Winter Fun

We got a lot of snow this past winter! It was so beautiful and serene. Karina had lots of cold, white fun!

I just love the innocence and wonder of this shot!

One of her favorite jobs; being Daddy's helper.

While waiting for Mark to get home from work one evening, Karina and I decided to build a snowman. :-)

Pink or Blue?

Today, we got to learn of the gender of newest wee one! I have been counting the days and all the while, having a "boy vibe". My "girl vibe" with Karina was on target, so I was (foolishly) pretty confident I was right again. ;-) Not so! Girls seem to be the theme in not only my family (across the board), but for Mark, as well! I believe the Universe knows what's best for us and what we can handle (at least I sure hope so!). When my doctor spotted her genitalia, my first thought was "Hey! That's not a penis!" I really had myself convinced. :-) Karina kept saying "why am I having a sister?" There are definitely things (I have discovered) that are tricky to explain to a 3-year-old! It took me a few days to think of my precious unborn baby as "pink" instead of "blue," but it's all perfect. Hopefully Karina and her sister will share a lifetime of a beautiful friendship.

These pictures were taken at the end of January, so close enough. :-) We get a live footage added to our DVD at every visit, so still shots aren't always easy to acquire. These were from my "targeted ultrasound" that was done at the hospital. They measure everything and take a very close look. Everything looked great! What a cutie!

PINK!!

Christmas

I have begun to get used to the idea of staying put for Christmas, which hasn't been easy (and is not my first choice). I still miss extended family a great deal, and am sad for Karina that she doesn't get to share the joys of that experience during the holidays, but nothing lasts forever. We'll see what happens...

We participated in some fun neighborhood events and Karina was incredibly excited during the entire month for Santa's impending arrival! What a GREAT holiday for kids. It was a little tricky though trying to explain to her why Santa was at Wal-Mart, the mall, PetSmart, etc., instead of preparing for his big night at the North Pole!

This was one of her two favorite outfits this season. She loved feeling like she, along with Santa, had a red outfit, a red hat, and black boots!

Jaclyn came up to make Christmas cookies with us, but the gluten-free version didn't work too well. ;-)

We still had fun...

Jaclyn got some really cute shots of Karina

Here's our "do-over" with gluten-filled cookies for Santa!
She had SO much fun.

This shot reminds me of a Christmas card picture my parents used when my sisters were little (before my time).

Thanks for the AquaDoodle, Tante Nina and family!

She loved this set of computer games called JumpStart. Very educational!

Here's the blanket I made for her. Cozy!

Although she hadn't yet seen Shrek, she enjoyed this stuffed one from Tante Astrid and family (and cuddling with the dad doesn't hurt either!).

"Wrapping up" Christmas Eve. Aren't there ANY more presents under here??
What a WONDERFUL gift this Christmas! Our family pictures will look very different next year. :-) Discovering her "train with tracks" from Santa in the morning. :-)We went to two friends' houses (Linda's and Darcy's) on Christmas Day and had a lovely time! This is us at Darcy's.And the magic of it all continues...

First Day of Preschool!

We found this amazing preschool (although it's a bit of a drive) that allows enrollment at any time! This was great news for us, since the traditional 'system' wanted us to wait an entire school year. Karina was SO ready (and so was I!).

This was her first day. Happy girl!

New Doctor, Third Ultrasound

I had to choose a new doctor that's closer to our new home than my old one (MUCH to my dismay). I chose a doctor at the Circle of Life Women's Center that came very highly recommended. When I read her bio., I saw that she's originally from the northeast, is very well-educated and experienced in her field, and has a Scandinavian last name, so I felt drawn. When I called to make my first appointment, the best news I heard was that they do an ultrasound at every visit and I get it all on a DVD! I sure didn't have that the last time. I love how technology advances over short a short period of time. What a treasure.

I was 13 weeks along at this visit. Everything looked great and this is the shot we used for our Christmas card this year. :-)

Thanksgiving

We were fortunate enough to have been invited over to our friends' home, Evert, Keri, Evelyn and new baby, Corbyn for Thanksgiving this year. They are great people and Evert's parents were visiting. His mother is from Sweden, so that was fun for me. Great food. Great people. What Thanksgiving is all about...

With the recent adoption of Corbyn, and the miracle of modern medicine growing inside of me, we had much to celebrate and for which to be thankful!

Practice, practice, Daddy-O!

Karina, like her mother, loves whipped cream

Evert, his mom, and Corbyn

I tried to get a good shot of Karina and Evelyn, but everybody was tired by this point...

Happy Birthday, Mark!

For Mark's 40th birthday, I decided to surprise him with a trip to Las Vegas! It was his sister Lynn's idea, and unfortunately, she wasn't able to meet us, but I was thankful for the suggestion! Fortunately for us all though, Mark's dad (Mike), his sister, Ann, and her husband, Matt, all flew out for the surprise trip (Mike from Florida, Ann & Matt from Chicago)! I was SO excited, it was hard to contain it!

Friends of mine where kind and GENEROUS enough to loan us their loaded Toyota Highlander (drool)! It saved us since it had a built-in DVD player in it. I can't imagine driving 7 hours to Las Vegas with a 3-year-old and no DVD player. NO WAY. She called it "the movie car". :-)

When Mark arrived at home from work on Thursday evening and saw the Highlander in the garage, he was (needless to say) perplexed. I told him it was his "surprise birthday vacation transportation". It took him a while for things to sink in, then he kept calling me sneaky... and he was right! He kept trying to guess where we were going, but I wouldn't budge. The mystery was half the fun!

We had a GPS in the Highlander that kept pointing to Vegas, so he figured it out around St. George, which was fine. He also kept asking who was meeting us there (sometimes he's too smart for his own good), and although I thought I had done a good job of acting as though they weren't, he wasn't buying. Sigh. At least he didn't expect to meet up with people when and where we did, so I DID pull something over on him! :-)

We went straight to a park (for Karina's benefit, of course... wink-wink) where his sister and brother-in-law were sitting on a toy, and his dad at a picnic table. It was a glorious reunion and Karina acted as though she had just seen her relatives a couple of weeks prior.

Mark's sister, Ann, with Karina and Mark (nice park!)

We went to one of my father-in-law's favorite places on the planet, Red Rock Canyon. It's breathtaking!

I had a mild heart attack when Mark and Karina were up on this rock, but it certainly was gorgeous.

Uncle Matt

Uncle Matt and Karina the climber

All of us "party animals" on the strip... Matt's sister, Anne, also joined us from New York.

I would say watching Karina watch the fountain at Bellagio was a *major* highlight of our trip! She was so thrilled and giggled like we had never seen or heard before... we were elated!

We had fun walking around the Bellagio hotel. Karina loved all of the great sights (very much including this "talking" tree)!

Karina having a long overdue cuddle with Grandpa. She misses him and told us recently that she wants to live in Florida... :-)

Karina treating Aunt Annie to a free hairbrushing... What great smiles.

Mark and his "baby sister"....

Our last night there we went to Fremont Street downtown. What a light show!