New Tap Shoes!

Annaliese was recently given a pair of tap dancing shoes from a good friend of mine, Nancy. She loves dancing in general and frequently asks for Daddy to put on a song...and her dancing typically involves spinning around in circles! Wearing her tap shoes, though, makes dancing extra fun! She only gets to wear them occasionally, though, because the downstairs neighbors say they are quite loud!! 

My little Valentine!

Unfortunately, the day before Valentine's Day, Annaliese came down with another cold...the runny nose/sneezing/sound like you're coughing up a lung type of cough. She still acted pretty normal, but I didn't want to take her out anywhere fun since she hasn't quite mastered the 'cover-your-mouth-when-you-cough" thing. 

However, that didn't stop us from getting into the Valentine spirit! It was too bad that we didn't try on this outfit sooner though, because the shirt is definitely a onesie that snaps at her knees!! And the pants, well, those are quite a bit too big too! So we took a few pictures, in which Annaliese had her eyes closed in most of them, and then changed into our second option for the day. 

Outfit #2...a cute pink shirt with sequins on the bottom. And yes, it is warm enough to be outside in short sleeves and sandals!

Annaliese was very excited to find that there were two cards addressed to her in the mail. She had to carry them in from the mailbox and eagerly sat down to open them. 

I find her reading to be absolutely adorable! I could listen to her read a story for hours on end!!

When Kyle came home from work, he brought home balloons for us, which Annaliese loves!

These moments are far and few between for Kyle...Annaliese loves to play with him, but she will rarely sit and cuddle with him or let him just hold her for a minute. 

Fun with Friends!!

The last two weekends have been filled with get-togethers with friends...first to celebrate Holden (Jenn and Russ' little guy)'s birthday and the following weekend for the Superbowl. As far as Annaliese is concerned, since they were both with Holden, they were fantastic! She loves hanging out with him! Unfortunately, I didn't even get a picture of the two of them at his birthday!

 Having fun with bubbles!

 Leah babysits Annaliese and Holden on a regular basis...they love her and she is great with them!

Jenn's mom and dad were able to fly out from Wisconsin to help celebrate the occasion...Pop Pop was a big hit with the girls!!

In between the festivities, Annaliese and I were able to hang out at home...we had to give Auntie Kelsey a glimpse of what's too come with girls:)

Yep, that's right...Tigger has a bow, the cat has on shoes and socks, and the baby is fully dressed!

 And this is just a random picture that I thought was super cute...Kyle was stretching and Annaliese wanted to stretch too. She kept peeking at him to make sure he hadn't changed positions!

We also found time this week to go to the Charles Paddock Zoo in Atascadero with Kate, Evan, and Eli. They live below us here in the barn. 

Annaliese, practicing how to stand on one leg like the flamingos!

 The tiger...they just fed him by placing food in various parts of the cage so we were able to watch him climb up and move all around the cage. Annaliese and Eli were fascinated with the tiger!

The meercats were also a big hit!

For the Superbowl, we headed back to Jenn and Russ' house to enjoy the game with good friends. There was lots of good food (naturally) and although we weren't that impressed with the game...Kyle started out cheering for the Broncos and by the end, was hoping that the Seahawks could score 50 points! 

 The ladies and the kids in the kitchen eating...and the guys watching the game:)

 Annaliese found Holden's new chair and was a big fan! It's just her size:)

Kyle playing with Holden and Annaliese

Pure cuteness

Since being on maternity leave, I have had a lot of time to spend with Annaliese. It's been both good and bad- I absolutely love spending time and hanging out with her; but, she has an endless amount of energy that leaves me absolutely exhausted by the end of the day. And she is content to do the same thing multiple times each day...like walk to see the horses. And I just don't really find that all that stimulating. However, she also does some incredibly cute and adorable things that make me SO glad that I have the opportunity to spend all this one-on-one time with her. 

Yes, her pants are on inside out and backwards...but she did it herself!

 This is the crazy hair she wakes up with on a daily basis!!

Baby Girl #2

Here we are, 35 weeks (ok, almost 36 now... it's taken me almost a week to finish writing this!) into this pregnancy, and I thought I would take a few moments to reflect on how the past nine months have been. This time around has definitely been different, both in how I've felt and how much it has influenced our lives and conversation. While we were definitely excited from day 1, Kyle and I were busy with life: with Annaliese, with selling a house and searching for a new one, with a less-than-ideal work situation. It sort of felt like this pregnancy was just happening. I had more nausea in the first trimester; it usually hit around dinnertime, just about when Kyle came home from work. I also found it to be very uncomfortable to run and even walk throughout the entire time. I don't know if that was because I was trying to run while pushing a stroller and keeping an unruly dog under control or if it was just because the baby was positioned differently, but the amount of exercise I've been able to do has been next to nothing. And we still don't have a name picked out. But at least we have an idea now.

Regardless, here we are. Just a few weeks away from welcoming this new little life into the world. We spent last weekend shopping for a few new items. Kyle will be painting a new dresser/changing table this weekend and I have pulled out the newborn clothes and sorted through them. It is becoming a reality and I am ready! Ready for this next stage in life. Ready to see how Annaliese adjusts to being a big sister. Ready to watch Kyle be the daddy to two little girls!

From fairly early on, Annaliese knew that there was a baby in my belly, not that she really knew what it meant. Now she asks to touch her, and when she feels the baby move, she giggles and says "It tickles." She will give it kisses and even wanted to read her a story the other day! She also knows that there are clothes for the baby, the baby has a bed, and a carseat. Again we will see how it all plays out once Baby Girl is actually here!

36 weeks (tomorrow)

 about 32 weeks

 about 27 weeks

 21 weeks

about 14 weeks

I had good intentions of documenting the baby bump during this pregnancy. I even have a folder in the "Pictures" category on my computer labeled "Baby Bump #2" but it only has one picture in it! Oh well!! 

The Barn

As mentioned earlier, we are currently renting an apartment in a barn, on some property that comes complete with horses, chickens, and a few ducks. While my parents were here for Christmas, they helped us organize it a bit and make room for Baby Gillette #2 who will be joining us in less than 6 weeks. I thought it would be fun to take some pictures of the place, just so we will be able to remember this stage in life, since we have no idea how long we are going to be here! So without further adieu, here is a tour of our home.

From the outside...the door to the right of my car is the 'back door.'

 Entering through the back door and up the stairs will bring you into the living room. It may be small, but we still made room for a Christmas tree!

Walking through the living room, you enter our bedroom. And yes, the only bathroom is in our room!

As you continue out of our room, you will enter the dining room and kitchen area. While there isn't much in the way of cupboard space, there was plenty of room to open up our table and accommodate 8 adults and 2 kiddos!

The door on the right side of this picture leads outside, onto our little landing. 

Also leading out of the dining room, to the right of the black bookshelf in the above picture, you enter into what has recently become Baby Gillette #2's room. The door in this room leads into Annaliese's room...pictures of that to come:)

 And here is Annaliese in her big girl bed...yes, she sleeps in a queen-sized bed, along with Tigger, Doggie, the cat, the penguin, her baby, and two blankies!

And that is our apartment! There is also a space downstairs where we have lots and lots of boxes stored, as well as our desk that is set up to be my 'craft-table.' I will start scrapbooking Annaliese's life before Baby #2 arrives!

 Up the stairs and to the right is the door that leads into the kitchen. 

Outside on the swingset with Grandma

I think I've mentioned before that there are horses, chickens, and ducks here on the property. Every day we take several walks outside to see the horses and to check if there are any eggs to collect. 

The horses...the black one is Armani and the brown one is Z.

Annaliese, checking out the chickens.

While I don't think we will be here long-term (there are just too many cats...Brodie has to stay locked up most of the time,) it is nice for the time being. It's definitely a bit of an adventure, but has been working out quite nicely while we figure out where we will be living next!

One of the cats...Kyle took the trash outside and Annaliese and I were in the living room. She walked to the kitchen and came back talking about the kitty. I told her she would need to wait until Daddy came back inside and then they could go look for the cat. She just kept saying, "kitty...meow. kitty meow." And then the cat walked into the living room! Apparently it snuck inside when Kyle walked out!