Baking Cookies

Tonight Owen and I made peanut butter cookies. This was our first time baking together and I did my best to let him do everything himself (except crack the egg and use the oven). We had a really good time and it made me laugh watching him try to roll the cookies. We'll have to practice with Play-Doh. Afterwards we took some over to Aunt Judy, Uncle Boo, and Elsie. Owen was very proud of his cookies and it was a nice change from our usual evening routine.

Being Pregnant

I really enjoy being pregnant. It is so amazing if you really think about it. Some people I know hated being pregnant and couldn't wait till it was over, but not me. The second trimester is the best because I am over the sickness and not completely enormous and uncomfortable. I have to admit, being pregnant this time is a little rougher than last time. Before, I could come home from work and rest on the couch for as long as I wanted. Now, I have Owen to look/chase after, so there really is no resting or relaxing till he goes to bed and by then, I am ready for bed too. I am trying to savor every moment this time around because it very well could be my last (according to Mike... it is!). Today at work, the baby was VERY active. I felt like someone was poking me from the inside all day long. I don't think he slept at all. Pretty soon I will be able to see his hands/feet moving across my belly!

On a totally different topic.... Tonight we ate some of Mike's leftover birthday cake. Owen loved the blue icing and is still awake an hour after putting him to bed because of all the sugar he ate. Here's a picture of our little Smurf.

Playdate

Today Owen had a playdate with Cohen, Olivia, and Tanner. Crystal and Jill have been friends of mine since I worked in E-town three years ago. I really miss working with them and seeing them everyday, but I am glad we still keep in touch and get together. Jill has two boys- Cohen (he is two months younger than Owen and also obsessed with trains) and a three month old boy, Tanner. Crystal has a little girl, Olivia who is about one and a half and Crystal is also pregnant and due in April! Jill is taking a year or two off work and Crystal is planning on taking next year off work as well so we plan on having a play date every other week. It was a little chaiotic at times with four kids running around, but we were talking about how much crazier things will be when Crystal and I both have our babies. Hopefully, for Olivia's sake, Crystal has a girl because poor Olivia is terribly outnumbered. Here's a picture before everyone left. We always make the mistake of trying to get a picture at the end when they are tired and ready for naps. Cohen was the only one paying any attention to the camera. Olivia was crying because she hated the mulch and Owen was staring at her and refused to smile for the camera.
Here is a picture from one of our first playdates. Owen and Cohen were just babies. Jill and I with our boys.
I think Crystal had just found out she was pregnant.
I totally forgot it was my turn to host the playdate and only remembered last night so I did not have time to go to the grocery store or make anything good for lunch. We ended up just ordering pizza. Hopefully next time I can make something yummy and have a good dessert to share.

Our Cutie Patootie

This afternoon we had our 20 week ultrasound. I am "officially" 20 weeks today which means I am halfway through my pregnancy. My due date is February 10th which is two days after the date the ultrasound technician told us. I am not too concerned about the due date since I doubt he will come on his due date anyway. Everything looked good. She checked his heart, spine, brain, diaphragm, stomach, limbs, as well as some other important things. He weighs 12 ounces which puts him in the 50th percentile. He was pretty active and uncooperative at times just like his big brother was during his ultrasound. I told Mike we are going to need a track in our backyard for our VERY active boys. She said an active baby is a healthy baby. We feel so lucky and blessed that everything looked good.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today was Mike's 32nd birthday. We started the day by having breakfast with Mike's mom. Owen got the red (strawberries), white (bananas), and blue (blueberries) french toast. He liked it a lot, but did not come anywhere close to finishing it. Owen kept telling the waitress that it was daddy's birthday so when she brought out his breakfast, she had two candles in his watermelon.

Then we came home and played until the Eagles game. While Owen took a nap, Mike and I watched the game. Well, actually, I took a really good nap during the game.

Tonight we went over to Bob and Kim's house for Mike's birthday dinner. Mel picked up a really delicious ice cream cake!


We got a couple pictures of Owen outside with the pumpkins.

Trains, Trains, and more Trains

Today was a busy day. Owen and Mike went along with me to my doctors appointment in Lancaster. I was seeing Jana Myers today. She is the midwife that delivered Owen and I really liked her. I finally was able to get a picture of Owen with Jana. Hopefully she is on call when I deliver our baby in February!This was Owen and daddy waiting for Jana to arrive.

After my appointment we headed over to Strasburg to visit Thomas the Train. He is in town again for only a couple weeks and tomorrow is his last day so we did not want to miss it. This time we skipped the ride on Thomas and just visited and got our picture taken with him.

Here's Owen and daddy watching Thomas head down the track. Mike said he could feel Owen's heart beating through his sweatshirt from all the excitement. Owen waiting for Thomas to come back to the station so we could get a picture with him.
I loved how clear and blue the sky was today.
This picture did not turn out well so we bought one from the camera they used to take the picture.

Then, we headed across the street to the Railroad Museum. They had a nice area for kids. Owen loved playing with the trains on the really big train table.

Before leaving Strasburg, we stopped to get some pumpkins and mums. Each of us picked out a pumpkin and we got a tiny one for the baby too. Owen picked out two gourdes for Cheech. Then we went to the Polo outlet to get daddy some pants for work before going out to lunch.

This evening we went to the soccer game. Owen enjoys going down on the field with Mike. In a couple years he will be old enough to be the ball boy!

"The Look"

Some mornings when I drop Owen off at Linda's house she has something special greeting us at the entrance. On the first day of school, and a few other special days, she has bubbles coming out of her bubble machine. Other times, she might have a breakfast pastry that she baked for all the parents when they drop off their children. During holidays she has decorations and music playing. Well today we were greeted with big flowers lining the walkway to the door to Linda's house. The children traced their hands for the petals of the flowers and their picture was in the middle. Owen's was the first one in line and this is what it looked like....

All the other children had big smiles, but not Owen. I wonder what he was thinking? This is a new face for him. One that we have seen recently at home whenever he is not sure about something or about to get upset. It looks like a really disgusted face, but I think it is more of a "what is going on?" face.

On another note... Linda said Owen did great today with his glasses. He only took them off once for a little bit. I'm so glad it is going well so far!

I Can See Clearly Now

This afternoon Owen and I picked up his glasses. He was so good as he patiently sat on my lap while his glasses were adjusted. I think he looks adorable! He's been much better about wearing them than I anticipated. I think he really needed them and they must make a difference. I ordered them in a brushed silver color, but they are black. I was not going to make a deal of it- they are just glasses. He was watching TV when I took these pictures so he was not very interested in looking at the camera.

Rainy Saturday

This morning, Mike took Owen to Fairview to see the Hershey Bear's Calder Cup. He looks kind of terrified. I think he was scared he'd fall.


Then, he came home and snuggled up on the couch to watch Caillou (his favorite show right now).


I took a half day yesterday and went to see my family doctor. He looked at my rash and right away thought it looked like ring worm, which was a relief. He said I should come back in a week and have my blood work results sent to him. Then, I will have blood work done again in three weeks to check my Lyme levels. If they go up, then it means I could have Lyme Disease. He does not want to treat me with antibiotics until he knows for sure, but he seemed confident it is ring worm.

Bulls Eye

When I got home from my school's open house last night I noticed the rash that I thought was probably just ring worm was now a definite bull's eye. I immediately called the OB doctor on call in a panic. He was not helpful or reassuring at all and just said to call back tomorrow morning. So, I am taking a half day off work to get this figured out. We are still hoping it is not Lyme, but it is really looking like it now. I feel like it is one thing after another!