The Long 'e' Sound

Last weekend was a Perry weekend. It came at just the right time for me! I've been feeling really exhausted and mildly nauseous so it was great to have my parents (and Dan) to watch after Alexa while I caught up on some rest, and some homework. It amazes me how different I feel this pregnancy. On Saturday, I was able to go to the gym with my brother to get tips for working out and that night we played Apples to Apples as a family. It was a really nice weekend :-)

For some reason, Alexa kept looking under the bathroom doors at people. Here she is trying to catch a glimpse of "Yannie" (what she is now calling Auntie).










Auntie put on her bathing suit and had some bath time fun with Alexa!!













This is Alexa's first time coloring a picture. As you can tell, she was loving it! We tried to give her different color crayons, but she kept wanting the red one. I wrote Alexa's name & the date on the top of the picture, and it is now hanging on our fridge - our 1st piece of artwork from one of our kids ♥










Alexa made out on Valentine's Day... she got a new dress & book (from Noni & Papa) and another book & some chocolate, that was really for me (from Mommy & Daddy).










I was totally impressed when Alexa (who was wandering around the Story Garden) stopped what she was doing to make her hands go "round and round" when Ms. Allison played Wheels on the Bus! She even knows to clap during "all through the town." She is so bright! :-)










We made cookies for Fat Tuesday - Alexa loves helping, but more importantly, she loves eating!










Already getting a bit of a baby bump at 8 weeks!!










Since Sunday, Alexa has discovered the long 'e' sound and now says Mommy (instead of Mama), Daddy (instead of Dada), and Noni (instead of Nona). It is really cute to hear her say, "Mom-me," but I was actually happy to be known as "Mama," it sounds southern and cute :-)~

Alexa did a great job at the gym today!! Christi said she cried for like 30 seconds when I walked out of the room, but then she had fun playing with the other children. When I went to pick her up she was sitting in a high chair happily enjoying her snack :-) She actually cried and was saying "baby" over and over again (she calls ALL kids, no matter how old they are, baby) all the way to the car. I'm glad that she is beginning to enjoy her time there because I am really enjoying my workout sessions!

We are starting a 6-week class together next week at Worthington Community Center. It's called See Me Run. Here is a description for the course:

There will be singing and circle time, simple crafts and games. These activities along with open play will help to enhance their listening and thinking skills, imagination, coordination, language skills, and more, all while having fun!

We haven't taken a class since swim lessons ended in October, so I'm really excited to begin something new together! Our daytime schedule will be VERY full now! Mondays - Babytime, Tuesday - gym, Wednesday - See Me Run, Thursday - gym, and (every other) Friday - gym. It is nice to be busy doing things that are beneficial to Alexa intellectually, emotionally, socially, and physically. It is also nice to get out of the house ;-)

Our house may fall apart thanks to all of the snow and ice we've accumulated. On Monday afternoon I noticed a brown spot on part of our kitchen ceiling (the part that sticks off the backside of the house and has a mini-roof). It has continued to grow over the past few days, and last night Dan drilled a small hole in it to drain the water. It has been steadily filling buckets for the past 18+ hours. We've also got two windows that are dripping. We don't know why. Our insurance agent told me that they cannot send someone out to begin working on it all until all of the snow and ice are melted from the roof, gutters, etc. Hopefully this time next week we'll know how much damage has been done.

Finally, when we are home next weekend we are going to BEGIN test-driving minivans. It'll be much easier to do this without Alexa, thankfully when we're home we have built-in babysitters ;-) Haha. Seriously though, Noni & Papa are thrilled to have a day alone with Alexa!! Although we don't need to get a minivan for a few more months, we want to go drive them and see what ones are our favorites (so that way we can just keep watching prices for awhile). I have a list of "must haves" that I think will drive my dad and Dan crazy while we're looking (leather seats, sunroof, DVD system) because it makes it harder to find a used vehicle with those features and low miles (another requirement). I'm really stoked to begin researching, test-driving, and eventually buying a minivan!! It is going to be SO NICE to have all the extra space and will make our travels more comfortable :-)

Well, Baby #2 is apparently hungry AGAIN -- gosh, I feel like all I've been doing this pregnancy is eating (to keep the nausea and dizzy spells away)! Hope y'all are having a great week!! Ciao.