Annoucement Time!

We're expecting!!!
Baby Nielsen #2 is due to arrive around March 5. I'm almost 18 weeks along, and I've been feeling great. I was a little emotionally off-my-rocker for the first trimester (poor Ryan!), but I've regained a lot of energy and am loving this stage of the pregnancy. I am blessed to have had such nice pregnancies so far!

This morning I was sitting on the couch with Trenton right after he woke up, and I felt the baby move! I couldn't believe I recognized it this early, since last time it took me FOREVER to realize that those little flutters were baby movements. I was elated to feel the baby—Let the bonding begin! (And I instantly thought, "Man, it's about time I posted this on the blog!")

Trenton and the new baby will be 19 months apart. We're in for some excitement around here! He's going to be a wonderful big brother. Very hands-on, I imagine. :)

We've decided to find out the gender this time. I loved not finding out with Trenton, but we figured this time we'll see what's it like to know in advance. It definitely adds some more excitement to the 20-week ultrasound—Thursday, October 15! You know I'll keep you posted!

We Love Utah!

We enjoyed a wonderful spur-of-the-moment trip to Utah this weekend. Ryan got a couple of compensation days for working so much lately, and with BYU ranked #7, we couldn't resist going to Utah for a game and to visit family. (We won't go into how that anticipated football game went...)

Trenton did great on the airplane. Eating fruit snacks and drink boxes to his heart's content—that kid was in heaven!

Trenton LOVED the park time we squeezed in, as well as lots of walks with his grandparents. It takes 5 people to keep Trenton safe at a park at this age, so I was grateful for the help!

It was fabulous to see two of my cousins and their darling kiddos. Trenton is the youngest (and biggest) of the three.

The Royal Highness getting hefted down the trail to Rock Canyon Park.

Trenton found lots of home-grown apples and tomatoes to take bites out of at my parents' house.

My mom and dad with their 6th grandchild!

Trenton in Grandma's big tub! (Keeping him from standing up the whole time is pretty exhausting! Thanks, Mom!)

SO HAPPY IN UTAH!

Thanks, everyone, for your hospitality! There is nothing like family!

Come See Us!

We're in Utah! If you're in Utah too and are free Sunday night, come stop by Rock Canyon Park around 6:00! Hope to see a few of you soon!

Photos of the trip pending...

I'm All Grown Up!

This house feels more like home every day. I love it so much that I don't even notice the 30-year-old bathrooms and kitchen anymore! When we have people over, it doesn't even cross my mind that they might be thinking, "Wow, check out those original 1970s yellow kitchen countertops! NICE!" with hint of sarcasm. That's exactly what I thought when we first moved in. But now I know there is something to be said about not worrying if those retro counters get damaged! (Really, could they be any worse??)

Another thing I love about this place is that my vacuum chord can reach the whole house from one outlet. Also, I don't have a ton of counter space in the kitchen, but that just means I have to clean up messes as I go, instead of spreading to another counter.

At 2 bedrooms and 2 baths, right now, this place suits our needs perfectly. Sure, I have a few things I'd change... (Ask me about how I get stuck—literally—between the toilet and bathtub every time I bathe the boy.) But for the most part, I am content.

And to make it just that much better, we just bought a real bedroom set, which makes us REAL adults! Our "bedside tubs" were just not cutting it anymore with a toddler on the loose. He used to tear our bedroom apart! But after selling several furniture items (thanks Julia & Gregg!) and finding a steal on a bedroom set I love, we have a neat, clean, relatively baby-proofed bedroom to enjoy.


*I know it looks like a motel—bare. Decorations are in next month's budget. Right, Ryan?? :)

*The furniture may look black in the pictures, but it's actually "espresso," really dark brown.

*BTW, I sanded, primed, and painted that hope chest on our patio this week. Surprisingly, I LOVED the project! My parents gave me the chest to me when I was 16, a family tradition, and I love it.

Why Babies Need Naps

Carmel!

We have some good news to celebrate in this house. Ryan's too modest to tell anyone himself, so I've taken that task upon myself—gladly! He passed all four sections of the CPA exam!!! Go Ryan! It is a tremendous relief for all of us. And with our first Saturday alllll to ourselves, we booked a nice hotel and headed two hours south to Carmel-by-the-Sea.

I admit - I had my moments during our get-away when I plotted writing this post along the lines of..."Top 10 Reasons a Romantic Vacation with a Baby is not Romantic nor Vacation." But by the end of the trip I felt so happy and refreshed that I'll keep those Top 10 reasons to myself. (But ask me if you're interested!)

We stayed at La Playa Hotel, built in 1905, which is walking distance to downtown Carmel as well as the beach. Perfect location. They even had a crib waiting in our room. This morning we ate breakfast on the terrace overlooking the gardens and ocean. Trenton really loved the pancakes. The whole restaurant knew when he was ready for another bite ("Wa-ah!") and when the bite was headed his way, because he laughed at every bite. It was so funny!

A woman at our complex gave us free tickets to the Monterey Acquarium. We loved it and agreed it would be a blast to take our kids there when they're older.


Last night for dinner we ate dinner at a little Italian place called Little Napoli, which I read reviews of on yelp.com. Delicious.
We watched sunset at the beach, which was my favorite part of the trip.


Trenton and Ryan made friends with about a hundred dogs this morning at the beach. The kid LOVED it.

Aunt Rachie Visits California

My sister Rachel came into town last Friday for an impromptu trip to see her newest nephew. We were so happy to have her! We had a pretty chill weekend, but still managed to squeeze in a morning at Bean Hallow Beach, lunch at BJ's, a drive to the Golden Gate Bridge, a dinner at In-N-Out, and two rented movies. Not bad for two and half days! I'm always proud to show Trenton to family, and he was a great performer. As you can tell from the first photo, he warmed right up to Aunt Rachie!



I love this picture of the boys walking on the beach. I can't believe I have a toddler on my hands!

Come again soon, Rachie! We love you!