It's Philly!

When people ask me what Philly is like, I have a hard time putting it into words. I usually end up just telling them a few stories from my short time here. Well, I have found the best way to describe to anyone what Philly is like. I love reading this blog: www.vestlife.blogspot.com. She has the best, funny stories from Philly life. Go to "It's Philly" on her sidebar to read her experiences living in the great city of Philadelphia. I usually laugh my way thru it!

Sporadic Blogger

I know, I'm a sporadic blogger. Most days, I get online and check everyone's blog, then I'm too tired or out of time to post anything on my blog. Then I have days where I upload my pictures and update everyone on the last few weeks. Sorry, it's just how I work. So make sure you scroll, 'cause I just posted a bunch of new things. You may even need to go to older posts to see more of my new posts.

Think Pink!

Well, today was the big day! We went to our ultrasound appointment, only to find out that they never actually scheduled me, so we had to wait for 1 1/2 hours to be seen. Then half-way thru the ultrasound, the computer froze, so they had to start all over. The ultrasound tech measured everything, then said "Well, I think we're about done." What? What about the sex of the baby? So she checked, and.....

It's a GIRL!!!!

I am having a hard time getting adjusted to the fact that I am having a girl. I have been calling it a boy, and hoping for a boy (to share a room and hand-me-downs), and thinking only of boy names. She was opening her mouth a lot (the tech said she's a talker) and moving around a lot (at the beginning of the ultrasound she was breech and after they rebooted the computer she had her head down).

So now on to figuring out what to name her. We have been thinking of naming her Lillian after my grandmother, and we would just call her Lil. Some other names I like are: Olive (Ollie), Audrey, Adele or Adalyn (Adie). Any comments or suggestions are welcome!

Valentine's Day Dance

Last Saturday night, our Stake put on a Valentine's Day Dance. They had babysitting and everything. Xander fell asleep on the way there, so we just put him in a corner of the nursery, sleeping. About 3 songs in, he woke up disoriented and very upset, so he spent most of the rest of the night on me.


Brian and I had a great time. We even got two slow dances in. It brought me back to my youth dance days, where I would dance with tall boys and get dizzy from looking up at them talking and spinning at the same time. Except this time I am pregnant, so it was 10 times worse!


This says it all, Annette and Jeremy!


Brett and Lauren getting their groove on.


And this says it all, Debbie and DJ!


Oh, and they had a chocolate fountain! Those little creme puffs dipped in chocolate were my favorite part of the dance I think. I think they were everyone else's favorite part too, cause they went quick. Shucks!

Vday Dance cont - First Love

The babysitting ended before the dance did, so at the end of the dance we brought our kiddos in to have a little fun. I know he's too young for dances, but he's too young to be too young. Here he is fast-dancing then slow-dancing with his friend Hailey (although he calls her "Hailey's-house").

Home Improvement Date Night

For date night this week, we brought Xander to the babysitters and went back home to work on some home improvement projects.



Stay tuned for the finished projects. It may take a couple more date nights to complete.

Twinners!

Thank you Brian for being so great about me stealing our son away to NH for a week. And thank you Grampie for watching Xander A LOT while I helped mom with the flower shop. And thank you Barb for the great haircut and color. And thank you Bethie for spending some time with me. I miss you!

Saturday Fun

For a fun family day out, we went to the mall for a ride on the carousel. I have to say, our mall is one of the most kid-friendly I've been to. It has a bunch of kids clothing and toy stores, a carousel, a cool interactive picture projected on the floor, and a water fountain show. Xander loved it, and Brian had fun riding on the carousel with him and going into sports stores, and I had fun watching them on the carousel and getting a Caffeine Free Diet Coke at Chik-fil-a :)

Winter Storm

Well, Friday we got hit with a BIG winter storm here in eastern PA. All morning the news was having their special winter storm edition. All of the school closings flashed across the bottom of the screen (and by "all of the school closings" I mean ALL of the schools were closed!) The newscasters were advising everyone to stay in, and off the roads due to the horrible conditions out there. The woman reporter stood in all of her winter gear with some flakes falling on her head every once in awhile, and rubbed her foot into the ground to show us all of the snow we'd received. "As you can see, we've received about TWO inches here..." TWO INCHES! You'd think this was the storm of the century! So I went shopping all day :)

I took Xander into the backyard to go sledding. I put on his snowpants (only used once before in ut), snowboots (also only used once before in ut), winter coat, hat, and mittens, and strapped him into his toddler sled that his Aunt Jane got him for Christmas. It was great! I pulled him behind me all the way to the top of the little hill in our backyard, then pushed him down the hill. He shouted, "WEEEEEEE!" all the way down the hill. Then I'd run down the hill and pull him back up and do it again. I didn't even have to get him out of the sled and carry him up the hill. Eventually he started saying "Mark, set, go!", then doing a little scoot to get himself going really fast.

PS-Even our RS activity on Saturday morning was cancelled due to inclement weather. It stopped snowing around 9am Friday morning.....

10 Favorite Things

For girls night last month, we had a "Favorite Things" party. We brought a list of our 10 favorite things and something from our list to share. We all sat around, eating our favorite things, and read our lists to each other (along with any explanations/stories that went along with them). It was a great time! Lots of laughing.

Here is my list:

1. fountain Diet Coke (It has to be Diet COKE and it has to be fountain. I've had a hard time cutting back this pregnancy... i crave it somethin' fierce!)

2. anything chocolate (especially cookies, cakes and ice cream)

3. watching CSI or SVU

4. eating out (my favorite's are Olive Garden & Friendly's, but really anywhere someone else makes it for me, brings it to me, and cleans up after me)

5. seeing Alexander learn something new (like saying his ABCheese's)

6. my bed when I’m really tired (like when I worked graveyard shifts or had a new baby)

7. overnight in a nice hotel with just Brian

8. smell of fresh cut grass or lilacs

9. the beach (the warm sun, the cold water, the smell of the ocean, the sand in my toes, and Brian proposed there!)

10. legwarmers! (I wear them everyday from about September to May)

Oh, and I brought Big Gulps of Diet Coke from 7-11.

I told you he can read...

He can read!

Ok, so he can't really read, but he pretends to. At night after he brushes his teeth, he will run into his room saying "Chapter five". We are in chapter 7 now of 1 Nephi in the Book of Mormon, but he still thinks its chapter five. Brian reads a verse, then I read a verse, then Alexander reads a verse (ie - we say a word and then he repeats it). Lately when it gets quiet around here, I will find Alexander in this spot, looking thru his Book of Mormon.