A busy, and HOT few days.

Ryan has been out of town this week so I've been busy filling up the days with cutie little Michael.  He's at SUCH a fun stage, interested in everything and extremely animated.  Since I'm in the middle of the rough part of pregnancy, I'm super tired and the days are long....but it's like he understands and lets me rest while he does his own thing.  I freakin' love this kid.  

A few days ago, we went to another little toddler-sized amusement park.  He rode EVERYTHING - even the giant slide.  Here's a pic of him in the paddle boats.  The guide showed him how to paddle once and he was off - all over the little pond.

He had his very first popsicle EVER and well, I ended up eating it all and turning my mouth blue.  He did NOT like it - I think he was just shocked by the cold-ness of it all.  This pic says it all:

Yesterday we went to a fancy little zoo over in Wheaton and boy did we get to make every animal noise we know.  Michael doesn't say much these days but he can definitely make the animal sounds.  Below, he's talking to the ducks - he even fed them (and fed himself a little duck food pellet when I wasn't looking!!!  YUCK!).

Michael and Avery climbing, trying to get a closer look at the Coyote.  I've never been that close to a coyote before and I've gotta say, they're creepy.

Fireman Hats and Cupcakes!

The past two days have been filled with much fun!  Yesterday, we went to a "Recess Monkeys" concert with our friends, Amy and Avery at The Land of Nod which is a store at our mall.  It was no Coldplay or Bon Jovi but I've come to the realization, this is my life now.  And I absolutely love it!  Who would have thought I'd walk around singing songs about Monkey Bars and Aquariums.  Michael danced almost the entire time and in the picture below, you can see he walked right into the crowd and made himself at home.

This afternoon, we got a BIG surprise in the mail from Grammie and Grandpa.  They sent an awesome fireman hat!  Michael was THRILLED (to say the least).  He wore it for about 2 hours straight. 

....and he wore it to the grocery store.

When we got home, it was cupcake time!  My friend Dana (who is most famous amoung my friends as the originator of the famous Cake Balls) posted a recipe on her blog today called Nutella Cupcakes.  Two of my FAVORITE things!  So, being the pregnant, crazy food craving person that I am, HAD to have them right then and there.  I must say - they were AWESOME!  Michael helped with all of the ingredients but he was REALLY good at making the mixer go in helicopter speed.  The batter was definitely beaten by the time we were done.  :)

This pic is from last week when Sarah was here and it is just too cute to not put on the blog.  She LOVED Michael's plasma car and by the time she left, she had already ordered one for herself - I mean Luke.  :)

And baby makes....FOUR!

By now, I think pretty much everyone knows but to make it official....we're pregnant with baby #2!  Somewhere around Feb 11 our second little bundle of joy should arrive.  This pregnancy is 100% different from the first one.  With Michael, I could not get enough sweets, chocolate, ice cream - just plain SUGAR!  But this time around, even I am grossed out by my eating habits.  I can eat salami like it's no body's business.  We sat down for a family lunch this past weekend and I wish I had a picture of Ryan's face.  I was smiling ear to ear with my open faced, salami, cheese and mustard sandwich with a side of pickles.  I mean seriously?  How gross is that?  

When I told Ryan (many weeks ago) I had Michael run to the back door with the picture you see above.  Ryan was SHOCKED to say the least (we know how babies are made, just had NO IDEA it would happen this fast!).  I got the whole thing on film but I need to figure out how to cut it.  But what is equally as exciting is my cousin and his wife are expecting their first baby Feb 9!  Babies! Babies! Babies!

My mom's gonna kill me.

So, Ryan was out of town all week at a conference in Scottsdale so one of my best friends, Sarah came up for a visit with her 14 month old boy, Luke.  It was definitely a week to remember for many reasons.  We learned that Michael and Luke are fantastic playmates, as long as Michael's alter ego - the "I don't share my toys" version of sweet Michael - is not around.  Michael definitely had his moments but Luke was a trooper and never seemed to mind when Michael was being a stinker!  Luke is definitely the calmest, well mannered baby I've ever been around.....until bathtime.  The two of them - I really don't know how to describe it - it was CRAZY!  Water flew in every direction and both of their "hyper meters" went into orbit.  It was some of the funniest stuff Sarah and I have ever seen.

We went into the city on Wednesday and here's a pic of the boys at The Bean:

Michael is SUPER obsessed with this new toy and here's a picture to prove he shared.  Proud mamma moment.  (For those of you who know James - could Luke look ANY MORE like him in this pic!?!?!)

So, if you're wondering why I titled this entry "My mom's gonna kill me", well here it is.  Sarah is a HUGE fast food fan although don't be fooled - she orders things like grilled chicken sandwiches and fruit cups - not the bad stuff.  :)  Since we live about 2 miles from the McDonalds World Headquarters, Sarah requested we dine there for lunch.  It was like giving a cat some catnip - she got SO excited!  So my mom preaches against the "cult" of Micky D's and swears there's not an ounce of real food on their menu.  (I admit - I agree with her).  But, for the sake of making my friend happy, we went and ate all of the bad stuff.  Michael has not been eating much lately but he downed the ENTIRE carton of chicken nuggets - it was quite impressive.  But mom, don't worry - it's all 100% white chicken meat now and Michael didn't eat a single french fry.  I ate them all.  :)

Oh Howdy!

We've been MIA for a while because we took a nice, LONG trip back home to Texas.  It was wonderful to have enough time to spend with ALL members of our immediate families....and of course, quality time with some friends.  It was a super busy 10 days but well worth it.  We went all over Texas it seemed.  When we drove from Dallas to Houston, we stopped in Waco to make Ryan happy, and College Station because it's the best place on earth.  Those Pratts are determined to make Michael go to Baylor so I have my work cut out for me.  It's 12 against 1.  I'm grossly outnumbered.  

We had such fun on the 4th of July.  We went to the parade in Highland Park with the Larys and Wilkinsons.  It was HOT, but so much fun.  That afternoon, we headed to the Lary's for a little party full of fried chicken, kiddie pools and some killer cupcakes.  Here's a pic of the girls at the parade (Sarah, me and Emily) and our little men in matching t-shirts (Thanks Sarah!) :

And here's a pic of Ryan and Michael at the parade:

While in Houston, Michael go to hang out with my first baby....my dog Gucci.  Thanks Dad for taking such good care of him.  Clearly - he's well fed.  :)

And last but not least, I must pay tribute to a new member of our family....technically, he's not in our family but he might as well be.   One of my very best friends, Emily had little Bobby Jett almost 4 weeks ago.  Here he is - how stinkin' cute is this baby?  He's such a perfect little bundle.