The best part of cupcakes?

It could be licking the spoon...but then you get to put the frosting and sprinkles on... or maybe it's that they have magical healing abilities...like you were too sick to eat your meatloaf, but when you saw Mom and Dad eating one, you decided to eat your meatloaf and then have a cupcake...

or maybe it is that yummy first bite:) I think that is my favorite part!!!

Aislynn was quite confused as to why we were making cupcakes when it wasn't any one's birthday:)

And here are the latest scrappy things I have gotten done the past couple weeks...

Shaun had been kinda sick for awhile, and now I think I got what he had. Or it could be the springy weather we have been having...runny nose, teary eyes, congested head, sore throat...yuck! Sounds like allergies maybe. Just hope A doesn't get it...

23 weeks and a cute Princess:)

Here is my 23 week belly picture. Aislynn keeps commenting on how big it is getting, I tell her "Oh, just wait!" We had checked out this book, The Best Kind of Baby, and one of the little girl's friends in the book points out that her Mommy's tummy looks like a whale...so Aislynn keeps telling me I look like a whale:) Thanks sweetie;) Anyways, this picture is a little blurry, but look, I am wearing normal clothes-no pj's or yoga pants!!! Today Aislynn wanted to wear her crown, the gold Mardi Gras beads, and a ring and she was a "beautiful princess" all day. Even when we went to the post office and Barnes and Noble:)

She IS a beautiful princess!

We got pizza for dinner and I forgot to share this story the last time, but it reminded me when we went there again, so I will share it now:) They have a bucket of kid's toys at the pizza place and there was a Rubik's Cube in there and she kept asking to play with the "Wall-E block." I had no idea what she was talking about for the longest time, lol. If you have seen Wall-E, you probably know what part I am talking about!!

Okay, I have another story b/c A is in the bath and this just happened, talk about up-to-the-minute reporting;) We have been reading Pocahontas, and Aislynn has these little Sesame Street figurines sitting in a boat and she said (in her best Cookie Monster impression) "We have arrived to America." Hee hee, she cracks me up...one of these days I am going to have to sneak the video camera and tape her conversations during her bath...they are the best;) Okay, off to clean the beautiful princess and greet the newest members of the New World.

Gettin' her groove on...

After dinner, I heard Aislynn go in the office and tell Shaun she was going to play music on her guitar and he should on his. As soon as I got there with the camera, she decided just Dad could play while she danced:) These pics turned out how I wanted...with Shaun in focus and the rest blurred...This is our junk room as well as our office:)

These pics crack me up, normally she insists on wearing a nightgown or a dress so she can "dance like a princess."

I had a doctor's appointment today, everything looked good. We got to hear the baby's heartbeat and he was kicking at where the doppler thing was:) Aislynn was disappointed that we couldn't see the baby on the screen like last time:) I have gained 8 lbs since my last appointment-OMGosh! So, 16 overall so far...looks like I definitely have my appetite back! Hmmm, wonder if those home baked goodies have anything to do with that?

Valentines...

We made Valentines tonight for some of A's buds and we are doing a little V-day card swap with some of my friends kiddos. A was so into it...she handled the glue stick like a pro...thinking that I will get her a box of my old scraps and some paper and let her go to town at my scrap table with me:) LOVE how serious she is in these pictures:)

While I was taking pictures, she had the letter stickers in her hand and said she wanted to make one for Krista, so I said okay, and she had a "K" sticker in her hand. Smart girl! I think we are going to make cupcakes next week for Valentine's Day:)

Have a great weekend!!!

Sleepy Princess...

We went to Biloxi for a couple days with Brynne and Sean; were only there 1 full day. I didn't really take pictures. We left Tuesday afternoon, ate dinner and they all went and gambled while A went to bed and I got some stuff done of the computer (with REALLY slow internet). Then Tuesday, the boys played poker while Brynne and I took Aislynn to Chucke Cheese, which she LOVED, and then we went shopping and met the boys for dinner. Last night, I thought A looked so sweet sleeping (in her brand new princess nightgown), so I snapped this:I took it on Aperture Priority Mode with the ISO set at 1600 and the widest aperture that lens offered (f1.8). No flash...the only light was a lamp in the room:)

Here are my latest scrapbook pages...

I forgot to take a 22 week belly picture yesterday, so I will have to try and remember to take one today!

This weekend...

Friday night, Ashley (sil) and Fritz came over and we had a big spaghetti and meatball meal. Our friends Megan and Lillian (A's bud) came over too. I love having people over for dinner at our house:) I was really bad about taking pictures, so these are all courtesy of Ashley:)This was the next morning. Ashley, Aislynn, and I went to meet Megan and Lillian to see a movie (really just a few episodes of some PBS shows at the movie theater). I took this before we left. Self-portrait pictures-this one was the best:) We had a fun day...just the girls! Aislynn and Lillian weren't cooperating with the camera:) The February kit is up at Kraft Girl Kits-see more about it here.

We finished the out the weekend with dinner at Mimi and Papa's house, then yesterday we went on a lunch date with Shaun:) Aislynn kept wanting to call it a dinner date because the place we went we usually go for dinner. Then Aislynn and I went to run errands and I stopped at Michaels. I have 2 things in magazines this month-a picture frame in Simply Homemade (I have only seen this at Michaels). They left the picture of Aislynn in there, so she is in a magazine-that is pretty cool! The other thing is a card in CARDS. I didn't buy them, but when I get my copies at the end of the month, I will post some pictures.

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Happy February!

Aislynn can...

spell her name! A couple days ago I was trying to teach Aislynn how to spell her name with the magnetic letters. So today, I was talking on the phone to my friend Megan and Aislynn wanted to say hi. So I put her on the phone, and Megan asked her what she was doing. Aislynn told her she was spelling her name, then she proceeded to spell her name out loud while she spelled it with the magnetic letters:)

So proud...and I guess sometimes she DOES listen to us:)

Goofy...

This is the story of Goofy: After we went to Disney World, Shaun did an impression (a very convincing one, I might add!) of Goofy one day...so Aislynn started calling him Goofy instead of Dad...like all the time, even in public:) So on our way to Atlanta after Christmas, we stopped at a gas station and I went in to use the bathroom. Right when you walked in, there was one of those machines with the claw and a bunch of Disney character stuffed animals...including Goofy. I was all excited so when I got back to the car I told Shaun...and it took him 3 (so $3) times, but he got it! He was hiding it behind his back and when he pulled it out Aislynn was SO SO SO excited! She was like "I love Goofy!" "Look at his floppy ears!" "He's wearing his green hat, that's his favorite!" It was really really cute, and Shaun felt like Super Dad:)

Anyways, finally got some pictures of Aislynn, "Goofy," and Goofy. Here's my 21 weeks belly:) It seems like as my belly gets bigger...my butt looks flatter and flatter. My pal Susan gave me this award:) I have to list 5 of my addictions in order to accept the award:) *Sweet Tea *Cheese *Sweets-pretty much anything will do:) Let's see if I can think of anything besides food... *Chapstick-particularly the Burt's Bees Pomegranate kind * and scrapbooking:) So now I need to nominate 5 people, so I nominate: Candi Louisa Jakki Shel Brigid Copy and paste the picture in your blog and tell me 5 things you are addicted to...then pass it on!

More goodies...

We have Blonde Brownies baking right now-YEP, I'm pregnant:) Those cookies did not last long in our house, and it seems as if my fruity candy cravings have switched to chocolate. So I thought I would update my blog while I waited...they smell really good!These are of A after her bath tonight. Her toothbrush is in our bathroom and so she always wants to jump on our bed after she brushes her teeth. Silly! This was the other day...blowing bubbles... Auntie Brynne came over and watched Aislynn Saturday so Shaun and I could go on a date:) We saw Slumdog Millionaire-we really liked it!!! It was nice to see a movie, we also went to dinner-THANKS Brynne!

Yummy...

This was from last night, Shaun and Aislynn have been watching little parts of Star Wars (not the scary parts-Shaun fast forwards through them and covers her eyes!), while I clean up.

Last night Shaun and I were watching Good Eats, where Alton Brown was making chocolate chip cookies...so today I decided that we need some:) They were quite tasty, HERE is the recipe:)

Halfway there....

This pregnancy is going by TOO fast! As of yesterday, I am halfway there...eek! I think I have mentioned this before, but one of the things that is so different about the second time is that I have done it before, lol. When I was pregnant with Aislynn, it just took forever and I was spending all my free time reading about being pregnant and babies and chatting on message boards (of course, that was before I scrapbooked!). This time I am reminded by it when the little guy starts moving around...it is not constantly on my mind like it was when I was pregnant with A. I think I am feeling nervous about how quickly it is moving by and what it will be like having 2 kiddos...balancing everything and all that. I know we will love this little boy SO MUCH, and once he is here, it will be hard to imagine what it was like without him...but I am still scared/nervous/anxious? Just my feelings right now...any comments to make me feel like this is normal will be greatly appreciated:) Oh, and Aislynn still thinks we should name the baby "Darth Vader."Got these picture today before we headed off to the library...she seems to cooperate better when we are off somewhere fun:) I wanted to get a picture of her bundled up (this is how we do it FL style on our 2 days of cold for you mid-western girlies, lol). I love this hat:) It almost makes me want to learn to crochet! Anyways, LOVE these pictures:) Man, she looks grown up! Her long eyelashes-from Shaun:)

Bath Time...

I have fallen off the take-a-picture everyday wagon already. Soooo...count me in the category that does not stick to their New Year's resolutions, lol. Here is a picture I took the other day, Saturday, maybe? I took these after bath time tonight after I realized what a slacker I have been about pictures. I used no flash with these...just had the widest aperture (f1.8) and the ISO set at 1600.

Awhile back, bath time was such a pain, but now we have a good system and A behaves for me pretty good. We set a timer to let her play in the bath for awhile, and then we wash up. I had been using baby wash cloths (the kind with the soap in them) and have been procrastinating using just regular soap and shampoo b/c I love when we are reading bedtime stories and she smells all baby like:) But now she helps with shampooing her hair and she likes that, so I gave in:) Then we play the "dry dry dry" game, where I furiously dry her off singing "dry dry dry" to the tune of that cat food commercial (the "meow meow meow" one). Then we get jammies on and brush our teeth and play the laughing game. Brushing teeth used to be another battle b/c Aislynn would always keep her mouth closed! The laughing game is where we just laugh really loud and obnoxiously while I brush her teeth...see laughing keeps her mouth wide open:)

Oh, the silly things you do when you are a parent:)

And I keep forgetting to post this, but a week ago, I had another card picked up for CARDS. It will be in the June issue. YAY!

Buds...

Today A's bud Lillian came over, here they are on the couch watching The Land Before Time. When Aislynn was going to the bathroom, she called out, "Lillian is my best friend." These girls are so cute together:)Here are a couple layouts I did the other night: I made this with the December Kit from Kraft Girl Kits. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! Stay warm!!!!!

Ultrasound Pictures...

Here are our ultrasound pictures from Monday...they are kinda creepy looking, but here they are:

That is his little face and hand. Those are his little legs and feet. Here is the "it's a boy" shot:)

I took Aislynn to the library yesterday and we finally got a library card, so she checked out some books. They have been keeping her quite entertained:) While we were making dinner last night, she had a drumstick and was pointing to each letter with it and saying what the letter was:) Here is my belly at 19 weeks. Whoa! No denying there is a baby in there, lol.