20 weeks

well, not the most flattering picture ever taken, but i seem to forget to ask tyler to take one of me and i couldn't let another day go by without documenting this pregnancy. this is the FIRST pregnancy picture i've taken! poor baby #2...already being neglected.

i am just over 20 weeks and feeling great. i'm still working out 3 mornings a week, (even though at a slow pace and with light weights!) it feels great though and just this past week i have really felt this little girl start to move. i had forgotten what it feels like...to have a little creature inside you moving around. it sometimes startles me and i have to remind myself that i am pregnant and this is a good thing that she is moving! no names yet and i'm almost positive, knowing tyler and i, we will not have a name until she is born. we are the worst at coming up with names and can never agree, ESPECIALLY with girl names. any suggestions??!!!

not much new around here. riley is as funny and intense as ever and will officially be 2 1/2 may 11. which i have learned that 2 1/2 is a period of "disequilibrium" and boy, is that ever true. she is waking up almost nightly, very sensitive to any kind of change and extremely emotional over just about everything. she is so sweet though and almost daily asks if she can kiss and sing to the baby. her favorites continue to be books, arts & crafts, riding her trike, her babies and creating lots of loud noises (both happy and not) with her friend annika.

here she is helping me make some chicken pot pie for a friend that just had a new baby:

we are gearing up for a busy month of may: mothers day, my sister martha's 28th birthday, maui, tyler and i's 7th wedding anniversary, remembering tyler's dad dave who passed away 4 years ago (wow, i seriously can't believe it's been that long, it still feels like yesterday), my big 3-0, my nephew henry's 2nd birthday, as well as a few close friends & kids bdays...

happy (almost) weekend!

girls

baby denton #2 is a girl!

(more importantly the ultrasound reports she is healthy and growing) but we are thrilled to call her she and prepare ourselves as parents of TWO daughters.

wow! i must admit, i was a bit shocked and not sure how i felt about the idea of having two girls. i mean, i have 3 sisters and let me tell you, there were some nasty and rough moments in our house! however, having a sister is so significant and has brought so much delight and joy to my life. there is really nothing like it. so for this, i am thrilled beyond belief that riley will have a sister. not to mention the sharing the room, already having the clothes aspect makes things a bit easier.

and how can i not be excited about more :

tea parties

wearing "a beautiful dress with a bow", heels, pushing your baby in a stroller and pretending to go shopping through the house

reading books under tents

coming up with awesome outfits like this

and getting in bed dressed in pj's and wetsuits to snuggle and read books???

my weekend

tyler was out of town this past weekend on a work trip so riley and i spent the weekend in seattle. we started off with a visit with kristen, aleah and all the kids. i have known these gals since i can remember...early elementary school probably? anyway, it is so fun to get together and catch up and feel so comfortable. i hardly took any photos of our morning/afternoon together, so here are just two. love you ladies!

the next day we had a shopping trip to the u. village with martha, henry and andrew. riley wanted auntie mar-fy to play dress up with her so the picture below is what they came up with. i found a maternity suit for our up-coming trip to maui and uncle drew spoiled riley and bought her a hello kitty compact mirror and comb. while they were sitting down waiting for me, riley said to andrew, "uncle drew, i just need a yittle (little) treat". he asked her if she wanted something to eat and she said, "no, i want some candy". so he let her pick out a bag of gummy peaches...talk about riley fully taking advantage of the fact that mommy is gone and uncle drew is watching her! she knows exactly who to ask!

on sunday morning we drove to buckley and got to visit with angela and hold her newest little girl, kate. riley was very eager to hold her and was so sweet. i think she had more fun playing with ellie though. it was a gorgeous day so the girls put on dress-up clothes and played and ate lunch in the backyard. thanks for having us mcdonald's!

after riley's nap on sunday afternoon riley and henry helped nana in the yard for a bit before we drove home. i'm not sure how helpful they actually were...but they sure were funny and enjoyed the sun!

last night we had dinner at kari's house and you'll have to just read her post here about our evening. the combination of both of our husbands being gone and the personality of our daughters makes us a bit crazy and also extremely lenient about what takes place. we will do anything for some peace and quiet and a chance to chat (and laugh too)!

the picture below describes about how i feel right now after tyler being gone for 5 days...this is where riley fell asleep for her nap today. she asked me to close the door (which i'm usually required to leave it open) so i was nervous that she wanted to just play and not fall asleep. i heard her chatting for just a few minutes and when it was quiet i opened the door and this is what i found. passed out and snoring on the floor. priceless.

tomorrow afternoon tyler will be home...thank goodness...and tomorrow afternoon we also learn the gender of our baby!

Easter 2010

A few days before Easter my friend Leah hosted an Easter egg dying party at her house for 6 toddlers. She was very brave, but everything turned out great - she even put together baskets filled with goodies for all the kids. I forgot my camera, so here are just a few from one of the gals.

Notice Riley is again wearing her wetsuit and hogging all the babies? One can never have enough, is her motto.

After a church brunch and church on Sunday we drove to Seattle and spent the afternoon with my family. We had a yummy dinner and an egg hunt in the front yard for Riley and Henry. They were both extremely excited about hunting for eggs...holidays are so fun now that they are toddlers and can really get excited about everything.

We spent today at the tulip festival, so I will post those pictures later. Happy Friday!

Raspberry Pie

I was going to make a fruit tart for Easter, but my brother Andrew requested a raspberry pie. I was happy to oblige and found this recipe. I followed some of the readers advice and used two cups raspberries and two cups strawberries plus extra tapioca to prevent it from being too runny. Everyone in my family loved it and I will definitely make it again this summer.

Tyler took these pictures of Riley while I was rolling out of the top of pie crust.

more quirkiness

lately i've been quite nostalgic and emotional (pregnancy hormones) over the fact that my baby is truly growing up. she is pushing 2 1/2 years and acting more and more grown up each day. oh wait, except when she screams and tantrums in public, but we can't expect perfection! anyway, i'm trying to record some of her quirky/strange/toddler behavior so i don't forget her little personality at this stage.

riley, her friend elizabeth and their baby and bear having a party on the potty. they were literally in the bathroom for 15 minutes just singing and talking. it was hilarious.

taking her cement bunny for a stroll on her trike, which she now calls her motorcycle

dancing with the most obnoxious bunny that a family friend sent us last year. it sings and hops and riley loves it

if you look closely you will see riley's "worm" that she found at the park one day. for several days she carried this plate with her wherever we went, put it next to her bed, talked to it, etc

since getting a new camera i've let riley use my old digital camera and she has become quite the photographer. and yes, she's wearing a wetsuit which happens to be one of her most favorite things to wear.

i brought out my old-school strawberry shortcake sleeping bag and riley had a ball playing with it. she told me "take a picture of me and darcy sleeping"

hiding in the sleeping bag with darcy, singing and talking

darcy and riley, very best friends indeed! she will often interrupt me and say, "oh mom, i hear darcy crying, just a minute". she'll run to get darcy then i'll watch her pat darcy's back while saying, "it's ok, it's ok".

oh, and don't forget the princess band-aid that she now has to wear on a mysterious "owie" on her arm (thanks a lot annika for starting this love of all things princess!!!)

and last but not least, today, riley was suppose to be napping, but an easter basket filled with stickers was within arms reach of the crib and just too tempting. this is what her bed looked like once i went in there to tell her to go to sleep.

the blessing/curse is, about 90% of everything riley does is just so funny i can never get mad...