No Nap Monday

     I got to get out of the house on Friday for the first time in a while.  I had a doctor's appointment that morning so I actually put makeup on and normal clothes.  Pretty big deal.  The doctor said I could get out of the house for a short period of time once a week.  So this morning Colette came and picked Lydia and I up and we went to a children's consignment store.  I got a brand new sound machine for Owen for $15.  I thought that was a pretty good deal.  I also got him some really adorable sandals (pic below) for $5.  They are his first pair of shoes.  They make me want to take him to the beach.  Then we all went to Chick-fil-A and let Lydia and Noah burn off some energy on the playground.  I could eat at CFA everyday if I had to.  I guess I didn't let Lydia burn enough energy on the playground because she decided not to take a nap today.  Tomorrow is my mom's birthday so her, my stepdad, Whitney and baby London are coming over to our house to celebrate.  It's nice to have things like that to look forward to when you're on "mild bed rest" and don't get to do too much.

Here's Kevin and Lydia watching my favorite show.  The Biggest Loser!! 

 Lydia is ready to go to dance class with Aunt Erin and cousin Maddie.  It kinda looks like she's saying the pledge of allegiance.

 Here's Owen's new bedding.  Isn't it cute!?

Owen's new sandals.  ADORABLE!!  I can't wait to put his tiny little feet in them!  :)

 Lydia helped Daddy and Uncle Aaron build our new storage building this weekend.

What we've been up to...

     I figured I would catch everyone up on what's been going on in the Skinner house.  I always think I'm gunna try and do better at this blog thing, but it never turns out that way.  Hopefully I'll blog more when baby boy comes along.  That's right, we're having a boy!  We found out the week after Thanksgiving.  We were both shocked and super excited!  I can't wait till he gets here.  It's so different for me the second go around because I already know the love that you can feel for your own child.  I didn't know this love before Lydia was born.  So I'm more excited and anxious to meet him than nervous about what to expect.  I already know what it's like to bring a child into the world and how to deal with certain stresses.  By the way, his name will be Owen.  It took us forever to pick out a name.  It was so much harder this time than it was with Lydia.  Also, since my last doctors appointment a couple weeks ago I have been put on bed rest.  :(   It has it's ups and downs.  It's nice not to have to do much and not feel guilty for it, but at the same time I like to do my part and keep the house up.  I am 29 weeks today.  Hopefully this little guy will stay in till March.  That's my goal.  I was late with Lydia but this pregnancy is completely different.  My placenta is covering probably 80% of my cervix so needless to say it puts a lot of unwanted pressure on it.  Chances of bleeding are significantly increased and going to 40 weeks is definitely not going to happen.  I will probably have to have a c-section unless something miraculous happens.  But I'm okay with that.  Anyway, here's what we've been up to...

I think Lydia was having trouble falling asleep this night so Kevin hopped into bed with her.  I walk in a little while later and find this.  Very cute!

 The park across the street from where we live was having some sort of festival thing so we decided to check it out.  Lydia got to ride her first horsey.  She loved it so much Kevin had to bribe her with fruit snacks to get her off the horse.

 Getting ready for church.  

 Here's Lydia with her arm wrapped around her little cousin London.  They were watching cartoons in Poppy's lap.

 We went to the drive thru light show in Athens this year.  Lydia got to sit in Daddy's lap and help drive.  There was so much to look at, she loved it.  I can't wait to take Owen this next Christmas!

 Lydia and I went and stayed the weekend at Nana and Poppy's house right before Christmas.  While we were there we made a gingerbread choo choo train.  Lydia enjoyed decorating it with Aunt Whitney.

 Let me introduce you to Owen.  I'm already so in love with this little boy.  I can't wait to meet him!

 We went over to Mimi and Pawpaw's house and made frosted sugar cookies!  Lydia got to help stir the batter, cut out the cookies, frost them and put sprinkles on them.

And last but not least, opening presents on Christmas morning.  

Lydia's First Haircut!

     Lydia and I had a busy morning today.  We left the house around 9 and jetted off to dance class.  For the first time in dance class there was a bounce house!  All the girls loved it.  It made it so much cuter with all of them being in their leotards and tutus.  After dance we met a friend at the park, which was right next door to a place where you could early vote.   So the mommies took turns watching the kiddos while the other went and cast their vote.  I'm so glad I already got that over with and don't have to stand in a long line come election day.  Then we all went and had lunch at McDonald's!  I haven't eaten there in forever.  Then it was off to Lydia's first hair appointment.  She needed a trim pretty badly.  I had no idea how she was going to react, but she did great!  Last but not least, we went to our good friend Noah's house to show off our pretty hair.

 Here she is before her haircut.  Little kids are so much cuter in the hair guards/cape (i have no idea what those things are called).  She was completely covered up except for her little head poking out the top.

Action shot.  She didn't quite know what was going on back there. 

Here she is after.  It took a total of 10 minutes.  I tried to get her to smile but she wasn't cooperating.  

A Fun Day

     Yesterday was my dad's birthday, so our little family traveled out to Hallsville and enjoyed the outdoors.  My sister drove in from Houston with her little 4 month old.  We swung, threw balls in the pool over and over again, enjoyed relaxing in the shade and Lydia fished with Daddy.  Her little rod and reel didn't have any string on it so she just practiced reeling it.  Mainly she would put the tip of the rod in the water and see what yucky stuff she could pull out (see picture 3).

 So cute!

     That evening we all went out and ate sushi, and a lot of it!  Here's Lydia with Grandpa and Bibi.  Lydia enjoyed eating her edamame, goldfish and white rice.  I had a bit of a wake up call last night when my sister was having trouble getting London to take a nap at the restaurant.  I could tell she was getting very frustrated, and here I am not having to do anything for Lydia since she's pretty independent.  Then I realized it will only be about 5 more months till that's me.  Hopefully it will be different the second go around, more "go with the flow".  We'll see.  :)  

Not to good at this blog thing anymore

     It's been almost 2 months since my last post.  Not too much has happened since then.  We went to Florida for a week, Kevin went to Seattle with his brother and I had my 10 year high school reunion this past weekend.  Can't believe it's been 10 years already.  Everybody looked exactly the same.  I am now 15 weeks pregnant and am in the 2nd trimester.  I had a little nausea with this pregnancy, which I didn't experience with Lydia.  Never threw up though.  The experienced eye would be able to tell I was pregnant, but everybody else probably just thinks I'm a little chubby in the mid-section.  Definitely started showing a lot earlier this go around than the first pregnancy.  Anyway, here are a few pics of what has been going on...

 Here's Lydia helping Daddy wash the car, so cute.  This was a fun day.  Lydia discovered the water hose during all this and soaked Daddy and almost had me soaked.  She enjoyed spraying us way too much.

 THE BEACH!!  She loved it.

Isn't she adorable?! 

 This was at the Clearwater Aquarium where they have the real dolphin from the movie Dolphin Tale (that movie about the dolphin with a prosthetic tail).

 Hanging out on the boardwalk.

 Okay, I know I'm a little biased...but she is so cute!

 She loved swimming in the ocean all by herself.  She didn't want any help.

The sunset on our last night there. 

Posing with Nana's scarecrows. 

     A few little things about Lydia...her favorite phrase is "I do it".  She is little Miss. Independent.  She loves to dance.   Talks about her friends all the time.  Climbs up in her eating chair and buckles herself in.  Is ridiculously good at the iphone, sad but true.  Can load a DVD in the DVD player.  Last but not least, she is getting much better at sharing, thank goodness.

I've Been Lazy

       I've had many opportunities to blog, I've just been too lazy to do it.  Since my last blog post we have taken a little family vacation to San Antonio, taken the front of Lydia's crib off, Kevin started his new job, planned another vacation to Florida next week and last but not least we found out we are having another baby!  :)  We're pretty excited about that last one, and the Florida trip.

 Here's Lydia and I on the river walk.

 The Alamo

 Our first family picture in a while.

If you look closely there is a crazy toddler in the little doorway. 

We got to feed and pet the dolphins.  That was pretty cool.  Lydia's arms were too short to reach them though. 

Cute pic of father and daughter. 

   
    I mentioned that we took the front of Lydia's crib off so she could sleep like a big girl.  Well we put it back on yesterday.  It lasted about a month.  And it's been a month worth of horrible sleep for all parties involved.  She did really good for the first three days and it was all down hill from there.  It just wasn't getting through her head that she was supposed to stay in bed.  So for our own sanity, she is sleeping in a crib again.
    Friday we leave out for Houston when Kevin gets off work.  Then Saturday morning we fly out to Florida for a whole week.  It will be Lydia's first time to the beach, so I'm looking forward to her reaction to the waves.  She has gotten really fond of the water in the past couple weeks so that should make this trip more enjoyable. I'm hoping to get some good family pics while at the beach, we'll see.

Birthday Party!!

     Saturday we had Lydia and her friend Madi's birthday party at our house.  For some reason I was really worried that everybody was going to forget about it and nobody was going to show up.  Of course, I was wrong.  We had a great turn out and had a great time.  We had a bounce house, bubble machine, snow cone machine and a little splash pool.  Party of the century!  The kids had a blast and I enjoyed watching them jump in the bounce house.  I'm glad it's over though.  Next year we will have her party at a water park so I don't have to do anything.  :)

Cousins 

Running around and around 

Her birthday morning.  She woke up in a good mood, besides still having a little ear infection.  Last night was the first night in about a week that I didn't have to get up about 5 times a night to sooth her.