Easter, belly pics and golfing!

Time to play catch-up again! It's been a while since I've blogged and I've been a bit busy with, well, life. So this post will be full of pictures from the last few months. I apologize in advance :) Enjoy! 

First up, Easter! We got Henry a few little things and some candy for his Easter bucket. He had fun looking through his bucket and finding all his treasures :) 

Ooooh what is this?!

Yum! 

 Reese's Pieces in the shape of a carrot. Henry still calls the candies carrots. 

 Peeps and a chocolate bunny. 

 After he had looked through all his little things, it was time to bring out his "big" gift. Henry loves Toy Story and has most of the characters already. On Easter he got one more.

I love his face! 

 Is that for me???

 Yippeee!!! 

 It's Slinky dog! 

To this day, James still gets credit for getting Henry Slinky because he is the one who brought it out and I was taking pictures. Every now and then, Henry will be playing with Slinky and say, dada gave me Slinky, thank you dada! Next time, I am bringing out the present and James can take pictures! ;) 

 He was so happy to see another Toy Story friend to add to his collection (you can see some others in the background). 

 My attempt at getting Henry to look at the camera and smile... yeah, he's Chandler. 

 Don't laugh at him, he's my drowning moron ;) 

 Henry was so excited to eat the chocolate bunny that he kinda started eating while the wrapper was still on! 

 That's better! 

 Chow down dude! 

 My sweet boy! 

 We went down to celebrate Easter with my family in Sierra Vista. Henry always loves spending time with his nana and papa!

Me and my baby boy.

 Last Easter picture as a family of three!

 Henry getting some love from his auntie Zee Zee :) 

Kenya and I tried to do an egg hunt with the kids... it was hilarious! The kids were way more into playing and running around with each other than finding eggs! We would run along behind them and point out the eggs and eventually they would slow down enough to pick up an egg and throw it in their basket. I didn't get too many pics because honestly, they were too fast for me to keep up with! 

 See the eggs! Yeah, they could care less! 

Now we come to the random pictures that were taken between Easter and now. There is no rhyme or reason to these :) 

Playing with daddy. 

 So sweet :) 

 James's mom gave us a trampoline for Henry. Man, does he LOVE that thing!

To infinity and beyond! Check out the air on this kid! 

 Yes, he is wearing his Halloween costume. He likes to fly like Buzz :) 

Henry will absolutely KILL me for this next one someday but I just couldn't help myself, it's too cute! 

Look at that smile! And he's looking at the camera! Ok, so he's on the toilet, it's still cute, right?

 Please enjoy a million pictures of my son eating an ice cream cone :)

Henry has recently started copying me when I have toys talk and do voices. I love that he is finally getting how to play and I am hoping he starts doing it more on his own and eventually with other kids too. Baby steps. These are pictures of Henry playing with his play doh animals. I tried to get video but he is so obsessed with watching the videos that he stops what he's doing whenever I try to video him. 

 "Hello, I am a dolphin." "Hello, I am a duck." "Want to go for a swim?" 'Sure!" 

 When Henry reads with James, he lovingly puts his arm around James's neck. It's adorable :)

Reading Skippy Jon Jones with nana :) 

Painting with auntie Em :) 

Oh yeah, I am pregnant! I feel bad that I have not blogged about how this pregnancy has been going. Really, it's all I can do to get through the work day, spend some time with my boy and try to keep the house from turning to complete crap. So I'll do a quick pregnancy update now :) Baby stuff is for the next blog. I am now 19 weeks pregnant. In the pic below I was 18. I feel like I am WAY bigger than 19 weeks though. Apparently, I gained 9 pounds in the past month according to my doctor. Yikes! The morning sickness has clearly taken a hike and a huge appetite has arrived! The fun of a stuffy nose has returned. Thankfully, I learned a few things from the first pregnancy and had Breathe Right strips ready to go! Now if only it were socially acceptable to wear them in public! My hips have started hurting too. I blame the metal pins in my left hip for this little treat. Other than that, I've been pretty good :) I am pretty convinced that I started feeling this baby moving around 14 weeks. Now that I know what it feels like, I think I felt it much earlier than with Henry. The last few weeks, I KNOW I've been feeling the baby move a lot more. James still hasn't felt it yet but there is time for that. 

18 week belly pic. 

 Do you see that?? My belly button has popped already too!!! 

Over spring break, James got a groupon for Golf N Stuff. Then Henry got sick :*( so we didn't go. The weather was pretty nice last weekend and my mom was in town so we decided to try it out. I was so scared that it would be a totally disaster but Henry absolutely LOVED it! He played it more like basketball and just threw the golf balls into the holes, but he was having a blast so I didn't care. The highlight for me was when we were just about as far away from the building as possible when Henry decided he needed to pee. Great! So I booked it across the golf course with my big pregnant belly dragging Henry all the way with him shouting, this is fun! Luckily we made it and I didn't trip and kill myself on any of the holes! Now he asks every day if we are going back to play golf. I am sure we'll go back but I need some time to recover. It was exhausting but fun! :) 

 Henry helped everyone get their ball in the hole. He is two fisting it here. 

 Swing! 

 Mama wasn't too much help. 

 Daddy was a bit better. 

 Checking out the ducks in the pond. 

 Me and my red-cheeked baby boy. 

 Smile!! I had to tickle him to get this one :) 

 Nana and Henry

 Honestly no clue what we are discussing here. 

 When it was time to say goodbye to the ball, I thought there would be tears, but he was all good! I think the promise of boats overpowered the sadness of losing his ball. 

I decided to sit out from the bumper boats and let James have all the fun while I took pictures. Henry LOVED this too! 

 Henry did all the steering for a while. Look ma, no hands! 

We spent a bit of time cooling off in the arcade. Luckily, Henry is still little enough that he doesn't understand that the machines actually take money! 

Going down the little path.  

 Bye Golf N Stuff! That was fun :) 

I had a birthday! Big 3-2 or as Henry likes to say 2 and a 3 which I like much better! We didn't do much but Henry insisted on blowing out the 2 and the 3. He was pretty good at it. When his birthday comes around in a few weeks, he will be an expert :) 

Not a cake but a big ol' rice krispy treat, yum! 

 Ready? 

 Huff...

 Puff...

 Blow!!! 

Next blog, ultrasound pictures! :) 

Here we go again...

The last week of January, I wasn't exactly feeling like myself. I was achy and tired. When I thought about it, I realized it was an all too familiar feeling. Since I can't do ANYTHING by myself anymore, Henry and I ran some errands on Groundhog day and I picked up a HPT. Since I am never late, I was pretty positive I knew what the results would be. I was right. Within minutes, the word PREGNANT appeared on the little screen. Without really thinking, I told Henry, well it looks like your going to be a big brother! I didn't think he was really even paying attention. I had a little mini freak out, took a couple deep breaths and decided that even though we had not planned for this, that it was a blessing and that I was going to be happy about it :) You all know me, I am a planner. So this took some getting used to for me. I wasn't sure how James would react so I kept it to myself for the time. James loves surprises so I wanted to find a fun way of telling him. This would after all, probably be the last chance I get to tell my husband that we are having a baby! I had planned on waited for a while before telling him but Henry kind of ratted me out. Remember how I absent-mindedly told him he was going to be a big brother? Well it turns out he WAS paying attention. The next day Henry and I were playing on the floor and out of no where, Henry says, I'm going to be a big brother! James was sitting right on the couch so I thought I was busted. James didn't hear him but I figured I better act fast before Henry rats me out for good! So I had Henry come in the bathroom with me and I handed him the HPT with the positive result on it. I told him to go take it to daddy and tell him, I'm going to be a big brother. Henry did just as he was told and James was definitely surprised! He actually thought I was joking! Once he realized that I was serious, he was really happy :)

Now that James knew, we could come up with a way to tell my family. Again since this was the last time I get to do this, I wanted to make it fun! So we invited everyone out to dinner. Our excuse was to celebrate James's birthday, which we kind of were. On March 9th, we went to Pinnacle Peak for dinner. We had ordered a cake from Nadine's (YUM!) that said, Happy Birthday, so they'd think it was for James. But underneath the words we put the due date, 10/3/13. We showed everyone the cake at the beginning of dinner and it took a few minutes for people to figure out what it meant but when they did, boy were they happy! My mom was so excited and so were my sisters and my dad. It was really fun telling everyone at once like that, so I am glad we waited until they were all together.

The next weekend, we drove down to have dinner with James's family so we could tell them. James let Henry do the honors. As soon as everyone sat down, Henry said (nice and loud too!) I'm going to be  big brother! They were all surprised and happy and excited too! :) Yay!

Now that all our family knew I could start telling friends and well now, the rest of the world! It will be quite a challenge going from one to two. I barely feel like I got the hang of one and now we are throwing another one in the mix! At least this pregnancy feels a bit less stressful. I mean, I already know what to expect so it's been a bit easier. The morning sickness was more intense this time around but pretty short lived. It lasted only about three or four weeks instead of ten weeks like with Henry. At our first ultrasound, the Dr said the baby was small and she wasn't sure of the due date, etc... Exactly what happened with Henry. So when the Dr said she wanted to see me back in two weeks to re-measure, I was ok with it. Fast forward two weeks and the ultrasound was fine, there was growth, a heartbeat, the due date was confirmed, pretty much exactly like Henry. So while I'm still being cautious, it's bit easier knowing what's coming ahead. It's nice to be able to look back at my belly book and blog and see what it was like with Henry. One big difference is my weigh gain. I seem to be much bigger, much faster this time. Once I start posting belly pics, you'll see!! The other big difference with this pregnancy is that when I get tired and want a nap in the middle of the afternoon, I can't. Henry just says, no mama, you're not tired! Let's play! Ugh, that has been hard. There have been times where I have actually fallen asleep on the floor while playing with Henry. One time, and I'm not proud of this, I fell asleep outside on our nice fake grass while playing with Henry! Talk about tired! Luckily, my energy seems to be returning this week. Today marks 12 weeks so hopefully I'm out of the first trimester blues :)

Spencer family weekend

 Last weekend, James and I packed Henry up for a quick trip to Yuma. My grandmother had passed a few months ago but didn't want a big funeral. So the family decided to wait for a time when the most of us could possibly get together to do a memorial for her life. I was excited to see so many family and friends that I had not seen in years but it would be hard to see them under such sad circumstances. Henry, of course, had no idea. So he was pretty happy. However, early that morning, Henry had fallen out of his big boy bed. He had been sleeping in that bed for months without any problem. We had a rail on one side, a mattress on the floor at the foot but there was literally a foot wide gap that he managed to wriggle through and fall. He had been complaining of his neck hurting and winced whenever he lifted his arms or someone picked him up. I called the Dr before we left just to check to be sure he was ok to travel. The Dr said as long as he was moving ok that it was probably just sore. Give him some ibuprofen and he'll be fine. (Side note: When we returned, I called the Dr again on Monday and asked for them to see him because by then his collarbone was quite swollen. Long story short, he had a broken clavicle. D'oh! He was fine the whole trip, running around, swimming, climbing up and down stairs, just a bit sore. Oh well, live and learn) The trip was pretty uneventful and we pulled in to my uncle Mark's place around 7:00. We walked into a tornado of kids! All my uncle Mark's kids were there with all their kids. Henry had so much fun with his cousins!

Henry "sharing" toys with his cousins (or are they second cousins?)

Henry playing with Giada. So cute! Giada called Henry, hungry! Precious! 

We didn't stay too long. It had been a long day and tomorrow was going to be even longer. We usually stay at my uncle's place but since it was full up, we were off to the hotel down the street. Henry had some more fun hanging out in the hotel room. It took quite a while for him to actually get to sleep. I wonder why?

He may kill me for this picture later ;) 

The next day, my mom and sisters were driving up and we were meeting them and my dad for lunch at La Casa (YUM!) Afterwards, we had some time to kill before the memorial started so we hit the park. 

Henry loved all the big slides (again, you'd never know he had a broken bone!) 

 Whee!!! 

Emily and my mom chilling on the swings. 

After a very brief nap, we headed back to my uncle's for the memorial. My aunt Carol did a wonderful job of organizing and setting everything up. It was beautiful and my grandma would have loved it! 

Uncle Mark with Scarlett and Nora. This was a common sight to see Mark with at least one, usually two kids (sometimes more!) in tow. 

 Heidi, Joshua, Eva and Shannon. Uncle Mark and Aunt Karen's kids. 

Somehow I missed Aunt Carol, Uncle Courtney and their kids, and my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Bill and their kids, dang. My uncle Mark's house it set back in the orange groves and has this awesome roof where you can see everything! 

 The view from the roof. 

 More of the party. 

 Aunt Carol and me. Mom and Em too! 

 When Henry caught sight of James up on the roof, he thought it was the funniest thing ever! 

 Me and my boy! 

 Me and Emily and Erin talking with our cousin Grant. 

After everyone had eaten, it was time for the service portion, done by my dad. I am so glad that my dad did a religious aspect to the memorial. It was good to have some closure since there was no funeral. Thanks daddy!!! 

My dad. 

Then it was opened up so people could speak about my grandma. I would have loved to speak but I would have never been able to get though it. Thankfully others were able to speak. 

Aunt Kathy. Thanks to her, I got a song stuck in my head for DAYS! We had a little party down in Lakeport... :)  

 "Little" Millie. Beach friends. 

 Uncle Bill. Talking about what a damn good cook my grandma was. 

 Uncle Mark. 

After everyone had said their piece, we just spent some time together, talking. I REALLY wanted to get a big group picture since there were SO many of us together in one place. So I asked James to try to set up the camera on the roof. He was ALL over it! :) 

Henry caught sight of James again, he just loved it! 

While James was setting the camera up, he threw the remote for the camera down to me so I could check to be sure it was working. Of course, I had to take some fun pics while I was testing ;) 

I love my cousins' faces in this one! Laura, right next to me me and Kathryn behind me. I had no idea they were doing this until I started looking through the pictures! 

 Me just being a goofball! It was necessary ;) 

 The whole group shot. I was really happy we got a picture of everyone together.Who knows when this will happen again. 

 We got a couple of candid shots while we had everyone still in one area.

 This beautiful young lady had just turned 21 earlier this week! 

 All this wonderful food around him and all this little boy ate was a crap-ton of crackers and cookies! 

 No more pictures please! ;) 

Emily grabbed the camera for a bit and captured some good shots for me. Thanks Em! :) 

My lovely niece Starla. 

 The sunset from the roof.

 Henry on the roof with his prized orange. 

 Me and Henry on the roof. Seriously, how cool is that?!

 Henry spotted Emily :) 

 My cutie pie nephew Sean. 

 Sean and Henry playing. 

Did I mention that all of my cousins' kids are girls? Well they are. Five of them to be exact. Henry didn't mind at all. In fact, he was rather intrigued with all the girl toys. He picked up a fairy doll and was curiously stroking the wings. Then he decided what it was, came running up to me and said, look mama, she's a bee! Ha! Then he found a baby doll. Oh he was so cute with that doll. He wanted to take it home with him! 

My manly boy with his baby doll. 

Giving his baby doll a hug.

 After most of the people had left, it was just the family left and we all gathered in the kitchen to say our goodbyes. 

It was a difficult weekend, full of emotions both happiness and sadness. I was glad that we were able to celebrate my grandma's life and see so many friends and family. It was really nice for Henry to be able to play with his little cousins that he doesn't get a chance to see very often. It was also quite strange as this was the first time that I had seen many of my cousins as parents. How did that happen? I can still remember all of us playing Monopoly in my grandma's apartment at the beach, drinking sodas, eating pizza and having fun. Now we're all parents! So strange. Well I think that now I can write what I was wanting to say at the memorial. It may not be pretty but it is how I feel. No judging :) 

When I was little, I had a hard time falling asleep at night. I remember my mom giving me some really good advice about how to help myself fall asleep. She said, think of a place where you are always happy, where nothing bad ever happens, find your happy place. The very first thought that came to me was my grandparents' house. Both their house in Yuma and the apartment in La Jolla. We would spend weeks at a time in both of those places over the summer and it was always just perfect. When we were in Yuma, mornings and afternoons were spent swimming in the pool, taking a break only to eat Chili Pepper on the back patio and drinking sodas from the soda machine on the porch. Evenings spent going out to dinner, racing to Gene's and then to Baskin Robins. We would always fight over who got to ride with grandpa, he was always such fun! Nights spent sharing conversations with grandpa and him ALWAYS saying goodnight by reminding us that we were number one! Weeks were spent like this and then we'd drive on to La Jolla and spend more weeks with grandma at the beach. Mornings spent collecting shells, afternoons spent on the beach with grandma, eating Jeff's Burgers or John's cheese shop. Evenings spent going out to Falcone's and then to the French Pastry shop for dessert. Nights spent talking (ok gossiping!) with grandma out on the patio in the chill of the beach nights. Perfect summers with amazing grandparents. That was my happy place. It still IS my happy place. Those are some of the best memories I have of my childhood. With my aunts, uncles and cousins never far away and spending so much time with family over the summer in beautiful places. Grandma and Grandpa, I will miss you ALWAYS. Thank you so much for being my happy place! :)