Girls will be girls....

Today we drove by a construction area and trying to expand her interests from dolls and stuffed animals and other girly things, I said to Charlotte, "Look at all the bulldozers and backhoes and diggers and trucks!"

Charlotte replied in a dejected little voice, "I don't like diggers and trucks and backhoes and boy stuff. Well, except sometimes I like trucks."

Because you know what she did with the trucks she and daddy played with a few days ago? The big truck and the medium truck got married and had three little baby trucks...

February 2012

And now, here we are at 15 weeks and 4 days. Exciting news...I felt the baby moving for the first time yesterday! I thought I had felt a few little flutters over the last week, but for sure I could feel it yesterday, and could even feel it from the outside with my hand on my tummy! It's super early, but I felt Charlotte moving at exactly 16 weeks, and they say that it's usually earlier with your second because you know what to expect. I was so thrilled yesterday to feel like this is actually real! I have been feeling so good with this pregnancy that it's been fooling me sometimes into forgetting that I'm pregnant. So this little kicking is a reminder that there is indeed a teeny tiny little baby in there (probably about 5 inches long!). What a miracle!

Valentine's Day dinner was stir fry with the tofu cut into a heart for each person.
I'm so creative.... :)

Charlotte still loves tofu as much as she did as a baby!

Here is our little dare devil riding her brand new bike from Grandpa Randy (a Christmas present). She is doing so well on it, and the mild winter has allowed us to go out and ride a couple of times already! The bike is, of course, pink and purple with princesses on it.

All dressed up and ready to go! Helmet? Check. Sunglasses? Check. Hello Kitty gloves? Check. Pink cowgirl boots? Check.

And so it begins

When we were pregnant with Charlotte, we documented growth via pictures of the belly. We didn't start as early with this pregnancy, but here is the first installment at 11 weeks and 4 days. Stay tuned for our "expanding family." :)

11 weeks 4 days
Some of this tummy seems to be "left over" from my pregnancy with Charlotte...

Happy Fetus Day!

Today marks 11 weeks and 1 day of pregnancy, which also means today the baby becomes a fetus instead of an embryo! Big accomplishment! :) Everything is pretty much formed now, and just has to get bigger until the middle of August when we expect him/her to arrive.

The first picture below is at 6 weeks a 1 day, and was the picture we used to announce this little one to our families at Christmas. The baby is the tiny little jellybean at the bottom of the big black circle (the gestational sac). We could see the heartbeat even at that time when it was so tiny! The other two pictures are from 10 weeks and 1 day. We could see the baby moving around and waving its little arms and legs!

Charlotte's riddle

Charlotte has really been into telling knock knock jokes and riddles recently. She's actually pretty good at telling jokes and getting the punchline correct! Here's one she wanted to do on camera.

The next Dr. Florek

Technically, she is a veterinarian, taking care of 2 of her sick kitties. Shes wearing Kristi's scrubs and med school name badge and Matt's stethoscope and pager and a Mayo Clinic issue scrub cap. Cute.

How to take care of a baby

Charlotte: What do you have to do to take care of a baby?
Mama: Well, you have to feed it, and love it, change diapers, burp it, keep it safe, rock it to sleep, hold it...
Charlotte: (pauses for a moment, thinking) Hmmm, I think I'll wait a little while then.