Progress

We've gone from this exactly 3 weeks ago (Jared snowblowing our driveway after a snowstorm)


















To this exactly 2 weeks ago (no, we weren't offroading, this was our windshield while driving down a gravel road which was almost pure mud with big potholes)


















To no snow and +15 today (sorry, I didn't take a picture)! Yay, spring is here!!

A Busy + Happy Easter

Thank you all for your comments! It was fun to finally make the big announcement! When I was pregnant with Kiera, my in-laws accidentally found out when I was 7 weeks along (they were looking through my pictures and saw the one of the positive pregnancy test), so this time, I wanted to keep it a secret longer. Mission accomplished! It was hard to hide it as I was sick on + off all day every day for the whole month of March and into April, but it's slowly getting better now. I wasn't very nauseous (I haven't thrown up with either pregnancy), but I just felt gross + exhausted. I've been waking up every night to go pee and then sometimes I lie awake afterward for up to 2 hours. This last week has been much better, so I pray that continues.

Life has been crazy! My sister + brother-in-law flew out from Washington for Easter and we saw them 7 days in a row! It was also a surprise for the extended family, so that was another secret I had to keep! It was perfect timing as we were able to tell them (along with my parents) about the pregnancy in person! I completely threw them off because I said, "I'm getting a new job!" They were totally confused and then I said, "I'll still be taking care of Kiera, but I'll also be looking after he little brother or sister!" It took a second for it to click and then there was joyful pandemonium! This was our schedule this past week:

Tuesday - went to my parents' house

Wednesday - went to my parents' house again

Thursday - Art + Jenene came over

Friday - family gathering on my dad's side

Saturday - family gathering on my mom's side

Sunday - saw my family at my parents' church and then we went to a family gathering for lunch on Jared's side and then had supper at his dad + stepmom's house with the rest of his family

Monday - went for supper with my family

They leave today and that is sad for me. Kiera started saying "NeeNee" which is Jenene's nickname and she doesn't say "Art," but she knows who he is. I wonder how long she will remember them before she forgets and has to get to know them all over again the next time she sees them. I even shed a few tears after we got home last night. I figured out that I have a harder time with them leaving us than I did when I left them in Washington. I'm not sure why that is. Nevertheless, I'm still very thankful for the time we get to spend with them, even if it is only twice a year. It was a very blessed Easter!

Fun Fun Fun!

Life has been extremely busy but fun! After being cooped up all winter, I'm definitely enjoying the change. My parents took Kiera for the night the other night and we went to cell group. After cell group (which ended around 10 p.m.), we went to our friends' house to play Bohnanza. We were out 'til after 1 a.m. (I usually go to bed between 11-11:30) and only got to bed at 2:00! I was SO zonked! It was fun to do something out of the ordinary, but I'm such a mom! I can't stay up late like that like I used to when I was 19 years old. Jared, on the other hand, can stay up 'til all hours of the night. My parents had Kiera for the whole day the next day, so Jared + I went and shared a large strawberry smoothie and rented Fireproof! AMAZING movie! Sure, the acting isn't the best compared to other movies, but the storyline is powerful! Parts of it moved me to tears and I was very much impacted by it.

Kiera has been SO much fun lately! We absolutely just love this age! She only slept 10 hours at my parents through the night (she normally sleeps 13 hours) and then had only a 1.5-hour nap (she usually naps anywhere from 2-4 hours) and then we went to a family gathering with her all evening and she was totally happy the whole time, despite being tired! She used to start crying as soon as she got really tired, so it's WONDERFUL to have that stage over with! She still gets cranky or fussy sometimes when she's tired, but for the most part she is a lot easier than she used to be! Praise the Lord!

On a different note, Kiera has something to tell you. :)

New Look For Spring

I got tired of my blog layout again, so since some of my friends have been changing their's, I decided I would hop on the band wagon. Sorry if it's too girly for some of you, particularly any guys who may read this, but it probably won't stay like this forever since I tend to change it every few months or so.

Kiera is a major snacker...she eats about 10 times a day but small portions. So, everywhere we go, I take cheerios and Ritz crackers along. She learned the word "cookie" this week which she calls the Ritz crackers. My friend's 3-year-old daughter has caught on to the fact that I always have Ritz crackers for Kiera. Her mom recently bought Ritz crackers for their family and her daughter calls them "Kiera's cookies." I think that's so funny and it's interesting how kids' minds work! Kiera started pulling out my tupperware containers today and tossing them all over the floor and while she was doing that she said, "Mess! Mess!" She totally understands what a mess is and sometimes she even helps clean up (like today), which is nice. Most of the time, it's me cleaning up, though. Speaking of which, I need to go sweep the floor!

Fun Times

I've really been enjoying Kiera these days. She's been very well behaved with very little yelling and she's usually happy which makes life a whole lot more enjoyable. I'd say this is definitely my favorite age so far (she'll be a year and a half old this month). Jared has also been enjoying her a lot more these days. She's fun to play with and laughs fairly easily. I'd say the biggest challenge right now is her not walking, but she's slowly gaining more confidence and can now walk with only holding onto us with one hand. I had a dream two nights ago that she was walking on her own, so I know it's going to happen! She's been saying more new words and I find it hard to keep track of them. I think she's up to about 30 words now. Her more recent ones are purse, mess, no, pony, push, fish, and pull. Here is Kiera's newest favorite game:

Tricked Ya!

Yay, I managed to trick all of you! That was a really hard one. It is white grape jello mixed with 7-up that didn't set properly. I had it in the fridge and it stayed runny, so then I put it in the freezer and it turned into this really weird consistency. I ended up throwing most of it out, but quickly took a picture before it ended up in the garbage. Thanks for all your guesses!

Kiera woke up one morning and I found her like this:























She had both legs in one pant leg, so she was my little mermaid girl. How she managed to stand up in her crib like that, I'm not sure!

April Fool's

I haven't managed to trick everyone yet with these pictures, so I'm going to try again! Can you tell me what this is?