The first and worst is over!

Yay! I'm finally 13 weeks today (Sorry no picture  this week!) That means my first trimester is officially over! Why does the first trimester in a pregnancy seem to last the longest? It is actually shorter than the rest because you don't actually find out you are pregnant until you are about 4 weeks along, but it seems to drag on forever! Our baby this week is about the size of my fist, or if you like the fruit comparisons, a lemon. It is so fun to feel this baby growing inside me!

11 Weeks :)

Yesterday was a super exciting day for our little family. I had  my first ultrasound this pregnancy. It was so fun to see that little person inside me. I know I'm pregnant, and I definitely feel pregnant, but actually seeing my baby moving around on the ultrasound made it so much more real! Jacob got to get off a little early from work so that he could come so we just made it a family event. After Jacob pointed to the screen and showed Rachel the baby it was all she could talk about for the rest of the ultrasound. I know she doesn't understand that there is a baby in my tummy, but she could see the little baby on the screen. Rachel is funny, I've told her a few times that I have a baby in my tummy and every time we talk about it she has to uncover my tummy and either poke it (because face it,  its a little bigger than it use to be) or she will blow raspberries on it. I think it will be fun when our baby is big enough to hear and kicks her when she does it! :)

Here is a belly picture of me at 11 weeks along. Our little one is about the size of a large plum now, weighs about a half an ounce and is  about 2 and 1/2 inches long according to What to Expect When You're Expecting. (I love that book!)

We love our baby plum so much already and are so excited for when we finally get to meet him or her! Come on August!

Rachel Stories

I just thought I'd take a minute and write a little about what our little Rachel-girl is up to these days.

 Rachel is such a happy little girl and always keeps us laughing. She loves loves loves to be chased and in turn she loves to chase her mama around the kitchen. Her favorite part about being chased though is being caught. She just loves to be tickled, and we love to tickle her too because we love to here her cute little giggles filling our home!

Last night dinner was just a little later than it normally is around here and Rachel was starving! We fed her dinner and after she ate what is the normal amount for her I asked her if she was all done and she said and signed, "More, more, more!" I asked her more what, and she said and signed, "Eat, eat, eat!" So we fed her more, and more and more. She stayed in her high chair for over an hour telling us that she wanted more and more to eat.

Rachel is talking so much and I love it. She learns new words and new signs almost every single day. She loves to talk about her baby (doll), the airplanes that are always flying around, books, balls, noses and other parts of the face and so much more. There is still a lot we can't understand that she tries to say, but it is so fun to see her learning to communicate more and more each day.

Our funny little girl loves to be doing what ever we are doing. It cracks me up to see her copying the things we do even if she's not sure why we are doing it. When she sees us exercising on the treadmill, she wants to do it too. When Jacob is stretching after a run, she will mimic his movements. If we are eating anything, she needs to try it too. Today at lunch, Jacob had his arms folded and leaned against a wall and Rachel made sure to fold her arms quick and bow her head because she thought he was going to say a prayer. If I am getting ready, she has to brush her teeth, brush her hair and "put make-up on" just like mommy.

She loves to share anything and everything, with anyone and everyone. She especially likes to share things with Mommy and Daddy, probably because we are always sharing everything with her. She really likes to share her food and doesn't like to eat a snack unless we are taking bites and eating it with her.

She loves loves loves to go outside. Rachel would probably live outside if I let her. She likes to go for walks (with or with out the stroller), go to the park, or even just play in the backyard. She picks up all the rocks 2 or 3 at a time and brings them over to show me every single one. She is pretty funny because I think she would do just about everything to get to play outside. Yesterday morning I told her we had to do our hair and get out of jammies before we could play outside, so she went and found some clothes for me to put on her and then she brought me rubber bands to put in her hair so that she could go outside.

Rachel has just started climbing. She has figured out that she can climb onto our kitchen chairs and she looks so proud of her self whenever she does it. She can also push chairs around. I'm just nervous for when she figures out she can push a chair up to the counter and then climb onto the counter from the chair.  The other day I had music playing from our computer and Rachel pushed a chair up to the computer and climbed on. I went looking for her and found her just sitting on the chair swinging her legs and listening to the music. She loves music. When I sing to her after the song is over she says and signs, "More, more, more." so that I will sing another song. We play music quite frequently around her and she loves to dance to it. It makes me happy to see my little dancing girl!

I'm sure there is so much more I could post about her. I could go on and on forever about this little one. She makes our lives so happy! I just love being her mom! :)

Family Pictures

We have been in serious need of some family pictures for a while now and last month we were finally able to get some! I just love my little family!  Enjoy!

9 Weeks! :)

We are 9 weeks pregnant today! Our little baby is now the size of a prune, and I am definitly starting to show! It is crazy how fast I have popped out with this little baby. It has been way faster than it was with Rachel! I had my first doctor appointment last week and so far so good. They didn't try to listen to our baby's heart breat or anything because our baby is still quite small, but they said I could call and make an ultrasound appointment so we could see our little prune! I haven't been nearly as sick as I was when I was pregnant with Rachel, which has been really nice but I have been plenty tired and I've had plenty of food aversions, like chicken, blegh!

Today we started on a new adventure with our Rachel-girl. She has been showing interest in the potty and has told us occasionally when she has wanted to go potty on the toilet so we decided to start potty training her. We bought her some big girl panties (which she loves) and put them on her for the first time today! It made her so happy to wear them! She went through 4 pairs with accidents but she piddled on the potty probably about 15 times today. She thought it was so fun to be a big girl and piddle on the potty! It's a work in progress but for our first day of trying it out, I think she did pretty well. If any one has any suggestions to help us with our potty training journey, they would be greatly appreciated! Wish us luck!