Marcus' first train ride

Curtis and I decided to take him on his first train ride. Marcus absolutely loves the fairly new PBS show "Dinosaur Train." There is a short train ride from Grover Beach to SLO so we hopped on that one to see what he would think of a real train experience. Needless to say, he had a blast and wanted to run through each train compartment. We got him to stay close to the seats long enough to take these pictures...

Here he is waiting for the "conductor." He kept on saying, "where's the conductor." For those of you not familiar with the "Dinosaur Train" show, there is a conductor which is a dinosaur that comes around to punch your ticket...he says "tickets please." That is one of Marcus' favorite parts of the show....


He has just spotted the "conductor" in this shot below...

Here he is below, so excited to have his ticket!!!! He held on to that ticket right up until nap time. He, of course, recovered it once he woke up...

28 weeks pregnant

28 weeks and starting to feel that 3rd trimester exhaustion. My belly is getting bigger and bigger each day. I starting to have a hard time with moving around and continuing to do the things I have been doing. I finally said goodbye to running. I was trying to jog and was wearing a pregnancy belly band but it is just too awkward. I forgot about how uncomfortable you get in the last trimester. I have to say all of that is forgotten when I start to feel Jade move around. She is definitely working on building those muscles. Curtis is really getting to feel her better each day. She loves to wake up at 9:30pm...of course that is the time I am starting to feel really sleepy. I am loving each day and just taking it in stride as Marcus is a VERY busy 2 year old. He is super excited too!! He is kissing my belly and hugs it too. If you ask him about is baby sister, he always says "Baby Jade's birthday party is coming right up!" He wants to get her a birthday cake with candles when we bring her home from the hospital. Already showing how he is going to be a great big brother! One of his favorite books right now is "Froggy's baby sister." We read it everyday before nap and before bedtime. What can I say other than it brings me such joy to see him excited for the next chapter of our lives together.

Baby Jade's room in progress...

It's dress up time

Here is Marcus covered in all my costume jewelry...

He looks like a drunkin pirate here...I told him to lay off the Ovaltine
Having a blast...and I'm loving each minute...I don't think Daddy felt the same way though ;)

Baby Jade - 25 weeks

These are pictures from my second ultrasound. Midwife wanted to make sure that Baby Jade was measuring properly as I am measuring a little on the small side. All is well...Jade seems to be a small sized baby but she is puportioned properly and all her body parts are functioning well. :)

25 weeks and the latest on Marcus

Oh my...it has been several weeks since I posted a picture of the big belly. Well here I am at 25 weeks.
Life is moving even faster these days...between keeping up with our "always on the move" wonderful 2 yr old Marcus, dealing with the remodel, working part time, taking care of family business and normal house duties; I feel like I don't have much time left or energy to do much more than SLEEP! Oh and I think I forgot to mention that I am busy making baby Jade too!

The pregnancy is moving along nicely. I have my monthly check up tomorrow so I will know more then. At my last appt, Jade was measuring a little on the smaller side. I am not surprised since Marcus was a little newborn. I am sure she is just following suit. She is kicking like crazy and moving around. I notice she wakes up about 9:30pm just at the time that I want to sleep...figures! Curtis got to feel her for the first time this past week. It is so WONDERFUL! I missed that feeling of a baby inside me...appreciating it all over again.



Marcus is growing up sooo fast! He is doing things, saying full sentences and new words, and understanding new concepts everyday that we are utterly amazed with. He has memorized many songs...he loves to sing, to cook, play monster (basically hide and seek while roaring), tell stories, watch tv, and have our undivided attention (of course). Here is a picture of him at Avila Barn from yesterday. I wanted to go to the park but he wanted to go "feed the ducks, the roosters, the goats, and ummm the peacocks" (his words exactly).

San Francisco Trip and Easter Sunday

We went up to San Francisco on a Smith Family vacation...something we have not done since I don't even remember how long! It was super fun! We stayed downtown at the Palomar hotel courtesy of Albert and Heather. We did all the tourist stuff...went to Fisherman's wharf and Ghiradelli's square and Marcus got to ride his first REAL trolley. It was quite an amazing trip with NO drama! :)
Alexa and Marcus in the electric street bus...pretty cute how much they bonded on this trip.

Here are the pictures from Easter Sunday. We went to Brunch at the Ritz Carlton. They had an indoor Easter egg hunt which was quite nice considering it was raining. Alexa and Marcus got to enjoy that together.

Marcus trying to steal one of the BIG eggs. :)

Looking for more candy... Enjoying his thousandth piece of chocolate...I seriously stopped counting...it just wasn't worth it!
Checking out the petting zoo they had there...super cute baby animals.

It's a girl!!

An overwhelming flood of emotions hit me at the drs while waiting to find out the sex of our baby. I was so excited to see all the baby's parts and to hear that everything was functioning and growing properly. I felt like we were at such a crossroads waiting to find out our fate of either being the parents of another boy or a girl. When the dr informed us it was a girl, I think we all screamed with joy (it was load enough for all the waiting patients to hear...the dr probably thought we were nuts)!! My parents, my mother-n-law, Curtis, Marcus and I all went to the appt together. My father-n-law could not make it at the last minute but he was with us in spirit. Well needless to say, Curtis and I feel so blessed that we get to experience both a boy and a girl!!! :)