PA part 2 - Owen

We started the morning visiting a farm/zoo and having lunch with Sandy and Joe. Van loved feeding the animals, although again, I missed all the picture opportunities.

Then we had an awesome afternoon playing at Dave and Maggie's house. Their son Owen and Van hit it off right away and spent the whole afternoon playing together. This adorable situation is amplified by the fact that Dave and Andy have been best friends since forever.

Playing on Owen's swingset

This picture is the best. I with I had a video of what led up to this, sommersaults in the lawn. Toddlers doing sommersaults. Hilarious.

Van is telling Owen he is working. Just doing his job. (this job was digging holes in some moss)

After this I got Owen a stick, and then they worked on it together.

The boys played so well; laughing, giggling and getting into trouble. Van was exhausted as we drove home in the dark. He was sad that he didn't have his blanket so I was trying to distract him by showing him the moon and the stars. 

This was the last thing Van said before he fell asleep,

"Mama this moon is not good. 

I want an orange one.

I hate that."

PA part 1

We're in Pennsylvania and it is beautiful! Sandy and Joe live on 40 acres in Clarion, PA, 2 hours north of Pittsburgh. I guess we missed the most brilliant leaves, but it is still so beautiful and nice and warm for us.
Andy's sister Lisa and her husband John came into town the day we arrived and Van loved playing with her kids Jack and Madison. I wish I had pictures, but they were so cute I never got around to taking any!
For now, here are some pictures of Van, Andy and I walking around the property. Andy was scoping the scene for his dear hunting this week.

Swinging in the Snow

We're in PA now, but I had to clean out my camera and forgot I had taken these great pictures of our most recent snowfall. We're swinging with Kyle at the park near our house.
This is pure joy on a swing :)

20 weeks

20 weeks today. My back has been hurting and I've been sore all over more than last time. I'm worried it is because I haven't been able to spend as much time hiking this time and my body is having a hard time adjusting to the new weight. Nonetheless, things are going pretty well. My belly is getting bigger and my 20 week ultrasound is tomorrow.

Here is the comparison picture. We're still a little early for this process but I'm convinced that once I really start to pop having these 'before' pictures will be worth it. Although right now it feels like I'm just tracking a slow and painful weight gain. Like the opposite of those weight loss advertisements.

Family

Mom and dad are back from Hawaii and Svea is back from Denmark (or Mark's house, as Van calls it).

 It is the best week ever! I missed having my family in town and so did Van.

[Mom and Dad in Hawaii]

[Svea with kids at a park in Denmark]

We went to visit Svea and although everyone was sleepy from the time change when Finn woke up and they started to play together it was so cute. Evenetually it was our bedtime and we had to go home. Finn and Solvej gave Van kisses good bye at the door and as we pulled away Van said, "that was fun at Finn's house!" and "I miss Finn. Can we go to Finn's house?"

Another day we headed to mom and dad's house. Van had taken a remote control monster truck from their house before the vacation and he grabbed it as we ran out and door and said,
"We have to bring this! grandma and grandpa will be sad"
"why will they be sad?" I asked
"'cause they miss it" said Van.
I was proud of him for being so considerate.

Van colored with papa, and papa wrote "VAN" in large letters on the page.
"What does this say?" Papa asked.
Van traced his finger along the letters and said, "It says, 'I love you papa'"
"No, no" papa tried to say, "It says 'Van'"
"No" Van insisted. "It says, 'I love you papa'"

When we went to leave papa said, "See you later Alligator"
Van thought this was great, as he drove away he laughed and said, 'Papa said alligator. He said, 'Bye-bye alligator''

I sincerely hope Van starts using that as a send off.

10/8/2012

Me: "I'm going to tie this ribbon on like a bandana"
Van: "A 'nana?" asking if I meant a banana
Me: "No, a bandana"
Van: "Oh, a bad 'nana"

Not a banana.  a bad banana.

***

Van: "Mama, Please watch two cars. I wanna watch two cars."

(he would like to watch the movie 'Cars 2')

***

Cooking with Van is hilarious. If I start to bake something he says,
"Please I help?" and goes to get a tall stool.
I let him add the ingredients after I measure, but this makes things more complicated because no matter what I say, he will taste everything I give him. Also there is often some spilling involved, so you have to measure more than you intend to use. But just how much more, that is questionable.

Van especially loves eggs.
"Look mama!" he says, "This one is hatching!"
(with help from some tiny fingers)

I try to get him to mix the dry ingredients with a whisk, but he always tries to use his hands instead.

Here is a picture of him washing dishes. At least he is willing to help with all the stages. However the cleanliness of the dishes is questionable.

***

Andy watched Van while I went to Costco on Sunday and although I kept telling myself how nice is was to be able to shop without all the hassle, I missed him. Shopping just isn't any fun without him anymore.

Pumpkin Carving

Van, Andy, and I carved our pumpkin today. After some thought, we settled on a T-Rex pumpkin.

Planning stages

 The finished product! We skipped pictures in the messy part. The T-Rex has quite a big wart.