Yes, this post is long overdue. It's been in the works for two weeks. We're still not into a good routine yet, partially because I haven't motivated myself to do it, and partially because Cora hasn't been napping much. Over the past 5 weeks she's taken less than 2 weeks worth of naps, and several of those were short.
So since she didn't nap, I didn't stick with my schedule.
Cute dress from Aunt Aimee's store
One of my dad's high school friends gave this to her. He lives near us, so when my family and visited last summer, we all went to see him. He has a daughter about a year older than Cora who had never worn this, so he gave it to us. Isn't she cute?
Current trend: Sitting in boxes, no matter how little room there is.
We went to the Houston Zoo again over spring break. Here's Cora admiring a pheasant (I think that's what it is).
I couldn't resist taking a picture of this sleeping raccoon. Looks comfy!
Cora and her daddy posing with a bison statue.
She got ahold of my shoes one Sunday and started walking around in them. It was pretty cute. The cuteness was definitely enhanced by the pigtails.
And now, what I know you've all been waiting for, pictures of our new apartment! Here's the living room. We still don't have a couch, and we've lived here for 2 months now. I started looking on Cragslist about a month ago, and there were lots of options. A member of our congregation said we could use his truck to pick one up once we found one. We picked a day that would work for him and said we'd find one by then.
We found a couch that we liked, and he and Josh went to get it. It was a nice dark blue with really cool pillows that have circles and spirals on them. We were so excited to finally have a couch. They brought it back--and we couldn't get it up the stairs. Grrrr. Our apartment is on the second floor of a house built in 1918, and the staircase turns right before emptying into the hallway. We tried every orientation possible, and the couch was just a few inches too wide, tall, and long to fit. If it had been just a few inches shorter on any of the dimensions, it would have fit just fine. Grrrrr. So it's sitting on our porch until we figure out what to do with it. We'll probably just resell it. (That was Cora's bedroom in the picture, by the way.)
Our lovely, old-fashioned bathroom. (And Cora's face. She likes pictures.)
Kitchen, cabinets are updated.
I love the tile in the kitchen and bathroom. It's so classy. And here's our IKEA table and chairs. Our old table was way too big for the dining space, so we got a new one. Whenever we have anyone over, we move the table into the living room because there is no way to fit more than three people around it in here!
Cora enjoying her new kiddie pool. Grandma Stewart sent us some money to get her something for outside. We used it for the first time on Monday, and Cora had a blast.
Cora loves to color, so we had her make our Mothers' Day cards. She had fun coloring herself as well as the cards!
Another new addition to the home: Cora's own potty! She loves sitting on it. Every time the bathroom door is open, she goes in and sits on it. Before putting her swim diaper on her the other day, I sat her on it with no diaper f0r the first time. I went to get her swim diaper and suit, and she peed! I was so excited!
Yes, I am a mother. Pee is exciting when it's in a toilet and not on the floor.
The school year is winding down! We are excited. We have both learned a lot this year, and Josh especially. He's looking forward to getting a fresh start next year. He will be teaching fourth grade math at the same school, so he'll be moving up with his students. But I'm looking forward to having him home for a little while!
Cora always to be a "hot dog" after her bath
Lately her imagination has been taking off. She will often put Legoes to her ear and say she's calling Grandma. This time she used her cantaloupe rind!
Here I am, about 20 weeks pregnant! This was taken last Saturday, so it's very recent. The ultrasound is next week! I'm well into my second trimester now, and aside from occasional minor aches and pains, I'm really comfortable. I felt the baby move around two weeks ago, though I wasn't sure at first if it really was the baby. I had occasionally felt what seemed like kicks, but way too early or in the wrong area (like right below my ribs, and my uterus definitely isn't that big yet). So I didn't pay that much attention. But one day I was just sitting there, and realized that I was feeling a lot of nudges right below my belly button that were too regular to be gas bubbles but too irregular to be my heartbeat. It still took a day or so for me to convince myself that it was the baby. The first movements I felt with Cora were wiggly and kind of spasmodic, but these movements were very defined. I was sure I couldn't be feeling such distinct movements already, but I was! And they've just been getting stronger. Josh was able to feel the kicks last Saturday, which was very exciting! They were pretty strong, too! Must be having a boy ;D I'll make sure to post next Tuesday and let you all know.
Here's Cora enjoying our first harvest! I planted beans, squash, peppers, basil, chives, and parsley back in early April, and one bean finally matured enough to pick! We also have a squash that's close to being ready. We've kind of had some bad luck. All the parsley plants died when I transplanted them. I replanted a month ago, and none of them have come up. A caterpillar completely demolished two of my pepper plants and almost destroyed a third, but there were enough of the leaves left for it to keep growing. The squash said to plant five seeds, then thin to the three strongest, which we did. A few weeks later I decided to pluck out one more of them, because while we do like squash, we wouldn't eat THAT much. And then the next day one of the other plants inexplicably died, leaving only one. But that one is flourishing. It's been really fun to watch the plants grow. Cora loves to "wa pants" every morning.
This may be a random post, because I am in a somewhat random mood. I'm just warning you. Plus, I usually base my posts off of the pictures I put on them, and I haven't taken many pictures lately, so the ones I do have are completely unrelated.
But anyways, these pictures are from Sunday. I tried to get a good smile, but the smile would never last through the flash. I like her pose in this second one, even though she has her sippy cup.
Cora likes rubber duckies.
Josh had Valentine's Day off (as Presidents' Day), so we decided to go to the Houston Zoo. We've been wanting to go ever since we moved here a year ago. Since we're moving closer to downtown, we decided to get a membership so we can go whenever we want for a year. We also get a discount on guest admission, so come visit and we can go to the zoo!
Cora and the Komodo dragon, 10 feet long and 150 pounds. That is one big lizard!
And our favorites--the elephants. They have two babies right now. There's a four month old female named Tupolu (pictured with her mother), and the other is a nine month old male named Baylor. They were so cute! We ended up staying at least half an hour there. A couple of the trainers were out talking about them, so we got to ask them some questions and learn more about them. They were so cool! Cora and Josh both did their elephant sounds, but I don't think the real elephants heard them. It was still cute.
The Valentine's dinner Josh made! On Saturday we went on our V-day date to a pizza buffet and arcade (so romantic, I know, but we both wanted to go). We played mini golf and a few games. On February 14th, after going to the zoo, we ate pink, heart-shaped pancakes and watched Fiddler on the Roof. A simple but fun Valentine's Day.
