Counting-ish

Another video to start off the week. One of Ellie's latest tricks is counting to 10. What a smart girl! She also is singing "Twinkle, twinkle little star" and getting most of the words right, but I haven't been able to get that one on camera yet!

Video randomness

Here are a couple random, but fun Ellie videos for your Friday.



*You'll hear her ask for "My boyfriend's back" in the first video, which we'd just finished listening to three times in a row. She's obsessed with that song.

Fashion show

Ellie decided to model some of the new dress shirts I bought for Brian the other day. She thinks they look pretty good!

Week 18: Bell pepper

We're excited to be just a week away from the ultrasound! Oh, and the current sentiment from Brian is that we're going to find out the baby's sex at that appointment... Getting excited!
I've been feeling good and seem to be mostly recovered from the ligament I pulled in my side last week (while lurching up from bed to turn off the alarm... oops).
I don't want to jinx anything, but I've been amazed at how well things are going in this pregnancy and how *relatively* relaxed I've been. I guess I'm just too busy with Ellie and everything else in life to spend as much time worrying about every little thing I eat, drink and do while carrying #2. Obviously I'm trying to take good care of the baby and myself, but I have a cup of coffee every few days and the occasional glass of wine, for example. I was so strict on myself in the last pregnancy, but I'm trying to be a bit more relaxed this time around. I think it's helping with the mental part of pregnancy, for sure, because time seems to be flying. I'll need someone to remind me of that around week 34 :)

Here's what the experts are saying this week:

Head to rump, your baby is about 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a bell pepper) and he weighs almost 7 ounces. He's busy flexing his arms and legs — movements that you'll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead. His blood vessels are visible through his thin skin, and his ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from his head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around his nerves, a process that will continue for a year after he's born. If you're having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If you're having a boy, his genitals are noticeable now, but he may hide them from you during an ultrasound.

Labor Day weekend

We didn't travel this past holiday weekend because I had to work on Saturday. But my mom decided to come down for a visit and we had a great time! Sunday was busy with church and a trip to the park, even though it was a bit too chilly to go swimming one last time before the pool closed for the season. We still had fun visiting the ducks and letting Ellie order us around the park.
Who armed the 2-year-old with a canon?

And Monday, when it was even colder (!), we went up to Delphi and visited the Wabash Erie Canal Park. They have a replica canal boat and a bunch of other historic stuff there, but most of it wasn't open until the afternoon when Ellie had to be home for her nap. We still enjoyed a walk on the canal trails.

And Ellie enjoyed visiting a new playground!

Double-slide time with daddy!

The shadow

I snagged this picture from a friend's blog because she noted a funny shadow. This is a picture of Ellie and her friend Colin playing at a recent kids event we visited in downtown Lafayette... But the photog also captured my shadow — looking very pregnant — in the picture! I don't think my bump is that big yet, but it has grown quite a bit in just the past 10 days or so.

Cornhole champ

Ellie spent some time practicing her cornhole skills after we returned from the pool last Sunday afternoon. I decided to play it with her on Saturday during our camping evening and joked that maybe I'd finally found someone I could beat in the game. Ellie promptly sunk her first shot in the hole. I guess I'm officially the worst cornhole player in our family!
...Of course sometimes Ellie gives her beanbags a little help getting through the hole on the board...