Happy Birthday Nicole!

Today is Nicole's birthday! My little girl is 2 years old. I can't believe it. It feels like I was just barely pregnant with her and here I am pregnant with another one.

She is growing and learning so fast I just wish that I could tell her to stay my baby forever. Luckily, I have another baby coming very soon, so I guess she can grow up a little.

Nicole has the following accomplishments at 2 years:

• 28 lbs
• Hitting her head on the counter tall
• She can sing the following songs all by herself (though she prefers that I sing with her): Popcorn Popping, ABC, Twinkle Twinkle, I am a Child of God, Old McDonald
• Nicole loves to read! We go to the library once a week to get new books because she loves to read so much. She has a small collection of books, but we can go through them twice in a day because she loves it so much.
• Nicole is FINALLY starting to eat a variety of food. She will now eat peas, corn, broccoli, and spinach in addition to her chicken nugget and hotdog diet. This is a HUGE accomplishment.
• Nicole has too many words in her vocabulary to count. She is constantly surprising us with the words that she knows and she is definitely a little parrot. We really have to watch our own language because she absorbs so much. She speaks in full sentences and asks questions that I didn't even know that she thinks about.
• Nicole loves to cook with Mommy and Daddy. Every time we go into the kitchen, she asks if we are cooking and then she asks for her chair (to stand next to the counter).

On Sunday, Momma Kimball threw Nicole a hotdog birthday party. I was not up for throwing a party at this time because I'm very pregnant, so Momma Kimball offered to have all the Kimball siblings over to her house for a Nicoley celebration. We went with a hotdog dinner because Nicole actually likes hotdogs.

Marie gave Nicole some gifts at the shower on Saturday and Nicole loves them. She got a couple of Kailan shirts, a heart pillow and a coloring book. Right now she is in love with the pillow. She hugs it and carries it around with her. 

Gifts came out almost as soon as we got to Momma Kimball's on Sunday and all the kids were very excited. Lucy and Carlitos loved the presents almost as much as Nicole. They all started playing with them.

Momma Kimball got Nicole this singing rocking horse. She loves it!

Anne got Nicole a felt animal book. I love this! I'm going to try it as a quiet toy for church.

This is Nicole's favorite new toy. It is a littlest pet shop toy. It is a bit above her age bracket so I wasn't sure if she would be interested, but she loves it. I guess she is done with baby toys.

Matt and I got her this magnedoodle for church. She loves this toy too. The trick is hiding it so it becomes a fun toy that she only gets to play with at church.

We also got her a bunch of clothes for the summer. We had to be responsible parents and get her things she needs in addition to toys. I know that the toys are currently a novelty, but hopefully they entertain her for a little while anyway.

The birthday celebrations were a success. I made cherry cupcakes for the party and Nicole seemed to like them too.

You Betcha!

Do I hate the way I look, you betcha! Is it almost over, you betcha!

Okay, this is embarrassing, but I look bigger with this pregnancy than the last time I did this. I haven't gained more weight, I just look bigger. That is my luck.

Matt and I at 37 weeks with Nicole.

Another belly pic at 37 weeks with Nicole

Me at 37 weeks with baby boy.

Went to the doctor on Friday and despite that I look like I am carrying low and that I feel like I am, the doctor could not feel the baby's head. He was obviously not yet down where he is suppose to be yet. But, I'm dilated to 1cm and am 75% effaced. What does this mean? Absolutely nothing. Baby will come when he comes. Most likely when I induce on the 14th.

Still working, still in pain, still surviving.

Baby Shower!

Momma Kimball and Anne threw me a baby shower on Saturday and it was awesome! Momma Kimball is so creative and made everything look great and taste great. It was a lot of fun!

Kristy decorated this cake for the shower. It turned out so cute! Yummy too.

Super cute M&Ms and truffles with "It's a boy!" on them.

These were a party favor. They are bags of popcorn. Momma Kimball is so creative!

Nicole thinks that this is smiling. She was wild over the M&Ms at the party. She kept asking for more and more.

Nicole also loves the balloons. She is still dragging them around the house. I'm tempted to just pop them and be done because they are driving me crazy!

Momma Kimball and Anne made a bunch of brunch food for the shower. We had yummy quiche, banana bread (made by DJ), Blueberry muffins (Anne), Fruit, and cake. It was a delicious spread.

Nicole and Hailey. Nicole followed Hailey all around the party. They are good friends.

My Marie.

Anne and her baby Olivia.

Olivia is so stinking cute!

Here is my Sarah, and a very pregnant shot of me in the background. Ugh.

Okay, this is a little better of a picture. I look less pregnant.

Matt came home from school and crashed the party. Here he is with Momma Kimball.

Nicole playing.

A ton of people showed up, more than I thought would because this is baby number two, so I assumed that people would think, "What? She already had one baby and I gave her a gift already." But no, a lot of people came. I totally banked on presents for baby boy. Here are some pics of the presents I got. Try to look at the presents and not my pregnant face.

Sarah got me this shark towel and I love it! It is awesome.

I didn't think I would get a bumbo because they are a little more pricey, but I ended up getting two at the shower. Yay! Presents.

I love monster boy clothes!

My Mom got me my crib set and I love it! I wanted a turtle theme and now I have it. But don't take the bedding out of the package unless you never intend on putting it back in. How do they get it all in there?

I got a ton of really cute stuff and a lot of baby clothes, which is what I really needed since I've never had a boy before. Thanks to everyone who were good enough to come and give me presents!

My aunt Kathy, Ree, Sarah, and Hailey

Ree, Sarah, Hailey and Corinne

CarrieAnne, Anne, and Miranda

Momma Kimball and Chris Bacon

Momma Kimball made a game for the shower that everyone seemed to really enjoy. It was quite an interactive game. Momma Kimball passed out papers with celebrity heads on baby bodies. It was super funny. Everyone had to write down who the celebrity was. It got kinda crazy because things were not passed around in an organized fashion, but it was fun to watch. I had already previewed the game, so I didn't play, but I enjoyed watching all the ladies trying to remember the names of celebrities.

I believe that Erin, Jill, and Marie won the game getting all but a couple of the celebrities. Marie was kind enough to give up her prize because we only had two winner prizes. Way to take one for the team Ree.

For the record, I would have done awesome at the game if I had played. I knew all but 4 of the celebrities.

The whole event was awesome and Marie helped me sort baby clothes afterward. This is an essential part to the process. Deciding what to keep and what to return. Mostly, I was able to keep things because people bought clothes in the correct season. It is when the baby clothes are the wrong season that I have to do a lot of exchanges. Luckily, my guests are baby savvy and know this stuff.

Post Spring Break

Here's the thing about spring break. It is awesome having a lot of free time and being able to see my husband when I get home from work... and then it ends. And, all the homework that was not done during spring break (because we were too busy partying) has to be done the next week. So, this has been post spring break homework week for Matt.

Which means that he gets home from school and is up late studying. It sucks. Probably more for him than me because he is the one doing all the work, but I still miss my man.

On the bright side, I invented two new dinner recipes this week. One was better than the other. Nicole would only eat one of them. But, here they are for your viewing pleasure.

Chicken, Potato, Green Bean Stuff

5 Potatoes
A bunch of frozen Green Beans
3 breasts of Chicken
1 Cube Bullion
1/2 c Water
2 small cans Cream of Mushroom Soup
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
Lowry's Salt
Pepper

Wash and dice potatoes into bite size chunks and place in 9x13 pan. Place a layer of green beans on top of potatoes. Cut chicken into serving size chunks and place on top of green beans. Add broken up bullion cube and water to pan. Add soup over everything. Season pan with seasonings (just a layer of seasoning over everything, I never measure). Bake for 40 minutes at 425 degrees. Eat.

Nicole would not eat this dish. She had two bites of potato and two bites of chicken, tried one green bean and then told me the whole plate was yucky and wouldn't let it near her. Literally, she kept pushing it away from her and when I  would scoot it back to her, she pushed it again and had a fit. Ugh.

Broccoli Chicken Pasta

1 Head Broccoli
1 pkg noodles
2 breasts Chicken
2 T Olive Oil
2 T Butter
1 t red pepper flakes
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Lowry's season salt
Pepper
1/2 c whole milk
1/4 c Parmesan cheese

Cut broccoli into bite size pieces and place in boiling water for 3 minutes. Then, drain and set aside. Boil noodles and drain when cooked (any noodles you want, I use ones that look like wheels from the bulk section of Winco because Nicole will actually eat them). After you have drained the noodles, throw a little olive oil on them and stir it around so that they don't get all stick togethery.

Heat olive oil, 1 T butter, and red pepper flakes in frying pan on med. high heat. Butterfly chicken breasts and season with onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. (Again, I don't measure, I just sprinkle a bit of eat on both sides of the chicken.) Saute chicken in butter and oil until cooked.

(Trick with chicken: put it in the pan and don't touch it. Don't fiddle with it, don't turn it a million times, just put it in and leave it until you see it turning half way through the breast, THEN you turn it and you once again leave it. After 3-5 minutes, bend the breast with a fork or tongs; if the chicken breaks, then it is done. If it bends, it is not.)

Remove chicken from pan and let rest for 5 minutes. Chop chicken into bite size pieces after it has rested. Add milk to saute pan and deglaze all chickeny goodness from the bottom of the pan. Add cheese and more salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste. Add the other T of butter. When sauce tastes yummy and the butter is melted, add the noodles, broccoli, and chicken to sauce. Stir until the sauce gets everywhere and then serve.

Nicole at this meal. I told her the broccoli was little trees and the noodles were wheels and she ate it up. She wouldn't touch the chicken though. If it doesn't look like chicken nuggets, I swear that child doesn't believe it is chicken. But, she does call fish sticks chicken because they DO look like chicken nuggets. I just can't win with this girl.

Busy Weekend

This was a busy weekend at the Kimball household. Friday we had the Kimball clan over for pizza because Matt's Uncle Mike was in town. I had never met Uncle Mike before and I really liked him. I can definitely see the family resemblance between him and Mamma Kimball.

So, we had everyone over for homemade pizza because everyone loves our homemade pizza. Then, we went to the MOA to see the Carl Bloch exhibit. It was beautiful! I didn't realize how many of the recognizable paintings of Christ were done by him. Matt was good enough to procure a wheelchair for me and wheel me around the exhibit so that I didn't have to do extensive walking. Too much walking equals many contractions and an unhappy Becky.

On Saturday, we ran some errands with Uncle Mike and Momma Kimball, and then we went to visit Dad Kimball's grave. It is really nice to have the cemetery so close so that we can visit. My own Dad is in an urn somewhere in Washington with my step-mother, so I don't really get to visit him.

We had lunch at Mimi's Cafe with Momma Kimball, Uncle Mike, Aunt Francine, and Anne and the kids. Then, we headed home to rest. I like midday naps, they are the best.

Saturday night, Matt and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary. We decided to celebrate this weekend rather than on the actual date of our anniversary because this was the night we had a sitter and we could stay out later on a weekend. Norm and Miranda were kind enough to watch Nicole for us.

Matt planned our anniversary date and it was a recreation of our first date. It was not exactly the same as our first date, but it had similar aspects. We went to Tepanyaki (this is where Matt took me on our first date), but because we were dropping off Nicole in American Fork, we went to the Lehi location rather than trekking back to Provo. The food was super yummy, but I had forgotten how expensive it is. Matt was certainly trying to impress me on our first date with his money spending skills.

On our first date, Matt took me to Blockbuster after dinner and we picked out a movie, then we went to Albertson's and picked out snacks.  Then, Matt took us up to Rock Canyon park and we watched our movie on a blanket with a portable dvd player until the sprinklers came on and we retreated to his car to finish the movie. It was a very good first date.

But, seeing as I am enormously pregnant, and it was cold on Saturday, a movie in the park was not going to happen. So, we went and got our snacks at the grocery store formerly known as Albertson's, then we went to AF theaters and watched the Adjustment Bureau.

Even sitting through a movie in a theater was tough on me. Sitting for prolonged periods of time just does not work when I am this pregnant. So I had contractions during the movie and was very uncomfortable the second half, but I made it through! Thank goodness the armrests come up in those chairs because when I first sat down, I didn't really fit. The thing about carrying a baby low is that the baby is always resting on your legs and it is much more comfortable to keep my legs apart so the baby isn't smashing into my legs.

The movie was REALLY good. I would definitely recommend it. It is intriguing and exciting and it has a little romance. It is good for a girl and a boy. I haven't been to a movie in a while because Matt and I just don't go that often. It is cheaper to rent movies after they have left the theaters and it saves us from getting a baby sitter, so it was a lot of fun to go to the movies.

Anniversary night was definitely a success. And, Nicole was good for Miranda and Norm, which was a relief. Last year this time, I felt like I couldn't leave her with anyone because she was so stinkin' clingy and she cried for anyone who wasn't Matt and I. But, she has definitely mellowed out as she has gotten older.

On Sunday, Matt and I woke up feeling sick. We both had the aches and nausea. I'm feeling less achy today, but I'm not feeling great. But, I'm still back at work. Gotta make that money.

I miss the weekend already.

Ugh

Contractions when I sit, contractions when I stand, contractions when I walk, and some (but less) contractions when I lie down. Baby boy is moving more than ever. He is not as much of a kicker as Nicole was, but he sure does love to stretch... all the time. I think stretching hurts more than the kicking. But, it is possible that that is because I have a skewed memory of my last pregnancy.

I'm pretty sure that I blocked out this part of the pregnancy where everything hurts and I'm constantly sleep deprived and I can't yet start hoping that the baby will come because it is too soon for the baby to come. In another couple of weeks, I will be able to hope for the arrival of our baby boy, but for now, I just have to endure.

Spring Break!

This week is spring break for Matt. This spring break thing is all new to me. I went to BYU, who does not believe in spring break, so it is a foreign concept. Thus far, it has not been what tv portrays spring break to be. This could be due to the fact that Matt is married, with 1.8 children and is not in Mexico for his spring break.

But, it has been pleasant thus far because we get to spend more time together as a family. Our family time is normally very limited to 2 hours a day and 1.5 days on the weekends. So... Yay, spring break baby!

Technically, Matt has class yesterday and today, but he has opted to not go to class these two days in order to spend time with Nicole and I. I'm celebrating. I love my Matt time.

I know that we will get more time together when the baby comes, but I'm guessing that my six weeks at home will be more devoted to healing and taking care of my newborn baby boy that gallivanting and having fun. Not that I am gallivanting much in my condition right now.

I often feel so exhausted by the time that I am done with work that I just don't want to do anything but put my feet up and read books to my Nicoley or snuggle my Matt. But, I'm doing the best I can to stay mobile and active so that I can work until this baby comes. I fear that if I laze too much, that my body will get complacent and then I won't be physically able to go to work every day.

No big plans in place for spring break right now, but I'm happy for the time together as a family.

5 More Weeks

Went to my baby doctor appointment yesterday. Yesterday was a difficult pregnancy day. Some days are much more difficult than others with the contractions, exhaustion, and pain... everywhere. But, baby boy is doing well. His heartbeat is strong and his kicks are good, so we know he is a healthy growing boy.

Since this is my second baby and because Nicole was a big 'ol baby, I've scheduled an induction date for this little baby boy. April 14th! Yay! Four days before my due date! Now, four days may not seem like a lot, but to me, it is awesome. Now, I feel like I have a deadline, a date when I know my baby will be here. I know that I can do it, I can carry this baby for 5 more weeks. I can make it.

Wordless Wednesday

Ice Castles

Last weekend, Nicole and I went up to Midway with my Mom, Dad, and step-brothers David and Eric to see the ice castle.

I didn't go inside as I am overly pregnant and likely to slip on ice, so I sent Nicole in with Mom, David, and Eric (Dad stayed with me in the car). It was pretty cool looking from what I saw and Mom said that Nicole really loved it.

Nicole HAD to hold the ski pole of course and she wielded it to point the direction she wanted to go in the maze of ice. She is my little adventure girl.