The Nuss Haus

Catching up (AGAIN!)...

2011-11-13T20:49:00.009-05:00

So here it is, almost a month between posts, AGAIN! But then again, I'm not really sure anyone reads this blog...

So lets start with the second half of October. We went to the state Fair. Both girls were a little under the weather but it was a fun time.

Here's Emily hanging out in the stroller while Ivy rode a ride.

Ivy's friend Grayce was there showing her goats so we hung out with them for a while.

Riding rides!!!

Ivy had her VIP (Very Important Preschooler) Day at school. My mom kept Emily so I could go and spend the entire morning in Ivy's class.

Here is Ivy standing in line waiting for music to start.

That same day, I took both girls to the doctor - both had yucky coughs and runny noses. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't anything go on with their ears. The doctor did say that Ivy had some fluid in her ears but it looked fine. So a long wait and two copays later we headed home! By the way, we ended up back at the pediatrician the following week with Ivy's ear hurting and her having a double ear infection...

We've been playing at the park on the warm days...

Ivy's preschool had their Halloween Parade. Ivy dressed up as Tinkerbell.

Ivy was invited to a birthday party that took place at a fire station. How cool is that??

Then it got to be November. More park days...

And just today, the children's group from church got together at a little farm and played for a while. It was so much fun!!

So that's all for now. I hope it won't be another month between posts.... We'll see. :)

Swimming Lessons

2011-10-18T21:24:00.002-04:00

Ivy started taking swim lessons again - she had her third lesson today.

She is the youngest in her class. It's a group of 4 kids, the other children have been 4

for some time. So she's quite a bit less experienced than they are but the instructor feels like

she is in the right class. Ivy is having a hard time learning to put her face in the water. She'll jump off the side of the pool all day long, her whole head going under water. But to kick and do her arms and put her face in, she just can't do it... Hopefully she'll be doing it soon.

Waiting for her lesson to start...

She looks so sweet in this picture...

Goofing off while waiting for her lesson to start...

The beginning of the lesson...

Working on kicking..."Straight legs!"

Practicing arms...

Arms and legs... See, no face in the water. :)

Emily's FIRST BIRTHDAY!!!

2011-10-04T23:00:00.005-04:00

Emily celebrated her FIRST BIRTHDAY!! It's been over a week now and I still can't believe she's one. No one warned me how fast time flies with the second child...

Some things about Emily:

She is a sweet and happy baby!

She isn't walking yet.

She has LOTS to say. Some words that she says and can be understood by most people are:

Hi, ball, cow, moo, quack, Mama, Dada, No, okay, good

She tries to say Ivy but it comes out "I-ya". So cute.

She went to her 1-year well baby check and she is in the 95th % for height and weight.

Here's Emily on the morning of her birthday

Her presents!! (Thank you everyone!)

Ivy and Grayce dressed up for the festivities.

Emily wasn't too sure about the cake to begin with...

But she figured it out pretty quickly!

PRESENT OPENING TIME!!

Kaitlyn and Emily playing together

Winston, Emily and Kaitlyn looking out the front door

Playing with some of her birthday toys

Most of September...

2011-09-28T21:58:00.004-04:00

Two posts right here back to back - proof that we are still alive! We've just been busy finishing up summer and getting back into the routine of going to school and all the other regularly scheduled activities.

Right before Ivy started back to school, we made one last day trip to the NC Zoo with friends.

Here's Emily and her friend Kaitlyn (she is about 2.5 weeks younger than Emily).

Ivy climbing the spider web at the zoo play ground...

Ivy and Grayce going down the leaf slide...

Ivy and Grayce on the Praying Mantis sculpture...

Posing with the Bison statue...

Ivy started back to preschool. This year she goes three days a week, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. She has some great friends in her class and she has wonderful teachers.

Here she is on her first day...

"Mom, are you done taking picture?"

We've been taking Ivy to ride her bike more often lately. Hopefully the more she practices, the better she'll get. I think she's ready for a bigger bike; still with training wheels but she looks a little big on this tiny bike.

We stopped to take a few pictures...

Emily chewing her finger - she's recently gotten 4 new teeth and there are still two more coming in! She's handling it very well but sometimes she just needs something to chew on. Fingers are the most convenient.

Ivy watching a little tv before bed - looks comfy, huh?

Emily watching Ivy out on the back porch...

Emily playing with Malcom. She LOVES our cats!

Hopefully another post tomorrow - about Emily's FIRST BIRTHDAY!!!

(I can't believe she's a year old already!!)

Second half of August

2011-09-27T22:10:00.004-04:00

We didn't do a whole lot during the second half of August... Just hanging around the house enjoying the last of summer before Ivy started back to school...

Emily had her first taste of lasagna...and LOVED IT!!

Ivy after playing outside...

Hurricane Isabel knocked down one tree...

Emily became much more confident when pulling up on things...

Emily helping with the laundry...

First half of August...

2011-08-15T22:39:00.006-04:00

Ivy out playing in the yard...

Ivy in her curlers

(no pictures of her curly hair - maybe next time)...

Emily has learned to drink from a straw - I pulled out the old

straw sippy cups from when Ivy was a baby. So of course

Ivy wanted to try them out again...

Richard's Aunts Sandy and Judy were so kind and let us stay at

their house in Sunset Beach while they were away on vacation.

We left late Wednesday night (that ended up being hard on Emily - she didn't

sleep well that night at all!) so we wouldn't spend part of Thursday traveling.

Thursday morning, we got up and caught the 10:00 ferry from Southport

to Ft. Fisher.

(oddly enough, Richard, Emily and Ivy all had on their 4th of July clothes)

While in Ft. Fisher we visited the aquarium...

Ivy spotted a praying mantis...

After the ferry ride back to Southport, we drove around a bit and

went to see the Oak Island light house.

We got up one morning and went to play miniature golf.

One afternoon we went to the beach - it stormed pretty badly so we

headed to the little Coastal museum at Ocean Isle Beach.

Back to beach for an evening walk and some pictures...

Sunday morning before we left for the day we hit the beach one more time...

A quick picture of Emily - she kept messing with my camera.

I love those big brown eyes!! And she doesn't usually have her paci

(only at bedtime and nap time) but she found it in the diaper bag! :)

Phone photos

2011-08-03T16:04:00.007-04:00

I finally plugged my phone into my computer so I could get some pictures off of it. Here are some of the many I took...

There is this app where you can take a picture of someone and turn them into a princess. Ivy did these...

Ivy with her crimped pony tails...

Ivy and Emily in the grocery cart - this might have been the first time they both sat in the grocery cart together...

On my phone you can turn on the front camera so you can see yourself - Emily loves that!

Emily at Ivy's swim lesson...

Emily chewing on a corn cob...

Ivy trying on hats...

Emily playing in the kitchen

Emily relaxing on the floor

Emily at her 9 month doctor appointment

Ivy eating lunch after she had just gotten her ears pierced

Ivy playing in the sand at the beach

We made a homemade peach pie at my mom's house

Emily swinging at Grandmama's house

Ivy trying on another hat (we do that a lot!)

Emily playing with her feet

Richard and the girls

Emily pulled up for the first time!

These are my shoes from when I was little. We took them and had them polished so Ivy can wear them for the rest of this season...

July Trip to Paw-paw's house...

2011-07-21T21:25:00.010-04:00

We spent the week of July 4th in the mountains visiting Paw-paw (my Dad). The weather was great - about 20 degrees cooler than at home. It rained quite a bit, but it was usually scattered showers, so no big deal.

We went to a 4th of July parade in Banner Elk.

Emily sat in the stroller for part of the time - she had a great view!

Ivy wore her fairy wings to the parade...

After the parade, Paw-paw went off with is friend Margaret. It started to rain so we grabbed some lunch and then after the rain stopped, we went exploring.

Ivy found some puddles to jump in.

That night, we went to another little mountain town to see some fireworks. Paw-paw's friend, Margaret, clogs. She got up and danced with Ivy and she had a great time!

Ready for fireworks!!

We visited Grandfather mountain...

Another day we went to an alpaca farm...

A family picture at the Land of Oz...

Ivy and Emily by the gates at Land of Oz...

A BEAUTIFUL view...

Back to Banner Elk to play at their awesome park...

On our way home we stopped in Foscoe to do some gem mining...

When we got home, Ivy got her ears pierced. She had been asking to have them pierced for a long time and I kept putting it off to see if she'd keep asking. We talked about how it would hurt, but not for long. She knew all about how she'd have to keep the same earrings in for a long time and let me clean them and turn them several times a day... We talked all about it and she still wanted to do it.

Oh, we had it done at the pediatric urgent care. They put a numbing cream on her ears and we let it sit on her ears for about 45 minutes before having them pierced.

Doing silly things while we waited...

Here it goes!!

She was so excited afterwards - and so proud of her new earrings.

She felt like such a big girl!

We went to the beach soon after this trip so I have more pictures to post soon...

June...Catching Up

2011-06-25T21:39:00.009-04:00

LOTS OF PICTURES!!!

This is as close to crawling as Emily gets... She moves all around and can get from one area to another but no actual crawling...yet.

We have HUGE frogs in the pond. There are quite a few that are at least the size of my hand.

Ivy getting ready to test out the newly-repaired Jon boat. (Sorry the picture is blurry - she wouldn't stay still!)

Out with Daddy trying out the boat...

This is Addy, our black lab...

We went to the zoo with some friends. Here is Ivy with her friend Grayce...

Jumping with Grayce...

Emily caught a nap while riding around at the zoo...

Riding a metal elephant statue...

My happy girl!

I just wanted to document that my child ate broccoli. Ivy is a meat and cheese girl but recently has been asking (and actually eating) broccoli, asparagus, squash and zucchini.

Emily eating a cracker...

Ivy showing Emily how to crawl...

Tucker, our chocolate lab.

Another trip to the zoo with Grandmama this time...

Ivy at the giraffe exhibit...

Seeing how tall she is...

Riding the lions...

Ivy found a snake!! (it is fake - made of metal...)

Emily hanging out in the stoller...

Ivy was a little disappointed that the NC Zoo doesn't have actual unicorns. She wanted her picture taken with a display of a unicorn.

Sisters...

Emily got her first boo boo... My and my mom sat her on some steps. She leaned over to look down and did a flip and scraped her cheek...

We went to the Museum of Life & Science in Durham with some friends. Ivy had a great time!

They have a play area outside with some drums and some climbing structures...

Ivy with her friend, Mia...

Holding a butterfly...

Sitting on a dinosaur...

Sweet Emily - she sat so quietly in her stroller the whole time. She loves people watching...

Rolling a ball down a track...

Emily is 9 MONTHS OLD!!!!

Ivy in the wagon...

Relaxing in the hammock...

I was trying to think of something fun for Ivy to do. So I drew a map and she had a treasure hunt...

FYI...Emily goes to the pediatrician on Wednesday for her 9 month well-baby check. I'll post her stats then...

8 MONTHS!!!

2011-05-27T21:44:00.004-04:00

Emily is 8 MONTHS OLD!!

How has the time gone by so fast?

This is as close to crawling as she gets. I have to put her in this position.

She can't do it herself. She'll stay like this for a minute or so, sometimes

rocking back and forth a little bit, then she flattens out on her belly.

We went outside to enjoy some of the warm (okay, HOT!!) weather.

Chillin' on the blanket.

Ivy playing in the sprinkler...

Ivy at her swim lesson...

A busy month...

2011-05-21T22:00:00.005-04:00

It's been a busy month...

First was a Mother's Day "brunch" at Ivy's school. All the mothers were invited to have muffins and juice. We also go to go to music. Here's a picture of Ivy during the brunch.

Next came my birthday. I turned the BIG 3-0!!! Richard's parents were so sweet to come and watch the girls so we could have a much needed lunch date. We went to Carrabba's and then we wandered around the Apex Peakfest (a local street festival with local arts and crafts). It was a great birthday! Here I am with my cake. Richard's mom, Pat, made the cake and then she let Ivy decorate it while we were out to lunch.

My birthday was followed by Mother's Day. Here are the girls sitting in a box after helping me open my gift.

The day after Mother's Day, Craig and Marilyn came over and brought Winston. It was so fun to see him and Emily together. If Emily doesn't crawl soon Winston might beat her to it!!

Ivy LOVES her sister. And Emily loves her right back. She never fusses no matter how rough Ivy is with her...

Emily started clapping...

The next weekend, we went to Greensboro. We wanted to introduce Emily to her Great-Grammy.

And Emily was baptized. We had her baptized at Richard's family's church. It is the same church where we got married and where Ivy was baptized as well...

OBX Trip 2011...

2011-05-06T21:13:00.014-04:00

We made our annual Outer Banks trip just before Easter. This year and last year we headed North on highway 12. We reached Corolla, kept going, and headed north on the beach. The house we rented was about 9 miles north of where the pavement ended. It took 20-30 minutes of driving on the beach to get there. Here are lots of pictures from our trip...

DAY 1

This is the fence that is on the border between NC and VA. It was put there to keep the wild horses on the NC side.

A horse in the canal...

Wild horses came to visit the house almost every day...

This is the canal that was behind our house...

Emily enjoying some sunshine on the porch...

Uncle Russell brought his boat - he and Richard took Ivy out for a few minutes...

Ivy loves fishing with her Daddy...

Ivy on the dock...

Uncle Russell resting after a long day of traveling...

Aunt Mary relaxing with Lady...

Ivy "helping" in the kitchen...

Grandma Pat cooking dinner...

DAY 2

Aunt Judy and Ivy walking on the beach...

Emily enjoying her first time on the beach...

You don't usually see speed limit signs on the beach...

Aunt Mary and Uncle Russell

Horses on the beach (these were the same 3 that visited our house the day before)...

Ivy splashing in the tidal pool... This water was FREEZING but she didn't seem to notice...

Aunt Judy and Emily...

The horses were done with their time on the beach; they headed for the dunes...

DAY 3

Aunt Mary and Uncle Russell on their boat...

Richard in a kayak...

Lady...

Aunt Judy practicing horseshoes...

DAY 4

Ivy and Richard climbing up to Jockey's Ridge...

Ivy running on Jockey's Ridge...

More running...

Ivy at the Wright Brothers Memorial...

Ivy stood in front of this marker - it was marking how far the Wright Brothers flew on their 3rd attempt. We took this same picture with the 2 marker last year...

DAY 5

More horses...

Mama and her little colt.

She looks a little thin in this picture but overall, all the horses seemed very healthy...

Passing the time while waiting in line to climb the Currituck Lighthouse...

Here they go (I stayed down below with Emily)...

Grandma Pat, Ivy, and Richard at the top of the lighthouse...

Pat, Judy and Sandy at the top of the lighthouse...

And they're back!

Ivy with a bear at the nature center...

Ivy on a bridge - that is the Whalehead Club behind her...

Ivy and Richard outside the Whalehead Club...

Aunt Judy teaching Ivy about horseshoes...

DAY 6

We had an Easter egg hunt a few days before Easter so everyone could join in...

Later that day, we went for a long walk. Ivy got tired so we took Emily

out of the backpack carrier and put Ivy in there. She fell asleep...

It was Dick & Pat's 44th anniversary. Happy Anniversary!!!

DAY 7

More horses came to visit. This was a mama and her little filly...

More warm weather = more play time on the beach!

We drive up to the NC/VA fence and go over to the VA side. There aren't any trucks there

so we don't have to worry about Ivy running out in front of someone...

There was a group of volunteers cleaning up the VA side...

Emily doing her scrunchy face. The white on her face is sunscreen...

Emily loved the sand and surprisingly didn't eat any...

She loved the sand...

We had such a wonderful time - we're already scheduled to go back again next year!! We'll have two kids running around so it should be lots of fun!!

Sisterly Love...

2011-05-05T23:05:00.004-04:00

Ivy said she wanted to hold Emily. That doesn't happen much. Not that she doesn't love Emily but Ivy doesn't sit still very often and then add a big wiggly baby in the mix and it just doesn't happen very often. I told Ivy to sit up in the corner of the sofa and I grabbed my camera. I got a few decent shots before the moment passed...

Egg Hunts...

2011-05-05T22:55:00.004-04:00

Ivy had a couple of egg hunts this year...

The first was with our church...

The second was with preschool...

Emily update...

2011-04-10T22:56:00.003-04:00

We've been busy around here... When Emily went to her 6 month well-baby check up almost 2 weeks ago, her doctor mentioned a couple of things: that we should have her eyes checked since she has a head tilt and that her ears had a little fluid in them but didn't look infected at all. That week came to a close and we made it to the weekend. Emily started breathing a little differently. She didn't seem stressed or anything, she just started sounding a little congested. No fever or anything so I didn't really think much of it. By Tuesday she was wheezing and breathing a little fast. She still didn't seem bothered by it but I called the doctor anyway and they said to bring her right in. We got to the pediatrician's office and they again said she had fluid in her ears but no infection. They checked her oxygen level and it was 95 so they had us do a breathing treatment there in the office. After that her oxygen was checked again and it was up to 99. So obviously it helped. We were sent home with a nebulizer and told to do breathing treatments every 4-6 hours and to come back for a recheck on Thursday.

Thursday came and we headed back to the doctor for a recheck. Sure enough that innocent fluid in her ears turned into a double ear infection. And the wheezing was better but still there. Her oxygen level was checked and it was 99 but she had just had a breathing treatment 2 hours earlier so that is probably why. We were sent home with our own machine this time to keep. The pediatrician said that since Emily had RSV and this was her second wheezing episode that it may be something she will have happen again so we might as well have our own machine at home. So we have been doing breathing treatments 4 times a day. We'll go down to 3 times a day for a couple of days, then down to 2 times a day, and then once a day (probably before bed) and hopefully the wheezing will be gone as well as the congestion.

Overall Emily has been a champ through all of this. She does really well with the breathing treatments. She has to wear a little mask that is made to look like a dinosaur (picture coming soon). She sits still and seems okay until about the last 2-3 minutes. By then she's ready to get that mask off and get back to playing. She has still been sleeping well. She still falls asleep on her own for naps and bedtime. As usual, I can just lay her in her crib and she falls asleep by herself. I can't ask for much more than that!

Oh and to update on her eyes - she had her eyes checked in the middle of all this. Her eyes are fine. And the doctor doesn't feel or see anything wrong with her neck muscles or structure. So at this point we are going to leave the head tilt thing alone. We'll reassess when we go back for her 9 month appointment.

That's all for now. Sorry no pictures. Next time!! :)

Emily's 6 month stats

2011-03-28T21:24:00.002-04:00

Emily had her 6 month well-baby check up today.

27" long (90th %)

20 lbs. (off the charts!)

Doc says she is developing great. She still tilts her head a little bit to the left. Could be an issue or it could be that she just likes to hold her head that way. The doctor mentioned that some babies who have some sort of vision issue hold their heads like that. So Emily will go see the eye doctor in two weeks. If nothing else, we are just ruling out things...

Ivy's party and Emily is 6 months old!!!

2011-03-24T20:42:00.003-04:00

Richard and his girls...

Ivy had her birthday party this past weekend. We ended up with about 15 kids. Some were preschool friends, some were church friends (some both), and some were friends of the family. I think all the kids had a great time. And by the end, all the kids were tired and ready to head home.

Emily is 6 months old today!!

These past 6 months have FLOWN by!

She is pretty much sitting up by herself. I definitely put a pillow behind her just in case she leans back too far. She rolls all around. She is excellent at falling asleep on her own. I just put her in her crib and she's asleep within a few minutes. She loves oatmeal cereal. I've tried some various baby foods but cereal is her favorite (which is funny because Ivy hated cereal and wouldn't eat it at all!). We go for her 6 month check-up on Monday - I'll have her height and weight and percentages then...

Ivy wanted to dress up to play outside while I took a few pictures of Emily. Here's one of her running around...she is SUCH A GIRL!!

(please excuse the long grass/onions - we haven't mowed yet)

Ivy turns 3...

2011-03-13T22:15:00.004-04:00

First I'll start with a few random pictures...

Here's our little chunk!!

It's been drool city around here - Emily is getting her two front teeth on the bottom.

They aren't poking through yet but it won't be long...

Ivy sharing her toys (this is a rare occurance - I can't believe I caught it on camera!)

Ivy went to a couple of birthday parties at the beginning of the month...

One at a bounce house...

And a princess party!

Then it was Ivy's turn!! The morning of her birthday she got to the top of the stairs and yelled down, "I'm THREE!!!!" She got to open a few presents that morning but we wanted to wait until Daddy was home from work before we got into the real celebrating!

Here's Ivy with her new Lalaloopsy Doll (I have no idea what this is, she wanted one!)

Some new books - Fancy Nancy and Purpalicious

That night, we ended up in the kitchen (don't ask me why the kitchen...) putting together a present. To be funny, I sat Emily in Ivy's doll stroller. It was perfect for her. She could sit up and see but it was sitting her down enough that she couldn't fall out! She loved it!

More assembly of the Cinderella vanity...

Ivy had a special VIP day at preschool to celebrate her birthday. I took cupcakes and juice as a special snack.

Me and my sweet girl on her VIP day at school.

Ivy's cake...

Make a wish!!!

February...

2011-02-22T21:25:00.003-05:00

Well, it is now the end of February and I'm just now getting to update this blog. So I'll go ahead and post a few pictures from the entire month so far...

Emily in her exersaucer...

Emily started eating cereal. She loves it!

You can see why Emily needs to be strapped in the swing...

Anytime I change the sheets on my bed is an open invitation for Ivy to have some jumping time. Princess dress and all...

I think Ivy looks so grown up in this picture - I can't believe she's about to turn 3!!

Ivy had butter-noodles for dinner one night. I left the table to grab something to drink, this is what I came back to...

Emily during another cereal meal...

We went to a basketball game - NC State vs. Clemson. State actually won!

Ivy's Grandpa Dave put up a tire swing for her.

And today, I made my first batch of baby food.

Green beans on the left, peas on the right.

Clean Teeth and A Birthday Party...

2011-01-26T15:31:00.004-05:00

Ivy had her first dentist appointment last week. They said she has BEAUTIFUL teeth and that "someone" is doing a great job brushing them (I gave myself a big pat on the back for that one).

Here's Ivy in the chair - she thought it was fun...

Having her teeth counted and checked for various things like wiggly teeth, cavities, plaque, etc.

Now for the cleaning part - She wasn't scared of the cleaner thing or the water or the sucker-hose.

Now the dentist comes in to double-check everything.

All done!!!

And here are a few pictures of Ivy at a birthday party she was invited to recently. She had a great time!

New Arrival...

2011-01-26T15:22:00.005-05:00

This is a little late but...

Baby Winston arrived!!!

(Here he is on his birthday)

Here's me and my brother, Craig, with our babies (Ivy was running around somewhere).

These little cousins are about 3.5 months apart.

And just a sweet picture of Ivy and Emily...

Christmas...

2011-01-14T22:06:00.004-05:00

I'm so sorry I haven't updated lately. I just can't seem to get enough time to get the pictures off the camera, onto the computer, and then onto the blog. So here are some quick pics from around Christmas...

Emily's first time in the high chair - I thought she'd like sitting at the table with us...guess again...

Bundled up to walk to Grandmama's house...

Here is Emily in the morning before she woke up.

Christmas celebration #1 at Grandma Pat's and Grandpa Dick's house...

Christmas celebration #2 with Paw Paw and Great-Uncle Colby...

Our Elf on the Shelf - his name is Geoff...

Christmas celebration #3 was with Grandmama and Grandpa.

My Mom bought both girls tea sets and then Dave made them each a cabinet to go with it.

Christmas celebration #4 - Christmas morning at our house...

More to come...I have a couple of posts ready to go...just have to post them!! Check back soon!

After Christmas...

2011-01-14T21:55:00.003-05:00

We were planning to head to the beach the day after Christmas...

This is what we woke up to...

Ivy loved sledding

Even the dogs liked the snow!

We headed down to Edisto Beach, SC the day after the snow. Here are a few pics from our beach trip..

The first few days of January...

2011-01-14T20:28:00.004-05:00

We rang in the New Year while down at Edisto Beach...

Here's Ivy enjoying her New Years bubbly... It was just sparkling grape juice. She made it all the way to midnight. Then got up at like 7 that morning. :) Lovely....

Our last full day at Edisto, we ventured back to Botany Bay. Google it if you have time. It's a very cool place.

You have to walk like a half mile from the parking area to the actual beach.

Here are a few from our walk to the beach...

Ivy with Aunt Judy (left) and Aunt Sandy.

A self-timer picture of me and Ivy...

And of course we can't leave out a picture of Emily - she is finally getting a bald spot on the back of her head... Good thing she can wear hats since it is cold outside!!

What we've been doing...

2010-12-11T19:56:00.003-05:00

Ivy at the park...

Ivy on top of the washing machine - she loves to help me start a load of laundry. She knows which buttons to push to get it going and then loves to lay on top of the machine and watch it spin around (hopefully she'll be this enthusiastic about laundry in 10 years!).

Out on the boat...

Tea party!! There are LOTS of tea parties going on around here...

Happy Baby!!

Playing in leaves...

Decorating the Christmas tree...

A quick back story - when I was growing up, my Mom started the tradition of buying a Hallmark ornament for us each year. She did it until we turned 21 - then it was time for our own tree and all of our ornaments helped us get started.

My Mom is continuing this tradition with my girls...

Here is Emily's first ornament...

Here is Ivy's ornament for this year. She was old enough to pick it out this year. Can you tell what she's really into right now?

Playtime while Mommy cooks...

Here's why I didn't take our Christmas pictures this year...

Ivy with Santa...

(Emily was asleep and I wasn't going to wake her up and then sit her on some stranger's lap - that would have been a disaster!).

More play time..

Catching up...

2010-12-08T22:27:00.005-05:00

Wow! It's been like 3 weeks since I posted. Time is just flying by these days.

Here are a few of the pictures we had taken for our Christmas cards.

Ivy LOVES being in front of the camera - at least if we are at a photography place. Why won't she cooperate this much at home? And obviously, most of Emily's pictures look the same. She just can't do more than lay there. And since she can't see very far yet by the time the photographer got her to smile and he backed up to take the picture, she wasn't smiling any more. Anyway, here they are...

Not enough hands...

2010-11-18T20:55:00.002-05:00

Well, if you are a frequent visitor to my little blog, you'll notice that I did not post a family picture. It is now the end of the week and I have not taken a family picture. I was going to do it over the weekend and I want you to know I didn't pick up my camera at all!! I just can't hold Emily in one arm, hold Ivy's hand with another and still take pictures. I just don't have enough hands!!

So here are some things that Ivy says that I think are cute...

She says "miskers" for whiskers on a cat.

Our favorite Mexican restaurant is called the Mexaraunt.

When she puts her dirty clothes in the basket she jumps and says, "Be Scores!!". I have no idea where she got that or what it means. I wonder if it is "She scores!!". We've asked her about it and she just says, "it's be scores!". So who knows...

She has these star antenna things that are on a headband. She calls them her "bunnets". Again, I have no idea where she got that. We've tried to call them something else, something real, but she continues to call them what she wants.

And now for something on Emily... This past week she's had two nights of sleeping 7 hours!! They weren't two nights in a row but that's okay. I'll take what I can get. She usually sleeps 4-5 hours before she wakes up hungry. We had to go back to the pediatrician to get a prescription refill for her thrush medicine. It's this very sticky yellow liquid that supposedly tastes like tutti-frutti or something. I am supposed to give her 1ml in each cheek 4 times a day!! 4 times!! She ends up spitting half of it out but whatever, I'm doing my best. But they did check her weight and she was 12 pounds, 10.5 ounces. We go back for her official 2 month checkup December 1st.

Adding Emily...

2010-11-09T17:32:00.002-05:00

Richard sent me an email today asking if I could be sure to add Emily's name on our blog where it shows our name (before it said Richard, Jamie & Ivy). He also wanted to know about changing our family picture to one that included Emily. We don't have one!! She is 6 weeks old and we haven't taken one picture together as a whole family. That is on my to-do list for this weekend. Hopefully we can get a good one - and that means no kids crying (sleeping is fine) and everyone at least facing the camera. Wish me luck on that one!! :)

Playground Fun

2010-11-09T11:50:00.003-05:00

We went to a playground yesterday and met up with some of the other Moms and kids from Ivy's preschool class...

Demolition Derby and Halloween

2010-11-03T15:51:00.008-04:00

Sorry it has been so long since my last post... If Emily is awake, she wants to be held or fed. If she's awake and not doing either of those things, she's crying...LOUDLY!!! I've found that it's very hard to get much done with a baby in one arm.

Ivy loving on her baby sister.

Ivy loves to give Emily "hugs" (really they are squeezes).

Emily at the fair

Going down the slide with Grandpa

Pony ride

Ivy playing in the dirt at the Demolition Derby (Richard's 4x4 Club does the towing so we were there a lot over the weekend of the fair).

Eating chocolate ice cream

Ivy's preschool had a little Halloween celebration. The kids were allowed to wear costumes to school and they had a little parade in the hallway.

Here's a group picture

We went out on our boat this past weekend with Richard's parents (Grandma Pat and Grandpa Dick)

Ivy loves Emily's toys...

On Halloween our church had a Trunk-or-Treat. They had some other things for the kids to do - face painting, making cookies, etc. Ivy dressed up as a ballerina/princess (she wanted to wear princess accessories with her tutu).

Ivy with her BFF, Colton.

Ivy and her pumpkin...

And here are a couple of pictures of Emily...

Naptime, 2 week checkup, & The Pumpkin Patch...

2010-10-14T16:31:00.006-04:00

Last week was our second week as a family of 4... Things have been going pretty well. Ivy is a great big sister and tries to "help" in any way that she can (and sometimes in ways that she can't!). Monday through Friday of last week both girls took naps at the same time - which gave me time to grab a little sleep too! Things aren't really happening like that this week.

Ivy and Emily napping on my bed

(Julie B. - you'll notice that Ivy "stole" Emily's blanket!!)

Emily turned 2 weeks old last Friday. She didn't have her 2 week checkup until Tuesday of this week. As of Tuesday she was 9 pounds, 10 ounces (90th %), 22 1/4 inches long (above 97th %). She also lost her belly button stump too!

The strawberry patch that is just 3 houses down from us has pumpkins this time of year. They just have them sitting out on pallets but then they also have lots of fun things to look at - old trucks and farm equipment, blow up Halloween things, etc. I decided to try a few Big Sister/Little Sister pics - you'll see how they turned out...

Here's Ivy during her nap after the fun at the pumpkin patch...

My Sweet Girls...

2010-10-05T23:17:00.002-04:00

Quick update...

2010-10-02T23:04:00.003-04:00

Just a few pictures of Emily... She is just over a week old - I can't believe how fast the time has flown by.

In her swing.

In the bassinet.

I've been a little worried about her weight - the pediatrician isn't concerned but I am. So I bought a scale at the local consignment store so we can track how much milk she is taking in.

FYI...She was 9 lbs, 9 oz. at birth. Was down to 8.14 when we left the hospital and was 8.11 at the pediatrician at 4 days old. In this picture she was up to 8.13 so hopefully we're on the right track.

Trying to hold up her head.

A little old lady...

Asleep on the boppy pillow.

The Baby is HERE!!

2010-09-26T21:57:00.002-04:00

Emily Catherine Nuss was born Friday at 4:23 PM!! Below are a few pictures...

Here's a quick time line of how the delivery went:

9:00AM Checked-in and in the labor/delivery room

10:15AM OB broke my water, 3cm dilated (same as at 38 week doc appt) Pitocin started too

12:45PM only 4 1/2 cm dilated

1:30PM Epidural (YAY!!)

3:30PM 9 cm dialted! Baby facing my right side and still a little high.

4:05PM 10 cm dilated - laying on my side trying to get baby to rotate to correct position

4:15 started pushing

4:23 Emily arrives, face up!

More to come!!

38 weeks, Computer Games

2010-09-19T23:15:00.003-04:00

I was 38 weeks on Friday! I'll be induced this coming Friday unless this baby decides to come on her own before then... Here's my 38 week belly pic...

Ivy has learned to use the mouse with our laptop. She can hold her little hand on it, move it around, click it to move things. It probably isn't a big deal, but I just think that's amazing for a 2.5 year old! Of course, families didn't have computers in their homes when I was this age. And now to think that at 2.5, Ivy is playing Sesame Street games on a computer the size of a notebook! Crazy!

Baby Update

2010-09-16T21:48:00.004-04:00

Before I give the baby update, I have to mention preschool today... Today was the first day that instead of walking Ivy to her class, the teacher came to get Ivy from my van. I quickly reminded Ivy that Grandmama was picking her up, making sure the teacher heard me. I told the teacher that it was because I had a baby appointment. She said, "Good luck!" and Ivy turned to me, said "Good luck Mommy!" and blew me a kiss good-bye. She took the teacher's hand and never looked back. I was a little sad. I had a moment of "She doesn't need me!!" but then I realized that I've just done my job as a parent - I've encouraged her independence. She is really loving preschool and I'm so thankful for that.

Okay, Baby Update...

I had my ultrasound first. The ultrasound tech said, "It looks like you'd better be ready to deliver another big baby!" After the measurements she took (head, abdomen, thigh bone) the baby is measuring 9 pounds, 1 ounce.

Next came my regular weekly appointment with the OB. As she walked in she said "Looks like another big baby!" So she said she'd like to check my cervix and see where I am there and then discuss some options. She checked my cervix and I am 3 cm dilated! I was 1.5 last week so I've made some progress! I know 3 cm isn't much and I could stay like that for weeks but I figure that's 3 less I have to dilate on delivery day! Any progress is good at this point. So the doctor suggested that we go ahead and schedule an induction for Friday, September 24th. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that I'll go into labor on my own before then, but at least I have an end in sight!

Why???

2010-09-15T23:45:00.002-04:00

Ivy has reached the "Why?" phase. I heard it coming a couple of days ago. It was late in the day, just before bed, I noticed she asked me "Why?" a couple of times. Then yesterday I was asked "Why" more often. And then today, it was asked after EVERYTHING! I wonder what tomorrow brings??

Well, I do know some of what tomorrow brings... It's "Wear Yellow" day at preschool tomorrow. I already set out Ivy's yellow shirt so I wouldn't forget! And I have a Baby appointment. I'm having an ultrasound to get an estimate of how big Baby Sister is. And then I meet with the doctor afterwards to discuss the ultrasound and then do the usual stuff like listen to the baby's heartbeat. My Mom is picking up Ivy from preschool so after my appointment, I'm going to run to the local outlet mall - there is a big kids consignment sale going on there so I want to check that out and see if there is anything I just can't live without! It'll be so much easier to go without a toddler! And to end the day, our church is having a fund-raising night at Chick-fil-a.

2 and a half and Preschool!

2010-09-07T22:19:00.002-04:00

Today was a big day in Ivy's life... She turned 2.5 (which is just crazy to me!!) and she had her first real day of preschool!

But let me just say, taking pictures of her these days is really hard! She says "Cheeeeeeeeeese!" or won't look at the camera or looks at the camera and makes a weird face.

Here's Ivy by the front door as we were leaving for preschool this morning.

I took her outside to run around this evening (a.k.a. burning off energy before getting ready for bed) and tried to take some pictures...they didn't turn out well...

My camera seems to be having some issues - it keeps taking semi-blurry pictures no matter what setting I have it on. I might have to run it by the camera store and see what they think. Maybe it just needs to be cleaned (it has been to the beach a few times) but I can't risk blurry pictures when it comes time for Baby Sister to get here!! :)

36 Weeks and Drums

2010-09-04T14:36:00.002-04:00

Here's the 36 week belly picture...

I had my OB appointment this week - they did the Group B Strep test. I tested positive for it when I was pregnant with Ivy. It's not a big deal, just a bacteria that I have and isn't an issue for me but could be to a baby with no immune system. I asked if there was a chance that I would get a negative test result this time and I was told the chance was slim. And really, even if I didn't test positive, they'd probably give me the antibiotics before delivery anyway...just to be on the safe side. So not really sure why I needed the test but I guess it's just what they do.

DRUMS!! Richard was given this drum set by a co-worker. Ivy loves drums and she was so excited to get these. We have some rules about the drums: We keep the drums covered with a sheet when they aren't being played. She isn't allowed to uncover the drums. She isn't allowed to play the drums unless Mommy or Daddy are there. Since the drums are in her room, hopefully those rules will keep her from getting up at 2AM and playing them.

She knows the name of the drums. She says, "High Hat. Snare. Crash. Rack Tom. Floor Tom. And bass." I'm impressed that a little girl that is 2.5 knows the names of her drums.

1,2,3,4....!!!!

NC Museum of Life & Science...

2010-08-26T22:12:00.004-04:00

We made a trip to the NC Museum of Life & Science in Durham this week. Wow has that place changed since I went in elementary school!! What a wonderful place!!

Ivy checking out some bones - this table was for comparing human bones with cow bones...

Checking out the ants...

More bones - these were real skulls from things like a pig, a baboon, etc.

They had a play area for kids under 6 - here is Ivy climbing on the rock wall...

Same play area - dropping a ball into these racks. The ball would keep rolling and end up in a box at the end.

They had some outdoor animal exhibits. This is a turkey and it was part of the farm section...

And they have a butterfly house. It was very fun and Ivy loved it. She kept talking about the butterflies landing on her (she would hold her arms out and be real still) but when we actually got there if a butterfly came near her she backed up and wiggled her arms a little bit. This is as close as she would get (because I made her for the picture!!).

Several things...

2010-08-23T22:32:00.002-04:00

Just some random stuff going on around here... Nothing exciting...

34 weeks...

So Ivy has FINALLY learned to jump. She still doesn't jump a lot and maybe only gets a few inches off the floor. But she started by jumping on our bed. I know that isn't a great idea, but I felt like it was safer than her jumping off the couch or something else. Well, I was putting on clean sheets - it was a wide open space for her to jump. She was having a great time!!

There is something wrong with this situation... How come the 9 pound cat is sleeping on the dog bed and the 80+ pound dog is on the floor next to the dog bed? Poor Tucker, he's such a wuss... He won't even argue with the cat about his own bed...

I found this eye patch in our medicine cabinet. It has been floating around here for years and I have no idea where it came from or why we have it. But Ivy has been pretending to be a pirate and so the eye patch seemed like a fun addition to her pretending! Here she is saying, "Arrrrrrgh!"

Richard and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary. We thought it would be a good time to get away for the weekend - by ourselves (before Baby Sister arrives)!! We left Ivy with my Mom and Dave and headed to Manteo. We stayed in a bed & breakfast that we've stayed in several other times. I know it'll be a while until we get to do that again...maybe another 2.5 years!! And I really only took like 5 pictures the whole weekend - this was one from out on the beach. Richard was using his cast net to catch minnows. We really didn't do a whole lot on the trip. We took naps, hung out on the beach, fished (Richard fished, I watched), read books, etc...

32 weeks...

2010-08-11T21:54:00.004-04:00

I was 32 weeks pregnant last Friday... Please excuse the bad picture. We were outside late in the day (trying to play outside a little bit after it cooled off (yeah right!) but before it got dark). And please excuse the tired Mommy in the picture. I haven't been sleeping well and it's only been like a million degrees. :)

A Little Fishing with Daddy...

2010-08-11T21:47:00.002-04:00

Richard spent all day Sunday out in the hot sun doing car stuff and when he got home, Ivy wanted to go fishing. She has her pink and purple princess fishing pole and her fake worms...

Ivy caught this fish all by herself - Richard does cast the line for her but Ivy reels it in, she says, "Let it sit a minute...." then starts reeling again.

Same fish but look how proud Ivy is of her fish!!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game...

2010-08-07T21:29:00.003-04:00

We went to a Durham Bull's baseball game Friday night. Ivy had a great time - she got some cotton candy and even got to stay up late so we could stay for the fireworks.

What an imagination...

2010-07-25T22:32:00.003-04:00

Ivy's imagination and pretend play has EXPLODED over the past few weeks. She has always been good at pretending but it was usually very real things like cooking in her play kitchen or putting her doll to bed. Things like that but now she is always pretending to do something fake or be someone that she comes up with. Her favorite thing seems to be pretending to be a "Little Baby". She'll tell us what to ask: "Say, Do you want a snack Little Baby?" or something like that. She pretends her drinks are bottles, she crawls around. And when we ask her what she's doing, she says, "I'm a little baby..." and continues on with her fun. I know this has a lot to do with the preparations going on around the house for the REAL little baby coming in two months. She wants to use all the baby stuff (car seat, bouncy seat, play mat, etc.) in her pretend play - that makes it so real for her...

Today, she wanted to "freeze" a lot. You know, where you are walking around and someone says, "FREEZE!!" and you can't move. There were even a couple of times where she said, "Guys, I'm frozen here..." and we'd have to say "Un-freeze" to get her to move again.

She's been having birthday parties, going to the grocery store, taking stuffed toys to the vet, etc. She's been telling stories to us. They usually go something like, "One time, we went to the park. It was hot outside. I went down the slide. Another boy was there." Very simple stories, but very correct in her recollection of the events and most of all they are fun to listen to. She's growing up so fast!!

3D Ultrasound Pics

2010-07-21T16:18:00.009-04:00

I had a doctors appointment today. I go every 2 weeks now. I first met with the OB and she measured my belly first - I'm measuring "a bit ahead" as she put it and then she said that should be expected with my past history of having a big baby. She said they'd keep track of things over then next few appointments and then probably do an ultrasound about 36 weeks to check the baby's size. She also listened to the baby's heartbeat, it was in the 140s.

After meeting with the OB, I had my 3D ultrasound. This was an ultrasound that I set up and paid for myself. It's just something fun the OB's office offers. Below are all the pictures that were taken during the ultrasound. Some of them turned out really good. Most of them are of her face, sort of a profile view, but she didn't move around very much during the ultrasound...

Front view of her face.

Hand up to her face

She made this "sour" face several times...very cute!

Great view of her hand!

Another sour face!

At the top of the picture is the bottom of her foot...

Hand over her face...

Not sure if she's got her thumb in her mouth, but if so, she didn't leave it in there long.

Her mouth is open...

Not much going on...

2010-07-19T22:49:00.003-04:00

We celebrated Richard's birthday with a small dinner with family. Ivy insisted on having party hats - apparently it isn't a party without hats!!

A helicopter landed in our neighbor's yard... After watching who got out of it and who picked them up, we've decided that the folks in the chopper were here to buy a boat. Our neighbor builds custom yachts... Between helicopters and yachts who knew we had such fancy folks in our neck of the woods!

We spent the weekend in the mountains with my Dad. He's officially back and living in NC! He lives in Banner Elk and we had such a nice visit...

There was a park/playground right in downtown Banner Elk. We spent the majority of our time there and Ivy could have spent more time there!

Here's Ivy with Paw paw in the stream they have running down the middle of the park.

There was this cool slide made of rollers - Ivy went down that thing at least 100 times!

Ivy with some of the beautiful flowers...

Feeding the ducks and geese...

Picking blackberries with Paw paw...

Ivy and Paw Paw with the elk of Banner Elk...

Ivy on the bench at the park - I thought this picture turned out pretty good for just setting the camera in my lap...

And a picture from tonights bedtime routine...

Ivy got a new toothbrush! It's an electric toothbrush with Dora on it. She LOVES it and brushed her teeth over and over!

Catching up...

2010-07-08T22:38:00.005-04:00

Here are some pictures from the last month - I realized tonight that I hadn't posted in about 2 weeks and that the last 3 posts were belly pics! The last post with a picture of Ivy was at the end of May!!

We went to Virginia Beach mid-June. Richard's Aunt lives there (his Dad's sister).

Ivy's first "real" boat ride

Ivy trying to run past Daddy into the water (the swim lessons have helped her become really comfortable around water!).

Waves coming in...

Ivy laying in the water...

She was having a BLAST!!

Again, trying to get past Daddy...

Ivy loves the beach!!

More fun in the waves...

Filling the bucket with water...

Later in the month, Ivy got a new picnic table - Her Grandpa Dave built it for her...

Ivy's friend Grayce turned 2 in June!! Happy Birthday Grayce! Ivy was invited to her birthday party at an exotic animal farm...

Ivy petting a camel...

All the little girls walking to see more animals...

Swim lessons went really well - Ivy became more and more comfortable in the water. Here she is going under after "jumping"off the side of the pool. I put jumping in quotations because she really just leans until you grab a hold of her... :)

And of course we all celebrated the 4th of July. We went to the parade in Greensboro. We rode in the very cool 1968 Buick Skylark and threw out candy to the kids. We all had a great time. Here's a pic of Ivy after the parade - she got some candy too!

26 weeks!!

2010-06-25T13:21:00.006-04:00

Here I am at 26 weeks...

We are off to a birthday party tomorrow so I'll have more pictures to post - and I still need to post pictures from our trip to Virginia Beach! The to-do list is just too long!!! :)

24 Weeks!!

2010-06-15T14:38:00.003-04:00

Last Friday was 24 weeks!! We left for Virginia Beach on Friday so I had to have my 24 week belly pic taken there (more on that trip in another post).

According to the books...Baby is about 12" long and weighs just over a pound.

Today's OB appointment...

2010-06-07T15:03:00.002-04:00

Went to the OB today - met with a new doctor... She isn't super new to the practice, but was added since I had Ivy so I hadn't met her yet. Baby Sister's heartbeat was 145-150 beats per minute, so perfectly normal. I had gained a little more weight this time - so I'm up to 8 pounds gained so far. I've got a great list of excuses as to why I have gained more weight between this visit and the last one, but I won't bore you with them... :) I just need to make sure I make better choices this next month!!

Next appointment is July 6th, and it's the glucose test - YUCK!!!

22 weeks!!

2010-05-28T22:19:00.003-04:00

Here's my belly pic for week 22:

The average baby is about 11 inches long and weighs about a pound at this point.

2010-05-27T22:52:00.002-04:00

Ivy has started wearing big-girl panties!! We've pretty much stayed around the house this week and skipped the diapers all together (well, she still wears one for nap and bedtime). Today was day 4 of panties-only and Ivy is doing really well. Every day has gotten better and better. We'll keep going with it and see how things go!

We picked our first veggies from the garden tonight! Two yellow squash! They were delicious. And we should have more tomorrow or the next day.

swim lessons, ultrasound pics, a festival...

2010-05-25T15:09:00.003-04:00

Ivy has started swim lessons. We are just doing it a couple of times per week and as long as she likes them, we'll do them all summer long. She doesn't last long so her lessons are only about 20 minutes long. She just can't concentrate on the structured swim time for much longer than that.

Here is Ivy reaching for a ball. This helps get her arms moving up and over her head...

And here she is practicing her kicking...

ULTRASOUND PICTURES!!!

I don't think I've posted about this yet! Here are some pictures of our little GIRL!!!

This first one is a 3-D picture. At this age (19 weeks, 3 days) she still looks a little alien like. You can see her face and then she has her arm (L-shaped) up in front of her face - her hand is up by her forehead...

Here's a regular ultrasound picture. If you don't know what you are looking at it's hard to see...

The smaller oval on the left is her head (you can see an eye socket too) and then her body is down and to the right of her head...

And this one is pretty obvious...one of her feet!

I wish I knew how to put labels on my pictures....

We spent last Saturday at the "Gotta' Be NC" Festival at the fair grounds. It was very similar to the State Fair, just on a smaller scale. Ivy had a great time. We went with our friends Ken and Jess and their two kids, Corbin and Alyssa.

Zoo, Beach, Belly Pic

2010-05-17T22:07:00.005-04:00

We headed to the zoo last Wednesday. We met up with some great and long-time friends, Jay and Meghann, along with their little girl, Grayce. Grayce is only about 3 months younger than Ivy, so they had a great time together!!

We got there right as the zoo was opening. We started out in Africa, hoping to beat the crowds later in the day. We got to the giraffes just as they were letting them out for the day...

Ivy looking at some animals...

Ivy holding hands with Grayce...

"Cheeeeeeese!"

Ivy and Grayce on a lion statue.

"Turbo" the giraffe - a view from the giraffe deck.

A black snake we spotted on the path - not part of a zoo exhibit!!

Ivy and Grayce in the helicopter.

Ivy and Grayce on an elephant.

When we got to the elephants, there was this male elephant playing in the pond... He got ALL THE WAY IN!!! It was so cool to see this...

Ivy and Grayce in the polar bear cave!!

After spending the day at the zoo, we headed down to Sunset Beach to visit Richard's Aunts Judy and Sandy. They just recently moved into their new house and this was our first visit with them. We had a wonderful time and hope to go back soon!

Who doesn't love digging a hole and filling it with water???

Fishing with Daddy - Ivy loved her Disney Princess rod...

Judy and Sandy have their own pool - we swam some every day! Ivy loved it!!

And I hit the 20 week mark while I was there!! I'm halfway!!! I'm a little embarrassed to post this picture - I look HUGE!!! I do seem to be carrying a little higher and more "out" this time...

Maybe for my next belly picture I'll wear a darker more slimming color!! :)

Birthday & Mother's Day

2010-05-09T20:41:00.003-04:00

It was my birthday on Friday - I celebrated by going out to dinner with some girlfriends. Richard stayed home with Ivy and they made me a cake!! Those squiggles of pink icing on the right side (below and behind the candles) are done by Ivy...

Ivy and Mommy at the park...

A family picture at the lake...

Just some updates...

2010-05-06T18:19:00.002-04:00

Ivy's doing great in her "big-girl" room. She still isn't sleeping great, but at least she isn't sleeping any worse! She is still waking up most nights, sometimes just once, sometimes several times. She calls for "Mommy!!!" or "Daddy!!". I go up and tuck her back in her bed and she goes right back to sleep.

Naps are another story... Ivy will now only nap if she happens to fall asleep in the car. I've even driven her around a few times so she'd fall asleep.

Richard got the ceiling fan in Ivy's room put up a few nights ago. Since her room is upstairs and we have the a/c set pretty warm, it is nice to have the fan to help move the air around.

Baby #2 Update: I'll be 19 weeks (out of 40) tomorrow. We go for the BIG ultrasound on Monday. We'll get to see all parts of the baby - they'll check development of organs and bones. They'll measure things like the baby's head and bone length. And of course, if the baby cooperates (meaning no crossed legs), we'll find out if Baby is a boy or girl. I'm sort of thinking a boy; Richard thinks it's a girl. I seem to be looking at mostly boy things when I browse the stores. Mother's intuition?? We'll find out Monday!!! Ivy has consistently said girl or sister so we'll see who's right. When I was pregnant with Ivy, Richard and I made a bet that whomever was right got to go out to dinner to their favorite restaurant... I thought Ivy was a boy so I didn't win that bet. I haven't mentioned the bet again this time... :)

That's all for now. We've got a zoo trip planned next week and after that a long weekend at the beach so I'll have lots of pics to post in the coming weeks!!

Operation Big-Girl Room - SUCCESS!!!

2010-04-28T21:52:00.003-04:00

Here is Ivy with her pink flowers - it is all I can do to keep her from picking them.

We took Ivy strawberry picking. We only went for about 15 minutes one evening when Richard got home from work. I picked a whole basket full and Ivy picked quite a few herself!

Here is Ivy's new room before I got any furniture in it. It was white before but is now a light purple... The door on the left in that little hallway is the closet door and the door you can only see a little bit of is the door to the bathroom...

Ivy trying out her new bed...

And here's how it looks now....

We've still got quite a bit to do to it but Ivy is now sleeping in the room. We've added the guard rail to the bed so she can't fall out. I've still got to do something to the curtains so they can be tied back - the dresser is ready we just haven't moved it in yet. I also have a bookcase that I hope to put in there. And of course we still need to put some things on the wall. I'm waiting until my ultrasound on May 10th. If we are having a boy, we'll move some of the decorations from Ivy's nursery - they were made by my Mom. If we find out we're having a girl we'll leave the nursery the same and figure out something new to do in Ivy's room. So for now, that's it!

And Baby Makes 4!!

2010-04-19T13:43:00.002-04:00

We're PREGNANT!!! Since I'm 16 weeks into this, I think I've pretty much told everyone by now, but I figured I'd better post a little something on the blog for those of you I don't talk to very often...

I'm due October 1, 2010. But I'm hoping I'll have the baby in mid-September. Why, you might ask? Well, Ivy was born 3 weeks early and was 9 pounds, 3 ounces. Not your typical weight for a baby 3 weeks early!!

I expressed my concerns with my doctor at my check-up a month ago and she said that they couldn't commit to inducing me at this point but that they could do an ultrasound at 36 weeks (or so) and estimate the baby's size. If he/she is looking big already, then we can talk about inducing.

I went to another check-up today. I'm proud to say that I haven't gained any weight yet! I'm still the same as I was when this started. I guess that is one good thing about starting out with a little "extra". Plus, it looks good in my chart, so when I get farther along and I gain 10 pounds between visits, it'll be okay. :) We got to listen to the baby's heartbeat again, which is a WONDERFUL sound.

I go back May 10 (in 3 weeks) for an ultrasound. During that they'll check to see that Baby's organs and everything are developing correctly. And most excitingly, we'll get to find out if we are having a boy or a girl!! I can't wait!!!

Plants and a Haircut...

2010-04-15T20:06:00.003-04:00

We went to the Farmer's Market yesterday - it was cloudy and pretty chilly - a perfect day for the Farmer's Market. We almost had the place to ourselves. I picked out a few little flowers for Ivy to help me plant and then I bought some vegetable plants for our garden.

Here is Ivy after helping me plant the flowers...

Here is Ivy next to one of our grape tomato plants... I plan to take her picture next to this plant (as long as it survives!) each week or so to keep track of how big it gets...

Ivy had her first haircut today! I had talked about having her hair cut right around her 2nd birthday but just never got around to it. But then we were driving home yesterday from errands and out of the blue she starts talking about wanting a haircut. She said "I want haircuts." So since she took an early (and WAY too short) nap today, I called up this little children's salon called Peek-a-Do to see if they had any appointments. They had one in 30 minutes so we packed up our stuff and headed to the salon. Ivy had a great time. She got to pick which chair she sat it. And they had a Go-Diego-Go movie on so she was happy. We were in and out in 20 minutes. And since it was her first haircut they gave her a little certificate and put some of her hair in a little baggie for me to take home and put in her baby book. Once the haircut was over, they put the front part of her hair in this silly little rubberband with a pink ribbon tied to it. Then sprayed her with glitter hairspray (I okay'd that since it's bath night) and then she got a lollipop. Overall, it was a fun first haircut experience for Ivy. She liked it and said she wanted to go back.

SNAKE!!!!!

2010-04-08T20:10:00.002-04:00

Richard came home yesterday to a snake in the driveway. I had my van over at my Mom's house and came in after him - Richard called me and said "Hey! There's a really big brown snake in the driveway. I've thrown some sticks at it to see if it'll move but it won't move. Let me know if you think it is poisonous when you drive by..." I drive up to it and it bit at my front tire. Then I continued to slowly go by and it bit at my back tire. I though it looked like it had a triangular head, but really, I was inside the van, I couldn't really tell.

Richard decided it didn't matter, it wasn't a good black snake, so he went in and got his shot gun. It took him a few minutes to get it out of it's case, unlocked, and to grab some shells...

He got out to the grass and of course the snake had moved by then, but not far, just into the grass. I was watching Richard out the window and saw him shoot twice. He got it!! Way to go Richard! After the snake was dead, and after some pictures, we came inside and got on the internet to see what kind of snake it was. We've decided it was some kind of water snake - non-poisonous, but still a mean snake. And apparently the bite will "bleed profusely" because of something in the snake's saliva??? So we decided it was good that we killed it. With pets and a toddler running around, it wasn't worth the risk of one of them getting bitten.

Just for reference, Richard is 6 feet tall...it was a BIG snake!!

The snake's belly...we took this to help us identify it...

Beach Trip...

2010-04-05T22:17:00.008-04:00

We went to Corova Beach last week. That is on the Outer Banks, the northern-most beach. The road ends and you have to drive on the beach to get to the houses up there. 4-wheel drive is a must! It is so nice and quiet there, even more so since we went during the off-season.

Ivy collecting sea shells...

The lovely "cheeeeese" face...

There are wild horses that live there. They just roam all around. We saw them on the beach, in the dunes, in the yard of our rental house...

Richard inspecting a fishing net that washed up. It was full of dead fish. Luckily, it hadn't been there long. It didn't stink yet!

The back of our wonderful beach house...

Ivy and Daddy fishing off the dock at our house...

Ivy and Paw Paw heading out for a boat ride...

Ivy's first boat ride... It was a quick trip - she wanted Mommy to come along, but there wasn't enough room...

Our big red Suburban on the beach... (this picture is especially for Richard)...

Ivy watching the wild horse in the yard...

Craig used the cast net in the canal behind our house and caught some good-sized Mullet. We had 7 to eat. They were a little bony, but still tasted good!!

What a fashion statement!!!

This picture just makes me laugh...

Ivy playing on the beach with Daddy...

Daddy flying the kite - Ivy liked the idea of flying the kite but really didn't care about it once it was in the air...

This buoy had washed up (I have no idea how long it has been there) but I thought it was kind of cool that it was just there and never moved...

On our way home we stopped by the Wright Bros. Memorial... (mostly to let Ivy run around and burn off some energy before the long car ride home)

Ivy how old are you? "TWO!!!"

And Ivy enjoying MY souvenir... I got to bring home a hammock!

Yay for Spring!

2010-03-24T09:13:00.002-04:00

We've been spending a lot more time outside now that we've had some warmer days...

Here is Ivy "painting" with water on the sidewalk at my parent's house.

Ivy wandered over to another part of the yard and my mom's cat went with her...

We went to a birthday party at a park - Ivy had a great time!

Ivy getting ready to go down the slide...

There was a Curious George pinata at the party - I just thought this picture was funny - she wouldn't smile or say "cheese" or anything...

Ivy and Daddy playing on the see-saw-type thing.

Chillin' in the tunnel...

Ivy's Birthday Party...

2010-03-23T08:02:00.002-04:00

We had a small birthday party for Ivy - just some of her friends (I didn't post pics of them, not sure if all of their parents want their pics online...). The party was a Sesame Street theme.

Ivy's cake was homemade - here is Ivy sampling the icing...

The giant Elmo balloon...

Some other decorations - I made the birthday banner (with help from my Mom; she has the sewing machine).

Here's the Elmo cake...

And the birthday girl blowing out her candles...

Now I know my ABC's...

2010-03-10T21:40:00.005-05:00

Here is Ivy QUIETLY singing the ABC's. I tried to get her to sing it louder, but this was the best video I could get... Still cute, though

Sidewalk Chalk...

2010-03-09T20:22:00.002-05:00

It was a BEAUTIFUL day today! It must have been 70 degrees today and we enjoyed as much of it as we could. We went over to Grandmama's house for breakfast and a little outdoor time. Then ran a quick errand to the post office, then back home for more outside time. After lunch and a nap, we went back outside to play with a brand new box of sidewalk chalk.

Ivy coloring...

Hmmm....which color do I pick next?

Grandmama came over to see all the fun and she taught Ivy about being outlined...

That was so fun, she had to outline Daddy!

Ivy was so sad to come inside tonight but the sun was going down and it was past dinner time. Then all of a sudden she saw a mosquito! I can't believe they are out already! Since Ivy isn't a huge fan of bugs, she was a little more willing to go inside. I'm sure tomorrow will be another fun day. It's supposed to be warm again!

Happy Birthday Ivy!!

2010-03-08T20:56:00.004-05:00

Happy 2nd Birthday Ivy!!

Ivy's birthday was Sunday. She actually slept in a little bit and then we went to Bruegger's Bagels for breakfast. Here is a picture of Ivy just before we left - she was starving so she was having a before breakfast snack of Fruit Loops and a Big Bird juice box (Hey, anything goes on your birthday!).

After the bagel shop we took Ivy to the playground and we played for a couple of hours. Then it was time to head home for lunch and a nap. After Ivy got up from her nap, it was time to open presents from Mommy and Daddy!

Then a little later, we headed over to Grandmama and Grandpa's house to open a couple of presents there...

Grandmama gave Ivy a bubble wand so we HAD to go outside and play with that!

Today, Monday, Ivy had her 2 year checkup. She is still a big girl! She weighs 31 pounds, 4 ounces (91st percentile). She is 36 1/4" tall (95th percentile), and her head is 20" which is off the charts in size! It's full of brains I guess!! :)

We had to catch up on a few vaccines so Ivy got two shots today - one in each arm. She kept wanting to roll up the sleeves on her t-shirt so she could see her bandaids. And she was wearing her AC/DC t-shirt so she looked like a biker chick with her sleeves rolled up and her bandaid tatoos...

A cold day at the playground and "new" toys

2010-03-01T21:44:00.003-05:00

It was pretty cold and windy yesterday morning but it was sunny so we took Ivy to a playground to burn off some energy... She played for a good 2 hours and then was very upset when we left. But Mommy and Daddy were cold so it was time to go!

And yes, she wore the sunglasses the WHOLE time!! :)

Ivy got some "new" toys today... A little background story first - We take our trash to a trash and recycle center about a mile from our house. At this facility, they have your usual big recycle dumpsters where you sort your recyclable items. They also have a little shelter that is used for donating items that are still in good condition. And then of course, there is the catch-all dumpster called the "bulky bin" and it is used for stuff that is too big to go in the trash compactor and not recyclable. You might throw building materials in it or old pieces of furniture that are too damaged to be used. So Richard had taken our plastic recycle stuff this morning and went to throw some carpet out of an old car in the bulky bin. He glanced up in the dumpster (it's the kind of dumpster that the whole back side opens up like a door) and saw this kid's lawn mower. The looked again and saw the little police car. He thought for sure that they were broken or really dirty but he went in after them anyway... Sure enough they were in great shape! Not brand new my any means, but still very usable and in very good shape. Certainly not something worth throwing away! I cannot believe that these two, still very usable, toys were just going to be tossed in to the landfill! How wasteful are the people that threw them out??

So, now we have two "new" toys to add to the toys in the yard. And Ivy LOVES them!

Yogurt...

2010-02-21T21:36:00.003-05:00

Here's a video of Ivy eating some yogurt - it's a little long, but hopefully our family members who don't see her often will enjoy it...

A few pictures...

2010-02-21T21:22:00.003-05:00

Ivy has these little glasses that came with her Mrs. Potato Head... She LOVES to wear them around the house, even though they are way too small... Here she is with her back pack, pink cell phone, and glasses...

Ivy with her Valentine's gifts - an Elmo dvd and Elmo stickers...

Ivy playing the drums at Uncle Craig's house...

We had some wonderful weather yesterday and today - We played outside a lot and Ivy loved every minute of it...

Here is Ivy riding on the tractor with Daddy...

We bought Ivy a small soccer ball - she likes to carry it around rather than kick it...

We're still here!!

2010-02-16T08:50:00.002-05:00

Hi All, Sorry that I haven't posted anything in a while - we just haven't done anything exciting lately. I'm not sure I've taken many pictures over the past couple of weeks - Ivy doesn't sit still long enough for me to go get my camera - if she's doing something I want to take a picture of, by the time I go get my camera and get back to her, she's moved on to something else.

So hopefully I'll post some new pictures soon.

Hope everyone is doing great!!