And we're off....

I LOVE fridays! I've been looking forward to this weekend for awhile, because we are going to VEGAS! I'm going to miss Ellie sooo much, but it will be nice to get away for a bit. I have plenty of pictures of Ellie on my phone and a couple videos I can watch if I really miss her.  I'm sure my dad will send me some pictures from his phone too. Vegas may seem kind of an odd place for a pregnant girl to go, but I can still eat, shop, sleep and of course gamble!! I'll be ordering my N/A bloody marys (with a pickle of course) and any kind of ice cream drink I can get :)

See ya next week!

Ellie loves anything technology! Here she is with Nick's iTouch.

The weekend

This weekend flew by; like always! We had our bowling league on Friday and I haven't seen everyone for a few months. I got several questions asking me if I'm having twins. I must be pretty big :(
My cousin and her son visited on Saturday and brought her little puppy, Cooper. He jumped on Ellie because he wanted to give her kisses, but she was not happy about that. She was so scared! Lucy and Meeko leave her alone, so she wasn't use to the attention.  I planned on taking some pictures of Ellie with my camera, but it was so gloomy and I was lazy. I've been pretty bad at not using my camera. It's just so easy to use my phone.  I hope this week flies by, because we leave for Vegas on Sunday. Yup, pregnant and all. Nick's parents, brother and friend are going to be there, so I won't feel as guilty leaving Nick at the bar or blackjack table to go to bed at 8pm. Most people don't go to Vegas to catch up on sleep, but I am! haha. It will be nice to get away, but I'm going to miss Ellie!

Below are some pictures of Ellie. She looks so big to me. (sniffle, sniffle)

4 months!

I can't believe I'm 16 weeks already. Actually I feel like I'm 8 months, but that's ok. I have to admit that this time around is a lot harder than the first. I don't know if it's because I'm being a whiney baby or if it's because my insicion from my c-section feels like it might bust open at times. I think I might be feeling movement in there, but it's nothing obvious just yet. My ultrasound is schedule for April 11th. We will try to find out if Ellie will have a little brother or sister, then it's plan, plan, plan! If it's a girl, we won't have much to buy at all (Nick likes this scenerio, but he also thinks that we are going to have 4 girls) if it's a boy, I have a lot to buy and learn. I don't know what to do with boy's equipment and parts. It will be very interesting. Then, we have to start thinking about names. I have a few in mind (secret), but I'm not really sure about them. Anyone have any suggestions!??

Another big purchase that we have to make sooner than later, is a new car. I have felt for the last couple years now that it's time for Nick to let go of his little 2 door sports car. It's just not a good fit for our family. I'm thinking that a Toyota minivan or a Honda Pilot will do. I know I'd like something with 8 seats, leather, heated front seats, dvd player in back - just the necessities :)  Since Nick isn't too excited about purchasing a car, I've been the one thinking and looking. I just have to find a way to sell his car without to much comotion, but I've done it before, so I can do it again!

Japan

I was woken up Friday morning at 5:30 am, by a text message from my dad. It said "Turn on tv, biggest quake ever. Japan, north of Tokyo." Ugh. My heart stopped for a minute and my brain was blurred. As I watched channel 12, I couldn't help but change to Japan TV (we have a Japanese satellite). Watching the news in Japanese made it seem a little less real, almost like I was watching a documentary from 50 years ago. Even though the Japanese have been planning this for decades, some disasters are just inevitable. If any country can get through this, it's the Japanese. They are strong, smart and driven.

Luckily our family and friends live southwest of Tokyo and are all safe.  I've been trying to find some blogs about Japan and how to help. There is a website where you can donate to the relief.  The videos and pictures are devastating. The first one above looks like toy planes and cars.

One of the stories that really made me both cry and smile was the one of the 76 year old father looking for his daughter who worked at the airport that was washed away. The news anchor that spoke to him drove him into the area where he found out from someone that she was alive. They then drove him back to his wife who was waiting in the car. When they approached the car, she dove into her car to offer them an armful of oranges and apples in gratitude for having driven her husband back from the airport. This is truly how Japanese people are. It's AMAZING.

Ellie's new look

Ellie finally has her new glasses. Doesn't she look smart!! :)  It's amazing how one little accessory can change the look of someone. I also gave her a little bang trim to go with her new look.  It's hard to tell, but her frames are a light pink with a little iridescent to them.  They also have a cute little elastic band around the back. Nick thinks she looks like a Harry Potter character. I told him that we'll have to go to the new Harry Potter theme park to show her what we mean.

She's been pretty good about wearing them. Sometimes she takes them off and runs away. It's a game to her, because she knows we'll chase her to put them back on. After her bath we usually don't put them back on and we can see a difference with her eyes and they do cross when she isn't wearing them.  This picture is from my Iphone, so it's a little fuzzy. I'll try to take some pictures with my camera this weekend.  I'm so glad it's friday!

Not so much

Well another typical day in Wisconsin. We woke up to about 4 inches of wet, heavy, pretty snow. Usually I would be excited because I can go skiing, but not this year. Nope, not liking the snow so much. I really, really want to wear sandels. I don't like wearing socks, but mainly because today when I got to work I noticed that I am wearing brown socks with black shoes and pants. Cool. Not so much.

I also need to get some t-shirts letting everyone know that I have a baby in my stomach and it's not from all the pie. I've been getting a lot of stares lately and it is pretty uncomfortable. I am 15 weeks this week and feell like I'm 30 weeks. It's amazing how much faster your tummy grows when it's your 2nd. I'm a little excited because I got a couple new maternity pants and tops. My intention of going to Destination Maternity was to get one pair of work pants. haha. right. I needed a couple things for our Vegas trip too. (we are going for a few days at the end of the month). Anways, I ran into Kristin (hi kristin!) and she had just gotten done taking an exercise class. I had completely forgot they had those classes there! My plan is to take a class or two a week. We'll see. The weekends are always so hectic and during the week I'm just burned out from work. I know I'm already starting with the excuses, but maybe if I go, I can treat myself to one new thing everytime. I would totally be able to justify that with myself and possibly Nick. The one hour classes are free and you get complimentary juice or water, so I figure if they did charge for that it would be about $25. That means I can buy something for under $25. Makes sense to me! I will have to call today and see if they have any openings!

Baby Equipment

So, I dragged Nick to Ikea last weekend. I just don't understand why he doesn't like to go to Schaumburg and fill up the car with neccessities. Actually, I was very good and we hardly bought anything! We did however buy a lot of food at Mitsuwa; because Ellie has to eat. My mom is mostly in charge of Ellie's food because she is home with her all day, so she eats a lot of Japanese food, which is wonderful, except she is only in the 15% of her weight and 80% for her height. This means she needs to eat more calorie'd foods. This is where I come in! Pudding pops, ice cream, peanut butter toast, cheese is just what she needs :)
Anways.... back to Ikea. I wanted to see their toddler beds in person. We are thinking of probably going that route with Ellie before the baby comes. These are the two I liked:

The Hensik and the Minnen.

HENSVIK



MINNEN

While we were there, I spotted a woman with a newborn and a toddler, just about the same age that Ellie and the baby will be. So of course, I had to check out her situation and she was pushing the exact same stroller I've been eye balling for months!!  It's the Baby Jogger City Select Stroller that also allows another seat. So baby would be on top and Ellie will be in the front. There are so many different ways of using this stroller and you can also just use it as a single stroller too. The only downfall is the price. After you buy the stroller, connector for the car seat (we of course have a car seat) and the extra seat (you have to buy the extra seat in order to have the second seat because it comes with the connector pieces) it's about $600. Of course you cannot use any coupons at Buy Buy Baby or Babies R Us.  The annoying thing is Amazon's prices flucate and lately they've been really high. I don't get how this works.

I guess I need to decide if this is worth it and if we need it. I've looked at so many double strollers and this is the smallest, easiest to use and really nice since it can be used as a single.  See! Did I sell you? Don't you want one, even if you don't have kids!? We are having a rummage sale in May  (come buy some stuff!) and I actually just sold Ellie's 3 wheeler jogger stroller on craigslist, so I am building a stash for my our new stroller.

Ellie's 18 month photo album

I create 2 photo books a year for Ellie and below is her 18th month photo album!  To see the first 2 I created for Ellie, go to this post.

Click here to view this photo book larger