Arriving August 2010

We found out just before Christmas that we were expecting again! Our new baby's due date is August 22, 2010. We were able to tell my mom when she came to visit in December. We also told Jeff's parents at Christmas while they were visiting for the holiday. Nora is really excited and hoping she gets a sister. Ronan is clueless.
We had our first ultrasound a couple of weeks ago. I wish I had a scanner so I could post the baby's first picture. We're planning to keep the sex of the baby a surprise this time. We'll see if Jeff and I are actually capable of this! We know it's going to be a crazy year, but we're really excited!

House for Sale

We put our house back on the market in the beginning of January. After all the problems we had with our agent in September we decided to try one more time. We did a lot of work around the house: touching up paint, decluttering, and deep cleaning. We're hoping that the our house sells and that we'll be in a new house this summer. Here is the listing:
http://www.johnlscott.com/propertydetail.aspx?IS=1&ListingID=300464100
We hired a new agent this time around and she has been fantastic. No split personality this time! She had done a great job marketing the house and even did a virtual tour for us. Here it is: http://www.visualtour.com/show.asp?t=2074169&prt=10003

Bath Time

The kids love bath time. They always take one right after dinner and at least one of the kids will be in the bathroom before the rest of us are done eating. They usually stay in there long enough for either Jeff or me to get the kitchen clean. Ronan can be pretty wild with splashing and throwing toys out of the tub. Another battle we have is trying to get them to brush their teeth. The love to chew on their toothbrushes, but neither one of them allows me to scrub them anymore.

Chuck E. Cheese

Yesterday was a long day. We didn't have much direction and spent a lot of time talking about what we should be doing. Ronan took a late nap, so we knew the kids wouldn't be going to bed early. Jeff suggested a quick trip to Chuck E. Cheese before dinner to waste some time. The kids loved it! It's amazing how long $3 can last.

This was a crazy ride that Nora went on and it would raise her up into the air pretty high. She loved it, but held on tight.

Nora was happy to go on the Barney ride.

It might not look like it in this picture, but the kids were excited to ride on Clifford. They have been really into Clifford lately because he is at the Children's Museum.

Nora and Ronan played a few games that gave them tickets. At the end we had 31 tickets. That doesn't get you a whole lot at the ticket store. Nora had a hard time choosing something and ended up getting a barrette for her hair. Ronan got a plastic frog.

Swim Lessons

We started swim lessons again this weekend. Nora loves swimming on her own. This time her class is all boys except for her! Ronan swims in the class right next to Nora with Jeff. It's a great way to start the weekend. Sorry this picture is so fuzzy...she's still cute though, isn't she? And of course, Nora is wearing her new Princess Ariel bathing suit.

Nana Visits

My mom decided to come out for a last minute trip to see her grandbabies. She came out on a Saturday morning and left on Monday afternoon. Even though it was a short visit we had a great time. We didn't do much, except hang out around the house. Nana did a ton of reading and puzzles with Nora. We also rented a couple of movies and Nora watched Annie for the first time.
Ronan discovered Elmo right before Nana came and quickly realized that Nana would read his favorite Elmo book to him over and over again. The only two words he said all weekend were, "Nana" and "Elmo." It was really cute and annoying at the same time.

Nana snuggling with the grandbabies after their bath.

Zoo

There aren't many days in January that you can go to the zoo. Jeff had to work one Sunday morning and since it wasn't raining, we decided to go feed the birds at the zoo. Nora and Ronan love going to the zoo and walking around. I can't wait for this summer when we can spend hours there! Nora is a little scared to have the birds land on her by herself.

When we first got in, Ronan dumped his juice on a bird. Then when one landed on my arm he tried to grab it! I can't believe we weren't kicked out!

White River

We went snow shoeing at White River with Eric. We were a little nervous heading up because the weather was supposed to be warm and there was even rain predicted. However, it turned out to be a beautiful day. We could have hiked without our jackets!
This was the first trip we took to White River. It's a few miles farther than Trillium Lake where we usually go, but it has better sledding. We didn't realize the the hills were actually on the trail, so we needed to hike with our sled. We didn't actually end up sledding. I was really slow that morning and the boys were able to hike two miles, but I had to turn back early.

Ronan fell asleep on my back. Jeff had to take a picture of him to show me that he could breathe.

This was Eric's first trip snow shoeing. I think he's addicted like the rest of us.

Nora loves riding on Jeff's back. He's a quick hiker and will go up and down hills with her. The trail we went on was right next to a river and it was beautiful to see it in the snow.

Our little family.

Eric's Piano

Eric and Brian recently got a new piano. We went to see the piano after the Chinese Gardens. Eric brought along some Disney music and played some songs for Nora. She was pretty impressed!

Chinese Garden

We started off the New Year with our first trip to the Chinese Gardens. They were celebrating their ten year anniversary with ten free days to the gardens. Eric met us and we had a great time wandering through the gardens. I loved the stone pathways.

We thought that Nora might like the miniature trees behind us, but she refused to look at them.

Eric took a picture of us from across the pond.

It was actually a really cold day and Nora is bending her knees trying to keep warm.