Chatfield Gardens

Jeff left bright and early this morning with his boss to visit each rig that he is now in charge of. I decided to take a break from baby gym to get outside for a walk. I haven't been as motivated with this pregnancy to stay active so I am making a better attempt starting today... we will see how long this lasts! A few miles down the road is an extension of our Denver Botanic Gardens where Johanna and I had gone last week. I wasn't sure what was at this location but with it being free we decided to head over to check it out. We were a little lost while wandering around the grounds and weren't sure what was 'off limits.' A corn maze appeared to be open so Johanna and I proceeded to check it out only to be chased down a few minutes later by a woman telling me it wasn't open to the public yet and they were about to lock its doors. Glad we didn't get locked in! There was a cute farm area with animals and farm equipment but I couldn't shake the feeling that I was intruding on someones personal property. Turns out the whole area is open to the public so next time I go (with someone else) I will be more daring. We certainly did get our walk in which was my main goal and some fun pictures to go along with it.

Baby Bean news: we have movement! It isn't all the time, just a few times a day usually after I've eaten something and while I am lying on my side. It feels like little flutters, so cool. I guess it is true when they say you will feel things much sooner the second time around, hello baby!

Fresh Air

Cooler weather has been slowly creeping in. This morning it was a chilly and crisp 38 degrees when Jeff left for work! Later today it will be in the high 70's, silly Colorado. Johanna and I made a trip over to the Botanic Gardens yesterday to take a walk in the fresh air and play in the children's area.

 Look Mom, dead animal bones...

 She loved the stuffed animals that were scattered throughout the play area, she kept giving them all smooches.

Baby Bean news: We are in our 2nd Trimester! 

Words

Johanna loves to talk. She has always been a noisy little thing since day one. Screaming, squealing, bubble blowing, clucking, and most recently screeching...okay 'singing' with a high pitched noise that I am pretty sure could cause hearing impairment. She is also a little parrot and loves attempting new words. Here is a list of Johanna 'words'.

Cat - AT

Meow - EOWWW

DOG - DAW

Woof - Hfff Hfff

Up - UF

Such a cutie pie. She also loves reading her books outloud. I just love it! She points to objects in her book and babbles away.

No baby bean news. My regularly scheduled 14 week appointment has been pushed back to Oct 3rd to make sure we will be insured since...JEFF GOT A NEW JOB! As most of you already know he will be a drilling engineer for a company called Bill Barret and will be starting on Monday.  Let me just say that God is awesome because this is something that we have been praying about for a long long long time. Jeff will no longer be traveling and will be working in Denver. No more being away for two, three weeks at a time. No more missing Holidays or family events. And most importantly no more missing Johanna growing up. We are so excited for this new chapter to begin!

Highlands Ranch Days

This past Saturday Kara and the boys invited us to come along to the Highlands Ranch Days up the street in our backcountry. We will probably have very similar posts but the day was just great. The sun was shining and the air was...well smelling like animals!

 When we first entered the grounds there were several different booths set up for local companies, one being Noodles and Company. There was a young man passing out giant cookies for free from this restaurant so of course I had to get one.

  I made the mistake of letting Johanna hold on to it for me while we walked around for a bit. Boy was that a bad idea you should have heard the screams of protest when I had to pry it away from her little chocolate covered fingers.

 What a goofy looking animal!

There was such an interesting collection of animals in the petting zoo. My personal favorite was the tortoise.

That was until he kept inching his way toward my little baby! Surprisingly Johanna didn't seem to mind him at all, he was quite the social little thing.

 Her favorite part of the day was being able to spend some time with Oscar the horse. I am going to have to put this girl in some classes when she gets older, she was squealing with glee being in the saddle. After she got down she was able to pick a toy from a grab bag and she pulled out a rubber horse/ducky- how perfect!

 Black and Decker the mules used to pull us around the backcountry in a wagon.

What a great day, thanks for inviting us Kara!

Johanna is a "bunny"

So I had to take some pictures and document this because it is just too funny to me. Johanna borrowed a pair of Nathan's pj's a few weeks ago after getting hers icky while we were over at his house. They have been sitting at our house patiently waiting to be returned to Nathan. Tonight I realized I needed to do a load of Johanna's long sleeved pj's since the weather is getting chillier. The blue nightie was looking so clean and cozy that I told Johanna she could wear them one more time... Kara you will get them back this weekend I promise :) Johanna looks like such a little boy when she wears them it cracks me up. So then I had to put some bows in her hair to prove to everyone it was little Johanna.

In other news Johanna survived her first day of 'school' while I went to my Mom's and Tots meeting at church. I was slightly nervous to drop her off for 3 whole hours. The theme for the school is "Zoo" and Johanna is in the "Bunnies" room until she starts walking. When I brought her in to the classroom I knew she would have a blast, it was loaded with toys and the teachers were so nice I didn't have anything to worry about. I wasn't sure what we would do in 3 hours but the morning flew by and I am very excited for this year! Basically every other Friday we have a breakfast, have a speaker/do a bible study and work on our community outreach projects. I am really looking forward to this work. The Samaritan House (a homeless shelter,) the Johnson Center (a Hospice nursing home,) and Mary's Choice (an abortion alternative for young moms) are some that I am particularly excited for. Anyway, throughout the meeting the teachers would come to get the Mom's if their child was particularly upset so I was nervously watching the door in anticipation of someone coming to get me. I cheated during a bathroom break and snuck a peak and there she was playing musical instruments with her friends as happy as a clam! When I came to get her at the end of the day the teachers said she did great and had-get this- taken a nap on the floor with a little blanket!! What a big girl :)

Lastly, during the meeting we introduced ourselves and then did a special introduction for all the ladies expecting. After we spoke we had to grab a bundle of candy from a basket without looking to guess what the gender is and I pulled out a girl! My small group leader said hers have been right both times... One of the Mom's who knows she is having a boy pulled out girl so I'd say chances are 50/50 ;)

Baby Bean

We are 11 1/2 weeks pregnant and according to my "What to Expect" app on my phone, baby bean is the size of a large plum and measuring in at 2.5 inches. Wow! Of course baby bean is not as plump and round as a large plum but nonetheless, he/she sure is growing! My pregnancy is continuing to go smoothly. My morning sickness is slowly starting to taper off and I am counting the days until it is gone completely. I may not have forgotten how painful childbirth is, but I had certainly forgotten about these draining early weeks! Funny what your mind chooses to forget. I feel like I am having a lot more pregnancy cravings this time around, especially with it being so early! The list so far as I can remember it:

 1. italian canolis 2. broccoli  3. red meat 4. orange juice 5. dill pickles with cheddar cheese and mayonnaise

If I had to take a guess I would say....GIRL! I am basing this solely on the fact of how quickly my leg hair is growing, as if you wanted to know ;)

First Step

Tonight while Johanna was winding down for the night, or should I say we were wearing her out to wind down for the night, we caught her taking her first step! Okay, so it's not the greatest step and it looks more like a tumble, but I am so proud :) She is getting so brave  and adventurous it is hard to keep an eye on her. I am always worried she is going to bonk he head on something (which she has.) Go Johanna!

Taste of Colorado

 Today we went down to Civic Center Park in Denver for the annual Taste of Colorado. It was a beautiful day, sunny and cool enough to enjoy ourselves. A large main street in the heart of downtown Denver was shut down completely for the event. The streets were lined with different vendors from restaurants all around. There were also art tents and carnival rides. You can't tell from the picture above but Johanna was terrified of this giant chicken. At first she though he was pretty cool, that was until the chicken started getting too close for comfort and poking it's giant orange beak near her face.

 Who doesn't love Lego's?

 After we all enjoyed a variety of meals ranging from giant turkey legs, Indian food and my personal favorite peanut butter and bacon sandwiches, we headed over to the grassy field to stretch our legs.

 Look what I caught little peanut eating... and what do you think she would do as soon as I took her grass away?

 Grab another handful from her endless supply of course!

 Such a cow ;)

After a great day at the event, we all walked down to the 16th street mall for a bathroom break and dessert. We stopped at pinkberry for some delicious frozen yogurt. What a wonderful way to spend our Saturday!