Topo Giogo!

Did you know that's not actually a name for Santa Claus? Dang Tim Allen. see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topo_Gigio)

So anyway, Santa Claus came to our ward Christmas party. Karly has been watching Christmas movies for a few weeks and was thrilled to actually get to SEE Santa and sit on his lap and tell him what she wants.

The problem is, once she got up there, this is what she did:

Not a word came out of that girl's mouth.

When we ask her what she wants from Santa, her response is usually "a blue hippo." Huh? I seriously have no idea where she got that idea. I'm hoping by Christmas morning she will have forgotten about that or will at least be content with a pink piggy bank. :)

Are we there yet?!

I feel like I've been pregnant for.ever.

And I still have 7 weeks to go! And I can't even hope and pray this little guy makes his debut early. In fact, I'm probably supposed to be praying he comes RIGHT on his due date. Since our attempt at planning when to have a baby didn't go exactly as planned, we are having this little guy right, smack dab in the middle of busy season for Nate. In fact, Nate will be crazy busy with one particular client until February 3rd (also happens to be my due date - coincidence? um, yeah it actually is). So anyway, I'll continue waiting not-so-patiently to not be pregnant anymore (funny how last time I LOVED being pregnant. this time I only love the reason I'm suffering the heartburn and sciatic nerve and getting fat and mood swings and not being able to bend over).

 30 weeks

Amazingly, so far this pregnancy, the only thing (besides my stomach obviously) getting significantly fatter is my face. Last time at this point, I was pretty much huge everywhere.

See?

31 weeks with Karly

Okay, so maybe it's not THAT different, but I definitely feel less huge. I do still have 7 weeks to go, so we'll see....

My mom and sister came to visit!

and guess how many pictures I took?!

Yeah. None.

Actually that's not true. I took a few when we played at the park, but they were on Suzie's camera and she still hasn't sent them to me (hint, hint, wink, wink).

Karly loved having "grandma Cox" come to play - she called her "grandma Cox" for the first day and a half until we convinced her she could just call her grandma if she wanted. :)

We really didn't have much planned and were kind of boring, but it was SO good to have them come for a few days! One day we spent 4 hours at the mall and the only thing we bought was a pretzel. Then we went to Deseret Book and the only thing we bought was hot chocolate. That's what they get for hanging out with a pregnant woman!

On Saturday while they were here, we went to Estes Park/Rocky Mountain National Park to hear/watch the Elk bugle (that word looks wrong, but it's not - I checked). We drove around for awhile and didn't see/hear anything and started to worry we wouldn't. We decided to stop at one point and just go for a little hike and ran into a herd of probably 50 or more elk with 6 or 7 bulls herding their women. :) We got to hear a little bugling and see a little antler clashing, so it ended up being worth the trip. I think my mom got some good pictures. I, once again, did not. So you'll have to imagine it. Or google elk bugling in Estes Park, CO.

Anyway, overall it was a fun weekend with my momma and sista. I'm so glad they made the drive and hope they felt like it was worth it! We sure thought it was! :)

2nd night in a row I've been up past midnight.../Halloween

I actually wrote a blog post last night while I was not sleeping, but didn't post it. Maybe I still will. Maybe not. We'll see. I figured since I'm unable to sleep yet again, I might as well do something useful. Like show you the cutest cow you've ever seen.

She does actually smile for the camera. The problem is she says "cheese" with a big grin and by the time the camera takes the picture (.7 seconds later) she's done. And so is the smile. Unless the picture is blurry because she moves while she's saying "cheese." It might help if I knew how to use my camera a little better...

Halloween was pretty awesome this year since we got to take Kar trick or treating. She had to be prompted at pretty much every door to say "trick or treat" loud enough for anyone but her to hear, but she really could have just stood there saying nothing and the people still would have handed her candy. She was so stinkin' cute (totally unbiased opinion).

Am I a bad mom if I went through her candy and took out all the stuff Nate and I like and put it in a separate bowl? She still has a LOT of candy - just no Twix or Snickers or Peanut Butter Cups....to name a few I took...

Bugged

I figured out a great cure for inability to sleep. Have your spouse talk to you about something you have absolutely NO interest in talking about. Works like a charm.

Oh, you thought I was talking about me? No, that's how I helped Nate fall asleep tonight. And now I can't sleep. Do you think it would be rude to wake him up and ask him to tell me about spreadsheets and macros? (In case you're wondering, I talked to him about Survivor and The Biggest Loser)

Since I'm up I thought I'd post about something I've been thinking about for a few days. When I was pregnant with Karly, I think I got really...I can't think of the right word...sappy? clingy? emotionally attached? loving toward others? Something like that. I don't know if it's that there's a boy in me this time or what, but I'm basically the opposite. Let's see if I can think of this word: annoyed. I get annoyed SO EASY and feel like I have this whole pregnancy.

I hate it. It annoys me. Ha.

I've been trying really hard to stop letting people/things bother me that never would have before, but that's like telling an overly emotional pregnant woman not to cry during a sappy commercial. Oh, speaking of overly emotional pregnant women, I'm not. Things that would have made me cry before I was pregnant don't even phase me.

I hate that too.

Not that I want to cry all the time, but most days I swear I don't have tear ducts at all right now. So anyway, back to things bothering me: I feel like, especially since I married Nate I've gotten better at letting things roll off my back - I've gotten more patient or at least better at seeming patient. Except the last 6 months. If you're bugging me, you probably know it.

So, I guess my point in writing this is as an apology to all of you that I've interacted with in the last half a year. It's not you, it's me (or baby boy - can I please just blame him?). You can just pray with me I return to my normal self after he arrives (or before - I'd be okay if it happened now).

Oh Moab, how I missed you

Did you know we haven't been to Moab since Karly was t-minus 2 weeks old (meaning I was pregnant in case that didn't make any sense)?

That's almost an unforgivable sin, you know. Moab is our place. I missed it. It was so good to go back.

We went with Nate's parents and brother Jordan and his wife and kids. We rented a little condo, which was good considering it got to like 30 degrees at night. Camping would have been miserable. We had a blast. Karly loved playing with Adi, except when - heaven forbid - Adi should touch one of her toys! We really need to work on sharing...

So the first hike we did was to Delicate Arch - I wanted to make sure we got that one done at the beginning of the trip in case my pregnant body kept me from doing any later hikes. At one point, Dan showed Karly how to put rocks on top the Cairns, so every time we passed one she wanted to put rocks on the tower. Nate said "this is like heaven for Karly: we're outside, there is dirt, there are rocks and she gets to make towers with the rocks." Those are literally, some of her most favorite things. If we could have incorporated pennies somehow, she may never have wanted to leave.

This was actually how she started the hike though:

There are several probably better pictures from Nate's phone, but I can't figure out how to find them on the laptop...

Also, can I just tell you how stressful that was having Miss Karly on the edge of that ledge up there? I probably spent way too much time on this trip stressing about her falling, but that image scares me too much to relax. But she didn't fall. So life is good.

The other big hike we did was Devil's Garden, which ended up taking WAY longer than I thought it would. I guess with two 2-year-olds, I'm not sure what I was expecting. Once again, they were in heaven just to be outside for hours at a time.

This is wall arch - or was I should say. It collapsed in 2008, which is a sad day because not only did a cool arch break, but it totally ruined the easy way to get up to the other arches on this trail. Bummer.
Navajo arch (I think?)
Proof that this little guy was there, making hiking a little precarious for me.
So sometimes when Nate tells Karly to look at him, she does this weird sideways glance. It's hilarious and I've never caught it on camera before, but I kind of got it here. Nate got it on his phone too, so it's double awesome. Silly girl.

Why can't I look this cute...

when I just put on some random clothes and throw my hair in a ponytail?

Oh, because she's cuter than me. She's got her daddy's genes too!

Happy Birthday Nate! We love you!

Baby, baby...

Funny how I used to say this pregnancy was so similar to Karly's.

I am only 24 weeks, so I still have a ways to go, but lately things have felt quite different. The only similarity is that both of these kids REALLY like to move. I swear he has not stopped today since 5:50 (which is when Karly woke up, so when I started noticing his movements). Please bless he gets my sleeping genes and not his daddy's ridiculous ability to function on 6 hours.

Ahem, 'scuse the tangent. So differences: I feel like I am carrying him very differently. First of all, he likes to hang out as low as possible, which - let me tell you - is VERY comfortable. So you would think since he sits so low, I would feel like I am carrying lower, but I feel like as a whole my "gut" is sitting higher than it did with Karly. However, I just looked at pictures from Kar's pregnancy and they're either similar or he is lower. Maybe it's just that I've gotten bigger faster this time.

Another difference is in terms of movement. With Karly, if I hadn't felt her move for a few hours, I would eat something and she would be moving like crazy within 30 minutes. With this kid, all I have to do is NOT eat and he starts moving. He's always moving when I'm hungry, like he's saying "HELLO! I'm hungry in here!" I hope this isn't a sign of things to come...

Speaking of hungry, I am. All. the. time. I love that doctors say "Don't eat for 2. You really only need 300 more calories than you did before." Cool. I totally get that. But seriously? I'm STARVING. (This actually may not be a difference. I can't remember)

Sciatica. Oh my hip hurts. This is actually not completely pregnancy related because I think I injured it before I was pregnant. It has just gotten worse - like to the point where I've been going to physical therapy because I couldn't walk and would get stuck in certain positions because I couldn't move my hip due to pain (hello run on sentence). It was fun. But it's getting better.

I'm a little scared this time. With Kar it was just pure excitement, but I'm a little scared of 2 kids. I'm scared of neglecting Karly. I'm scared of leaving the house with 2 kids. I already forget to buckle Karly's carseat sometimes (don't worry, she remembers) - can I really remember 2 kids? Also, I'm scared of boys.

So anyway, we'll see if I notice any other similarities or differences in the next few weeks. And maybe I'll post something interesting on my blog one of these days...

More Karlyisms

Last night Nate and I were exchanging funny things Karly had said to each of us recently and he reminded me I need to be writing these down. I should probably write it somewhere a little more permanent than a blog (like her baby book) - maybe I will eventually, but this is quick and then you can all share in her funnies.

*We went to McDonalds one night to get ice cream just for fun and we told her where we were going. On the way there Nate said "Karly, where are we going?" She said "To the farm!" We laughed and wondered where on earth she got that idea. Luckily, Nate figured out how that cute little brain was working - we were going to McDonalds...Farm...E-I-E-I-O.

*Nate was having a breakfast burrito one morning and Karly said she wanted to help him make it. She told him she wanted to help put the "sour ice cream" on. By the time it made it from the container to his plate, about half of it was gone.

*Another time, she was dishing herself some sour cream while Nate and I were focused on eating. Suddenly we hear eating noises and see her pretending to eat the sour cream right off the spoon, after which she says "mmm, Delicious." I need to try to record how she says "delicious" because it's stinkin' cute!

*Karly was looking at our big Book of Mormon with pictures and I hear her say "And it came to pass..."

*I'm not sure if I've mentioned on here how obsessed Karly is with pennies. She is. Completely obsessed. She carries one in her hand, she sleeps with one, the first thing she asks in the morning is "where's my penny?" One morning after Nate got home from Seminary, she came into our room asking where her penny was and said to Nate "I check your ears" and started sticking her finger in his ears. He asked what she was doing and she said "checking your ears for my penny."

*During General Conference, Elder Scott was speaking and Karly said "he's not happy." We laughed and Nate said, "maybe he's just being serious." Karly cocked her head to the side, looked at him like she had no idea what he was talking about and said "Are you kidding me dad?"

*Kippy was watching Karly one day and apparently several times, she cocked her head to the side and said to Kippy "Seriously?" (this one I will acknowledge as totally my fault. when I ask her if she has to go potty and she says no and then pees on the floor literally 3 minutes later, I say "seriously?")

*One day Karly was being dramatic, so I said "Karly, are you a drama queen?" She laughed and said "yeah mom, probably."

*When she's in the bath or watching a movie or something and I tell her it's time to be done, she will say "Two more minutes" while attempting to hold up 2 fingers (she usually just holds up one, but we're working on it).

I am sure I am missing tons of funny stories. I need to be better about writing these down. Maybe now that I've made somewhere to put them, I'll be better.

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!