Family trip (Week 1)

We were very lucky to be blessed with a break in Dan's schedule in the middle of February, so we found some cheap tickets and headed to Utah (and drove up to Idaho) to visit with Dan's family, my brother, and friends. We had a blast! I'm so grateful for that relaxed time we were able to spend together.

We didn't arrive in Utah until 1:00 am EST, and we were all very tired. Elena finally fell asleep for about 45 minutes on our second flight. Dan was so happy that she stayed asleep when he picked her up. This girl hates sleeping anywhere but in a crib/portacrib.
We stayed with Dan's parents and felt extremely welcome in their home. Dan's sweet mom even let us use her car while we were there. Most afternoons we spent at Lloyd and Amy's house (Dan's brother and sis-in-law), so that we could see the kids after school. One of our first days there, I had a lot of fun playing Rock Band with Dan's mom and Amy while the kids were in school. That's me in gray - the one who is always playing bass and always on the most beginner level. I have so much fun, but I am not good!
Amy, Lloyd, and the kids were so sweet and got out some old toys for Elena to play with. Her favorite was -of course- the kitchen. She had fun with all of her cousins, but seemed to have a special soft spot for Zac.
A couple of days into our trip, we had an awesome dinner and visit with Tracy, Mike and Bridget while the kids played in the back bedroom. They are good friends of mine from home. Elena really wanted to go back to play more later on in the trip, but we didn't have the chance. Dan was there too - he's taking the picture.
Kathy and her husband made us an amazing Italian meal one Monday night and we loved getting to see how the newlyweds are settling into their new home. Of course, since it's Kathy that we're talking about, the home already looks fantastic and well decorated.
My brother Adam was able to come hang out with us on our first Sunday afternoon in town. It was so great to be able to see him! He had a lot of fun with Elena and thoroughly enjoyed a home cooked meal by Dan's mom.
We also did some "Utah things" that we seem to do on every trip out there like having our rings cleaned and redipped at the place where we bought them and buying clothes at Down East Outfitters without having to pay for shipping. We also took a trip to the BYU campus. Elena loved seeing "BYU" written everywhere. We have taught her well.
On campus, I contemplated spending $6 on a couple yards of BYU ribbon to make some hair bows, but decided against it at the last minute. The other thing that I did not buy was an old favorite that is no longer there: the $0.99 bag of cheese cubes. Man, I used to love that bag of cheese! It would have about 8 different varieties and 30+ cubes total. I guess they don't sell it anymore because I looked all over the Twilight Zone and was bummed not to find it. Does anyone else remember the cheese?

We had a great trip to campus regardless though. :) We visited with Dan's former bosses and some of my friends from Book Repair. It was nice to go back and walk around and know that we're all done (with undergrad at least). Although it was strange to drive past where DT used to be and see that it is now nothing. The area seems way too small to have housed thousands of freshman.

Family Trip (Week 2) coming soon: Idaho, nieces and nephews, chocolate cake and more...

The Baby Book Song

Elena learned something new a couple of days ago. On Thursday night, she noticed this book on her bookshelf for the first time and wanted Dan to read it with her over and over. He was putting her down for the night because I had mutual. She calls it "the baby book."

This is the last page. It gives you an idea about what the rest of the book looks like:

The next day, I read it with her a couple of times, and pretty soon she was helping me with the words. I know that it's March not December, but we were amazed by how quickly she learned the song. It's hilarious to hear her say all these words when she has almost no clue what they mean, and I had to post the video for the grandparents. She's a smartie. I apologize that you have to hear my lovely voice too.

PS Yes, her right eye is a little swollen and gross. There's some pink eye going around, but it hasn't been bothering her at all so far.

Baby Boy's Bedding

When Dan and I first found out we were having a boy, I wasn't sure where to begin. We had to figure out what room to put him in, whether or not we were going to borrow/buy another crib and or dresser, what color scheme to go with, what bedding to buy, what to name him, etc.
(FYI: it will be a long time before we'll come to an agreement on the name, so don't hold your breath waiting for that.)

The one thing that helped me to get more excited and feel more in control was to pick out his bedding. We actually chose it as one that we liked when we were pregnant with Elena. Since it is now discontinued, it is currently a lot cheaper than originally. When I saw it again the colors and simplicity still appealed to me, so I decided that I wanted it for Baby Boy Dison.
Things have started to come together quickly:
#1 My mom won a bidding war on ebay for the quilt (new). It was amazing - she cast the final bid with less than 1 second remaining. Amy (my sis-in-law) and I were intently reloading the computer to check on Mom's progress while I was in Utah.
#2 Later that night, she was able to snatch up the bumper on potterybarnkids.com before it was sold out for only $20. Thanks Mama!
#3 Last week, I found a page that I tore out of their catalog a couple of years ago, and it had an idea for painting the walls.
#4 To top it all off - I was just looking on the website for curtain ideas and noticed blue gingham valances for $5 each, so I bought two of those.

It is so fun to prepare our home for the little guy. Too bad it's all in my head though. The bumper and quilt are in Virginia, the valances won't be here for another week, and I can't even start to look at paint until I have those things in hand to pick the right colors. Also, our office (Baby Boy's room) still has 2 desks and 3 bookshelves in it. We have to figure out some major details. We have 4 months left and I know that sounds like forever, but I'm full of energy right now...

Anyway - the point is: Isn't the bedding cute? :)

The Best Dad

(As a side note, my own dad is pretty great too, but the sole purpose of this post is to brag about Daniel.)
Dan is such a fun dad. He loves to throw and chase and run around with Elena. But more than that, he really takes the time to patiently teach her things: Spanish, the way to set the table, how to figure out how to open doors, etc. He loves to take her on errands, play games, or do whatever she wants to. And, despite how all this sounds - he does a good job of walking a fine line and not spoiling her. He also makes sure that she helps clean up and that she listens to her mother. Elena is a very lucky girl to have such a hands-on and instinctively wonderful father. Everyone who spends a lot of time around us knows who Elena's favorite is.
You're the best, Dan! I love you, Honey!

In Idaho, he ran around pulling her in this little sled for a long time once he got tired of carrying her and the sled back up the hill over and over:
Bowling together in Utah:

Playing around between helping with loads of laundry:

He taught her to put underwear on her head and on Teddy Pig's head too. She was so proud. She called it her silly hat.
(I promise this is completely unrelated to your post, Brianne - he hadn't even seen it yet.)

First haircut

Much to Dan's dismay, I decided that I couldn't handle Elena's scraggly mullet any longer and I gave her a trim last night.

BEFORE:

I only cut off a little bit. Maybe an inch and a half in the longest places. It looks a lot shorter though because it curls more now. I'm actually really happy with the result; her hair looks a little bit thicker all of a sudden.

AFTER:

Also, I liked that today I just put a couple of clips in it instead of having to do it in pigtails like always. I definitely didn't do a perfect job, but she sat pretty still and let me get it even. Of course, it curls and flips a bit when it's dry and that means that it's hard to tell what a great job I did. :)

The current goal is for it to grow out and be on the longer side so that I (I mean she) can have more fun with it and enjoy lots of different styles.

"I'm hiding!"

I love this age. Elena loves hiding: under a blanket, with her hands over her face, behind a door, and "behind" the back of this chair. Then she pops out as if we had no idea where she was previously. She thinks it is the funniest game in the world. So cute!

Elena's 2!

Elena's birthday was a month ago on January 17th. I am horrible at starting posts and then not finishing them until weeks later. I think that I didn't post this particular one right away because I was planning on adding a couple more pictures. Oh well. From now on, I will really try to post things without saving them first. Have I promised that before? :)

Andy and Shiree (my brother and his wife) flew to Virginia (may parent's house) for the weekend since we didn't get to see them at Christmas. We had a great time getting to hang out with them and Bethany and my parents. Elena thoroughly enjoyed her family birthday party. It was lovely and laid back and consisted of a pinata, a tower of cupcakes, and playing with presents. I loved having a little party with some of her friends when she turned one, but it was nice to have a quiet family party this year.
As a side note, we are all super excited that Andy and Shiree are expecting a little girl one week before baby boy Dison is born. We will have to get all the Wright cousins together often (since there will be three now), so that they can get to be good friends.

Shiree and Elena blowing bubbles:

Aunt BB let Elena play with makeup at Ulta:

This may look like a grimace, but it is actually a picture of her holding her "Cheese!" face even though she is no longer looking at the camera.

Before Elena began to hit the pinata, she turned to me and said, "Sing 'dale, dale' Mommy." That is a special song that everyone sings during the pinata portion of parties at church (in the Spanish branch). It's really cute and when the song is over, you know that your turn is up. Unfortunately, I don't know it. I guess I better learn it before next year. Here it is on wikipedia. The version I recognize is the variation at the bottom.

She opened this package of dress up things and jewelry from abuelita and abuelo just before we left for VA. Notice the adorable cupcake bow? Summer made it. Isn't she awesome?

Here's the cupcake cake. I apologize for the video quality. Someday I'll get a new camera. Isn't it amazing how quickly whatever you have becomes obsolete? I feel so bratty wanting a new camera when this one is only 3 years old and works just fine, but it would be so nice to have more than 4 megapixels. Anyway - enjoy our singing!

Pictures

Here are some ultrasound pictures. Half are traditional and half are 3D. The baby was moving like crazy and so it was hard to get a good still action shot in 3D, but it was very cool watching him move real time. That's why his arm looks kind of like a rubber band in some of the pictures. I love how he always has a hand up by his face. You have to combine all three to really get an idea of what he looks like in there. He's still so little - he only weighs like 7 ounces. All babies are such miracles!

Overhead view (top) and profile (bottom):

Another profile and below that is a great 3D ear and hand picture. You can see his little ribs too.In this top picture, you can see his eye and mouth well. We also noticed that cord is up by his neck in this picture and I started to freak out for half a second. Then I realized that it was just next to it (for a minute), not around it. I am such a worrier when I'm pregnant.
In the bottom picture is a good shot of his little nose. That's his arm under the nose. It's not deformed or anything, he was just moving fast when she took the picture.
I spared you guys the "It's a boy!" pictures, but there is no doubt. I have such a hard time seeing anything on ultrasounds, but I was able to announce it before the sonographer did.

Here is a family picture from yesterday. We're standing in front of the Raleigh temple. This is not a very flattering picture since we are all squinting into the sun (especially me), but it's an accurate portrayal of what size I am right now (at 18.5 weeks).