Surprise!

I guess now would be as good a time as any to pop in and say...

I've been cooking up a tiny baby boy for the last 8 months; due to arrive in July!

We are so excited to meet our little man, and if I'm being honest, I'm still trying to wrap my head around what it's going to be like to parent two little people at once.

I think Liv is going to LOVE being a big sister. She talks about "baby brother" all the time and regularly lifts my shirt up just to kiss my tummy and say hi to him.

This pregnancy has been night-and-day different from my first. The all-day morning sickness started earlier, lasted longer and was far more severe this time around. It is so true when people say that your body remembers what to do when you get pregnant for the second time. My belly popped so much quicker. I feel like he is huge even though he's not, and I'm carrying him much lower and straight out. I've gained more weight this time, been so much more exhausted and uncomfortable, and have had an insatiable craving for sugar. I also suffered from migraines during my second trimester that I never had when pregnant with Liv. 

Oh the joys of bringing children into the world! I know it will all be worth it the second I pull that little babe to my chest and kiss his tiny head.

We recently took a family babymoon to Hawaii. Here are a few photos from our trip. 

20 month goodies

It's official, 20 months is my favorite age! The things that come out of this little turkey's mouth are both hilarious and sweet, sassy and thoughtful. She soaks everything up like a sponge and she is unbelievably empathetic– she really has the best personality! There's not a chance I'm biased about this either. 

Here are some the "kill me with cute" things Liv is doing currently:

I have never formally worked with her on numbers (or anything else for that matter). I don't find it necessary to force learning at this age but I'm constantly talking to her and she LOVES books so we read all throughout the day. A few weeks ago, she started saying, "One, two, free, go!" before she'd jump off a step or run down the sidewalk. Then one day she counted to 10, unprompted and out of the blue. "One, two, free, four, six, nine, ten!" She did it again and again the exact same way and has ever since.

I am very big on kids having manners so we work on saying please and thank you a lot. This morning when I set her breakfast in front of her, she said, "Here ya go, thank you, welcome!" Just covering all the bases :)

She says, "Ta-da" when she completes something, "bummer dude" when something unfortunate happens, and is obsessed with picking her toe jams (thanks papa!). She knows how to put her own socks and shoes on and insists on having a turn buckling her highchair straps and zipping her coat. The other day I overheard her saying, "Pee-Ew! Papa tooted." Papa wasn't even home.

Current cute words:

-Heggie (heavy)

-Beeyo (video)

-Peekies (pictures)

-Wib (Liv)

-Wogurt (yogurt)

-Whood (food)

-Kinnie (her cousin Corynn who we call Corynnie)

-Tadin (her cousin Cavan)

-Damaw (grandma)

-Peas (please)

-Oss (off)

-Tinky (stinky)

I have to censor myself when I talk to the dogs now that Liv picks up on everything. She walks outside on the back deck and waves her finger in the air shouting, "no, no, no barkin!" and demands that they "way down" when they come inside. She tells them to "zip it" quite often.

She also says, "top it!" and "hey!" in a very sassy manner when she is objecting to something.

Liv is a very reasonable kid. I can often use logic to explain why we have to keep our coat on when we're outside and why we can't eat crackers for every meal. She is also cautious and considerate. If I ask her to be careful of the hot oven door, she will be. She is curious yet respectful of the fragile ornaments on the Christmas tree and is sure to only look with her eyes.

If someone is hurt or sad, she leans in to their face and says, "you OK?" in a sweet, high voice while cupping their chin in her hand. When they respond that they're OK, she says, "I'm OK too."

I hope to never forget how adorable and remarkable this age truly is. Each day gets a little sweeter with this precious girl. 

What a blessing she is in our lives!

Merry Merry

These last couple of weeks have been pure magic for our little family. Liv experienced several firsts this Christmas season and was showered with goodies by so many loving family members. Although she's too little to grasp the meaning of this holiday, the excitement of it all was certainly not lost on her.  

She opened lots of prizes, danced to every existing variation of Jingle Bell Rock, decorated cookies with mama, and tempted the fate of very breakable ornaments which were hung too low on the tree...oops! I always thought Christmas was the best as a kid, but now I know I was wrong. It's WAY better as a parent. 

Merry Christmas and happiest New Year wishes from our family to yours!

Stay Classy

The week before last, our clan headed west to visit my brother's family in San Diego. Liv did well on the airplane but we were grateful the flight wasn't any longer than it was. She was a squirmy little worm and two hours proved to be her limit for sitting in one spot. 

The weather wasn't ideal with highs only in the mid 60s but we still took time to dip our toes in the ocean and get sand in every nook and cranny of our diaper. It was L's first time visiting the beach and she loved everything about it. In fact she screamed each time we'd lift her from the water or try to brush the sand from her face. 

My dad flew out from Phoenix to spend the weekend with everyone too. Liv was enamored with all the family but would stare at her cousins, studying their every move. 

They were just as excited to see her and were eager to share their toys, feed her and hold her on their laps. Because Sofia's Ls come out as Ws, Liv has been dubbed "Baby Wiv" by the entire family since she was born. 

I wish we could have counted the number of times "Baby Wiv" was said over the course of those 5 days. 

We spent one day exploring Coronado Island and a few afternoons at the beach in Del Mar. We ate good food, took evening walks and drank our morning coffee on the patio watching the fog burn off. I'll tell you what, there are worse things in life than living in San Diego. 

It is so beautiful there!

Until next time...

You stay classy, San Diego.

Standing Tall

Ever since I walked into L's room a few weeks ago to find her standing in her crib (uh, essscuse me? when did you learn to do that?), she refuses to do anything else. Her balance is pretty amazing and she's already figured out how to gracefully drop down to her bottom from an upright position. If this girl is not an olympic athlete someday...

We did some serious baby-proofing over the weekend since our little chicken can now haul buns to the nearest electrical outlet. I swore I would never become one of those people, but alas, our home looks like we are running a legitimate daycare out of it. 

It's totally worth it for the peace of mind it provides though. 

On a side note, I'm not even kidding when I say that this swing is over 25 years old and belonged to me when I was an infant. See Also: My Mom Keeps Everything. 

As much as L likes standing on her own two feet, she really enjoys using those two feet to get places. Stat. 

Didn't you hear? Crawling is so yesterday, guys.

She's our lobster (you must say this in your best Phoebe voice)

Has there ever been a cuter crustacean? 

No. The answer is no. 

We took our little pincher to a trick-or-treat-street in our neighborhood last Saturday afternoon. Of course Liv had no idea what was going on (and doesn't care about candy yet) but I couldn't resist dressing up our family and parading around in celebration of my favorite holiday. 

We were the lucky fishermen who caught ourselves the cutest lobster around. 

Tonight we plan to stay in and hand out candy to all those little ghouls and goblins.

And just for fun, here's a look back at our costumes from the last few years, all of which were homemade.

2009- Popeye and Olive Oyl

2010- Edward and Vivian

2011- Native Americans

2012- Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head

Happy Halloween, friends!