I'm back....For a season at least...

So much to write about, where to start? Sorry I just dropped off my blog without any warning. We had to figure out a way to make cutbacks when Max lost his job back in May....Internet, home phone, and cable were the first to go. As everyone knows, because of my mother's blog (I would make one of those fancy links to it right there, but I don't know how to), Max got a job up north near Antecortes working with foster children. I am on "rest" with my pregnancy right now, and I have an almost two year old. So, I really can't be left alone 31/2 days a week right now, which is what his schedule up there requires. We ultimately decided to have him commute back and forth while we live with my parents for a while (and they graciously let us do so), instead of moving up there now. I am also homeschooling my sister Lizzie, so we'll stick around until the end of the school year instead of just after the baby is born. Anyways, long story short, I'll have Internet access for at least the next few months.

Max is really enjoying his job- he likes trying to make a difference, so I really hope everything works out for him in the long run. Even if it's hard for him to drive back and forth right now. So, those are the big changes...looking to the future now...

Alana is going to be 2 years old in November, and she's getting a baby sister for her birthday....She might even have to share her birthday with her since my due date is December 1, and Alana's birthday is November 21st. Alana was born 2 weeks early, so it's not crazy to think that this one could be born nine days early. This holiday season will be chaotic for sure, I'm not even sure I'll remember it in later years!

Here are some recent pictures of Alana, one of her on the potty (I know it's mean- it's just so comical!), and another of her at Wild Waves. The one of me is at 31 weeks, it's my most recent tummy picture. :)

Just letting everyone know that I haven't died...

I thought I might there for a while! I had pneumonia, and it put me out for quite a while. Everyone has had something this winter it seems. I'm feeling much better now, though. I haven't had time recently to even check on other's blogs, much less write on my own....and now, it's time for me to go to bed! I will try to write a real post soon! The pix are of our first nice day around here and Alana soaking in all of the outside time while Mommy was picking up branches, the other one is of the dress my mom made her. She was being very uncooperative that day, and this was the best picture I could get of it......Hopefully I can get a better one later! She still looks cute, though!

"Daddy got Mommy a vanity for Christmas- and he got me one too!"

Here are some picture of our tree and the prime rib I made for Christmas Eve.

Here are some pictures of Alana at Christmas.

Sorry, I know it's been forver!

Since it's been so long I'll just give you a brief overview of what's been going on for the last month and a half. The holidays were good, the weather has been horrible, I think that a least one person in the family has been sick or had some sort of ailment since then, and I started a new stitching project! Here is the finished product. My mom knew how much I liked the "P" and "W" that Von stitched, so she got me an "R" for Christmas. I'm not very happy with the colors, but it's okay- I think it'll look good in our bedroom, if my mom can help me, maybe I'll make it into a throw pillow. I'm making another one right now for Max's dad- it's his 60th birthday- and those colors are perfect. I'll post a picture of that when I'm done!

Happy Birthday Alana!

Alana's first birthday was on the 21st. We had a party for her here at the house on Sunday, and then on her actual birthday we celebrated at my Mom and Dad's house. Alana had a blast, but I think she liked the bows and tissue paper more than she liked the presents. I've heard that's pretty typical of this age. The first picture is at my parents house on her actual birthday, the second at her party, and the last one is of the outfit we had her pictures professionally taken in for her birthday. I don't have a scanner, otherwise I would have scanned in those actual pictures. We went to Max's dad's house for Thanksgiving this year. It was nice and relaxed, but for some reason it never feels like the holidays unless your home. I can't believe Christmas is getting close, because I still feel like I'm waiting for Thanksgiving to happen! I had my first wisdom tooth pulled on Wednesday. I have to have all four pulled, but since I can't afford the anesthesia, I have to have them pulled one at a time. Not fun. I don't want to do it again. Anyways, so, I'm pretty busy. Next week is my first week back full time, so soon I'll be even busier! I can't even imagine! EEK!

Birthday cake: before and after

While I couldn't get these to go in the order I wanted them to, you can clearly see the clean baby, the baby who's just getting started, and the after the cake picture! She loved the chocolate!

Busy....but not a lot to show for it!

We went to the beach a couple weeks ago, I meant to post pictures sooner, but I've been pretty busy recently. We played on the beach, and looked around the little shops, and ate dinner at a cute little restaurant. Alana loved playing in the sand, a little too much actually, she ended up doing a faceplant into it, as you can see. The diaper wipes didn't clean up her face as much as I had hoped, so we had to head to the nearest McDonald's so we could borrow their changing table and sink. Alana's first birthday is on the 21st, so we've been busy making party plans. One year old's are kind of hard to buy for...It's too tempting to get them what they need, and not necessarily what would be fun. I'm kind of sad as she takes this step out of babyhood. I'm going to miss it! I am excited to see her grow into a little girl, though, it's been fun watching her grow up this far! I went to the eye doctor, and they gave me some much needed glasses last week. Apparently I had been driving illegally for some time.. I knew my eyes were bad- I just didn't know how bad! It really became clear (no pun intended) how badly I needed them the second I put them on and drove home.. Did you know that street signs have numbers under the part were it says SE, NE, etc.. Yeah, I didn't. I asked mom, she said it had to do with the block numbers. Hmmm... Seeing is a good thing! I also went to the dentist, and they said that my wisdom teeth are impacted, and that's why they never grew in. I have to get them pulled. One at a time, and with no anesthesia, because my insurance doesn't cover it. I'm really scared. I've never had any dental work done, except for when they put in sealants when I was 14. While it's supposedly pain free, I'm not really excited about being awake. Ugh. Well, I'll try to post and let you all know how Alana's birthday went soon..We're getting her birthday and Christmas pictures taken on Friday..So if I can get them scanned into Mom's computer, I can show you them when they get done!

Happy Halloween!

I dressed Alana up in a hand-me-down costume for Halloween. I'm a sucker for kids in costumes. Max and I aren't really sure what we're going to do about celebrating Halloween, but at least this year we don't really have to decide. So, this year she get all cute, and we'll have her help give out candy to the trick-or-treaters. I think eventually she'll go to the church parties. Anyways, I hope everyone has a good and safe Halloween this year. This is what my little butterfly is going to look like:

Sick of being sick!

We've all been sick this past week with the flu, the snotty nose, coughing kind. It hasn't been very much fun, and I had to take most of the week off of work. I'm realizing once again how much everything changes once you're a parent. It's so much easier being sick when you don't have anyone else to take care of! Especially when they are sick to and want you to hold them all the time, and are cranky themselves. I used to just sleep my sickness away. Now I get less sleep then normal because she's miserable too. At least my sweet husband let me sleep in today, and I'm starting to feel better. Now that Alana has conquered walking she's really starting to be vocal. I'm not sure if it's because she's sick and is being demanding, or if it's because she's switching her energy to her vocal skills now. If though she's been moody, and I haven't felt well, it has really been nice being able to spend so much time with her this week, I really miss her sometimes during the work week.
Here are some more pictures:
Alana feeding herself spagetti....kind of.
Alli and Alana playing a game with Alli's sweat-shirt strings -Hmmm, I wonder where Alana gets her hair from?
My first real blackmail picture. Although, she did get her revenge, you'll never guess what she did all over the floor not seconds after I took this picture!