This week I worked on a little art project for JT’s new room. He will have a bigger room with more wall space and a nice big dresser that needs some wall art over it. I had this idea to buy canvas and acrylics and paint something to match his quilt, curtain, and pillow. (Thanks to Aunt Donna and Sips n Strokes, I felt confident I could do this!)

I’m very happy with the final product! We’ll see how it looks hanging in his room when he moves in July.

JT and I invited Jen, Asher, and Abby to go to the KidsQuest Children’s Museum in Bellevue today. It was awesome! I have to say, this one is way better than the Seattle Children’s Museum for my kid. There were more things that he loves to do, and the layout is really nice. I think the SCM will be better when he’s older, and for now, KidsQuest is perfect.

First we hit the water works area. JT loved throwing the balls in the water and watching them go down the river.

The boys also made music by shooting water up into these upside down drums. Cool! (Notice the water proof smocks that are widely available in this section of the museum… nice touch.)

Then we hit the backyard area. It is full of everything you’ve ever wanted to play with but don’t have at your own house… a tree house, an aquarium, a huge train table, lots of puppets and blocks and books, and even adirondack chairs for the parents to sit and watch the chaos. JT spent most of his time with the trains.

And then, oh my, the garage. That’s right: a full size Peterbilt big rig cab, right there in the middle of the museum. JT was in love. His little face would beam at me from the cab driver’s seat. You could see him saying “Mama, truck!” through the glass. Too precious. Needless to say, I think he could have stayed there all day.

I convinced him to give some other kids a chance to drive and we headed to the scarf blower, which uses air to suck scarves into tubes and blows them out all over the place. It’s like being in a Dr. Seuss book.

On our way to the coloring zone, JT noticed… more trucks. So he sat and played with the wood trucks (and almost didn’t want to leave it behind) until we were ready to move on.

We played at a sand table, with a giant Lite Brite (remember those?), and with foam noodles and wiffle balls. At the end, I asked Jen to take our picture in front of the highlight, the big rig. JT is looking a little upset because he thought we were going in the truck, not standing in front of it to take a picture (silly Mom!).

I kept him from a total meltdown by reminding him about the banana in the car… so we had a litlte snack before heading home for lunch.

Twenty minutes ago, I put JT to bed. And when I said, “Ready to pray?” his little face lit up, and he said, “Mama, truck!” and I said, “That’s right, we will thank God for the big truck.” And he nodded, folded his hands, and bowed his head. Ah, what a great day. 🙂

I have a family baby shower in a few weeks, so today JT and I went to Target before church and Babies R Us after church and hammered out two small registries. (I almost coughed when the woman at BRUs told me to register for at least 200 items. Seriously?)

I’ve been working on an Amazon registry for awhile. The thing I love about Amazon is now you can add things from any website, so I’ve added things from Pottery Barn Kids and a couple of other websites as well.

Really, it’s so much easier registering for a second child. Not only do I already know what I like, what I need, and what I’ll actually use, we don’t need everything like we did with JT. We need bedding and diapering for Baby 2’s room, and new bibs… and it would be nice to get a new diaper pail and a few new outfits and a couple of toys and blankets and towels. Oh yeah, and a new monitor, since the battery life on our is, um, zero and now it doesn’t charge in the cradle correctly. Good thing I was about done using it anyway.

I did register for some things that we don’t have that we borrowed before, like a front carrier and exersaucer and bouncer and play mat. The stroller that I’m in love with is on Amazon, as well as a new diaper bag and some hospital jammies… not planning on wearing the gross hospital gown for a full 24 hours again like last time.

I am planning an airplane themed room in red, chocolate, and cream. (JT is going to take his sports themed valance, pillow, quilt, wall art, and decorations to his new room down the hall.) It’s harder than I thought to find a good piece of wall art that isn’t clip art and isn’t $200 on canvas. I did find one I like on Pottery Barn Kids -above, and an image on Shutterstock that I’d have to buy, print, and frame. But there is a lamp at Target, and I’ll make the quilt, and I’m sure it will come together eventually. 🙂

JT will be 21 months old this week. Wow! In a few short months, he will have the awesome reponsibility of being a big brother. So we’ve been working on a few things…

But that’s not all! I explained to JT that he’s going to start doing some chores around the house. Picking up toys and shoes at the end of the day is nice and all, but I’m talking some heavy duty work. This week, JT…

scrubbed the floors,

washed dishes,

What a great helper. 🙂

Lucky us – we have friends with a membership to the new YMCA, who invited us to go swimming with them! So today we got to enjoy the warm, clear water of the pool with our friends Carrie and Emi. I got a quick picture of the two kids before they got in, but (ugh) it’s fuzzy because I didn’t know the camera was on manual focus. Hmph.

After swimming we had a nice lunch in the upstairs of the Y and played with the kids’ zone puzzles and books before heading off for some shopping.

Thanks for including us as your guests, Emi!

Sixteen weeks already! It is flying by. I had a checkup this week, which also flew by. I’m not sure if it’s because it’s my second and everything seems fine, but I was in and out in fifteen minutes. (That’s total time on the premises!)

Baby 2 had a great heart rate (155 bpm) and all my vitals look good. I am thankful for healthy, easy pregnancies and pray it continues! And guess what? The other day Jim was talking to my belly – we’re talking nose pressed into my belly button – and the baby moved! I’ve felt him bump around a couple of times before, but this time was more special.

Here is our sixteen-week belly picture. I keep feeling like I just look fat in the tummy, but really, what else can that round bump be? 🙂 If you think it looks just like the last belly picture, you’re not alone. I can’t tell the difference either… but my jeans can.

Click here to compare with week 12 belly.

Our next ultrasound is May 10. By then we’ll be half way to the big day in September! And just so we’re clear, no, Jeff, that isn’t a peace sign. It’s a TWO.

My sister-in-law (finally) sent the pictures off her camera from our February North Carolina trip, and I’m (finally) getting around to posting my favorites. 🙂

Visiting my brother at work: Snowbird Wilderness Outfitters in Andrews, NC

It all started at the community Easter egg hunt on Saturday morning. (How come people get all upset about Christmas trees, but no one gets upset about Easter egg hunts?) JT did a great job picking up his share of the under-two-group’s eggs.

We’re back in swimming! This time, we’re at the local pool. It’s colder, more crowded, and noisy… but way less expensive and closer to home. Plus I suppose it will get JT ready for lake swimming this summer. Since we got our new camera, I was able to get some great pictures from all the way across the pool in the bleachers where the observers sit. Hooray for a big lens!

Jumping in

Getting wet

Where’s Dad?

Laughing at Dad’s joke

Having a wonderful time!

Practicing the back float

Not quite ready to jump…

We got a new camera as an early Mother’s Day/Father’s Day present, since it was on sale at Costco. Jim is busy reading all about digital SLR photography to take the perfect picture, and I am just happy that there aren’t any huge shadows when I take pictures inside anymore. 🙂

So over the weekend, we took something like 400 pictures. A few are worth sharing… First, you may have noticed something on JT’s head in the last two posts. Yes, he and his Harley bike had a little incident with the stairs. We’d like to think he’s Evil Knievil, but really, no one saw it happen. All I know is that the Harley ended up at the bottom and JT ended up in the middle, crying with a cut on his forehead. If you ask him, he will tell you all about it, with hand motions and pointing.

Minutes later… enjoying some comforting milk

After dinner… feeling much better

Surveying the crash scene

Back to playing
(Notice, no shadows – new camera!)

Jim’s schedule changed and now I get to see him more often. Hooray! We barbecued on Sunday, and JT wanted to help, of course.

After dinner, Jim and JT colored in the new Curious George coloring book, a present from Grandpa and Grandma Cole.

JT and I played Goodnight Moon, a game that Jim got us for Christmas. JT did great! There are several versions of the game, from ages 2 to 6. It turns out, he was playing a single-player version of the ages 4-6 game. I guess if you read the book a few times a week for a year, you can play the tougher versions a little earlier. 🙂