Wow has it been crazy!

Well it has been a long time since I have posted but the last two months have been a blur. For those of you that do not know, we are expecting our second baby on September 20th. We are very excited and were a little surprised. I am finally feeling better, I did not have as much sickness this time but was just really tired. Pretty much for the last month and a half I have been working and sleeping. Thank goodness for my wonderful husband who has helped out so much. Everything is going great with the pregnancy and we had our ultrasound at the beginning of this month.

Corinne with her Valentine Bear from GiGi

Jeremy was laid off at the end of February from his job as a recruiter but will be starting a job at Liberty Mutual on Monday. He will sell home, car and life insurance and we think this is going to be a great opportunity for him. He will have to do some traveling in May and June but this is going to be fun for us too. Jeremy's boss let him know that Corinne and I are more then welcome to go on the June trip to Orlando, so I think we have to do it. The company is going to pay for my plane ticket too, and Corinne still does not cost anything. The only problem is Jeremy has to go on the 8th and I am not done with school till the 10th so I am going to have to fly myself. Some of you may know that I am not really that great at flying and it has been over two years since I last flew so this may be tricky. I am also worried about how to keep an 18 month old busy on a plane for an 1 1/2 flight and be six months pregnant. I will find a way to do it though!

We have only had one playdate with Hannah since February and we have only been to a couple of family functions. My nephew Keith turned 16 in February so we went to that and then just a couple of visits to my parents and one to Wheeling. We also have made a couple trips to the zoo and Jeremy just found out in the last week that Corinne loves the playground at Polaris. We also went to the Half-Pint Hullabuloo at the Westerville Community Center last week with Jack and Tiffany and had a great time.

Feeding Hannah goldfish at our last playdate

Taking a bath with Dominic at Grandma's

Corinne at the Petting Zoo for the first time (I never let her do it last year)

Corinne is growing like a weed and is into everything. She is a very independent little girl which is going to come in handy in about six months. She is saying tons of things now and repeats everything. Since it has been nice we have been taking lots of family walks and she will no longer ride in the stroller, she walks the whole 1/2 mile most days. She has also been playing at the park and loves to swing and slide. Corinne also loves to help with the dishes now and I am including some pictures of her helping with the dishes.

Corinne helping wash dishes!

Overall it has been some very nice family time in the last month and we a looking forward to the warm weather coming. Corinne is really an outside girls which I am thankful for since Jeremy and I like to be outside so much. In two weeks I will be on Spring Break for 10 days and then we will only have seven weeks till the end of the year. I am looking forward to some qualitly time with friends and family in the coming months!

Finally an update

My Dad, Corinne, Dominic , Keith, and my Grandma at Dad's 60th Birthday Party

It has been crazy around here for the last two weeks so I have had no time to blog. February 1st my Dad turned sixty and we had a big family party for him. This was also after our big snow storm so Corinne got to go sled riding on the same hills that I use to sled ride on. Last week was a very uneventful week with our first full week of work in a while it was a very long one.

Dad with his big 60th Birthday sign that was in the front yard

Corinne sledding in the fairgrounds in Lancaster

Corinne and Dominic trying to sled together

We took a little weekend trip last week and just had some time to hang out. We went to see an train exhibit that Daddy really liked and that Corinne was at least some what interested in (as much as a 14 month old can be). Of course silly Mommy forgot her camera at the house and then my cell phone died so we only have a couple of images.

This week was uneventful until last night when we had a huge storm that knocked out our power. We were having some really nice 50 and 60 degree days for a couple of days. Yesterday, I was at my friend Natalie's house after school because she had just had her baby and need someone to let her dog out so Corinne and I were happy to do it. Just when we were getting ready to leave her house there was a wall cloud and Corinne and I dashed to the car. When we got in the car Daddy was calling us to see where we were because the storm was so bad. At that point the hail was hitting the van and the van was shaking so I asked Jeremy what I should do and he said go back inside. So I through my coat over Corinne and ran inside but we were both soaked. The storm finally passed but Daddy said don't hurry home because our power is out. Long story short our power was only out for two hours but we ended up with about an inch of water in parts of our basement because the power to the sump pump was off and our battery back up failed. We spend the rest of the evening trying to dry that up and learned the hard way that we are getting raked on our insurance. Basically we have coverage on our basement that does us no good unless we put a bunch of expensive stuff down there. It seems like we are going to be able to dry it out with no damage done and we will be finding new insurance.

Today I had my class Valentine's party at school and that was about it. We are looking forward to a relaxing weekend together after a long week!

Comparsion

I know this is my second post today but I wanted to do a little picture comparsion and see what people think. People always say how much Corinne looks like Jeremy so I thought I would compare. It's a little like that Conan O'Brien sketch, what if they mated.

I am the little one in the dress

Corinne at 14 Months

Jeremy is on the right in his groovy outfit

What a week!

This is a picture from Sunday when Corinne decided to wearing my headband and was looking really cute!

This week started out on a not so great note. Jeremy was not feeling very well and stayed home from work on Monday with the flu. Jeremy has been sick with strep and the flu most of this month so we have been real home bodies. Monday we got some unexpected snow but I still had school. Tuesday, Jeremy tried to go to work but was just not feeling great so he came home. We knew that we were suppose to get lots of snow on Wednesday so Corinne and I tried to stop at a store to get a sled but could not find one. I guess Santa should have brought one for Christmas. By the time we left the store we had about an inch of snow and the roads were getting bad quickly. We got a mix of snow and sleet all Tuesday night, so it was a real mess. When we woke up Wednesday morning I was sure that we had missed the snow again, but was I ever wrong.

Wednesday was a snow day for me, the roads did not start out great and were only suppose to get worse. Franklin County was on a Level 2 snow emergency for most of the day so Jeremy's boss just told him to work from home. When it was all said and done by about 2 o'clock we had about 9 inches of snow and ice. Corinne and I kept busy most of the day by playing and try and staighten up. Corinne got to play with Mom's homemade playdough for the first time and really seemed to like it, after she stopped trying to eat it. She did get one piece in her mouth and that is all it took. Corinne took a nice long nap in the afternoon and I fully enjoyed my snow day too with some rare time on the couch watching my Baby Stories (really makes you want another baby!). After Corinne got up from her nap and Daddy was done working we bundled Corinne up and went out in the snow. In the pictures you will notice that Corinne's snowpants are huge but when I bought them on Monday they did not have anything close to her size and I figured she can just wear them next year. Corinne was not to sure at first but then she loved it. In fact she loved it so much that when it was time to go inside she threw a major fit. I just wish we would have had a sled to pull her around in. It was a really good day!

Corinne playing with playdough for the first time

She really started to like it!

View from our front window of the snow!

View into our backyard!

Corinne saying cheese and loving the snow!

Miss Independent trying to walk herself in the snow...she did not want help!

This is when we first put her down...she was really not sure what to do.

Wednesday night around 9 I got a phone call that we would be on a two hour delay today and then they would make a decision in the morning. Needless to say since I am writing this at 9:40 in the mornin that school was closed again today. I am happy to be home but that was our last calamity day to use so anything after this we will have to make up. Jeremy went to work this morning and said the roads were really bad still, so I think the school made the right decision. Corinne and I will spend another day staying warm insideand loving it!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Last week was a very busy week even though it was a short one. Tuesday was a normal day of work and home. Same thing Wednesday except for Mommy having an really bad day at work. It is the time of year that we start working on transition to Kindergarten with my older kids and it can often be very stressful, and I will leave it at that. Corinne was glad to be back with her friends after having four days at home with Mommy and did not want to leave Miss Linda's most days, which makes me feel good in some ways and awful in others. Anyway Thursday we shopped at Babies R Us afterschool for my friend Natalie's shower gift and Corinne and I had such a good time. Friday Daddy got to pick Corinne up from the babysitters because I was hosting the shower afterschool but Jeremy brought Corinne over to see some of my co-workers. She had a good time in my classroom playing with balls and trying out all the kid size chairs. Friday night we just hung out at home and went to bed early.

Saturday we had our new U-verse TV, phone and Internet installed (thank goodness I can finally be on the Internet without having to log in every 5 minutes) and it took about 5 hours to do that. Carrie, Hallie and my nephew Dominic came for a visit and so that the kids could play together, even though Corinne ended up being asleep for two and a half hours of it and it is fun to watch the kids play. Even though Dominic is three and a half months younger then Corinne he sure was pushing her around. We went to dinner together and then my sister and her family went home.

Today, we ran errands most of the morning and drove around in the not so great weather that we were not expecting. Corinne came home and took a two and a half hour nap and then got up and to eat and play. She has become quite a good sleeper in the last couple of weeks. I think she goes so much during the day that she is just worn out at night.

What a nice long weekend

Thursday I had my first girls night out and I had a lot of fun. I will admit I was a little sad when it came time to leave because I had only had about an hour with Corinne and figured she would be in bed by the time I got home. The weather was not great so only about six of us were able go and we had a really good time. I know that everyone will be better because I am taking this time for myself. Now I just wish Jeremy could find a similiar outing for himself, he says he is going to do golf league in the Spring so hopefully he will. Before I left for Girl's night I knew that we did not have school on Friday due to the extreme cold so that made me feel a little better.

Corinne and I spent the day Friday snuggled up in the house because it was just to cold outside to go anywhere. It was -25 degrees with the wind chill here most of the day. We cleaned some and just spent the rest of the day playing. Daddy came home and we made homemade pizza, which Corinne loves, and then Corinne and I feel asleep even though I told Jeremy that we would watch a movie together. Friday night Corinne got her first shiner but pulling the bathroom draw out and hitting herself right in the eye. It did not look to bad at first but by Sunday it looked awful. We really do not beat our child!

Saturday was a busy day of errands and visiting. We finally got to visit with Jeremy's Uncle Rusty, Stacey and even got to meet there newest little boy Cristopher. He is a big boy at 15 pounds and he is only 9 weeeks old. Corinne finally hit the 20 pound mark so we decided to turn her carseat around finally. She really like riding forward in the car I think. In the afternoon we went to my best friend Tiffany's surprise 30th birthday party and she was very surprised. The kids had a good time playing and it was nice to have a nice glass of wine on a Saturday night, something I have not done in about two years. Corinne loved playing in the tunnels and ball pit that Jack just got and here are some pictures from the night.

Surprise Tiffany!

Corinne in the ball pit!

Jack playing in the tunnels

Sunday Corinne amazed Jeremy and I by sleeping till 10 o'clock, getting up for about two hours to play and eat and then went back to sleep for two more hours. She has had a pretty bad cold and has been up coughing at night so I think that it just finally caught up with her. However, anyone that knows my daughter knows that this is highly unusually for her. When she went to bed last night at her normal time I was fully expecting her to be up a bunch of times but she wasn't. I guess she really is growing up! I ran some errands while she was sleeping including finding this interactive pony toy that she has played with at some of her friends houses and loved on clearance at Target and just had to get it. It is the last thing she did before she went to bed last night! I also got a new cell phone that I love and of course I spent half the night playing with. It is amazing when I think back to my first cell phone and how much it cost to know the touch screen , flip open cell phone that will cost me nothing after the rebate is amazing. Technology has come so far and I love it!

Corinne and her pony toy

Today, I had the day off for Martin Luther King day so Corinne and I just spent the day catching up on some things and getting ready for the week. It is nice to have a long weekend and then a short week. We have two snow days left so maybe we can use those next month for a little break. I know I just went back to school but it is going to be a long twelve weeks till Spring Break!

Just a cute picture of Corinne in her outfit from Karey!

Horray for snow

It was a rather uneventful start to the week. A couple of days of false hope that me might get a snow day. So today I went to school thinking that it would be just another day and low and behold we finally got our snow. I did not have afternoon kids but still had to stay until all the kids were dismissed an hour early. We will see what happens tomorrow because of the cold temperatures but I am not holding out hope. It was nice to have a little extra time with Corinne though. She is talking all the time and will even sing "Happy Birthday' only her version is more like "Hoppy, bur day" but it works. She is also starting to sing 'Twinkle Twinkle" and loves to dance to everything!