New Videos!

Here are links to some recent videos of Cora I've posted on YouTube.  Enjoy!

Cora and the Goats

Cora and cousin Lucy, part 1

Cora and Lucy, part 2

Making a bracelet

Singing

"You're cute!"

Excited

Pushover Daddy

Ultrasound!

It's a girl!  The doctor said she looks healthy, and weighs 500 grams, which is a pound and a few ounces.  She is so cute!  Here are the ultrasound pictures.

Here she is, kicking me.  She kicks a LOT!  We've been surprised at how strong she already is.  I can see my belly bulging sometimes.  We saw her push both feet against the ultrasound wand, as though she were saying, "I'm already cramped enough in here!!"  The doctor didn't get a snapshot of that, though.

Proof that she is a she.

The top of her head, with the brain visible.  It was kind of odd that we could see inside her body. We could see her heartbeat, too.  She seemed to be asleep at first; she wasn't really moving, at least, but she moved once the doctor got started!  She's healthy and I'm feeling great, aside from occasional aches in my lower back, knees, and feet.  But they're usually short-lived.

Cora is excited about her baby sister.  She kept on saying "Cora have a baby sister" after we left the doctor's.  It was adorable!  She'll have her jealous stage(s), but I think she's going to be a wonderful big sister.  I'm excited to have another little girl.  

Now that we've had the ultrasound, the only thing to look forward to is the birth!  Baby-wise, that is.  We actually have a very busy month ahead of us.  I'm planning three Halloween parties.  I'm in charge of our church playgroup, so I'm doing one for that; we're going to host one for friends at our house; and I'm going to plan one for the whole 4th grade at Josh's school.  I'll be able to reuse games and stuff for all of them, though.  And I volunteered for all of this because I love Halloween!  I love just being crazy and getting to dress up. I haven't decided on costumes yet.  We wanted to go with the theme of fairy tales and reuse Josh's wolf costume from last year and do "The Three Little Pigs," but we were planning on already having a baby by Halloween of this year.  Since that's still in the works, we're not sure.  We may still do that, and just draw a picture of a little pig on my stomach, or do something else.  I suggested Cinderella or Beauty and the Beast, but Josh doesn't want to dress up as a prince.  We'll come up with something, and it'll be good, by golly!

Update on the last few months

So yeah, I know it's been forever. Part of the reason is that I couldn't find the cord to upload pictures to the computer until yesterday (it had gotten left in our suitcase from our trip in July). But now I have no excuse. Life just goes on. I'm part of a book club at church, so I just started reading Kathryn Stockett's "The Help" yesterday. It's really good so far! I'm also in charge of the ward playgroup. So far we've had four people come, then nobody last week. Hopefully tomorrow's is better!

Here is a break for a few pictures:

Cora helping me make cookies

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.

In the last week, I've started trying to be more goal-oriented. I was feeling a little directionless, and then we had a Relief Society activity where our presidency introduced a goal-setting program for us, kind of similar to Personal Progress in Young Women's. Right now I'm focusing on praying morning and night, reading my scriptures, and writing in my journal every day. So far so good! I'm also trying to spend more time playing with and consciously teaching Cora and a lot less time on the computer. That's my biggest time-waster.

Speaking of which, I've been on here way too long. See ya next week!