The final stretch

We are down to our last two weeks in South Carolina.  Hard to believe the time has gone so quickly.  We leave on August 13th and fly to Florida to see my family for a few days.  Then Penny drives the car home from SC while Laine and I get to fly directly to St. Louis from Florida.  He's such a champ with all the driving - thanks Penny!  

Once we return home we hope to do some car hunting and squeeze in several doctors appointments for Laine and me before classes start.  We'll see how productive we are with all that in about 10 days!  One of those appointments is to find out if we are having a boy or a girl.  I'll keep you posted on what we find out.  We look forward to returning to St. Louis, but once again we will miss our South Carolina friends.

Laine Turns Two!

This week has been a bit of a birthday extravaganza celebration for Laine.  We ended up having three separate birthday parties with friends and family!  Laine has had a lot of practice opening gifts and telling people how old she is.  Her standard answer is "Two!" as she shoots up both pointer fingers to the sky.

This is Laine's party with her other two-year-old friends from the summer.  We celebrated at a great new playground in Greenville. 

After two years Mom and Dad finally broke down and let Laine have her first sugar! (Unbelievable, I know.)  She loved the icing but not the cupcake so much.  Needless to say we're okay with her not being too excited about sugar.

Daddy was worn out after the big party!  (Truth be told, we all were.)

Hunting for a second car

Penny and I have been doing some research lately, specifically regarding the purchase of a second car.  We've been down to one car for about a year and a half, but now that baby #2 is on the way we realize we probably need another car.  We were heading in the direction of getting a mini van (somewhat reluctantly), but upon suggestion we are now reconsidering.  Our biggest hang up with the mini van is the lower MPG that it will get compared to a 4-door sedan or a station wagon.  We researched station wagons for a few days but found them more expensive without as much benefit as we would want.  

So now we are considering either a 4-door sedan or a mini van.  The sedan obviously gets better gas mileage, but will it fit all our stuff when we want to go out of town for the weekend?  Keep in mind we will have two car seats and lots of baby gear (pack n' play, booster seat, etc.) for these minor trips.  And what about when family comes in town and we want to be able to all ride together?  Should we pay year round for lower gas mileage just to get the benefits of these occasional trips and visits?  How much will we use the mini van to car pool with others while we are in St. Louis?

I'd love some feedback, especially from other two-child families (or those who have already passed beyond that stage).  Any wisdom to share?

Early Birthday Celebration

Laine turns two on Saturday, so we celebrated a little early with Nan and Pop. 

We've been pretending to blow out candles lately, and Laine did a great job when it was actually time.

Mountain Vacation

Laine, Penny, and I got to join my mom and Alex (a.k.a. Nan and Pop) in the mountains of Western North Carolina for a couple days this week.  We had a great time relaxing, taking in the beautiful scenery, and enjoying family.  Laine especially loved all the new things to see and do.  Thanks, Nan and Pop, for having us!

Fun with Daddy!

Play date at the park

We joined some other young moms at Butler Springs Park yesterday.  Laine had a great time playing and socializing.

Love the dress

After wearing stars and stripes all weekend in honor of the 4th, Laine has a new found infatuation with this dress.  Several times today I found her busy in her room putting it on.  Never mind taking off the other clothes!

Monkey Joe's

Laine and I joined Rachel, Ellie, and Sam at Monkey Joe's today.  This was Laine's first time in inflatable bouncy things, and she did pretty well.  Her normal fearless personality was a little reserved today, but we still had a good time climbing, sliding, and bouncing our way through the morning.  Thanks Rach for a great idea!

Success!

Well, as of this morning our house has one less mouse.  We hope that was the only one, but there's no telling.  I'll spare you the details, but just wanted to publicly thank my wonderful husband who cleaned up everything this morning while Laine and I were still asleep.  You're the best Penny!  Thanks for doing the dirty work so we can enjoy a critter-free kitchen.