AJ's 2!

Wow, I am playing a bit of catch-up here! I hate to bore any of you with tons of details of events that took place over the past month and a half, but so much has happened, and I am starting to realize how easy it is to forget all the fun details of things.

In the middle of April our family (Adam, both my parents, my sister - Ashley, AJ, and I) all joined over sixty people from my school district to walk for the Steps of Hope Walk in Minnetonka. It is an annual fundraising event that takes place to support families with Autism in Minnesota, and I love seeing families of students and others within the district all coming together for a common cause. AJ did really well, although it was a bit overwhelming for him. The highlight for him was seeing the big "bear" TC from the Minnesota Twins.

Here is AJ and I standing by our new friend. Not the best picture of us, but AJ sure enjoys looking at it!

Spring Break was a blast! Our friends Aimee and her son Gabe came to stay with us for the week. Aimee and I have been friends since eighth grade and roomed together in college our freshman year (she spent sophomore year in England). After college I moved to Texas and then Minnesota, and Aimee went on to grad school again in England, then taught in Brooklyn, then in a small village in Alaska, and finally is now living in Arizona. We have stayed in touch, but haven't seen one another since our college graduation, so it was so fun to see one another with boys within a few days of one another, and to both be only a month apart in pregnancy right now. Our boys got along so well, and I think they both learned good things from each other. The week was filled with adventure and trips, but it truly was relaxing as well.

AJ and Gabe waited so patiently in line for ice cream while at the Mall of America. They both enjoyed every bite of their ice cream, so the wait was well worth it!

Here is AJ enjoying his own bowl of ice cream :)
AJ and Gabe were entertained while us mom's took turns shopping.

One of AJ's favorite things to do at the zoo is to put "money" into the coin thing at the zoo. We typically start off our visits to the zoo by stopping at costumer service and getting a roll of pennies. By the end of our visit we usually have used them all up :)

AJ and Gabe had so much fun looking at all the animals. Here they are laughing and imitating the monkeys!

AJ loves to look at the sharks and to splash water. Here he was being kind enough to pause from his splashing to pose for a picture with mom.

Although it was a lot of fun playing trains and toys r us, it was not a lot of fun leaving the store! Gabe did well, AJ not so much.Here we all are!

Some male bonding time...

Jammin' on the piano with an audience.

Easter was low-key this year. My family came for the weekend and we all had fun. AJ enjoyed looking for eggs around the house, and ended up not liking any of the candy (is this truly my child?) We ran out of time and didn't color eggs for the first time ever that I can remember, but nobody seemed too bothered by that :)

Here is our family photo taken before church.

AJ turned two on April 23rd (sniffle sniffle). Adam took the day off of work and spent the day with him instead of sending him to daycare. As soon as I got home we went to Chuckee Cheese for the first time. AJ was in HEAVEN! He loved everything - from eating messy pizza to putting tokens (aka money) in the slots to playing most of the games. The day ended with him sucking on a lolipop (sucker) while sitting on Adams shoulders and riding the escalater up in the mall to our car. When we got home we sang happy birthday and ate a small cake AJ had helped me pick out the day before at Cub. He kept calling it his happy brown cake because it was chocolate and had a big happy face on it :). AJ only wanted the icing, and he got a little upset when we gave him a slice instead of the whole thing, but when he saw the candle and heard his song, all was good.

Here AJ was practicing how he can eat a whole slice all at once (as opposed to just picking off the cheese and asking for more pizza when the cheese was gone).

Here is one happy birthday boy in the middle of eating his brithday cake!

We held AJ's birthday party at our house the Saturday after his actual birthday. Most of our immediate family was able to be here, which is always a treat. When I asked him what the favorite part of his birthday was, he said it was the Thomas cake :). AJ was fascinated with his Uncle Luke, and kept saying "Luke, funny". Thanks to Uncle Luke AJ may poke at your nose when he sees you in anticipation that you will in turn stick out your tongue :) AJ got several presents, and has enjoyed every one of them! My parents bought him a thomas table, trains, and tracks, which he plays with daily! He is all boy, and enjoys his new caterpillar, police car, and john deer tractor :)

Here AJ is trying to prompt Luke to stick out his tongue.

There was no "favorite" present this year - AJ had fun with all of his new toys!

AJ is pretending to make a siren sound.I think AJ liked his cake this year - a much better reaction than his first birthday!

This year we celebrated mother's day up in Alexandria. Adam spent most of the weekend fishing, and my sister and dad spent most of the day Sunday on the lake with Adam. Their time on the water was a success, as it often is, with several keepers. My mom and I took AJ to the garden center and picked out plants for our yards. AJ had so much fun pushing the cart and "helping" us carry flowers around.

Shopping for plants is so much fun!

AJ was such a good helper!

Here is AJ with my mom. He loves his grandma!

AJ grabbed my dad's hand while driving to dinner one night. Super cute!

I am amazed with how blessed we have been with gifts people have given us for little Abby. Many of my co-workers have given me adorable little outfits and blankets, and I was overwhelmed with the generosity of my friends at church when they threw me a lovely shower. My friend, Katy, and I drove together, and she was so helpful with taking pictures and helping me keep everything organized!

Here is the beautiful cake Vivian made me at the shower!

Work has been a bit overwhelming this past month, but mostly because I have been trying so hard to have things lined up and ready just "in case" I deliver early. I love my team though, and I enjoy my students so much, so it is all worth it. I am so thankful to be able to take off the first quarter next year, but that too adds a bit of a level of anxiety for me as I am having a difficult time "letting go" and having somebody else take over. Recently we had our annual big class party at Lion's Park, and that was a blast. It was great having so many parents and siblings join us, and all of the students did so well. Everyone had fun!With only fourteen days to go until Abby is scheduled to arrive, our schedules are finally starting to settle down. Her nursery needs a few final touches, but other than that is done. The swing, bouncy seat, and such are all washed and scrubbed and look just like new. I even washed and hung the clothes she will need over the first few months. I am so excited to meet my sweet little girl! She constantly is moving around, and I am in awe every time. I love to feel and see her moving around, trying to guess which body part is poking my stomach out several inches :) I have been much more uncomfortable and tired this time than I remember with AJ, but it is all worth it. I am just so thankful that everything is looking good and she appears to be perfectly healthy. The doctor's did an ultrasound over a week ago, and at that time predicted that she was already 6 pounds 10 ounces, give or take half a pound. She is supposed to gain an ounce a day, so that would put her at about 7 pounds 3 oz. right now :) Two weeks ago I was dilated to a one, but unfortunately in the past two weeks there have been no progress. I keep having tons of strong braxton hicks, so I just hope that when the time comes, it goes fast and painless! :)

We have been trying as best as we can to help AJ prepare for Abby. He doesn't seem too excited about the concept of a baby, and when we read together with my shirt up for him to read to Abby, he will usually try to pull my shirt back down and says "bye bye Abby" or "goodnight Abby". We had a baby refresher class a few weeks ago. While Adam and I refreshed on breathing and stages of labor, AJ went with the other children to watch movies, color, and play with dolls - everything being focused around being an older sibling. AJ wanted nothing to do with the doll, but did enjoy coloring and the brown around his lips made me think he enjoyed the chocolate chip cookies for snack time.

He is officially sleeping in his fire truck bed!!! This was our third and final attempt at converting him from the crib before the baby arrived. Abby will sleep in the pack and play anyway, but I wanted to try to make the switch now so he didn't perceive things as us taking it away from him to give to her. He sleeps through the night without getting out now, after just a week of making the switch. He is napping in the bed right now too :) Now all I have to do is get him to not want his paci, which he still gets for sleeping :( I figured we will wait on this and potty training until a few months after Abby arrives, when I will have a little more sleep to be able to follow through, and he will have his comforts with all the changes and adjustments. We continue to spend most of our evenings and weekends outdoors, either at parks or the zoo. Here are a few pictures from the past few months...

I don't think we need to worry about self-image any time soon, do you?

I don't know who had more fun at the park this day!

And they say a picture says a 1,000 words? :)
AJ enjoyed his first monorail ride! It was a full half hour, and he was entertained the entire time!

Here is just a snapshot of AJ snuggling one morning with his "big Elmo" and "little Elmo"

AJ and I went to a Sweeney playdate last weekend. We always look forward to seeing our friends at these playdates! AJ especially had fun "blowing" bubbles with a motorized toy!