Preschool!!!

saying "cheese" at breakfast before school!

Jake's first preschool "bento box" style lunch

Jakey's awesome lunch bag!

posing before we leave

smiley guy

holding his lunch bag

it's time to go!

riding in the car on the way to school

playing right away!

he's part of the class already!

Jake's cubby!

Jake started preschool last week and it went really well! He went on Tuesday and Thursday from 8:30am to 12pm. Joe worked from home on Tuesday so he could come with me to drop off Jake for the first time. Jake was really excited to go, and as soon as we got there he started playing with the toys. We stayed for a little while, and then hugged and kissed him goodbye, and then left. I was way more emotional than I thought I'd be (darn pregnancy hormones!) but made it through the day without him! Actually, by the time I went for a walk, showered and got ready for the day, and ate a quick lunch it was time to go pick him up! The mornings go way faster than I thought they would! When we picked him up at noon, he was all smiles and happy to see us. His teachers said he had a great day and the only thing he wasn't happy about was when they tried to change his diaper. I guess the combination of the new teachers and the changing table (he likes being changed on the floor) were too much for him. But they were able to change him on Thursday despite his protests, so that was good!

I wasn't sure how this week would go, since there were 5 non preschool days in between (from last Thursday to this Tuesday). I wasn't really surprised when he was extra clingy this Tuesday when I dropped him off. He did cry for the first time, which upset me, but by the time I got back home his teacher was calling to tell me that Jake was happily playing and had stopped crying right after I left. So that made me feel much better! Let's hope there are no tears tomorrow! He hugs his teacher every time before he leaves, and he talks about his favorite parts of school (usually snack time!), so I know he is having fun! He has a lot of buddies who are in his class (we already know half the class from playgroups) so that makes it nice. Familiar faces are great!

14 and a half weeks and feeling huge!

I'm 15 weeks pregnant today and feeling quite large already! They say you show faster with your second pregnancy and they are right!! But I'm feeling so much better than I did in the first trimester, and actually getting some energy back which is great! I'm keeping up with my morning walks, although now I'm down to 4 walks a week or so, so that helps me feel a little better about the large quantities of food I'm consuming! I'm hoping to keep up the walks throughout the pregnancy, so we'll see how that goes...

We bought our first baby purchase over the weekend - a double BOB stroller! Gotta love craigslist. I was even able to find the color I wanted (orange)! You know how much I love our single BOB, and I can't believe I will be pushing 2 kids around this summer in our duallie!! All we have to buy is the carseat adaptor, and we will be ready to go! I'm keeping the single so that I don't have to push around the double stroller when Jake is in preschool, so we will have a garage full of BOBs! :)

We are looking forward to our anatomy scan on February 10th where (as long as the baby is cooperating) they will be able to tell us the gender of Baby Balice #2! For those who know how much I want a girl, this will be a big appointment for us! TMI warning...we were actually trying for a girl this time (using the Shettles method: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shettles_Method ) but things don't always work out as planned, and the particular month we conceived I had a really wacky cycle and, long story short, the girly planning didn't work out quite right...so...it could go either way! Of course I selfishly want a girl (have you SEEN the adorable clothes they make for little girls?!) but it would be great for Jake to have a little brother. The most important thing is to have a healthy baby, but would I be disappointed if Baby Balice #2 is another boy? A little bit. I'm not gonna lie. But that just means we will have to have a third and make sure we "Shettles it up" correctly next time! :) As I'm writing this I am feeling some movement so maybe the baby is trying to tell me something? We'll see what he or she has to tell us next month!