BIG Announcement

I have been dying to know the gender of our next baby for weeks and weeks. So this morning we finally went in for our 20 week ultrasound and found out we are having...

... a BOY! The tech said he was 99% sure it was a boy. So Eli will have a little brother soon to torture. I am actually really happy to have another boy. For the last week or so, I have been imagining two brothers playing and having fun. I think it will be so nice for them to grow up together.

The only downside is now I have no idea what we will name him (I already had a girl name ready, but no boy name). And I will have to pack away the two little pink blankets I made for a future daughter. We want more kids, so I have plenty of chances for the little girl I want eventually.

Toddler Decorating

I love our sweet Eli - he just cracks me up sometimes. Life with a toddler is definitely busy, but it's also fun. For several weeks, I have noticed Eli placing some of his prized possessions carefully around our house, like he wants to leave little bits of himself everywhere. In particular, I keep noticing him hanging his little train cars off the hook in our armoire. He doesn't seem fazed that I take them off when we clean up, they are always put back up the next day. :)

In addition to the hook, he also likes to "park" some of his cars on the little shelf in the armoire.

As I was taking pictures of these little decorations, I decided to look around and see what other strange places he leaves his toys. This one is under the armoire.

And a little Fisher Price person in our door jam.

And finally, a mini board book in the mail slot. Maybe he thinks he's leaving me special treats or surprises all over the house. :)

I can't get over how cute Eli is getting. I love seeing his personality emerge. For the most part, Eli is pretty easy going and happy (except when he is teething with all four molars, like right now!!). Eli has so much energy - he loves to run and play especially at the park. He is a huge dare devil and doesn’t want my help as he goes down the slides and climbs the ladders. He loves to get dirty and play in the sand, sometimes putting it down his clothes and diaper!

Since Eli is only 18 months old right now, he doesn’t really understand that he will be a big brother soon. However he is very interested in babies, and likes to sign “baby” and wave whenever he’s sees one. Eli is starting to speak and sign a lot. He loves to say his “C” words: “car”, “crash”, “cracker”, and “cat” among other things. But most of all it is so fun to see him really taking off with sign language. He signs about 40 words, mostly things that interest him: “bird”, “airplane”, “dog”, “boat”, “ball”, “water” and “siren” or to communicate his needs: “help”, “please”, “thank you”, “sorry”, “more”, “hot”, and “cold”. We also have fun asking where his different body parts are for Eli to point to: “eyes”, “ears”, “nose”, “mouth”, and “belly button”.

Eli is also starting to show affection. He will spontaneously get up from playing to give me a hug and kiss or to cuddle next to me for a few seconds. He also likes to imitate what we are doing, like pulling the covers on our laps, reading a book, or typing on the computer (no matter how much I discourage that). I love that he wants to be so helpful now, following simple directions to bring me his shoes or close the door. Eli is such a joy, I can't wait to have another one and add to our family. I hope Eli will love his new sibling. BTW: We will (hopefully) be finding out the gender in two weeks, so if you haven't voted in the poll to the right, go ahead. I'm excited to find out. :)

On an unrelated note, if you haven't had a chance to check out my photography website for a while, there are a lot of new photos and updated info. In addition, there are several new posts on my photography blog.

Lake Havasu

In January, we were able to take a short vacation to Lake Havasu. It has been a long time since we have been able to visit Lake Havasu, so when we didn't have any big plans for the holiday in January, we decided to head to Havasu for a quiet weekend. It was such a nice, relaxing weekend - we didn't even put the boat in the water. We went to the local swap meet, shopped a little and visited the island several times to let Eli play at the playground and wade in the water.

One time, we also brought some goldfish crackers and showed Eli how to feed the birds. Eli was excited when the birds came so close to him, but then he wasn't sure he wanted to share his crackers. We would throw one to the birds and then eat one: "one for you, one for me." It was pretty funny.

There always seems to be gorgeous sunsets in Havasu, so one of the nights we took a few pictures. Here's a shot from the front yard.

Update

Everyone keeps asking how my pregnancy is going, so I thought I'd post it here. I just finished my first trimester, and I can't believe how fast it's going this time around. I am already starting to show a little bit, so I will need to take some photos of my belly and post them soon. I am relieved to finally be feeling better. I don't get morning sickness too badly - just some nausea. But the worst part for me is the extreme fatigue. I just want to sleep all the time and couldn't make myself do practically anything (especially cleaning!). I'm just glad to be feeling better and able to get out of the house, which is good because Eli gets too restless at home and starts destroying our house. At first, I wanted the gender to be a surprise, but now I am not sure I can wait that long. I am already dying to know, so cast your vote in the poll on the right and I'll probably be announcing what we are having in a month or so.

And since I always like to have a photo with my posts, here is a preview of the cousin Deborah's family shoot on my photography blog. You can view the rest HERE.

BIG NEWS

Elijah is excited to announce our BIG news...

That's right, we are expecting again! We are due August 11th, four days away from Eli's second birthday (August 15th). You would have thought we planned it that way, but no, it's just what the Lord had in mind for us. So being almost at the end of my first trimester, I thought we should make our official announcement. My pregnancy has been going well so far, except for some tiredness and mild morning sickness, which has already started to pass. We couldn't ask for a better experience and are grateful for our blessings.

BTW: I bought this shirt as soon as I found out and that's how I told Brian and my mom that we were expecting. They were super excited.

Day at the Park

Okay, I know I left the poop post up way too long. So to atone for that, here are several updates, including some big news to follow in the next post...

Right before Christmas, Brian and I took Eli to the park and took some photos of him to give to our family. Half of these are Brian's photos. I can't even tell which ones are mine or his. Isn't he getting so good at taking photos? That's good because we can't afford a real photographer for our family and I shouldn't be absent from all our future photos. :)

Our goal was to get some frame-able shots. I think we got some cute ones.

This is my favorite shot of the day. We enlarged this so it could be framed.

Swing time. He really is a happy boy. He was overjoyed to play at the park with us. The only challenge is to get him to look up. He is pretty good at ignoring us.

Eli catching falling leaves.

This one cracked me up.

Photography Blog Update

I have updated my photography blog with several new photo sessions, including the Menlove's family session. To check out my photography blog, click HERE.

WARNING: ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK!

I thought Eli's homemade snow was a big mess - boy was I wrong! If you missed the flour incident, check it out HERE. But that was a piece of cake compared to Eli's mischief today.

We went to get Eli up from his nap, and we found this...

He looks pretty innocent, and it may not seem that bad until you realize that brown stuff is NOT chocolate!

A horrible overwhelming stench filled the room. It made me want to be sick.

We put him to bed fully clothed, but after his nap we found him nakie sans his poopy diaper (it was thrown on the floor). However before it was thrown, there must have been some investigating going on. It was ALL over his crib.

So we tag-teamed the cleanup. I took Eli in for a very thorough bath. And Brian stripped all the bedding, clothing and anything that might have been touched for an immediate wash.

I think it will be a while before the smell is gone from the room - it is lingering. If anyone has tips on how to keep this happening again, I would surely appreciate it. I'm sure I'm not alone in this toddler mischief.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas holiday with friends and family. This year has been very magical for us, with Eli starting to be more excited about gifts and toys.

I just wanted to share a few pictures from our Christmas, which Brian took - isn't he getting so good? This is our Christmas morning before Eli or I woke up. Brian woke super early and got everything ready for us. He is so sweet!

Eli has been fascinated by cars and trucks, pointing them out, signing and saying "caa", pretending to drive, and playing with toy cars. It is so fun to see him imagination and interests develop. So for our big santa gift, we decided to get him this fire truck Little Tikes pedal car.

He was so excited. He ran right to it and jumped in. He wanted to be pushed around the house and chase the cat. He kept signing "car" and "siren" (it makes little siren sounds).

We also got him several little toy cars and planes to push around. I love the Target dollar spot--these were so cheap and cute.

Eli is so spoiled. He got so many fun toys and cute clothes from family and friends. He loved to explore each one, and asked for "help" (he signs this by patting his chest) to open the new toy and play with it.

Once we were done opening presents, Eli kept wanting to climb in his new car and drive it around the house. He was so excited about it that he woke from his nap early. When I went in he was signing "car" and trying to climb out of his crib. I let him out and he ran right to his car. I think he was dreaming about it. Throughout the afternoon he would play in the car for a few minutes and then jump out and come give me and Brian kisses. I think he was trying to say "thank you - I LOVE it!" He did this about 30 times, which is not normal - he is not usually lovey or cuddly.

This is so interesting to us because Eli has never really shown this much excitement about any toy or thing. He is very intense and possessive about his car. When we put him to bed tonight, he didn't want to get out of it. We had him say goodnight to it and then took it out of his room. Boy, he didn't like that. He threw a fit for a good 20 minutes--a complete meltdown before bedtime. I feel sorry for him, as I realize he doesn't know if it is gone for good. He doesn't understand it will still be there for him in the morning.

Updated Blog

I've been so busy with holiday photography sessions, that I haven't taken many personal pictures. But in the meantime, check out my photography blog. It's been updated with this awesome maternity shoot. www.amberkatrina.com/blog