it's a boy!

Today was the big ultrasound, and we found out that the little one is growing happy and healthy! Despite our efforts to poke and prod him, he refused to turn around so we could get a profile shot. However, he was not shy about showing us that he's a little boy! It was so much fun to see how our little guy is growing. I'd like to say Daniel is excited about having a little brother, but I don't think he really gets it yet. I'm sure they have many years of trouble-making ahead of them though!

Hi Mom and Dad!

No, I won't turn around so you can see my adorable profile. I'm going to be stubborn from the start!

just for fun... a poll

So as you know, baby #2 is due in May. I have an ultrasound scheduled for Wednesday, December 17, and at that time we'll have the opportunity to find out if the little one is a boy or a girl. When I was pregnant with Daniel, we decided not to find out, so we were surprised on his birthday. This time, we've decided to go ahead and find out what we're having (assuming baby decides to cooperate, that is). So for fun, I've posted a poll on the side of the blog (look to your left). What do you think it is? Stay tuned to find out if you were right!

then and now

These pictures were taken a couple of months ago, but I just ran across them and they made me laugh so I thought I'd share. We were reorganizing Daniel's closet and pulled out his old infant carseat. He thought it would be fun to climb in, and it was.


And for the sake of comparison, here's Daniel in the very same seat in November 2007. What a difference a year makes! It's hard to believe he's growing up so fast (sniff).

halloween

I know this is late in coming, but better late than never!

Daniel dressed up as a skeleton for Halloween. We didn't go trick-or-treating (maybe next year) but he was adorable and had fun anyway.

Except the hat that came with his costume. He did not find that to be fun at all. And it made him look a little bit like a burglar, so we all agreed he was better off without it.

Candy, though... that's fun!

Fortunately, he has no idea what candy really is, so for him, the fun was in helping Daddy hand out the candy to the trick-or-treaters. He had a great time throwing candy in the other kids' bags, and waving at all our neighbors as they walked down the street.

Happy belated Halloween!

daniel has an announcement...

In case you can't read it, his shirt says "I'm going to be a big brother."

That's right, around May 12, 2009 (give or take), Daniel will relinquish his position as baby of the house, and officially become a big brother to his little sibling, who's about 14 weeks along his in 40-week journey. Needless to say, we are very excited to be adding to our family!

Please forgive the lack of blogging lately, I'm going to blame the pregnancy. It's amazing how something so small can make you so tired! Then just when I was starting to feel somewhat normal again, I got whacked by a vicious cold. Enough excuses though - coming soon: pictures from Halloween!

fun on the farm

On Saturday, we took a family trip to Cagle's Dairy to see the cows and pick out a pumpkin! Daniel had a fantastic time feeding a goat and a calf, and he wanted to take all the pumpkins home.

We went on a hayride and got up close and personal with some cows. On a side note, check out Daniel's shiner - he had a run-in with a table at daycare a few days ago so now he's sporting a tough-guy look.
Feeding the goats was hilarious - he thought it was the funniest thing when they licked his hand trying to get the goat food!
Feeding the calf was a lot of fun too - he quickly got the hang of holding the leaf in his hand for her to take. This little one was only a week old - the 10-4-8 on her ear tag was her birthday.
After the animals, we went to pick out a pumpkin to take home. Daniel wanted every pumpkin they had, and he desperately wanted to pick them up and carry them himself. Check out his look of concentration as he tries to pick up the biggest one he could find.
Well, he kind of likes this one too...
After a fun and exhausting day on the farm, this is what happened about 5 minutes into our ride home.
Happy fall!

long time no blog...

Sorry for being a slacker blogger... I'm back and will try to be better! These pictures are kind of old by this point (go figure) but here's Daniel having fun at the playground!

Believe it or not he can climb the ladder to the top all by himself. This scares me to death. Here he is at the bottom because when he's at the top I can't let go to take a picture.
Such a big boy!
"I've had enough of you and that camera, Mom."
Mulch is highly entertaining.
For some reason, climbing up the slide is much more fun than sliding down.

photos from the beach

Silly siblings Daniel with Great-Grandma
The happy couple
Pensive Ashley
What a good-looking crew!
Aunt Lissy and Daniel
My handsome (little) brother
Daniel with Grandma

birthday at the beach

Daniel celebrated on his actual birthday with a trip to the beach! He did great on the flight to Florida - he slept almost the whole way, so he was ready for a birthday party that evening.

Opening presents! He got lots of fun things, including a puppy dog pull-toy and a dog xylophone.




And finally some cake, which apparently tastes better if you eat it straight off the table!

first ice cream!

For an ice cream lover like myself, Daniel's first ice cream is a milestone worth commemorating! Unfortunately he's allergic to milk and can't have the real stuff, so he got the soy version instead. (It's actually not too bad, I sampled it to be sure!)

Mmmm... tasty!

Spoons are just not worth the trouble!

There's just nothing like a handful of ice cream.

What do you mean it's all gone?!?

happy birthday!!!

one year ago today

Daniel's due date was one year ago today - August 1, 2007. I was still at work, since Daniel hadn't made any attempts to leave his comfy home yet. Mike and I decided to meet up for lunch, under the pretense of celebrating Daniel's "hypothetical" birthday. We met at a little Asian restaurant a couple of blocks from my office, and sat down to a nice lunch of Thai food. About halfway through my Chicken Masaman, I felt something. Something warm and wet. Yes, that's right, my water broke as I sat there eating my lunch.

I must have gotten a pretty funny look on my face, because Mike immediately said, "what is it? Are you okay?" I replied, "I think my water just broke" and we realized that we were about to have a baby! Luckily, there was no embarrassing gush when I stood up - I don't think anyone in the restaurant realized what had happened. We left our meals half-eaten, and Mike ran the two blocks to my office to get the car, while I sat on a bench outside and waited (I wasn't about to walk that far). Apparently, Daniel had realized the party was for him and decided to try to make an appearance. We thought for awhile that he might actually arrive on his due date, but he ended up missing it by an hour and 52 minutes.

So, jumping back to the present from that little trip down memory lane, we decided to commemorate the anniversary of his almost-birthday with a trip back to the same restaurant for lunch. Boy, was it different this year! We did manage to sit at the same table, but this time we needed a highchair for the amazing little boy who's grown so much in a year I can hardly believe it.

Here are a few photos. As you can see, Daniel really wanted to eat with chopsticks. Daddy tried to help him, and that satisifed him for a little while.
But he really wanted to try it himself. He made a valiant attempt, but I don't think his hand-eye coordination is quite up to the task of chopsticks yet.
We also re-visited the bench where I waited for Mike to get the car. Hard to believe that Daniel fit inside me a year ago!

early birthday

Daniel's Papa and Grandma, along with Great-Grandpa, came to visit this past weekend so we had a little early birthday celebration.

All this for me?

Hmmm, what have we here?

Frosting, you say? Well, it's fun to play with!

Tastes pretty good too! Yum!

Happy birthday to me!

I get presents, too?

Now I can be an engineer like Daddy and Mommy! Oh wait, you guys don't drive trains?