Random Connor

Connor has been really fun lately. He's talking a million times better and speaking in sentences (thankfully -- I was worried for awhile!). He's been better at actually "playing" with you. He'll throw the ball and kick it back and forth, he's actually getting the concept. Melt downs are rare and he still naps. So overall, I'm really, really liking this age. The two's started out rough, but the past 6 weeks or so have been great. Mind you, he's still CRAZY as ever, never stops moving (unless he's sleeping), but he's fun. There is always a bruise/cut/bump on him. If only he would listen to directions and instructions better :)
Here are some random pictures from the past few weeks...
FHE ice cream

He loves wheo-wheo's (fire trucks). And sometimes he's just really cute when he puts his hat on :)

He's really into baseball right now. He's a great pitcher, an ok hitter, and a terrible catcher.

Still loves his cars and lines them up whenever he can. It's so interesting to watch him talk and play pretend. I just love it -- he's in his own little world. He'll actually let you play with him though most of the time now and touch his cars, so that's a vast improvement.

We spend lots of time at the park with our friends. He loves his buddy James.

We've been watching Ryan a few times a week and they play really well together. Ryan is obsessed with Connor and follows him everywhere/tries to act just like him (although he is a much calmer child than Connor - very sentimental).

I have to hide things constantly from this child, I seriously can't walk away for 2 seconds or something like this happens.

We went to a birthday party with a pinata. Handing him a stick to hit something is a bad idea :)

Connor's Farm

Last weekend we headed to Connor's farm in Danvers, MA. They were having a blueberry/raspberry festival. It was suppose to rain (thankfully it didn't), but the cloud cover was much appreciated. Once those disappeared in the afternoon, it got way to hot, thus we left. Overall it was a great time. And Connor passed out as soon as we got back in the car :)

He was in tractor/car/truck heaven.

Our attempt at a family photo

We couldn't leave without getting some blueberry pie and ice cream. Connor didn't appreciate the pie much

He was seriously so happy and in the zone playing with the dump trucks, tractors, diggers, etc. There was definitely a lot of crashing and sound effects going on. All boy this kid.

We got to go on a cow and tractor ride. Connor was skeptical of this cow.

There was also a big, bouncy, inflatable area for the kids. Connor went crazy on it of course.

VDB grandparents come to visit

Clark unfortunately was working nights the week his parents were in town, but it was great for Connor and me. They helped entertain us and get us out of the house so Clark could sleep. He was on OB and was crazy busy everynight and was exhausted. So he came home late from each of his shifts and woke up late, thus we only saw him about an hour everyday.
We started out he week heading up to the White Mountains and seeing Mt. Washington (the highest point on the east coast). We rode an old cog train up the mountain. I was nervous about Connor and how he would handle it (more like will he be entertained enough), but he honestly did fantastic. It was a super small train and packed, so I'm glad he still liked it.
It was super windy and quite chilly at the top!

The next day we headed to the beach. It was kind of cloudy, which was nice, thus we didn't burn or melt to death. It was a perfect beach day. Connor loved playing in the sand and hated the water (quite typical).

On Friday we headed to Rochester, NY for the weekend to see the Hill Cumorah Pageant. Clark's family grew up 30 minutes from there and was in the show a few times, but I had never seen it. It was a short/packed weekend. I was quite exhausted. Connor in a hotel room with 4 adults isn't my favorite. Especially when he wakes up at 5am (thank you Papa VBD fro entertaining him in the hallways). I didn't take many pictures, not even one from the pageant -- oops.

We were able to visit Clark's grandmother. She has Alzheimers. She is quite pleasant though. Connor and her took a nap together while we we were there :)

We also visited Joey, one of Clark's old roommates from BYU doing medical residency in Rochester. We got together to have ice cream. Connor was not happy the ice cream was all gone and had to take a picture.

Washington, D.C.

Clark finally got some vacation time, so we headed to Virginia to visit my sister's family. We have been planing on this trip for months. We coordinated some couple retreats. My sister and her husband went on a cruise the first week and left their kids, then Clark and I went to Puerto Rico the second week without Connor (more on that later).

Connor LOVED having big kids around to play with. They were all very patient with him as he bossed them around to play with cars or go outside.

I was able to visit a friend I had gone on a study abroad with to Australia. it was fun seeing her and meeting 3 of her 4 girls.

We then were able to visit one of Clark's good friends from high school. He recently had a baby, so it was great meeting her. Connor even wanted to hold her (good sign!) and didn't crush her or anything.

We then met up with one of Clark's cousins, who married an old roommate of Clark's from BYU (those pictures are on Clark's phone...who knows when/if I'll get them)

Paint

As crazy as Connor is, you think he wouldn't mind getting his hands messy, But he usually freaks out and refuses to do it. I've kept trying, hoping he'll grow out of it. I bought some new paints and I actually finger painted with him this time, and it finally worked. He loved it and got all messy. He painted a few pics, then just played in it, which was completely fine with me.

Shredder fun

Sometimes I have a hard time thinking about things to do to entertain my child. We've played in the shredder paper a few times and it's alway been a hit. This time was no different. It's a HUGE mess and pain to clean-up, but occupies him for 30 minutes so I'll take it. Seeing him laugh and smile always brings a smile to my face.

Strawberry picking

A few weekends ago we decided to go strawberry picking. We do a CSA share, so we went to the farmer's place where we get all of our veggies and fruit. It was a rough, rough morning and I was kind of in a bad mood, but I'm so glad we went. It wasn't unbearably hot, the strawberries were delicious (made jam even), and Connor had a great time -- so win all the way around. We even got a few great shots of Connor smiling.

Connor has an annoucement...

Baby #2  Van Den Berghe is expected to arrive early October. We've excited.

This pregnancy has been rough. I am not puking as much as I did with Connor (6 months straight, everyday), but I'm way nauseated and more tired then I was with Connor (from what I remember). I worked full time until the week I delivered Connor, but wow I can barely get out of bed some days with this kid. I'm still puking, but only every so often now. Zophran is my best friend. Connor has been very patient with me and only has to scream at me 3x before I will get off the couch to get him a drink :) This is when I wish I had really good friends or family near by. There have been a few people (who I told early) that have helped, which I am so appreciative of.

What do we want? Hard to say. With Connor, I wanted a boy 100%, but I'm really fine with whatever this time around. For Connor's sake, I want a boy, but we'd be perfectly happy with a girl too.

 I

So this post I guess was supposed to have uploaded months ago...so I'll keep what I wrote and update from here.

We are having a girl! I'm so excited. Can't wait to get cute, little dresses. I've been feeling a lot better the 2nd trimester. I only really started showing this past month or so honestly. Most people didn't even know I was pregnant until I announced we were having a girl. I started out weighing less than I did with Connor, and obviously much more active due to a having a 2 year old, and not sitting at a desk all day eating, maybe having a girl makes a difference too, but I'm much smaller and feel healthier this time around.

The ultrasound was fun. Clark was able to come and we were able to get a babysitter, so it was a pleasant experience. Baby girl was moving all over the place, so much that I even had to go back for a 2nd scan to finish measuring all the body parts (all is ok). She kept covering her head with her hands, it was really cute. It's crazy still to me that there is a little human just growing and moving all around in me.

I am currently 26 weeks. The morning sickness has come back this past week, I've even puked a few times, but after an hour or so it goes away. Still super tired (in fact I takes naps with Connor most days). My hips and back and starting to hurt and my "normal" shirts are getting a little too tight and short to wear now. I've resorted to a few of Clark's smaller t-shirts.