Tulip Festival and Mother's Day

FOr Mother's DAy I wanted to go to the tulip festival in Albany, NY but Jared was on call and didn't want me going by myself, but then Jared got someone to trade a Saturday with him so he could take me. I was excited to take some pictures of all the flowere, but forgot to charge my battery so half way through my camera died :(
Despite the rain the flowers were still pretty and Addi looks pretty excited to be there.
This is my belly at 32 weeks we are almost there.
Another reason to go to Albany was to find where I lived when I was Addi's age. Since my parents couldn't remember our address it took a little bit of driving and a lot of calls to my mom, but we found it.
I wanted a picture of Addi sitting on the steps because I have a picture of me sitting on these steps but she wasn't as excited about finding the house as she was about the flowers.
This is where my dad went to medical school and the reason I lived in Albany when I was little.
A few things I learned on this trip, my belly makes a nice little shelf to make sandwiches on in the car. Always charge your camera battery before going on a photography adventure. Yelling the ABC as loud as you can is a fun thing to do when you are bored in the car (at least addi feels that way). Write down places that you have lived so when your kids ask you 25 years later you can remember. And don't get stuck in a hail storm a block away from your car when you are 32 weeks pregnant and there is no hope of you running.
On Mother's Day I got breakfast in bed, went to church, came home with the urge to cleaned so I cleaned (despite my husband assuring me I didn't need to clean on mother's day) until I was tired,took a nap, made Chinese food with my husband talked to my mother, other-in-law, and grandmothers, and then skyping my mom so I could be part of the phone call with my missionary brother before going to bed very late. Now today I took the day off and have done nothing but eat ice cream while watching TV with Addi, blogging and talking to my mother.

Weekend Adventure: Boston

May 1, 2010- Boston,Ma
Last weekend our weekend adventure took us to Boston.
I decided I wanted to go to the temple before the baby comes and I can't go for awhile, so Jared and Addi dropped me off. Addi wasn't to happy that she didn't get to go with mommy, but Daddy took her to the children's museum instead.
And what could be better than the children's museum? The children's museum with a Curious George exhibit. Addi loves George and would watch him all day if she could.
She also got to play at Arther's house.
And build a few things. After the museum They came back and got me and we all headed into the city to walk along the freedom trail.
The freedom trails is a walking path through Boston with a bunch of historical sights along it.
Things like Paul Revere's House.
And different monuments.
Old north church where people sit in little boxes that each family rents out. Sometimes you would think people at our church rent out their benches since everyone ends up sitting in the same place every week.
The whole trail is 2.5 miles, but we only made it as far as the harbor(about 2/3 of the way) because I don't think I could have made it any further. We had parked in a 2 hour meter parking and I knew I wouldn't make it back in time so Jared left us to take our time while he made his way back to put more money in the meter. Little did I know that after I turned the corner I would have to walk up a hill. Addi was throwing a fit because I made her get back in the stroller so I could push her up the hill. I started having a contraction that last about 10 min. Everyone was staring at the large pregnant would wincing as she push the screaming child up the hill by herself, and I am sure they were all wondering what I was thinking. But we made it and eventually meet up with Jared at the old cemetery.
This cemetery has many famous people in it including Paul Revere, John Hancock, and Mother Goose.
Addi was having so much fun she decided to eat some of the dirt. For some reason dirt in a cemetery seems grosser than dirt else where.
After the trail we hung out in the public gardens which is like the central park of Boston.


Although I thought I may end up going into labor after this trip we had fun and my contractions eventually stopped after I was able to sit for a while.

Weekend adventure: Plymouth

April 24, 2010-Plymouth, MA
We have had quite a few family adventures the last few weeks. We decided that since much of our summer we will be a little preoccupied by our new little one we better see New England while we can. So a couple weeks ago we decided last min to drive to Plymouth Rock
Plymouth, MA is a really nice town right on the ocean. If we were staying on the east coast it is a place I wouldn't mind living.
We saw the mayflower (it is actually the mayflower II and the the original Mayflower).
And of course Plymouth Rock, which is a lot smaller than I always thought. It is just a large rock about the size people use in there yard. I was expecting a much larger rock that could hold more than 2 people at a time.
There were lots of museums and monuments to see. We only went to the free things, because we are cheap.
We then found this nice park in the middle of town to have lunch at. Addi wanted to sit on her own bench. The day was perfect with lovely blue skies we couldn't have asked for more.
When we told Addi we were going to see a big rock she kept telling us she was going to throw it in the water. Since we couldn't throw the big rock in the water we found some smaller rocks to throw in the water.
After we had seen all we wanted to see we headed to the beach. Jared was having fun with my camera and my zoom lens and amoung the many pictures of ducks, birds and airplanes that he took I found this picture and really liked it.
Addi had fun walking on the beach.
And digging in the dirt until she realized it was making her hands dirty.
Here is my belly at 30 weeks.
It was a long drive almost 3 hours because we took the scenic route, but Addi was good and we had a lot of fun as a family, and now we can say we went to Plymouth rock even it isn't quite the rock we thought it was.

Kids update

Yes that says Kids as in more than one. Kid number 2 may not have made an appearance yet but they are still making themselves known in our lives, plus lets not forget about Tito.
We will start with Addi. Addi is getting bigger and more independent everyday. She turned two and decided she was a big girl. She wants to do everything herself. Everything is "Addi's Turn" or "My turn". This is not the most ideal situation when it is pouring down rain and she insists on buckling her own carseat while you are getting soaked by the rain. She also decided she was to big for her highchair so we let her sit in a booster at the table with us until she decided that wasn't good enough and now she sits at her own little table to eat.
We thought we had the potty training thing down until we got a nice little stomach bug and I put her in diaper because I couldn't deal with the mess while both of us were sick. She is now in pull ups and tells us about half of the time she needs to go.
See those lovely little teeth. Up until about 2 weeks ago Addi only had 6 teeth, 4 on top and 2 on bottom and if we are friends on facebook you may have noticed that Addi broke one of those 6 teeth. Addi and Daddy were playing a little to rough and Addi ended up face planting it into her rocking chair which broke one of her bottom incisors off. So, we went to visit daddy at work the next day to get it fixed. Addi didn't like that to much, but she did get 3 stickers, a curious george book, and a new Cinderella tooth brush. We also got x-rays while we were there to make sure she did indeed have all her teeth in there which she does. The last couple of weeks she has broken 4 molars, so now she has 10 teeth. With her new found chewing abilities Addi also decided she was no longer a vegetarian and that she likes chicken nuggets yeah for teeth and a new food to eat.
And now for baby number 2. On April fools day I had a Dr appt. At the appt I had both protein and glucose in my urine and I was measuring big. I thought for sure I had gestational diabetes. I already had a glucose test the following week along with another ultra sound so the dr just said lets wait and see. Well I past the glucose test with flying colors, but the ultrasound was another story. The baby is fine and nothing is wrong as far as we know the baby is just a very big baby. I have another u/s in a couple weeks to check again, but I am thinking I'm having a big baby and since I already have contractions all the time maybe we can have this baby a little early. I am now 30 weeks and very uncomfortable so I would not mind if the baby came a couple of weeks early. This baby moves all the time and likes to kick me in the ribs. This one is much more active than Addi was, he/she just doesn't want to be ignored and makes sure we are aware of him/her all the time. Addi better get ready for some competition.
As I mentioned earlier we can't forget about Tito. Tito turned 4 years old earlier this month and we celebrated by inviting the family that take care of him while we are gone over for dinner. Addi loves Tito and always wants him to sit on her lap. Sometimes her will and sometimes he can't take all the loving and runs away. Tito misses his freedom to run around outside in his backyard, but we try to take him on lots of walks. Soon we will be done with all this schooling and have a house with a backyard again.

Our New Favorite Park

Last week was spring break and while normally that wouldn't make a different since Jared doesn't get a spring break anymore and Addi isn't in school yet it did cancel all the things we normally go to during the day playgroup, story time and gym time, so we had to find other things to take up our time. We decided to go checkout this new park/nature center we had recently heard about. Addi loved it from the moment we got there and she saw the horses and sheep out in the pasture.
As soon as I let her out of the car she was off to see the animals.
Then when we were walking around Addi discovered a cat and was following the cat where ever it went.
The cat eventually led us out to the nature center where there was trails through the trees and a little creek with a bridge. We played stopped to play a little pooh sticks (where you drop your sticks in the water on one side of the bridge and see who's stick comes out the other side first.)
After we were done with that we made our way back up to the barn to see all the animals. I mentioned in an earlier post that Addi now thinks she can climb anything and the fences at the barn were no different.
Addi really enjoyed herself and mom got a workout following her around for 2.5 hours. She had to see all the animals several times and was singing old mcdonald as she went (I got it on video but it was to noisy and you can't hear her). We will be going to this park again. And for all our CT friends it is Farm day at the park on Sat May 15th if you want to join us.

FFF

What does FFF stand for? Only 3 of our favorite words Free Family Fun. With not having a lot of family time during the week we try to make the most of our Saturdays and do something fun. Since we are on a tight budget the less money we spend the better so when we hear the words free family fun we are all over it. Here are a few of the things we have done the last month or so.
Jared took Addi to the St. Patrick's day parade in the rain. She doesn't really look like she is having to much fun and they didn't stay the whole time, but she loves spending time with her daddy.
Maple festival in Hebron, CT. One Saturday Jared was up watching the news and heard those 3 little words free family fun so he perked up and found out about the Maple Festival that was taking place that day only 30 min away so we got ready and headed out to see what fun we could have. There was booths set up all up and down the street and Addi enjoyed playing on the fire trucks.
We got to go to a maple house and see how maple syrup is made. Did you know that this year it took almost 70 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of maple syrup. Enjoy this picture because it is a rare one of my growing belly (25 weeks).
There was a mommy and baby cow at the maple house.
And Addi enjoyed the free samples of milk she kept going back for more.
Addi last 4 out of 5 min in the bounce house with big kids which is 3 min longer than I expected her to last.
Last weekend it was rainy so we decided to checkout a children's museum we hadn't been to yet. It isn't exactly free but since we have a membership it didn't cost us anything since we paid for the membership months ago. Addi loves bubbles and what is better than a giant bubble you can fit in.
Jared taught Addi how to climb a rock wall at a park near by and now she thinks she can climb anything by herself.
Even daddy had fun and said this was his favorite children's museum so far.
Daddy plying in the sand long after Addi has moved on to something else.
The next day on Sunday we went to a Cemetery in Hartford to see Horace Well's and many other famous peoples graves. (Horace Wells is the one who thought of using nitic oxide during dental procedures).
A cemetery may not sound like fun but Addi had fun running around and posing for pictures.