You should have known better than to trust me...

I am 0 for 2 people. 

IT'S A BOY! 

He is not shy at all! In fact, Nate and I were both sure we saw "something" before the ultra sound tech (she was measuring his femur).

Nate told me a few weeks ago (after my family reunion with the gun shooting) that if we had a boy he was going to buy him a gun on the day of his birth. Needless to say, to try to keep the "hickness" away longer, that was one reason I was hoping for a girl. Nate confirmed this morning he will be buying a gun. Awesome. Also, Karly has been saying from the beginning that this was going to be a sister (part of the reason I thought so too - I thought maybe she knew something we didn't), so Nate asked her before the appt. if it was a boy, would she be sad? She said yes. As of right now, she doesn't seem to care. :) And I am excited, albeit embarrassed that I was wrong yet again. No maternal instinct here! 

Here's a cute little full body shot. In case you can't read these things like me, that's his head on the right with his arm above his head and his legs (to his knees) on the left.

And a creepy picture. I think 3D ultrasounds are creepy looking, especially when they're this little. I've got a little alien inside me. :) You can see his arm next to his head again (he had them up there the whole time - either by his face or in his mouth).

Does anyone else think it's just COOL that I get to see my baby before he's here?!? I love ultrasounds. We got to see and hear his heartbeat and see that he has both kidneys (Uncle Trav will be happy) and all his organs and all 10 fingers. This is going to be a long 20 weeks! I want this guy HERE!

And since I've had a couple of requests, here's what he looks like from the outside. Sorry it's not a very good picture. Nate was on the phone and wouldn't take another one. :D This is actually 18 1/2 weeks.

And just since I like comparisons, this is the closest one I had from Karly's pregnancy - this is at 21 weeks.

So there you have it! Oh, and as far as names go? We had a name picked out 3 or 4 years ago and now Nate's not sure he wants to use that, so we'll see.  :) 

Aquarium

I see I have you all convinced I'm having a girl - 10 to 3! We're all in big trouble with this kid if he's a boy. :)

I have been meaning to catch up on my blog for a long time, but I've been too lazy. The only reason I finally am is because my sister-in-law, who has 2 kids (one of which is a newborn) has started updating her blog every day and has made me feel totally guilty for my serious lack of posting (thanks a lot Lindsey - hehe). And no, I'm not going to start updating every day. I'm just going to catch up.

So over the summer, Lindsey, Connor and Graham (and eventually Audrey when she was born) were living with Dan and Kippy while Con did an internship here in Denver. Karly LOVED having Graham here to play with - Grandma and a cousin to play with everytime we were at Grandma's house? Yay!

One day, we went to the aquarium in downtown Denver. I'm not sure if it was the dark tunnels or what, but Karly didn't really love most of it. She wanted to be held the whole time and was kind of whiny. Good thing she was free! :) Here are a few pictures of parts she did like.

Okay so it looks like I took 4 pictures in the actual aquarium and 1 of them didn't even have Karly in it. My photog skillz really need some work. And look at this: the 2 "good" pictures of Karly include turtles. She does love turtles, so I guess that makes sense.

Don't ask me why, but for some reason, they had tigers at the aquarium. I think that was everyone's favorite part (maybe we're more zoo people?). You need to watch this video - you have to wait to see anything good until about 20 seconds, but then it's pretty cool. And listen at about 30 seconds for Karly's laugh. 

Is it weird that my child thinks violence is funny? :) 

Karly and Graham's favorite part of the whole aquarium was the bouncy house OUTSIDE. Funny kids. Luckily for them, we had TONS of time to spend there (see below).

So, I'm sure many of you are bored of this post, but I had to share a fun little incident we had on the way to (and after) the aquarium. Kippy and Lindsey were in their car and I took my car. Our timing apparently wasn't good because we got stuck in major traffic on the way there. We were in nearly standstill traffic for like 30 minutes in 96 degree weather. While we were sitting there, my car started smoking (did I mention we were in the middle of interstate traffic?). I freaked out for a second and then in stopped smoking. Everything was still running, but the temp gauge was above the red. Did you know that's a gauge I don't think I have ever looked at in my car? So anyway, about then, traffic started moving again, so we decided to drive the 2 short miles we had left to the aquarium and then see what was wrong. I opened the hood in the parking lot and there was green liquid stuff all over everything under the hood. I know nothing about cars, but those of you who do probably know that was coolant. Nate and Dan decided to come down and see what had happened. Turns out the radiator exploded (so to speak), so we called a tow truck and waited like 2 hours (maybe 3?) for it to get there and drive it to our mechanic. Many thanks to Dan and Kippy for taking Karly with them as I'm sure she would have had a few meltdowns had she had to wait with us. Anyway, $500+ later, the car is running great! Though I do avoid really hot times of day. And traffic. And downtown. :)

Abc...xyz

She actually does a lot more of the alphabet now, but I have yet to record it. I think it's cute no matter how many letters make it in there. 

Casa Bonita

Have you heard of it? It is "the most entertaining restaurant"...apparently. :) I went there when I was like 6 or 7 when my family came through Denver once. Nate and his siblings loved to go as kids. Apparently children's taste buds have no problem with awful food. If you ever come to visit the only way we will take you there is if you ask or if we never want you to come visit again. :)

We went on this little adventure with Connor and Lindsey because Lindsey wanted Connor to experience all that is great in Denver. I don't think he'll take a job here now. :) In all honesty, aside from the food, the atmosphere was kind of fun - they had cliff divers and little shows every 15-30 minutes, a scary cave you could walk through (which might be the reason Karly didn't like the aquarium...) and a mariachi band that the kids grooved to. While I don't think we'll go again without being coerced, it was still fun to go.

Pretty funny kids.

The new leg warmers

Catch the craze now!

*Warmers work best without pants...

Thanks EY!

A couple of weeks ago, Ernst and Young hosted a Saturday event at  Heritage Square in northwest Denver. There were mostly kid rides, which Karly loved. I, being the awesome mother I am, forgot sunscreen. Luckily her face didnt' get burned, but she had a bright red line down the middle of her head (where her hair was parted) for a few days. :) 

You will notice Nate is on most of the rides with Karly. EVERY ride had a sign saying pregnant women should not ride. It probably wouldn't have mattered for most, but Kar needs her quality time with her daddy. 

We also rode in a paddle boat on a lake and looked at fishies, she played in a bouncy house and just had a grand old time - all for free! Thanks EY!

Looks like a fun game!

Out of context?

I love this age Karly is at. She talks ALL the time and so much of what she says just makes me laugh. I have no idea where she picked some of these up, but it's funny.

"Just kidding" She has been saying this all morning and usually not with something else. Just by itself. Though she did just say to a whisk she was playing with "are you otay? yeah? just kidding."

"I have a question." Go ahead and ask - does she ever actually have a question? Why, no. She doesn't. But it's hilarious when she says it.

"I love this game" She says this whenever we're doing something she really likes. So cute.

"Follow me." Self explanatory except that usually when she says it she just wants me to follow her from one side of the apartment to the other. No thanks. :)

"C'mon mom."

"Watch, mom. Watch."

"Tower my life." NO IDEA. If anyone can translate this for me, I would make you cookies every week for the rest of your life. She usually says it after she gets in trouble, but I cannot figure out what it means.

What is she: daddy's girl or mama's?

I just wanted to clear up, if there is any doubt in anyone's mind, Karly is Nate's daughter. She is also definitely mine.

Example 1: Karly talks. A lot. About everything. She tells me what she's doing and where daddy is and what her book is about and what she wants to eat and about the airplanes and on and on. My mother-in-law has told me on countless occasions (and I have, obviously, experienced this) that Nate was a chatty child. Even when no one was listening, he was talking. :)

Nate's child.

Example 2: Karly sings ALL DAY LONG. Most of the time I love it (and actually get so used to it I don't notice it), but when I'm on the phone on an important call, it's really hard to love. I have a terrific video of one of her songs (which I'm convinced it complete gibberish with a few real words scattered in), but she's only in her underwear so the blogger world doesn't get to see it.

Alisa's child.

Example 3: Pennies. Karly has recently become OBSESSED with pennies. She sleeps with one in her hand (and often wakes up with it in her hand - if not, she asks where it is). She carries one around all day and a VERY common phrase in our house right now is "where's my penny?" She's getting a piggy bank and 100 pennies for Christmas. :)

Nate's child.

Example 4: Normal children sleep with a baby doll or stuffed animal or blanket. Something soft, right? My child sleeps with a book. She picks out a book every night (it varies, but is often One Fish, Two Fish by Dr. Suess) and seriously cuddles with it much of the night. So weird.

??? child. Neither of us sleep with books. But I guess we both of love reading, so Nate and Alisa's child. :)

Example 5: She loves to be tickled. Not like my brother tickles where you can't breathe, but softly tickled on her legs, back, arms, neck. I will occasionally make the mistake of tickling her lightly somewhere and for 20 minutes, she'll say "tickle my neck? tickle my legs? tickle my back?" I can only tickle for so long child. It reminds me of my grandma though. She was good at that.

Alisa's child.

So you see, Karly is ours. I love this age. I seriously laugh so much during the day (granted, I cry and get frustrated too - I swear it's like her ears just stop working sometimes and ONLY when I ask her to do something she doesn't want to :D). There's drama too, but she's just so fun!

I have good news and bad news:

Which do you want first?

The good news? Okay, here it is: the Ultrasound to find out the gender of this little squirmer* is in a month! September 12th people, so I'm putting up a poll, just because I think it's fun to see what people think. Also, COMMENT, because I want to know who thinks what and why and stuff.

The funny thing is, technically on September 12th, I will only be 18 weeks. I started this pregnancy at one dr. office and switched (because the first was kinda awkward - you don't want to start out awkward, yeah?) and the second doctor never got the ultrasound information from the first doctor, which showed that I was actually only 6 weeks instead of 8 weeks (as the internet and "first-day-of-your-last-period" crap will tell you), make sense? SO I'd better be able to tell what this baby is, or I'm going to be mad at BOTH doctor's offices. :)

Okay, so the bad news: I have to start watching what I say. I knew this day was coming and it's not like I say really bad things, you know, but Karly said "Oh crap" today (hey mom, don't tell dad, okay?). Nate and I of course kind of laughed, and then I told her not to say that - it's not nice, yadda yadda. Nate, on the other hand, says "Karly, we only say that at times like when you fall down or something." Great. I guess that's better than teaching her she can never say it when I do, huh?

And since I feel like blog posts are not complete without a picture, here is one of Karly swimming a couple of weeks ago. I think it's time for a new suit since she gets made fun of in this one... :D

Have a nice day!

*I am only 14 weeks, but I swear I've been feeling this kid move for at least 2 weeks. I read that you usually feel the baby start kicking around 16-22 weeks, but they also say you feel it earlier the second time around (since you already know what it feels like) and I felt Karly move at 15 weeks, so I'm not crazy! :)

The Bench Bunch is pretty awesome too!

So immediately after the Cox get together, we all headed out to Upalco, UT (if you have heard of that, I will be AMAZED and wonder why) for a family reunion with my mom's family. There was so much to do I seriously didn't worry about Karly at all. She was either jumping on the tramoline, looking at the new baby kitties, playing with toys, on the 4 wheeler with someone, eating, or sleeping. :) Nice huh? As I was looking through all the pictures family members took, I realized I was absent from a good number of them. Dang baby was starting to make me pretty sick and exhausted at this point. We had a lot of fun, though.

Just to show you how many people were there...

The guys spent a good part of each day shooting guns (either at targets or "rock chucks" - I have no idea what their real name is. Snipes maybe? I never saw one even though they said they shot lots of them...) Nate came home from the trip wanting to buy a 22 or something. The "need" has passed or at least subsided for now.
4 wheeling was a big hit.

In honor of my grandpa, the king of doing things the hardest, possibly most dangerous way, but ending up with something cool in the end, my brother, dad and cousins built a zip line in the above mentioned way.

I think there were people [read: children] on that zip line 90% of the reunion.

Karly also enjoyed the tree swing (once again being entertained by her awesome dad)
Another hit was the trampoline. Funny, all these things kept the kids entertained. What did the parents do? Sat around and talked without having to constantly worry about their kids.
Karly eating with some of her cousins (have I mentioned there are 4 girls cousins and 11 boys on my side of the family? They are all hoping I'm having another girl :D)
Bonfire (fell asleep putting Karly to sleep and pretty much missed the whole thing. This was followed by night games, which sounded like lots of fun. Too tired.
We went on a hike on the red rocks above my aunt and uncle's house - thanks Em for taking the cute picture!

Can't wait for Bench Reunion 2013!

The Cox Family is the best!

At the end of June, we went to Utah for a family reunion with my immediate family (all 29 of us!) followed immediately by a reunion with my mom's side of the family. It was so good to be with family and let Karly just run around with her other cousins. It was also nice to have so many other people willing to help out with Karly, so I could get a little extra sleep.

On the drive over. Trust me, it was not this pleasant the whole way. :)

Karly was in heaven getting to be outside so much. Nate and I kept saying to each other "we need a backyard for that girl."

Trying to "catch" a fish.

I swear the best part of this week was how often Nate was willing to take care of Karly. She adores him and loved playing with him. I think 3 or 4 people took pictures of this because it's just so stinkin' cute!

Male bonding...or something - we miss living near these guys!

The cabin we stayed in had a great TV room in the basement. We took full advantage and let the kids watch probably way too many movies. :) 10 bucks if you can find Karly in this picture.

There was also a hot tub that the parents (after bed time)...

and the kids took full advantage of.

We also managed to get lots of games in, despite the 15 children vying for attention (maybe this was during a movie? :D)

We took family pictures while we had all of us together, which was quite the feat, I must say.

I loved this one, taken accidentally - the chaos of trying to get everyone ready.

Which worked out pretty well, I must say! I sure love this bunch!

And the parents and offspring. Kinda hard to tell we're all related, huh? :)

It's a little depressing that I may not see most, if any of my family until after my next kid enters the world (and who knows when after that?). I keep trying to convince all of them how awesome Denver is, but there are these obnoxious things called jobs that keep people living where they are. :) Luckily, Shan just moved to Utah, so I at least have someone within 8 hours of me!

There is no better way to watch TV...

...than in just your underwear.

My child, the homeless one

If we are going anywhere or going to see people, I HAVE to fix Karly's hair. As in, get it wet and put it in pigtails or half pigtails or something. Otherwise, she looks like this:

(this last picture is not so bad, but trust me, when it's just down like this, she is constantly pushing it out of her face)