spring is here

Actually going through the four seasons is a bit different here compared to California. I can definately tell a difference between winter and spring. Instead of snow we are getting rain.. although we had some hail mixed with rain on Sunday, along with lightening. Pretty exciting. So we can check off spring showers and yes, the flowers are coming in as well even though it is March, not May. It is finally getting warmer. I am watching the grass thaw out and turn from yellow to green and animals are starting to reappear.

Speaking of animals, last week I thought about the bunny that use to visit our backyard during the summer. Over the weekend we have seen a few sightings but nothing major. Then two days ago Jak Jak started to stiff around something under our outside table. I decided to check it out. It looked like a bunny nest, but no bunny inside. I thought nothing of it until he sniffed around it again this morning and would not leave. Sure enough when I looked inside this time I found 4, maybe five very new looking baby bunnies. Hopefully the mommy will come back and Jak Jak did not permanently scare her away.

I tried taking some pictures but did not want to get too close. Wild bunnies can carry diseases so no touching them. I was able to show Jonathan the nest and baby bunnies before he left for school. He seemed rather excited and wants to take a peek when he gets home.

I guess now's the time to start spring cleaning and all that jazz. I can't wait to pack up the snow boots... even though I still think Ella will try to wear hers during summer.

baby #3

I finally scanned two pictures that were taken during my 20 week ultrasound appointment. The first pic is the baby's foot... it's nice to get a visual of what's kicking you... and the second picture is a side view of the baby's head/face and upper body.

piggie tails

I attempted to do Ella's hair and here's the outcome.

are we moving or what??

Our lease is up in May and it has been quite the ordeal if we would be leaving or not. We went from thinking about buying our current place of residence, but the owner was asking too much. Then we looked at other places around us for sale but were not impressed. I then noticed a new place for rent and we looked there last weekend and even filled out an application.

Jonathan has been devastated at the thought of moving and did not even want to look at any of these places. He said out of all the places we have lived in, this one feels the most like home. That comment affected Ryan and the whole process started to get stressful for him and became more of a hassle. So he called the landlord and talked about signing a three year rental contract.

Some of you might be thinking that this was the obvious answer but our landlord is moving to Poland so he has been going back and forth with continuing renting to us or selling the place... very indecisive. So they came by on Sunday, originally to take pictures to put the house on the market, but now just to sign the lease and give us some filters to keep the heater maintained.

We are happy to report no move! Jonathan did not get his total wish come true. He will be switching rooms since his room is bigger and is better equipped for two girlie girls.

We're having a girl!!!

I was fortunate that Ryan could go with me to my 20 week ultrasound appointment. I don't take him being there for granted because his residency program keeps him very busy.

Of course we wanted to know the gender, but I am more concerned with the real reason why they do an ultra sound... to make sure the baby is developing on schedule and nothing seems wrong. So after the measurement were done, which took awhile ...they even measured the baby's ears to rule out down syndrome, we found out we are having a girl. Ryan already knew towards the beginning but didn't tell me. He did say she when referring to the baby before the tech mentioned gender and then the tech said she so I was suspicious we were having a girl. Anyway we are all excited. Jonathan will remain solo in his room and Ella will have a playmate.

After the tech finished the measurements we waited for the doctor. When she came in Ryan asked the procedure of ultrasounds, what they measure and we were there a bit longer but at least Ryan got some studying done at our appointment.

I will scan a picture and post it soon. The office just bought new equipment and seeing the baby on tv was amazing. I could see the heart's four chambers beating away along with great views of our baby's face, legs, feet, etc. The pictures we took home are fabulous as well.

The baby is about the size of a Barbie doll and weighs almost the same as a soda.

Yes it's true, Ella turned 2

Just a quick post of Ella's birthday. We waited until Jonathan came home to go to Chuck E. Cheese. Ella fell asleep on the way there but when Jonathan yelled Chuck E. Cheese as we pulled into our parking spot she popped open her eyes, threw her hands up and gleefully said, "Chuck E. Cheese!"

We had a lot of fun. Jonathan went off on his own while Ella grabbed my hand and walked me around. She knows the drill now and had a lot of fun playing the games. Her favorite was the duck game. She liked seeing them slide across and enjoyed trying to knock them over. After being there for about 2 hours we cashed in her tickets and she took home a bracelet and two lollipops.

We then headed home for presents and cake. Ryan's family was able to watch Ella open presents through Skype and she loved all her gifts. She even brought the plastic Dora and Boots into bed with her. It was a good day and we thank all our family members who sent gifts and were a part of our little girl's special day.

Ella taking a quick nap in the car.

enjoying the games

We needed a quick rest and some food.

Jonathan scored 300 on skee ball! I had to take a picture because just a few years ago he could not even get the ball up to score 10 points. Kids grow up so fast.

Ella opening her presents. I think we heard the word Dora at least 50 times.

Let us eat cake!

Ella enjoyed it so much she went back for seconds... just dove right into it.

2nd tooth

About twenty minutes after putting Jonathan to bed he came out of his room and went into the bathroom. In there he called for me and that's when I found out he lost his second tooth. Not wanting to have this one get lost I quickly grabbed the camera to take a picture of the tooth and then put it in a baggy. Jonathan wanted to wash the blood off the tooth but I could just picture him dropping it and yet again loosing a tooth before the tooth fairy comes. Luckily no tooth lost. The tooth made it safely to his pillow where it was picked up by the tooth fairy and he was excited to find 4 quarters left behind. He even told me , "She took everything, even the plastic bag."

Read-A-Thon

In celebration of Dr. Seuss' birthday, yes this is a late post, Jonathan's school is doing a read-a-thon. I know times are tough but if anyone wants to help him out, please send a donation. He would be so excited to get donations in the mail. So look under your couch cushions or the bottom of your purse and see what you can scrape up for the boy.

The event started March 2 and is going on until the end of March. Jonathan had a goal to read for 500 minutes so he could earn a gold medal. He has already surpassed his goal and I think he'll read at least 1,000 minutes when it's over. I'll keep you posted on the outcome.

The school has a lot of great events going on this month along with some incentives to keep the kids reading. For example, for every thirty minutes a kid reads he/she can fill out a raffle ticket. The first drawing already happened and I'm excited to report Jonathan won! He entered about 7 tickets and I found out last Thursday he won and received a $5.00 gift card to Barnes and Noble. We cashed it in on Saturday which he chose a Magic Tree House book. He already read it twice.

getting ready

I had a couple errands to run yesterday so I told Ella to put her boots on and get ready to go. I then proceeded to get my things together and when done I looked over and saw Ella... See picture.
She changed a little bit after the picture... lost the hat, put on a sweater and sunglasses but kept the purse. She got a few looks and comments from some of the shoppers at Old Navy. One lady said Ella was very stylish, especially with the boots on the wrong feet.

Influences from Dora

Here are two quick stories I know came as a result from Ella watching Dora.

#1: A few days ago Ella was talking to herself while playing with her toys. I listened a little more carefully and heard her say, "dos...waffles... cinco." At first I thought she was rambling on but then realized she was trying to count in Spanish... dos for two, waffles is really cuatro, meaning four and cinco, five.

#2: Last week I took Ella out of the car and began carrying her up to the house. She pointed to the dark sky and replied, "catch stars...catch stars." It took me a few seconds to figure out she was asking if we could catch the stars up in the sky...hey, they can do it in Doraland why not real life. As I reached out to try to grab one I told Ella they were too far away. I could not reach them.