved and named "Polka-Dotty" and "Bowie."

Mike took them to a daddy/daughter dinner and dance at the YMCA. Not surprisingly, Bailey jumped right in and participated in everything. Avery, on  the other hand, mostly clung to Mike nervously. Mike said she loosened up just once that night. They had a great time, and I had a nice quiet night to myself.

Next year, Mike will have three little girls to take to the dance!!

Straight Hair

For months, Avery has been asking me to straighten her hair. She sees me straighten my hair often- but her hair has really been too short to straighten. Finally, one morning, we just did it. She loved it. It was pretty funny. This picture really doesn't do it justice- her straight hair stuck out all over her head. We might wait until her hair gets a little bit longer before we straighten it again. (:

Christmas Morning 2001

Luckily for us, Christmas fell on a Sunday- the only day Mike had off that rotation. However, he still had to go in and round that morning, and he usually didn't make it back before church started. We had a dilemma. If he wasn't back before church, that meant I had to spend an entire morning with the girls not letting them open presents. 

Christmas morning arrived, Mike went off to the hospital, reassuring me he'd be back. I wasn't so sure. When the girls got up, I tried to distract them and keep them busy. We got ready for church first, dragging our feet, hoping Mike would make it not only in time for church, but with time to open presents before. Thankfully, he did! It was a little weird opening presents in Sunday dresses instead of warm PJs...

Santa brought the girls Leapsters. I'm still not sure how they managed to convince Santa.

Avery wanted another baby, why, I'm not sure. She has a million. At least this one "eats" bananas.

Christmas was really a laid back day for us. I still wasn't feeling well, but it was nice that we could all be together.

Gingerbread houses- December 2011

This Christmas Bailey and Avery both got to make gingerbread houses at school. They were very attached to them and they wouldn't let me throw them away. New Years came and went, and they still couldn't part with them. I finally took pictures so we could remember how beautiful they were, and tossed them when they weren't looking. Luckily for me, they didn't notice. Their Valentine boxes will meet a similar fate here in the next few days...

Swimming lessons- September 2011

This fall, Avery also got to start taking swimming lessons all by herself. Here she is all decked out with her goggles- they don't really stay on for very long. But it makes me laugh when she wants to wear them.

She is doing really well. Both of my girls are little fish. Last week I had to take a few more pictures of her in her class:

And here is a tiny video of her:

We are looking forward to using our swimming skills this summer.

First, and really only snow- December 2011

As usual, Bailey and Avery could hardly wait for it to snow. Myself, I wasn't sure I had recovered from the 190 in. we got last year, and was happy the first snow waited until mid-December. Little did we know, it was one of the only snowstorms we got all year!

This year, Avery was finally old enough to go out and play with Bailey. Last year, her snow suit and snow boots, and the sheer depth of the snow made it impossible for Avery to go out alone. I was really surprised- the girls would go out for over an hour out in the snow. They only got to wear their snow suits a few times though. Oh well. There's always next winter.

Rollerskating- October 2011

Bailey's school does lots of fun after school activities. (Sometimes I wish they didn't do so many- I hate having to tell her no...). One afternoon in October, they got to go roller skating.

She picked it up pretty fast- she's had a little practice with her roller skates at home. They had a DJ there are everything who called for just girl songs, and partner songs. It was fun for Bailey!

Halloween 2011

I started getting really sick around Halloween, so now I'm playing catch up. Here are the few pictures we took of out little lady bug and Rapunzel:

I took the girls trick or treating with some friends of ours- Calvin and William. Mike was, of course, working. I was miserable and sick, sick sick. I'm not sure how I survived the night!

It's kind of hard to see, but Avery really started getting into writing around this time. At the bottom of the page it says witch. I can't believe how grown up she is!