Gender Poll

I added a poll on the side bar for anyone interested in voting on what the gender of the baby will be.  My ultrasound is scheduled for April 17th so we have a few weeks left to vote.  I do have a prenatal check up next week, though, and I'm going to try really hard to convince my doctor to just take a peek then.

A Week with Family

Ryan went out of town last week on a business trip.  Luckily for me and Lucas, my brother and his family came up to visit the exact same week.  Lucas and I went down to stay at my mom's house for the week.  Lucas had a blast with his cousins.  Lucas and Madoc loved running around with Rocky.

Then they found these fun masks...

...and decided to play with them and rocky at the same time.

The first day we went to the Jelly Belly factory and took a tour and ate lots of jelly beans.  Somehow I didn't get any pictures of this, but the kids had a lot of fun.

The next day we went to the Happy Hollow park and zoo.  The kids rode lots of rides.

 And played at this really big, really cool playground.

Waiting in line for the roller coaster.  Lucas liked being held by Sadie, who probably only weighs 10 more pounds than he does.

 Lucas was very excited to ride the roller coaster.  He actually did pretty well on the ride too.

 Grandma and Ashley take a turn riding with the kids.

 And one more picture on the roller coaster.  You can see Neil holding his hands up in the last car.  I think Neil may have liked this ride more than the kids.

 Lucas liked riding in these cars.

 Even Charlotte got in on the fun.  She is so tiny and cute!

 And everyone got to ride the carousel.

 The next day we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  The kids were so excited to all be in one car together.

I didn't get very many pictures at the aquarium either, but I did get one in the wave room.  Always a big favorite!

 And of course we had to get lunch at the Fish Hopper.  I had a crab and spinach risotto with lobster, shrimp, and asparagus on the side.  It was AMAZING!

The kids played at the beach for a bit after lunch.  Lucas was sitting in the sand when a big wave came and I didn't get him up in time so his pants got soaked.  Luckily I brought a change of clothes.  Here he is having way too much fun to stop and smile for a picture.

We stopped at the Dennis the Menace Park on our way home.  This was a REALLY fun park.  The kids liked this roller slide the best.

Racing...

They had fun rock climbing too.

The last day we took it easy and played games at home all day long.  After naps we went to see the Lorax.  This was Lucas's first movie in the theater and he did really well.  It might have had something to do with the popcorn and soda that grandma got, though.

Thanks to Neil and Ashley for driving up so we could play with them all week, and thanks to grandma and grandpa for taking us all over town and entertaining us.  We had so much fun!

Little Lemon

Lemons have always been a big favorite of mine.  I know I've blogged about them before.  But I like them a little bit more than usual this week because 3 1/2 inches long (the size of a lemon) is how big baby number two is this week.  It's been a bit of a rough time getting here, but I'm 14 weeks along and we're really excited for this next step in our lives.

This pregnancy has been so different than when I was pregnant with Lucas.  I feel like I've been having little aches and pains so much sooner than I did with Lucas.  I'm barely showing and already at the end of the day I feel like I've been lugging a huge belly around because my belly and ligaments are so sore.  I actually have gained less weight so far than I did with Lucas, thank goodness!  I feel like I've been sicker this time too.  I haven't thrown up at all, but there have been a few nights I couldn't sleep because I was just too nauseous and that never happened with Lucas.  My nausea with Lucas kept going till like 17 weeks, and this time I thought it was letting up two weeks ago, but this week it seems to be back with a vengeance so we'll see how long it goes for.  Some pregnant women eat saltine crackers to help with nausea, I ate mini marshmallows.  We were going somewhere in the car at about 6 weeks when the nausea had really started to kick in and all I had on me were mini marshmallows for Lucas, so I ate them.  They were surprisingly helpful at keeping the nausea away so I started carrying them on me at all times.  With Lucas I had a lot of food aversions and smells that bothered me. I haven't really had that at all this time, but I think I've had way more cravings.

Food cravings I've had:
Plain Vanilla Ice Cream - I had to eat this before bed for the first few weeks just to make it through the night... torture, I know.
Cream of Wheat
Pickles
Apples and Cheese-it's (together)
Veggies and Ranch dip
Cottage Cheese with Pineapple

So now on to the big question of boy or girl, we honestly have no idea.  I never had any feeling one way or the other with Lucas, and I haven't this time around either.  I feel like since this pregnancy is so different, that could mean girl - but every pregnancy is different so that doesn't really mean anything.  I've been looking at all the old wives tales to see what they indicate.

Old Wives Tale Gender Prediction

Hanging ring on string - Girl
I have colder feet than before - Boy
Complexion is much worse - Girl
Craving ice cream and fruit juice - Girl
Craving pickles and other salty foods - Boy
Chinese Gender Prediction Calendar - Girl
Sicker than last time - Girl
I sleep on my left side - Boy

So, it's pretty much divided.  I guess I'll just have to wait till the ultrasound to find out.  Until then I think I'll go have some more mini marshmallows.

Rain

We're finally getting some rain here.  I'm excited cause I'm ready for everything to turn green and pretty like it was this time last year.  Although it does make it hard to keep Lucas entertained all day long without a trip to the park.  Today we kept busy by going on a walk with the umbrella.  Lucas was pretty excited about his umbrella.

 And we saw some pretty blue birds on our walk.

Now hurry up and get green so we can have our sun back.

Tricycle

Lucas has been riding his Mater as his main source of transportation since he got it for Christmas at 6 months old.  Last summer while we were staying at the Residence Inn when we first moved to Livermore, we made friends with some people that had a tricycle they were getting rid of and they gave it to us.  We tried really hard to get Lucas interested in riding it, but he just couldn't figure it out.  Now don't get me wrong, I love Mater, but Lucas has ruined 3 pairs of shoes now from dragging his feet while riding it because he's way too big for it.   We kept the tricycle in the garage all winter long and every once in a while he would go out and practice riding it.  Eventually he figured out how to pedal it, and now that it's warm outside, we can finally take this on walks instead of the Mater.

Look at how big and grown up he looks on this.  He's such a big boy now.  He loves going out and riding his tricycle.  He still rides his Mater every once in a while, but this little boy is growing up.  Maybe we can have a pair of shoes without holes now.