Family Picture

I try (really, I do) to get regular pictures of the family. All of us. This means I turn on the camera timer and hope for the best. Oh well. Next time. Maybe.

Maggie is wearing her Fruit Loop necklace she made in nursery. Remember those??

Insane Nice Weather

We've had the most insane nice, warm weather this last week. It's over now but, wow, did I enjoy it! So did Mags. We actually spent several afternoons in the backyard. We also got several walks around town in the stroller. I wish it could always be like that.

To get anything done (planning, to do lists, calendaring, etc.) I fixed myself some hot tea and filled up a bowl of water for Maggie to play with her little plastic fish. What a silly idea. She made a mess. But...I got myself a little bit organized. Worth it.

Eating An Apple

Maggie likes apples but surely never goes out of her way to ask for one, let alone get one out of the fruit basket herself. Funny little thing.

23 Weeks

I know this is not a great picture but I'm starting to feel guilty that I've not been taking regular photos of my belly during this pregnancy. I'm huge. I feel huge.

Trip To The Mountains

Last weekend we took a little trip to the mountains (on the way to Estes Park) to visit Patrick's co-worker and friends, John and Astonna. They have a beautiful home with a stunning view.

Two things: We had the BEST nachos ever--I obsessed over them for days and Maggie had a great time!

She cuddled up to the stuffed hippo first.

She moved onto stalking the cats (two of the lucky guys) then finally felt cool with the huge doggy. Astonna literally spent the entire afternoon on the floor playing with the animals and Maggie. Much too nice.

THE Guitar

Maggie has wanted this guitar for a while. I bought it and carefully displayed it as a bribe to use the potty--on purpose and keeping her panties dry. She accidentally got a teensy bit of pee in the potty. I tried to distract with a reward of chocolate but noooooo. She immediately pointed to the guitar and said, "I want my guitar". I had to give in. She loves it.
She's been watching the clip of my brother Randy play his guitar and instructs both her dad and myself as to how to hold and play hers.

A Few Unrelated Photos

Just thought these were fun.

She begs for a picture after she digs the camera out of my purse at Home Depot.

For Karla: Maggie curled up in the blanket Karla gave me for my b-day and cuddling the Eeyore her daughter Natalie gave her. The band-aid on the chin doesn't mean anything other than she has a huge obsession with band-aids.

The guitar was meant for the first time she used the potty AND kept her panties dry. She ended up with it by default--too complicated to convince a two year old she won on a technicality.

She's holding her tiny baby doll from the doll house and trying to feed her a little itty bitty tiny bottle:

I Learned to Cable

The project Patrick bought for my birthay is complete. This was my first time with cable knit. Lots of fun! I wanted to share but certainly didn't want to model. Maggie was more than cooperative.

Daycare Holiday Party

Maggie's daycare provider had a small party at her house for the parents and kids. We had yummy food and the kids sang for us. Once There Was a Snowman and Jingle Bells. It was really, really sweet. Each kid also got a scrapbook page with their individual picture as well as a group photo. How cute are they?? We really lucked out with Kellie as our daycare provider.

Vacation Bowl

After returning from a Utah Christmas we had about a week of vacation time left. One day we took Maggie bowling. Oh, I wish my camera hadn't run out of memory! She was so cute. I'll post the few pics I did manage to get of her.

The smallest shoes were still way too big. After her first bowl, we took them off.

By the end she was cheering each of us (including herself), saying things like "good job Mommy!" and had such a great time. She's turned every ball at home into a bowling ball and is rolling them throughout the house. Patrick asked me to find her a kids bowling set at the toy store. I think we must.

Ultrasound

A few pics from our 20 week ultrasound.

The frontal shots always look too skeletal for me:

This is a sort-of profile (she's actually turning away a little):

And some skinny little legs:

The craziest thing was seeing how much she was moving in there. I started feeling movement a few weeks earlier but only minor "rolls" and one or two kicks/punches. I could not believe that a 13 ounce baby inside me could be so totally active and I was feeling almost none of it!

Drowning in Pink

We had our ultrasound and we're having a girl!

Our doctor uses the radiology department for this ultrasound which means we get a huge x-ray slide with mini pics of the babe on it. This really doesn't lend itself to copying, posting, or in any other way sharing them. I have to take them to a local photography shop for some magic to happen. When we get them done I'll post her cutie photos.

I had Patrick take a pic of my belly and it somehow was deleted. Maggie wanted her belly pictured too so this is what you get:

I'll give a pregnancy update instead:
Much bigger and more uncomfortable than I remember at this stage.
Heartburn, raging hunger and thirst, fatigue.
Haven't read a THING from all the pregnancy books I poured over the first time around.
Starting to be downright scared to give birth again.
I cry. A lot. Patrick has been very understanding--lots of flowers. This did not happen the first time and it's very frustrating.

Christmas Day 2008

Since we did most of Maggie's gift opening at our "pre-Christmas" at home she only had a small amount of gifts in Utah. It didn't matter--she had a fantastic Christmas morning.

She doesn't like to rip open the wrapping paper. She's meticulous. We gave her a pair of scissors to help the slow process along.

One of her gifts was a Dora matching game. She plays it with her Daddy.

Breakfast was a whole bunch of junk food...and some German pancakes. Yum!

Meredith and Maggie got crazy.

Julie and family got Nerf guns that kept everyone busy. We set up some targets on the piano bench. Maggie even learned how to shoot and was very cute and funny about it all.

And she played artist. I can't help but post a few drawings every now and again. Look at how good she is at the details!! She's only two.

Christmas Eve

After a busy day, the family eventually gathered at the Barrus house for dinner and "a program".

Ruby, Olivia, Audrey, and Maggie singing

Maggie found Sierra's guitar and fell in love.

Randy sang (on some of the video clip in a previous post)

A bunch of very, very patient and cooperative teenagers did the nativity.

Carmel the cat is one incredibly tolerant feline.