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Messy Day

I have a goal to include more art and music in our lives. Today was a success. Red Fish got more into it than the last time we painted.

Just Because I Think It's Cute

Red Fish makes this zzzZZZZZZ sound when she runs now. It's like a car revving it's engine. I think she may have lost the ability to walk because she runs EVERYWHERE.

Red Fish is working on her animals sounds. She does a lot of them pretty well but her favorite is the cow. She thinks cows kiss people because the Moo sound makes the same lip shape as a Muah kiss. So every time we get to the cow page in her favorite animal book both cows gets kisses and I get a big noisy kiss. We've started referring to them as the kissy cows. Too cute!

Random Springtime Fun

We are fans of the warmer weather around here. Red Fish now associates her hat, glasses and sunscreen with all things fun so she's been begging for them even when we are inside. She is getting to be such an independent girl I now have to squirt some lotion in her hand and let her help put it on. It's pretty cute. She also insists on brushing my hair if I fix her hair for her. Good thing I like having my hair brushed.We went to the park yesterday and finally found some good swings. It's so lame that most parks don't have swings anymore. A big park near us has a small playground perfect for Red Fish to climb on by herself and go down all of the slides. There was a group of 9 or 10 year old girls playing on it and Red Fish insisted on following them around and trying to do everything they wanted to do. Then they switched the big kid playground. I am not so fond of the big playground because Red Fish is too little to go down the big slides and climb on everything without someone a step behind her to keep her from breaking her neck. I'm definitely getting too pregnant to go down big slides and climb up a jungle gym for two hours. I'm still trying to figure out how to convince Red Fish of this fact. She is a little daredevil and a climber.

She is also- her own fashion consultant. She picked out a little dress to wear for the day but it was cold by the time we went to the park and she nearly had a seizure when I tried to change her out of the dress. So she wore the dress and a sweatsuit to the park. She also picked out the sock combo. Who said your socks must match?
Red Fish flips through my art magazines on a daily basis. She has started marking the pages with torn up strips of paper because that's what I do when I find good ideas in them. She has to wear her sunglasses to fully absorb the art.
No day is complete without a little dancing and singing in the driveway. This baby loves to be outside! On the days it's raining or snowing recently she just can't understand why we can't play outside.

Pass It On

I'm joining in on some fun from Lei
The rules:

1. Be one of the first THREE to leave a comment on this post, which then entitles you to a handmade item from me - something crafty or yummy, who knows?! I make no promises about what I will make just that I will make something special for you.

2. Winners must post this challenge on your blog, meaning that you will Pay It Forward, creating a handmade gift - anything! - for the first three bloggers who leave a comment on YOUR post about this giveaway!

3. The gift that you send your THREE friends can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. And remember, it's the spirit and the thought that counts!

4. When you receive your gift, feel free to blog about it, sharing appropriate Linky Love!If you are not one of the Top Three Commenters on this post, you can still play along. Go ahead and start your own Pay It Forward and encourage your blogging friends to do the same!

Real

I think I'm finally really starting to feel pregnant. Yes I spent the months puking, got past my fear of needles to give myself twice daily injections, had 8 ultrasounds, gone to ALOT of appointments with my OB etc, etc, but none of that made it feel totally real. I've still woken up in a cold sweat convinced something is wrong. I've still had a hard time imagining getting to the finish line and actually coming home with a baby. It's been an adjustment just coming to the realization that this pregnancy is different than my previous ones. I had built this wall inside myself after all the miscarriages and it's been really hard to take it down.

I'm starting a hypnobabies class in a few weeks. I've been listening to the first CD religiously hoping to relieve some of my stress. To be honest I don't always buy into natural remedies but I do believe in the power of positive thinking and my mind's ability to change things especially in my own body. I decided to try the class because I figured anything positive would be a good thing for me and my stress levels. Good birthing info and a lot of relaxation training can never be a bad thing right? So far just listening to the relaxation exercises on the CD has been great. I've been sleeping better and thinking more positive already. (Admittedly this is partly because the CD puts me to sleep but for a previous insomniac that's pretty cool.)

Earlier I was trying to explain to Red Fish that she is going to have a little sister soon and we talked about babies. She just grinned at me and kept lifting up my shirt to look at my belly and poke it. She can't figure out why I keep saying there is a baby in there. It's hilarious. She likes the idea of a new baby but does not understand why my belly keeps getting bigger. She pokes it several times a day. Then Tonight I was collapsed on the couch and the baby was kicking up a storm. I called Two Fish in and he got to feel it for the first time. What a cool feeling. We just sat here grinning at each other. Hello "New Fish" you are really in there. We can really do this. It's real this time.

Drum Roll Please...

We had the big ultrasound today and things are looking good! We are excited for Red Fish to have a sister. On Two Fish's side of the family nobody has had two kids of the same sex in a row so I guess we have broken the mold. On my Mom's side everyone for the last couple generations has had girl boy boy so we broke that mold too. I guess this baby is one of a kind!

Kicked

This morning I was somewhat awake and still in bed. I kept feeling this slightly uncomfortable little pang in the side of my belly. I kept rubbing it and thinking it was a weird feeling. After the 5th round it finally dawned on me- I'm being kicked! What a strange and delightful feeling. Somebody is really in there. I've felt the flutters before but this was real movement. I have an appointment with the doctor today and I'm hoping that he will set the date for the big ultrasound. Hurry and make a guess on the right side of my blog. Time may be running out.

Easter Sunday

Red Fish's first Easter basket. (She was kind of little last year.) I took her to target the other day and let her pick out any basket she wanted. She was so excited. She's been carrying this bunny around all day. The Easter bunny brought her some bubbles, new sandles, and a strawberry purse. Red Fish was delighted.

Very excited about the bubbles

My sweet little girl and her Easter outfit. I love this picture.

Gammie and Red Fish

After church we went to Grandma and Bockum's house for Easter dinner. (Red Fish is putting a snack in her mouth.)

They had a few eggs hidden around the yard for Red Fish and we ended up throwing a bunch of empty ones on the lawn because she had so much fun finding them and putting them in her basket. She was squealing like crazy. We had to throw the eggs back on the lawn 4 or 5 times because she had so much fun picking them up. Then she just started throwing them back around the yard herself so she could continue the game. It's really fun to see her get old enough to enjoy the holidays. It makes it more fun for all of us! On the way home we got to stop by Mimi's house so she could see Red Fish in her easter clothes. Red Fish got to see all six of her grandparents in 24 hours.

Easter Egg Hunt

We spent the day at Grandma O's house with Aunt L's family. We had a little Easter party and dyed some eggs. I thought 24 eggs was a lot of eggs for three little kids but I was oh so wrong. We had eight colors of dye, stickers, egg wraps, and crayons and we made some splendid creations.
This is aparently the face you make when you have successfully chucked an egg into the dye bowl. Red Fish wanted to throw the eggs and swirl them around with her hands in the bowl and then throw in a little vigorous stiring for good measure. She was very frustrated with my attempts to contain the mess and thwart her efforts to overturn the bowls. She still ended up with a green arm and some tie-dyed looking jeans. I think she thoroughly enjoyed the process.

We did a little egg hunt inside because it was raining. The little girls didn't mind and Cousin D thought it presented more of a challenge. It didn't take long for Red Fish to catch on to the egg hunting and I think she will be ready for more eggs tomorrow!
A mouth stuffed with candy- I don't think she even swallowed any candy. She would just chew it up and spit out. I don't think she totally understands candy (which is fine by me.)

It was another good and busy day. We had another very quiet (aside from the snoring) car ride home because she was asleep the second we buckled her in.

Bump Watch 2009

17 weeks. The baby is the size of a turnip.

Children's Museum

Yesterday we went with Grandma O, Aunt L, and two of Red Fish's cousin to a local children's museum for a fun day out. I was a little worried that Red Fish wouldn't have enough to do but she was in sorting heaven. She is totally obsessed with sorting and stacking things into piles. They had a room full of air tubes that shot balls around and all Red Fish cared about was filling trays with balls for the other kids to use. There was a market full of plastic food to separate. Then she sorted the vegetables in the play garden.


Both Cousin S and Red Fish loved water-play just about the best of anything. No surprise there- Red Fish loves anything water related. Red Fish found a ball from the waterworks mixed in with some vegetables from the garden and she insisted that we take back across the museum to the waterworks. She is so funny that way.

Red Fish is a big fan of puzzles. They had a few with really big pieces that she liked.
I think she likes the order of puzzles and blocks.

Cousin D was a really good sport spending the day with two little girls and he spent quite awhile building a big tower.

I think overall Red Fish had a blast being with her cousins and trying out a bunch of new toys. It was a lot of excitement for her and she slept the whole way home and went straight to her crib for a couple hours. It was a good day.

Dress Up

I've been playing in Mommy's closet!

Springtime Fun

Red Fish had an intense drawing session today. We've used crayons plenty of times before but usually I have to sit next to her and convince her to not eat the crayons and that drawing is actually fun. Today she was perfectly happy to sit on the floor and draw for a good 45 minutes. She used every crayon in the box. I was so proud! I did however stifle her creative freedom a bit when she approached the wall with a handful of crayons.
Today we went for an hour long walk and then played on the playground for another hour. Blue Fish and Red Fish were very happy. Red Fish spent the whole time on the playground playing in the dirt and getting as grubby as possible. She needed a major bath.

International House of Red Fish

Red Fish has caught the travel bug and she is making a list of all of the places she wants to go. She will packing her bags accordingly.China

England

Japan

France

The North Pole

Scotland

and India
(Sorry about the last two pictures I had to take them on my video camera and it takes horrible photos)

A Good Sunday

We had a good Sunday watching General Conference for the LDS church. We got to sleep in (Red Fish woke up for about two hours in the middle of the night so she slept in too) and watch everything on tv in our pajamas. Red Fish thoroughly enjoyed the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and was dancing to every song. After the second session was over today we took a long walk with Blue Fish. I think family walks are one of my favorite activities.

I went to the outlet stores yesterday with my Mom and bought Red Fish a new sun hat. ( Protecting her very pale skin is a huge concern for me.) She needed a new hat to play outside in so her face doesn't get burned. Red Fish was VERY impressed with the hat I bought her. She pretty much hasn't taken if off since yesterday except to go to bed. This picture is her straight out of the bathtub and she immediately put her hat back on. She is so in to accessories right now.