Baby #2

Wow, have I not posted about this yet? I am such a failure at blogging/journaling these days.  Did you know we were expecting baby #2?! The due date is April 23rd (the day before Clara turns two) but the doctor said since Clara was early this one will probably be early too. Everyone asks if we want a boy this time around, and my response is that eventually, yes I would like a boy but either way I'm just happy that all my maternity clothes are the right season. ;-) Plus if it's a girl then all the sizes we have from Clara's clothes will be the right season too. Hopefully we'll be able to find out the gender some time around Thanksgiving, and maybe then we'll think more seriously about names. 

Right now I'm 14 weeks along (yay for 2nd trimester!) and these scans were from my last Dr. appointent. We had already had the "10 week" ultrasound (which determined that my baby was much closer to 8 1/2 weeks so they pushed my due date back to where it is now.) And those pictures were nice, but the baby was still quite young to really see anything other than a gummy bear. It didn't move then either. When I went in three weeks ago Dr. Allen (who happened to be the one who delivered Clara- he's awesome!) couldn't find the heartbeat. Naturally, I panicked the whole time waiting to get the ultrasound (and waiting, and waiting- the ultrasound tech wasn't in yet) but as soon as baby #2 came up on the screen I could tell it was just fine. It was swimming around in circles and kicking and stretching and the tech confirmed that everything looked great. Phew! And we got some cool pictures too...

Muscles!

This summer...

This summer we spent quite a bit of time playing with grandmas & grandpas. We also discovered that Clara has quite a love for water. G-pop would always have the kiddie pool filled up and warming in the sun when we'd arrive for a visit in Hagerman.

...Too bad Clara always preferred to play in the ditch. This girl loves "messes!"

 I caught this action shot of G-pop rescuing Clara....

 Let's take a closer look...

 Good Save G-Pop!!!

 ...And back to exploring. Muddy bum and all!

Sometimes we just put her back into the kiddy pool to clean her off. What a silly goose! 

...Oh and this is aunt Tara modeling for me later that day. Isn't the light just dreamy???

Nuestra Clarita

I don't know where my daughter gets all of her personality from, but she is definately one of a kind! She loves to explore, especially when it involves stairs of any kind. She is so considerate when she makes messes she will announce excitedly to her momma, "mess!" One of her favorite 17 month pastimes is emptying things... Bags, purses, toy boxes, diaper bags and finding gum and other trinkets to hide and save for later. She also likes to empty salt shakers and wipes containers. This little one has an oobsession with Elmo. We have watched every youtube video I can find with the little red guy in it. I can't turn on the computer without multiple requests for "Elmie!" She'll push every button she can get her sticky little fingers on until he comes on... And then when he shows up she'll sit next to me for about ten minutes then go play with her toys... But Elmo better be playing in the background! She loooves books. She likes to look at the pictures and identify everything she can: "Hat! Moose! Cow... moo! Birdie! Turtle! Ball! Kitty... Mouw!" She really likes animals. Everything she puts to her lips is either "hot" and requires her to blow on it (she sucks in air instead) or "cold" and is followed with "brrrr." She likes to dip all her food in something, be it cookies in ketchup or chips in applesauce. She still likes to perch on the back of the sofa or on top the kitchen table, and likes to make piles of things (clothes, toys, shoes, books...) She's pretty good at putting the right shapes into the right holes in her toddler toy, and her last vaccination she didn't even cry! At church she shows everyone her belly button, and usually gets to play in the nursery with either mom or dad because she doesn't like to hold still in sunday school or priesthood. She waves at the conductor during the hymns and loves to point out (very loudly) all of the babies in the congregation. She takes her afternoon nap in my arms and I will wake up in a large puddle of her sweat and need to change shirts. She enjoys and is very capable of taking her pants off, and would rather be outside than in 90% of the time. She exclaims "daddy!" with every car door that we can hear being shut, and every time we hear a lawn mower start up. She will stand on her feet and bend in half with her bottom in the air to check under a doorway to try and see if mommy or daddy is on the other side. When she recognizes we are at either grandma's house she will start to call for "nenee!" (Jenny) or "Callie!" in hopes that the puppies are there. She just woke up and turned to me. I said "I love you Clara" and she replied.... "Elmo?" ;-)

Sometimes

Sometimes I take a million pictures, and then I never upload any of them onto the blog. There's just something wrong with that!

On another note, my baby says "thank you" ("tay tyoo!") and I think it's the most adorable thing in the world. :)