Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted a little late but still have photos to share.  Lillian helped me bake this past week getting ready for Thanksgiving.  I even tried out all vegan recipes that were surprisingly very good.  Lillian helped me make an apple cranberry crisp and mini vegan pumpkin pies.  She loves to help and knew what to do without much guidance.  At home she has a large collection of wooden food, some in connected together with Velcro so she can "cut" them apart.  She calls it "make it" (she came up with the name since I always say wait I have to make it).  That collection of toys is a big hit at our house for play dates.  I pull out wooden spoons and pots and pans for the kids to use.  Oh she also really enjoyed wearing an apron; it is one of mine I just tied around her a few times..... she kept calling it a dress.  Below is Lillian enjoying her finished product.... unfortunately she was saying "cheese" in the second picture with pie in her mouth.

Santa fun!

We had lots of fun with Santa this year! He even noticed Mama's early gift of our new little peanut.  Lillian made progress this year and didn't cry although she was still hesitant of sitting on Santa's lap.  Of course she warmed up to him at the end when he gave her candy!  Maybe next year we should try that first.  Even though she showed some hesitation, there were no worries, Mama and Daddy came prepared this year and were ready for a family photo op.  It looked like the photographer gets that a lot, stools and boxes were already set up for us to sit on.  We found Santa hiding out in Seaport Village and it was a lot better than his big rush at the mall.  I believe his photographer helper were more about capturing the image, and a good image at that instead of just snapping a quick photo.

Santa has arrived in San Diego!

Santa arrived in beautiful San Diego today on his surfboard!  Daddy and Lillian caught a wave with him.  This year Lillian is still a bit hesitant of Santa when asked to go alone but no tears were shed this year so that is an improvement!  If the song doesn't play above, click play.... very cute and should be San Diego's official Christmas Song especially with our surfing Santa!

Peanut #2- 16 weeks

We had a doctors appointment yesterday and my uterus is measuring a little ahead at 16 1/2 weeks (not that it really matters, the baby will come when the baby wants to come).  Both Lillian and Greg came with me to the appointment and it was their first time hearing the baby.  Lillian knows there is a baby in my belly (actually she thinks there is a baby in daddy's belly too!) but I'm not sure if she understood why we could hear it. I've been feeling some kicks here and there and finally have my energy back!  I feel like I'm not showing as much this time around and I've been doing well with weight so far, gained nothing yet.  I've been taking weekly photos again first thing in the morning before I have any food or liquid to really show the actual size of the baby bump, not bloat that will accumulate later in the day.  Some days I can stay the same size as I started in the morning, others I have a noticeable bump.  I tried to set up the camera (I even have tape on the ground) to make it so the photos were the exact same each week but the camera has been bumped a few times. Here is an animated clip from 9-16 weeks: 

As a fun comparison, I also put my belly photo from last pregnancy next to this weeks.  The one with the writing is last pregnancy.  

 

At 16 weeks, the peanut is about the size of an avocado, 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. 

Our Fish Baby

It's a fish, it's a mermaid, it's Lillian!  She absolutely LOVES the water now and gets more and more confident every time she swims.  She kicks and uses her arms now when she swims.  She even voluntarily jumps towards you..... of course it always takes a little time at the beginning during every swim session but once she's in and wet fully she just becomes like a little fish.  I tried to take some pictures of her using an underwater camera.  It was a bit difficult but I got some good shots.  

Halloween

Lillian is a Kangaroo this year for Halloween! We have been to the pumpkin patch countless times, she even knows the words now and she has had a blast this year! This past weekend we even went trick or treating in Seaport Village; they give out candy at the shops during a designated time frame and the kids go wild.  Today was the first day she learned about candy, she kept asking to eat it.  Luckily we held her off most of the time and gave her a bite here or there.  It will be interesting to see how trick or treating goes on Wednesday, Halloween day!  I read in the San Diego Family Magazine there is a place we can take the candy and get money for it.  All the candy we turn in will be sent to the soldiers overseas.  We may not take part this year but I know we will do it in the coming years.  We don't really need all that candy in our house, Lillian doesn't need it and it will help her learn how to give to others (although you can argue the soldiers don't need it either!)..... one step at a time ;)

Happy Birthday Lillian!

 

We celebrated Lillian's 2nd birthday doing things she enjoys.  We rode the Amtrak train up to Anaheim (she loves anything trains so getting to ride one is special!) had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney and walked around the shops.  We thought the Rainforest Cafe would be fun since she likes the zoo and she liked the moving animals at a restaurant back in Maryland called Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse; they had forest animals that would go off.  Lillian enjoyed looking at the animals in the Rainforest Cafe but she wasn't too thrilled when they moved around.  It could have been because they placed us right next to the loudest and scariest animal in my opinion, the gorilla.  When they went to seat us I debated requesting a different seat but didn't speak up.  The gorilla went off every 15 min and actually sounded pretty angry, on tops of that it would "storm" rain and thunder every 30 min so the second time the gorilla went off it was very loud and Lillian lost it! Greg took her outside to calm her down but she wouldn't sit in her seat for the remainder of the meal.  The only way we got her to eat was sitting on Greg's lap turned away from the gorilla so she couldn't see him when we went off.  After that, we walked around downtown Disney and the shops, and to my surprise out of everything in the Disney store she could have grabbed or gone wild about, she chose a Finding Nemo book.   She really is a big book lover!  

We had a great birthday celebration so far and it will continue with Auntie Jan and Uncle Dana this weekend as we head off to the zoo and resume again the following week when Mimi and Papa are here to visit.  We have lots of things planed for their visit, with a trip to the zoo, pumpkin patch and beach so stay tuned for more updates!

Here is a slideshow of birthday pictures along with a little video while she enjoyed her cupcake.  Last year she wasn't sure about it but this year I think she would have made a BIG mess had we let her, she loved the cupcake and was ready to go at it! The video is the first couple bites.