Ack!

I decided to re-surface on the blogging community for several reasons. First, our second baby is due in just a few days! Have I documented one single thing about the pregnancy on here? Nope! I would apologize, but I feel like I have a really (semi-)logical reason for this. For those of you who don't know, I am currently a prosecutor in a smaller county to the east of us. In March, I went to a seminar and one big portion of it was on Internet Crimes and children. Let me just say that it freaked me out enough to keep me away from blogging until now, and that I'm going to be password protecting the blog soon. I know it decreases readership, or at least I'm assuming it does. (This is mainly based on my own experience of checking the blogs that I have to login to much less frequently than those that I don't) However, the seminar still haunts me, so...I'm password protecting the blog, in hopes that it will get me to update more. If you are a blog reader and know me, feel free to e-mail me to get on the blog list. If you only tangentially know me (former Gracelander or whatnot) and want to be included on the blog list, please send me a message on facebook! I'll gladly add you! I'm going to wait for just a bit (maybe a few weeks?) before I password protect the site, because I'm guessing people don't check this daily, seeing as how it's been close to a year since I've updated! Bad me! Anyway, excuses!

Here's a mish-mash of photos for all to look at. Not even going to try to catch up in chronological order!

This is pretty much how G is non-stop. She is in love with the carousel at the zoo and talks about it all the time. Mom, "WhatCHU' gonna' ride?" She used to have a favorite animal to ride: The capybara. Now, she rotates. Any day that we go to the zoo is a super happy day for her!

G outside with the the hose. Her father truly indulges her and takes her outside and soaks her with the hose. She loves it. I think she learns a lot of vocab words from it, too. I only say this because every time I wet her curly hair down now, she goes, "Mom! You're making me soaking wet!"

At the park with dad...one of her fave places! She turned 2 last month. I can't believe it. We are so proud of her! She is a great girl and she has a ton of words/phrases for her age. It makes me happy that she is so conversational and will sometimes really surprise us with some of the things that come out of her mouth!

Shortly after her birthday, she wanted to see the Easter bunny. I told her the Easter bunny doesn't come until after Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's Day, etc. etc....She was NOT happy about it! So, I found an outfit that Aunt Kerri had bought her last year for this year's Halloween. She really liked it and called herself "Super Greta"! The other day, she wasn't even in costume, but dropped a bubble wand off of our front porch. I told her I didn't know how we were going to get the bubble wand. She told me, "MOM! I know! With my (then lowered her voice to sound really tough) SUPER. STRONG. MUSCLES!"

Super Greta's got a lot of things on her mind....

Like lifting bubbles with her SUPER. STRONG. MUSCLES!

In May, we went to visit my bestest friend, Brooke, in Portland. It was a bit of a trek, but G did great on the plane rides. She still talks about flying back to see Brooke and Jeff. I think her father would like to pack up all of our belongings and move there, but...Portland is not a place for people on a budget! Behind us in that picture is the Tillamook cheese factory!

The fam on the Oregon Coast. This was Cannon Beach. BEAUTIFUL!

Okay, so we did not properly prepare for the blustery weather on the coast. Pictured above is Greta wearing Brookie's sweatshirt. I think she rocked it, if I do say so myself!

Dad and Greta in the little tide pools

Mom and G at the zoo early in the year. (yes, she is riding on the capybara!)

This is G at her cousin's birthday party in May.

We celebrated Cinco de Mayo the way a pregnant mommy and toddler would (with Dad along, of course!): with ice cream from the local ice cream shop! Greta loved it, at you can see. She got "pink"...she doesn't really care about the flavor. Anything pink will do!

Easter at church with the Easter bunny. She wasn't really a fan that day, but she sure has convinced herself of her love for the Easter bunny since then! I think she somehow figured out he is associated with giving her endless amounts of candy!

Dad and G on Easter Sunday. This was the day after her father's 40th b-day celebration. He's doing pretty well, I'd say, considering what was consumed the night before!

Mom and G (no post-party headache for me! See? There are perks to birthdays when pregnant!)

Greta playing with her dear friend, Tiny Lou.

This was sometime in the winter. As you can see, she's wearing a swimsuit that is like, oh, 2 sizes too small! Not sure what was going on there. And she and her cousin, Rowan, are rolling around on the bed. They always have the BEST time together!

Here is Tatum (another cousin) with Greta. I think Tess put that scarf on her head!

A warmish day in March...G and dad decided to get out of the house and venture outside! While I love the fall weather coming up, I sure am sad about all the time we will have to stay inside starting in about December!

There were some other key events we didn't document on here (can't find the pics)...like her birthday and also our girls trip to Illinois with grandpa, grandma, and her cousins and aunt! We had a blast at camp!

I'm going to try to have Scott update when it's time for the kiddo to come like he did with Greta! It is a nice thing to read back on. And, don't forget...I'll be password protecting the blog in a few weeks, so...email me on facebook or my actual e-mail if you'd like to be on the list of readers!