Alora Autumne

She's finally here and, maybe I'm partial, but she's beautiful! Born Nov. 4th. She was 8 lbs 1oz and 20 inches. I'm going to have to finish this later...I'm feeling a little stingy with the photos! ;)

Halloween 2008

This Halloween was not as eventful as last year's. We had some errands to run and went ahead and put Cole in his costume for that. It turned out well; the stores we needed to visit were handing out candy, so he was able to get the feel for that even though he's not really eating candy at this point. We just like to get him out to see things. We took some photos before we left and a bit of video. Surprisingly, he caught on to the idea of his character and the video shows him running back and forth through the house with his arms up fists clenched! If you can see the video, you'll love it. I have only posted the photos. Enjoy! and Happy Holloween!

Mount Charleston

Boys will be boys. This is where I realized that having another boy meant twice the mess. Cole followed the dirt. At one point, he was actually digging in the rocks for who knows what or what reason! He even got a cut and kept digging...

The boys kept climbing higher and higher also. I was not in the mood for a hike. I was there to enjoy the cool, fresh air away from the city. At this point, I was wishing for a girl...someone who could appreciate my idea for a picnic under a nearby tree. The boys just wanted to go...walk...play with the dirt...needless to say, we didn't spend all day there. Maybe next time.

Baby Girl

So if you hadn't heard, we're having a little girl next week. I would have scanned the ultrasound photos into the computer months ago, but alas, I've been so lucky to be going through a second round of whole-term morning sickness. You can ask Heath why he didn't scan them earlier...

Let's see if I can remember correctly the events leading up until now. Heath and I, the both of us thought for sure we would be having another boy. The pregnancy did start out a little bit differently, though; different cravings, different symptoms...then the all-day vomiting came. It brought along with it severe migraines. Then it all went away (aside from the morning vomiting) sometime after the fourth month. Fatigue set in. Now I'm on a sanitizing rampage between trying to rest and reduce the swelling in my legs. I have also lost my appetite in the last few weeks. Prior to that, I was eating ice cream every night and not gaining any weight. I'm still not gaining any weight, but I've lost my taste for ice cream, and I go to bed nauseous.

Amongst all the cleaning, I've prepared the basinette and accoutrement drawers with everything pink and fluffy and/or covered with cupcakes or hearts that I have inherited from my coworker (who had a little girl in April) or received in the past few weeks as gifts.

I am thoroughly exhausted...from all this and having to show up at work, professional, aching everywhere, and drowsy from my hourly night-time potty breaks. My coworkers have gone as far as to offer me some of their days off...if only. One more week and we'll be rid of this tireless nonsense and have our beautiful baby girl; all of our family together at last.

Bonnie Springs Petting Zoo

Heath loves taking Cole to see live animals. He found this petting zoo online and made a day trip out of it. This will be one of our last vacation times together for awhile. The Bonnie Springs petting zoo was about 20 miles SW of Las Vegas off of Blue Diamond Road toward the mountains. The workers there called it "Old Nevada". Apparently, they built up this "town" around an Opera House and Saloon using wood brought in. The story goes Old Nevada was a tent town since there was no wood in the area to use to build houses and shops. It was just a stop on the old Spanish Trail. They put on a show in the saloon and out in the courtyard of a bank robber getting hung. Then, we were off to see the animals! And what an array were they housing! Chickens, duck, swan, geese, goats, donkey, llama, guinea pigs, pot-bellied pigs, ferrets, turtles, desert turtles, peacocks...the list goes on and on (you'll have to see the video). Of them all, I think Heath was most taken aback by the Grey Wolf. Yeah, no kidding! They had wolves! Also, a minx which we believe Miss Bonnie herself was feeding at the time we saw it! FYI, the area is named after the woman who bought it in the 70s, according to the tale we heard. We spent most of the day there having a late lunch before we left. Cole seemed to like it and didn't mind scampering off whenever Daddy wasn't looking. We wouldn't hesitate to go again if we heard of any new addition they had to their petting zoo. Remember to wear sunscreen folks! Especially if you're going to make a day of it like we did and bring water to drink.

New Haircuts

Cole's hair grows so quickly. Heath took it upon himself to master the task of cutting Cole's hair even with all the squirming and twitching and grabbing...well, amongst all that, it just wasn't working out. A snip here a buzz there, it was uneven. We just shaved it all off figuring summer was coming and Cole was somewhat of a hothead anyway (pun? what pun??) That was a month ago. It's growing back quickly; I assure you if you miss it in the photos (I know he's a gorgeous baby! Bias? Me?), it is growing back. We'll see how the haircuts go in the future.

I also got my haircut...maybe 10 inches. Don't be shocked, it's me in the photos. I thought it was time to look my age. Being pregnant was the perfect time to cut it, too. My hair is growing extra fast...and now that's it short, I don't have to tie it back when I'm throwing up from morning sickness. Sorry, is that TMI (too much information)? Also, I tend to get hot easily and with Nevada heat, short hair is probably going to pay off. I'm sending my 10 inches of trimming off to be made into wigs. Maybe next time it won't take me 10 years to do it again. By the way, it's been awhile since we've posted any photos 1. in part to my "morning" sickness and 2. due to the fact that we lost the camera battery charger and just now replaced it. Thanks for your patience. Enjoy!

"Perfect Little Family"

At our last visit, the OB referred us to a specialist. We weren't sure why, but we went along with it. This office has been different from the beginning compared to the one we went to for Cole. With Cole, we didn't even see the doctor until the fifth month. All the office visits up until then were with nurses taking my weight and other vitals and even writing my prescriptions. This office with the new baby...oh, did I mention we were pregnant again? Well, in case you hadn't heard...anyway, so the new office scheduled us to see the doctor as soon as they confirmed I was pregnant and I've seen her every four weeks since. She is a whole other story. So getting back to the point. We went to see the specialist as directed. They did a sonogram and showed us all the baby's parts (I was 16 weeks along at this point) telling us how great they looked and oh, by the way it's a girl! Okay, so we got some information out of all the confusion. It 's a girl. I'm still sick, but it's not like with Cole where any cough, hiccup, burp, etc. would send me into a vomiting fit...until the day he was born! Yeah, insane. No rhyme or reason or sense to it. Thank you all for your sympathy! I'll post the sonogram photos once they're scanned into the computer. It's a girl!