Two years ago

You were born and our lives changed forever.

We slept less and smiled more.We realized what life is all about.

We saw you learn and discover new tricks. We dealt with endless sleep problems and somehow we figured things out along the way.

Everyday you gave us more reasons to love you. On your first birthday we thought you couldn't get any cuter. But we were wrong. You are our world and we love you more and more each day. Happy Birthday Livvy Alice!

Because I'm nostalgic.

From Livvy's first birthday.

The (other) babe.

After looking through my blog and noticing the endless posts about LAF I figured I better devote some space to talking about the second addition to the family.

This pregnancy (not unlike my first) has been pretty easy. I am cruising along now at 27 weeks (28 on Sunday). He moves a ton and is comfortable sitting right under my rib cage. Between my mom and my mom-in-law we almost have an entire ward robe for this little guy....which is so fun! I like to leave my favorite onsie out to make it feel more real. =)

As far as names go Lincoln and I have a list and from that list we have a few favorites. Lincoln is pretty much set on one...but I'm still not sure. I am hoping as soon as we see this little guy we will know.

I can't believe we only have close to 12 weeks left! I have made multiple lists of things I still need to buy and do before the baby comes. I cannot wait till I can get close enough to actually start washing clothes and packing our hospital bag.

I'm still not sure if I'm going to get an epidural this time. With Livvy it was all-natural and it was quite the experience (as my sister/doula Veronica will attest). Most people act like I'm crazy to consider it natural again, but I think I will decide when I'm in labor. I am just really freaked out about the needle and the numbness that comes with the epidural. Any thoughts? I've heard so many different stories about epidurals, I welcome any insights my veteran moms have. =)

Lindsay Wildlife Museum

Last weekend we avoided chores and scooted out to WC to see the animals at the Lindsay Museum. I grew up going to the museum and went with my family when Livvy was still a baby...back then she wasn't too interested.

This time she actually wanted to see the animals! She was a little scared of the birds that were sitting on their perch without any glass barrier...but once they put them behind the glass she was excited to get up close.

After we saw all the exhibits we went to an owl feeding demonstration. Every time the handler would give the owl a bit of food Livvy would say "mmmm yummy". (I don't think she knew they were feeding the owl a mouse.) Then when the feeding became less interesting we took Livvy to the playroom. She liked the birds and the snakes but she LOVED the playroom. As soon as she saw the toys she ran in squealing and immediately found some sweet bugs to pull around.
We ended the morning with a little tunnel crawling and peanut butter and jelly. Liv was in heaven.

When Auntie V comes to visit....

The sisters enjoy a night on the town at Cheesecake Factory and shopping at Urban. Previewed with a day just chillin' and watching chick flicky T.V.

We go to the Little Farm and feed the cows...or maybe just the less scary goats and pigs.

Livvy and Wonka are two peas in a pod and will be probably till the end of time. She was there throughout my 13 hours of labor and 2.5 hours of pushing without medication. She was the best coach and support that I could have asked for. I am so glad she was there to distract me from contractions and tell me I'd be ok, when I said "I'm going to die." 5,000 times. Though she was probably traumatized for life, I think holding Livvy minutes after she was born made it all worth it.
I loved having her home for a week (on Spring break from BYU-I) and can't wait for July to get here sooner so we can have many more playdates.

A beautiful Easter.

We spent Easter weekend in Danville with my family. The festivities began with dying Easter eggs with Grandpa and Grandma. Livvy was only interested in coloring the eggs with crayons and making sure they all were put back into the carton. She had a blast.

We woke up for early church and did a quick Easter egg hunt with the kids.

Livvy's loot from the Easter bunny included some Dora panties! Sadly, the little stinker is refusing to use her potty but I'm hoping within the next few months we'll be actually wearing those cute "big girl pants"!

Saturday, we went to our ward Easter egg hunt and breakfast.
Livvy cried before they let the kids go...cause she could see the eggs and wanted to get them now! My little sisters practiced Easter egg hunts at my parent's house the weeks before...so she knew what was happening! She grabbed every egg she could see and sadly we were only supposed to get 10. Lincoln would throw the extra eggs out of our basket when she wasn't looking but a couple of times she caught him and got very mad and picked them back up and put them in her basket while saying "NO DADDY!" Crazy girl.

This is probably my favorite picture of the weekend. I love my Lincy poo with an Easter bunny.

My little miss

This week has been such a good one so far. The past few weeks we've had a few tantrums (maybe one a day), but this week Liv has been so sweet. Our friends are out of town...so I was so worried we would have a boring-stay-home week, but we have had fun just being best buds and spending some good one-on-one time together. I am realizing I need to take advantage of that now before I have a little newborn that will demand most of my attention.

The little miss talks a ton! Saying cute things like "Thank you" and "I like you!" and some not so sweet things like "Don't touch me!" and "Give it baaack!" She has also inherited my need to apologize for everything and says "I'm sorry" when she falls down, drops a toy, or trips. Lately she loves to play "baby" I swaddle her up like she's a newborn and rock her and talk to her about her baby brother that's coming in August. Yesterday I was cooking and she ran in with her blanket and walked me back to the rocking chair to hold her. She's such a mommy's girl. She loves to talk on her phone to "Papa", "Daddy", and "Wonka"(Auntie Veronica). She loves to swing on the swings and yells (not so politely) to "GO HIGH". She is my favorite little buddy and I'm so glad she's ours.