Weekend

We had some nice weather this weekend for January, and enjoyed spending some time outside.

Friday morning Michael left for a work trip for the weekend and we headed out to the zoo.  It had been several weeks since it had been nice enough to go.

Nana was off work, so she was able to join us. Michael's parents have gotten a zoo pass for us the last few years, and it is the best gift ever!

Saturday  morning we went out for breakfast just the two of us. It was such a nice breakfast date, and I sat across from my little girl, watching her and feeling so grateful and happy to have this moment with her, just the two of us.
And then when it was time to go she threw herself down ON THE FLOOR of panera bread crying and saying she wanted to keep wiping the table with her wet wipe and I carried her out of a completely full restaurant, screaming. But I'm going to choose to remember from that morning the moment when I felt like my heart was so full and grateful. ;)

We stayed at home the rest of the day, as Isabella wasn't feeling too great.  We walked to the park in our neighborhood and played and had a picnic since it was close to 70! 

Exploring a berry bush. 

We were both very happy to see Michael when he got home and glad he had Monday off work!

Lately

Its been a few weeks, but we have been adjusting to the holidays ending, Michael leaving on a trip, and I haven't been taking a lot of pictures.

We had lunch at a tea room with friends a couple of weeks ago for my birthday.  And it was much like life has been these last few weeks. Fun moments sprinkled with a little disaster.

The girls somehow pushed a chair over and Ava was pinned underneath it, which was of course scary for Ava, but for both of them also.  We found ourselves in a quiet tea room with two toddlers screaming their heads off.

I locked us out of the house during Michael's last trip. A lock smith got us in a little after 10, past Isabella's bedtime and a massive meltdown ensued when I tried to get her to sleep.
The next day a bird flew in our house...luckily my mom was there and was able to shoo it out of the house, while I was behind a closed door with my child screaming and crying in fear.

I took lessons for 12 years... I hope she will take them too.

New diaper for baby after a bath 

Dr. Isabella

Catching bubbles at the library.

She wanted to jump on the trampoline one day this week. After about 15 minutes, I decided the trampoline at 26 pregnant was not very comfortable. I told Isabella she'd have to wait to jump more when daddy got home.

Life is full of mundane, magical, and not so great moments all woven together.  And sometimes the balance of those seems off one way or the other, or maybe its just my perspective during those times. I'm already not sleeping very well in this pregnancy and wondering how I will make it through another 14 weeks. But also grateful for the time in between to prepare and enjoy these last weeks as a family of three.

2012

 As we talked about 2012, we both said it was a year of traveling. Michael had a lot more travel for work than ever before and Isabella and I went on a couple trips, along with some family trips.

January:

We joined Michael in Dallas for a work trip over a weekend. 

The weather was unseasonably warm and we got to play outside a lot and go to the Zoo.

February:
Isabella and I went to New Jersey to visit my best friend while Michael was on a work trip.  While we were there we went to Baltimore, Philadelphia, and the Statue of Liberty.

Also in February: I went to the women's retreat at our church, we joined Michael in Fort Worth for a work trip, and celebrated Valentine's Day.

March:

Playing at the park with friends, we had such a warm winter and early spring!

We went on a long weekend to Michael's aunt's lake house. It was so relaxing! 

We also- Played outside a ton, celebrated my dad's 60th birthday, and had several fussy days with Isabella teething or who knows what!

April:

Easter was so fun with Isabella this year! 

Isabella and I went to Chicago and played with Ava during the day while Heather was in a conference. We have so many memories from that trip!

Heather and I ran the half marathon in the memorial marathon! Its hard to believe now!

Also in April: we used our pass to the science museum a lot, enjoyed the OKC Art's Festival, and went back to Dallas, again, for a work trip with Michael.


May:

 Celebrating Mother's Day. I've loved becoming a mommy...even with all of the sacrifices that come with that role.

We were at the beach with my family for Memorial day weekend. 

Also in May: We dropped Isabella's morning nap, and we went to the zoo, park, and myriad gardens a lot.

June:

 We finished up the first week in June at the beach with my family.

Michael's parents gave me whitewater/frontier city passes for my 1/2 birthday and we had fun swimming and riding the train at FC. 

We also: Went to the splash pad downtown and by our house- a lot,  celebrated father's day, and went to the aquarium in Jenks.

July:

 We had a great 4th of July! Isabella stayed up late for fireworks and we had fun at the parade.

 We went on our first RV trip with Michael's parents to Dallas and Ft. Worth.

We beat the heat in Oklahoma on a trip to Colorado with the Anderson's. 

Also in July- one of my good friend's came to town for a week, and we played at the park across from our house early in the morning a lot before it got deathly hot. 

August:

 We celebrated 10 years of marriage and had a night away.

 We found out we were pregnant the day we were moving to a new house.

We went swimming as much as we could in the neighborhood pool before it closed for the year. 

 We had our family anniversary celebration along with our couple celebration, and I started getting extremely tired toward the end of the month with being newly pregnant and getting moved. 

September:

 We had a great week at the beach in Florida with Michael's family.

 Isabella turned two!

Michael turned 31.
Isabella and I went to the state fair with family and friends, Michael had some work trips. I was nauseous a lot and didn't take many pictures or blog this month.

October:

 Isabella loved Halloween, and we had fun at Storybook forest, trunk or treat at church, and

 the pumpkin patch. Isabella asks about once a week lately if we can go to the pumpkin patch.

I went to my first OU game in a couple of years, we went to Dallas for OU/TX with Michael's family, and we went to the Day out with Thomas.

November:

 We had a great season of Thanksgiving.

At the end of the month we found out we were having a boy!

Isabella and I had fun making a pie together for Thanksgiving, we went to a Thunder game, we had a busy weekend with homecoming at OC and Isabella was in the parade with my parents.

December:

 The first weekend in December I went to Dallas for a girls weekend with my sister and cousins. We spent several hours in H&M, went to Ikea, stayed up late watching a silly movie, went to In and Out, and talked and laughed a lot.

Our Christmas season was wonderful. We loved having Michael home from work for a couple of weeks, spending time with our families, and all of the traditions we began and continued this year. Isabella cried the morning she woke up and the tree was gone.
I finally started feeling normal and stopped throwing up, Isabella enjoyed the tea party at church, we loved our night at the hotel downtown, I turned 31, and my nephew Carper Jude Hartman joined our family. 

2012 was a year of many blessings and opportunities. There were some challenges with Michael beginning and navigating a new position at work and traveling more, with Isabella being sick a few times, some rough days with toddler behavior and questioning how to best handle things, morning sickness, settling into a new home while being sick, and I'm sure some other moments that escape me. But on the grand scale of difficulties, the ones we experienced this year were not as difficult as other years or trials some of my friends experienced. This year leaves me feeling so grateful for our little (growing) family, our extended family and the love and time they pour into our lives, our many dear friends, and the opportunities we had to see other parts of the country this year. (And I think we needed some kind of frequent travel pass to Dallas...between the two of us we were there a lot).

2013 will be a year of staying closer to home for me with preparing for and having a newborn. Isabella's language seems to be expanding all of the time, and *most* of the time we have so much fun together. I'm looking forward to enjoying these last few months with an only child before our world changes once again. There are some goals I plan to accomplish and work toward this year, while also knowing I will have to be gentle with myself and my expectations of what is realistic with a new baby. Happy 2013!