And baby makes four!

So I guess it's time to finally make it official. We are expecting baby #2! I'm about 12 weeks along and due in the middle of August (my official due date is the 12th). So far, so good! Like with my first pregnancy I am not experiencing any nausea or many of the other symptoms. The only real symptom I have is being tired a lot. Hopefully this pregnacy goes as smoothly as the first one (fingers crossed!). We are thrilled to be having another baby and cannot wait for the little one to join the family. Since we already have a boy, we are hoping for a little girl, but we will be happy with either. As long as they are healthy and happy I will be thrilled. Here's a sneak peak for everyone!

2011 Family Photos

I just realized that I never created a post about the family photos we took back in November. Since I plan on making a yearly album from my blog I wanted to make sure to include them. Back in early November I had one of my good friends and sorority sisters (Heidi Rae) take our family pictures at Breckenridge Park. Although James wasn't completely cooperative and it was a little hot that day, we got some great shots. Here is a sampling from the over one-hundred photos she took. Enjoy!

One of the only good group shots we got

Nice candid moment

My little man is 3 now!

playing in the tunnels (he loved these)

really cool tree we found for James to sit in

Muscle man!

me and my little man

he's gonna be a lady-killer one of these days :-)

Would have been a great photo if James was smiling

handsome little guy

hamming it up

*Wink*

My little family

James and his wonderful Daddy

Love him!

Awww, love this one!

silly boy

me and my handsome hubby

awesome photo with the lighting

My little Superman! (these were his thank you cards for his birthday)

Heidi did such a great job and I can't wait for her to take our pictures again this year!

Saturday @ The Cove

This past Saturday we headed down to The Cove, a restaurant/bar/car wash/laundromat with a play scape and patio, here in San Antonio with our friends the Hutchison's. Little did we know they were holding a high school "Battle of the Bands" event that afternoon, but it was still nice to enjoy the beautiful weather and great company. Despite it being rather crowded, James and his buddy Logan had a blast playing all afternoon and eating ice cream. I am looking forward to the springtime when we can do this kind of thing every weekend.

What a goofball!

It should be "terrible threes", not "terrible twos"

Why do they call them "terrible twos"? My little three year old behaves much worse than he ever did when he was two. He acts out and disobeys us SO much more than he used to. I know, it just a phase and "this too shall pass" (at least that is what everyone keeps telling me), but there are some days I don't even know how to deal with him and no punishment seems to suffice. I've heard about children "pushing your limits" to see what they can get away with, but sometimes the blatant disobedience and disrespect I receive from my child is ridiculous. My husband says it's a good thing that we have a "willful" child because it will benefit him in the long run when he enters the real world. Maybe if he was the one dealing with it 24/7 he would have a different outlook...then again, probably not because he's stubborn and wouldn't want to admit that I'm right. :-)

I just want to warn all of the mothers out there that still have toddlers, if you think 2 is bad, just wait until they're 3. They can talk back much better at this age and have a firmer grasp on how to push your buttons. I love my child more than anything in the world, but there are definitely days that I daydream more about life before him. I've never been categorized as a patient person and having a three year old definitely pushes my limits on patience, even more than I'd like to admit.

I know I'm not alone when it comes to having a difficult three year old, but some days it feels like an insurmountable battle and I'm the lone warrior. I have tried everything from timeout to TV restrictions to behavior charts and nothing seems to work. Luckily, he seems to behave relatively well for others, like his teachers, grandparents and babysitters. He just decides to be a "devil-child" with his parents. I guess if there's a silver-lining that would be it. He respects other adults, just not us (well that makes me sad). The only thing I can do is foster our relationship to the best of my ability, hold firm on my rules, and hope that it will get better with time. It will get better, right?


P.S. After reading through this it sounds like I have a horrible child and I don't. He's just extremely difficult at times. There are plenty of times that he is incredibly sweet...like when he looks at me sweetly and says, "I know I just love you" as he is hugging my arm. Or when he comes into our bed in the morning to snuggle before the day begins.

"Terrible twos or threes" aside, having a child is the biggest blessing I have been given and I look forward to watching him grow into the wonderful, caring man that I know he will be.

Trip to the Zoo

The weather lately has been so nice in San Antonio (highs in the 70s) so last week we decided to head to the zoo with my SIL Melissa and baby Louisa. It just confirmed that I need to renew my membership to the San Antonio Zoo. It really is a great zoo and James loves it, so we will definitely be going many more times this year. Here are some photos from that day:

James checking out the black bears

James and the elephants

I love this shot

James on the infamous lions at the front of the zoo

The Fire Pit

After getting a magazine from Lowes with various projects, my husband was inspired to build a fire pit in our backyard so we could enjoy those cool evenings outside by the fire. Anyone that knows my husband, knows he doesn't do anything on a small scale, so of course we ended up with a rather large fire pit, but it turned out really nice. We have already enjoyed two fires and what's a fire without some s'mores making?

The pit almost finished

The finished product

The first fire in the pit (of course James is pantsless again)

roasting marshmallows for S'mores

Christmas in New England

This year we ventured up to Chelmsford, Massachusetts to spend Christmas with Mike's parents and sister. It has been a couple of years since we were able to spend a holiday with them so it was really nice that we got to spend a full week with them. I was also excited about the opportunity for James to play in snow. The last time we were up there for Christmas was when he was only 1 year old so he didn't really fully appreciate the playtime in the snow, but I knew he would this time. Much to my chagrin, there wasn't any snow on the ground when we got there and the forecast didn't indicate that we were to get any of significance while we were up there, so that bummed me out. Auntie Kate, however, was determined to find some snow for James to play in, so we ventured out one day and drove north to find some. An hour later, we came across some snow! And James absolutely loved it!

James throwing snow at Auntie Kate

James wanted to go snow tubing over and over and over again

Making snow angels with Auntie Kate

The rest of the week, we tried to keep James occupied with activities. One afternoon we headed to an Enchanted Village, which apparently existed when James' Nanny (Mike's mom) was a little girl and has since been refurbished. They had the enchanted village complete with snow machines, a Santa to get pictures with and a Christmas laser show, which despite the long wait, was actually quite entertaining, especially for a three year old.

James on Daddy's shoulders at the Enchanted Village with the snow falling

James at the Enchanted Village

One of the many scenes in the Enchanted Village.
(The mannequins actually moved and were quite creepy, but James seemed to enjoy it)

James with Santa Claus

James had an absolute blast with is Nanny, Poppy and Auntie Kate and didn't even want to leave. Here are some of the photos from the remainder of the trip.

Making cookies for Santa with Auntie Kate

On Christmas morning, ready to open presents

Digging into his Santa bag

James and Auntie Kate wearing the ridiculous glow-in-the-dark glasses Poppy got for them

It wasn't a white Christmas, but we did get some flurries. Here's James attempting to catch some on his tongue.

Making a gingerbread house with Auntie Kate

I'm actually bummed that I didn't get photos of James with his Nanny and Poppy, but we had a wonderful time and look forward to many more holidays with them. Hope everyone had a safe and happy holidays!