Swimming, Brunch, & Toddler "Work"

...swimming...

A few weekends ago we pretended like it was summer 

and dug out our swim suits for a pool day!

(Nate's idea, not mine...since my pregnancy

pudge wasn't too excited about swimwear)

We met some friends at the Cottonwood Heights Rec Center

and let the kids swim like fishes at their indoor splash pad.

Marcus, Baby Lucy, and Mabel

Mabel loves their frog slide:

...brunch...

We also had our birth class friends over for

brunch...now everyone has TWO kids!

(our 2nd is still a bun in the oven but that counts!)

We missed you Liz and the boys!

Our best attempts at a group kid shot:

...work...

The other day Mabel came into the kitchen

like this and told me she was heading to work.

(that's a keyboard under her arm)

Toddler jobs require a lot these days.

Jam Sessions

We had Nate's sister Kristy and her husband Dave
over for dinner a few weeks ago. Since Mabel has been
playing her little guitar a lot lately I asked
Kristy to bring her guitar over too.
Nate got out his guitar and
Mabel is the now officially the newest member of
The Red Unsaid!

Nate and Kristy's band, The Red Unsaid, released
their first CD titled,
'Nearly A Thousand Miles' in 2006.
(You can have a listen here.  Complication
is one of my favorites.)
If you would like an autographed CD
come on over and I'll hook you up. :)

I would love it if Mabel inherited some of Nate's musical

abilities. (and his straight hair)
That guy writes songs in his head everyday.

He is always tapping a beat on something. 

His newest passion is the drums but he has played

the bass and the guitar since he was a teenager....he

even played the french horn in junior high.

He recorded a CD of guitar songs for me to listen to while he
was on his mission (loves songs he wrote...so cheesy and
romantic and you better believe I fell asleep every night
listening to those babies on my discman.
Every rocker has a soft side right?)

He also played the guitar and sang a song
he had secretly written for 

me at our wedding reception.

Guitar Girls

Mabel loves Uncle Dave...especially

building some TALL towers together!

Kristy and Dave are Italian Soda connoisseurs and they

mixed us up some awesome "fizzy drinks" as 

Mabel likes to call them :)

Nate made his new favorite dinner...bacon wrapped

chicken and Kristy brought the 

creamiest ever mashed potatoes and gravy. 

Playing dress up with

Aunt Kristy's hat and boots!

....jam sessions....

Twinkle Twinkle Where's My Toothpick?

Itsy Bitsy Fighter

Kristy's New Song
(She played us a new song she had
recently written and Nate made up a second guitar part)


Kristy's New Song Fast Version
(Nate wanted to see what the song would sound
like if it were sped up a bit...Mabel busted
out some serious dance moves to this version,
1:43 is my favorite part)

TRAX

Yesterday morning we had an appointment with our midwife
(we go every 4 weeks) and we got to see our little baby boy growing and
wiggling around in my belly. I love hearing his heartbeat and seeing him move
all around on the ultrasound screen.  After our appointment Nate asked
what Mabel and I had planned for the day....I had nothing up my sleeve.
Coming up with winter activities for a toddler (that are inexpensive and fun...
AND can hold a tiny attention span) can be exhausting.
But at that moment I had a brilliant idea:

We were going downtown to ride Trax! 

Not too exciting for the average person, I know. I have plenty of Trax
riding under my belt from when we lived in Salt Lake, had one car,
and both worked full time and went to school full time -
but I knew that Mabel would LOVE it! My hunch was right.
This was her face pretty much the entire time we were on the train:

Pure JOY!

I loved seeing her excitement and hearing her questions.

(and her constant commentary. on EVERYTHING.)

This girl is a talker!

We started a "Mabel Quote Jar" at the beginning of the

year and it is almost full already! Time to get a bigger jar

because she says something hilarious everyday and

I don't want to forget these little memories.

We got off and explored the downtown library...

which I think is one of the coolest

buildings in Salt Lake, don't you?

Hot chocolate and cookie break!

It was freezing waiting outside at the train 

station so we got some good snuggle time 

in to keep warm.  Mabel would look at 

my eyes and tell me the colors, then I would 

list the colors in hers and she would say, 

"No, my eyes are hazel!"

I told her I loved that color and wanted to 

take a picture of them....

so of course she closed them.

Gotta love a two year old stinker!

We had such a great adventure together,

she couldn't wait to tell daddy that she rode the

train.  It was a good day with this little person.

a baby brother...

We are having a

BOY!

 We had such a great experience at Millcreek Imaging

Center. Our ultrasound technician was so patient and sweet
with Mabel and let her help with everything.  She also
gave us the great news that our baby is healthy and growing
right on schedule - and it's a BOY!

I felt like we were meant to have a baby boy since

before we started trying. I had an experience where
I just knew there was a little boy that was meant to be
part of our family.  It would surprise Nate early
on when I would confidently talk about our baby
 as a boy. Now the problem is boy names...
so hard for us.

Mabel is starting to grasp the concept that her little brother
is growing inside my tummy. The other day she randomly
lifted up my shirt (in the middle of the store) and
gave my belly a hug and a kiss. She has such
a tender heart and this little brother will
be blessed to have such a great big sister.

I read this post from a blogger I follow
about "Introducing a New Baby to 
Your First" and I loved her thoughts and advice.

22 Weeks with Baby Boy and Baby Mabel 

(makes me want to chop my hair and straighten it but I am NOT giving in this time!)

Ice Castles

A few weeks ago we drove to Midway

and met some friends at the Ice Castles.

Mabel, who had just seen Disney's Frozen 

the week before, kept saying it looked 

just like Elsa's house!

I agreed.