Hank's Big Announcement!

Surpise! We are so excited to announce that we are expecting the arrival of Baby #2 on September 10th. All I can say is that we have spent a significant amount of time fasting, praying, and crying to bring this baby into our family and we can't wait until its finally here! Hooray! I stink at keeping secrets so it has been super hard not to spill the beans....especially since I started showing a month and a half ago! For real! We didn't want to spread the word until we were sure that we were out of the woods, so I have had to wear baggy clothes to conceal my bulging tummy. Last night I actually had several friends come up to me at a baby shower and flat-out ask if I was pregnant. I must really look big if people are bold enough to point it out when I'm only 12 1/2 weeks along! I had a doctor's appointment this morning and we got to see the baby on an ultrasound and so far everything is going great. Yay for us!

Hide & Seek

After viewing this peculiar picture, you may wonder, "what exactly is this image?" Well, let me tell you. This is a picture of the inside of our toaster. More importantly, if you look closely, you will see my wedding ring deposited inside the toaster. The next logical question would be, "what exactly is your wedding ring doing inside the toaster?" Good question. You see, yesterday I made the mistake of taking off my wedding rings while I was patting sticky brownie batter into a pan and Hank took the opportunity to "hide" them. After washing the batter off my hands, I went to put my rings back on and found that they were not on the counter where I had left them only a minute before. I turned to Hank and asked him if he had my rings. His response was less than comforting - "uh-oh." So then the game of hide and seek began. I dismantled my entire kitchen in a state of panic when I finally discovered the shiny object inside the toaster. Clearly, I was not pleased with Hank for nabbing my rings and depositing them in an appliance, but I have to admit, it was a good hiding place.

Its for the Birds

Last weekend we had beautiful sunshine (Hallelujah!) and took advantage of the good weather by taking Hank to the park to feed the ducks. Everyone must have had the same idea because the park was swarming and the ducks didn't seem particularly grateful for the heels of our bread. Hank still had fun being outdoors and throwing little crumbs at the birds.

Girls Night Out

Thank goodness for Girls' Night Out! Friday night the girls and I went out to eat at a sushi restaraunt, did a little shopping, and then went to see a movie. I had so much fun I almost felt guilty for staying out way past my bed time!

Buddies

This is Hank and his buddy, Ethan, playing together on Hank's bike, or "ike" as Hank calls it. Hank loves to have friends over to play. I'm sure his attitude will change when the terrible 2s hit, but for now he actually enjoys sharing his toys. He likes to show his friends all his toys so he will keep handing the friend a toy and then returning to the toy room for more.

Slip and Slide

All By Myself!

I was shocked when Hank and I went to the park the other day and he raced down the slide all by himself! I was fumbling around with my camera, trying to take a picture of him sitting at the top of the slide, when he just decided to go for it. Then there was no stopping him....the kid never got tired of going down that slide!

Shades

Last summer when we would try and stick sunglasses on Hank he would tear them off. The other day we went for a walk and I decided to put Hank's sunglasses on so his sensitive eyes weren't bothered by the glare and he loved them! Now he likes to wear his sunglasses anytime we go for a walk or take a ride in the car. We just need to find a pair that doesn't make him look so much like Harry Potter.

Little Helper

For Valentine's Day, Hank helped me bake dozens of giant sugar cookes and decorate them with frosting. They were so good we ate them and gave them all away before I could take a picture of the final product.

Say Cheese!

Good Days & Bad Days

You know how some days you just wake up and know that it will be a great day and other days you feel like you woke up on the wrong side of the bed? I can tell if its going to be a good day or a bad day just by the look on Hank's face first thing in the morning.

When its a bad day, Hank fusses and complains about everything.

When its a good day, Hank wakes up with a big smile on his face and immediately asks to sing songs and wants to jump up and down in his crib. Luckily, most days he wakes up happy.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day always makes me laugh because it means that six years ago Aaron broke up with me and we both spent the holiday sad, miserable, and depressed. Although we had only been dating a few months, Aaron was set on a one-way track to marriage and decided that he wanted to be exclusive. He posed an ultimatum to me: either commit now or forget it. I explained to him that after barely turning 20 and having known Aaron such a short time I was hardly ready to commit to a serious relationship. I expected Aaron to back down and take what he could get and I was shocked when he dumped me instead! I think we spent 4 lonely days being miserable (including Valentine's Day) apart before he came crawling back...sort of. We agreed to keep dating and the rest is history! We've spent the last five Valentine's Days together laughing at how silly our first Valentine's Day was and being grateful that we get to make up for it each year. I love you Aaron Grover!

Random Tidbits

I'm getting annoyed with opening my blog everyday and looking at the same old post from a month ago. I know that I badly need to write a new post and upload pictures, but I don't have any new news or new pictures to share. So I just want to write a post so that I don't have to keep looking at the old one. I will make it my project to take some new pictures this week so that I can replace this post with a real one. I guess I'll just share some of Hank's new tricks and words.

1. Last weekend we finally installed a new handle on the door to our pantry. All the doors in our house have the lever-type handles, which Hank opens with ease. I get so irritated when Hank opens the pantry door because he will destruct everything: poor salt on the floor, empty boxes of crackers, and eat through a pile of cookies. We finally got wise and installed a round knob on the door and instantly my quality of life has dramatically improved. I expected Hank to protest this new restriction but he hasn't really seemed to mind at all. He's just moved on to raiding our junk drawer next to the telephone.

2. It seems that Hank is really catching on to the concept of words. He's picking up new words really fast these days. This past week Hank learned the words "nana" (grandma), "bu" (bus), "a-pa" (apple), and "ap" (lamp). His enunciation isn't always the most clear so in order to understand him, you have to pay close attention to the context of his speech. For example, it is easy to confuse his words for 'poop' and 'soap', which obviously have vastly different meanings.

3. Yesterday I took Hank to see his pediatrician to get a referral for his dietary issues. There are only two things that Hank likes: junk food (cookies, chips, and crackers) and smooth food (Gerber 2s). He doesn't eat anything in between. I'm always trying to add variety to his diet by introducing new foods, but he doesn't seem to have the most adventurous palette. Interestingly, I discovered this week that he does like sunflower seeds, which are a good source of protein. His doctor gave us a referral to see a special 'feeding team' at a children's hospital in Tacoma so hopefully they will be able to provide me with some new ideas.

4. Hank learned to climb onto our bar stools. I worry about him toppling over since the stools are taller than he is, but its kind of fun to have him at counter height to help me with dinner.

5. Lately Hank has been very amorous. He will randomly smack his lips and give you that look that means he wants to kiss you. He starts leaning in to you and then plants one right on your lips. Sometimes, if he's feeling really lovey, he'll lay his head down on you to initiate a hug. So cute. I love it.