Ok, so it's not *technically* Spring yet, but the weather has been so nice lately! We've had lots of good outside fun, at home and at local parks.

Haley is such a Daddy's girl, and that makes me so very happy. They have so much fun playing together, and they have their time before bed every night while she drinks her milk. ♥ We have our fun during the day, but when Seth is home she prefers to play with him and sit with him. Makes my heart smile. :)













Throwing paper airplanes

We got about 4 1/2 inches of snow Friday night, and Haley had a blast playing in it! Seth made snowballs for her, and she had a lot of fun throwing them. :)

This was when the snow first started falling. She wasn't too sure about it, but she liked it!









Then it REALLY started coming down.







Typical Haley... didn't want to keep her hat on.



So pretty...



The next day, sun and snow! :)

Haley has gotten better about sleeping at night... She has slept through the night the past 2 nights. On the flip side, she has mostly quit taking naps. Yesterday I made sure she got a nap since she woke up at 6:30 am, but then she wouldn't go to sleep last night until 10:30. :-O It takes about 1 1/2 hours to get her down for her nap, and then another 1 1/2 hours to get her down at night. When we skip her nap, it usually takes about 10 minutes to get her down at night. So weighing the pros and cons... I'm going to quit trying for a nap unless she's obviously super tired. Seems like a good trade-off to me, especially if she starts sleeping through the night more often.

A few recent pictures...

Haley has made a lot of progress with her speech in the past week. Friday night we were playing a 'ready set go' type game. I stopped for a minute because Seth asked me something, and Haley tried to say 'ready' to keep the game going. It came out as 'airy'. :) She did it a few more times, so we know it wasn't a fluke. We're counting it as her first word since it's her first obvious attempt at a real word. It was a very exciting moment and very unexpected! We knew she would talk when she was ready, but actually hearing her try it was the coolest thing ever. Since then, she has been more interested in watching us say things and trying to mimic us. I have a feeling the explosion of words isn't too far away.

Speaking of smarty-pants things... After speech this morning, she grabbed a magnadoodle toy and scribbled something that looked like a '2' (she didn't mean to write a '2' but it definitely looked like one). She looked at it for a second and then held up 2 fingers. :) We didn't tell her it was a 2 or anything - it was all her. We work on numbers and counting with our fingers, so it was fun to see that she picked it up. I'll try to get her to do it again for a video.

The pregnancy is going really well - we made it to the 3rd trimester! We decided on a name - Blake Arthur Filkins. Blake and Haley sound great together, and Blake just feels right. :) I think I'm carrying him higher than I did Haley - he's squishing my stomach and lungs already. Eating the smallest amount of anything gives me heartburn, and I get winded very easily. It's not too bad overall, and I'm so excited to meet our little guy in a few short months!

As the weather gets warmer, I'm hoping to be able to do more photoshoots. Once the kids are older I plan to concentrate on building a photography business. For now, I'd like to do a few photoshoots when I can. If you know of anyone who would be interested, send them my way (www.alyssafilkins.com). :)

A few recent pictures and videos of Haley...















"I'm 2!"












Videos:










Crazy cat

I can't believe I'm saying this... but Haley is 2 years old today. Where did the time go? It seems like just yesterday she was a tiny precious little baby with a conehead. :)





Now she's a sweet little girl. I've learned a lot in the past 2 years.

- It is possible to function on little to no sleep.

- Babies can poop 5 feet from their bottom.

- If your baby is a bad eater for a while, it doesn't mean she won't be a great eater later on.

- You can love a tiny little person so much it hurts.

- Breastfeeding HURTS for a while.

- You shouldn't give your breastfed baby a bottle unless you're prepared for the possibility of them preferring the bottle.

- It's not possible to take too many pictures of your baby.

- Your husband becomes a different person in some ways after having a baby, and it's incredible.

- Dora and SpongeBob are super annoying, but they can actually grow on you after a while.

- Not all kids start talking at the same age, and it's perfectly ok.


I could go on and on and on... Being a mom has been the best experience of my life. Haley is so sweet, cuddly, (can I say it?) beautiful, and so smart. She amazes us every day with something new she has learned. It's so much fun to watch her grow, and we're looking forward to many more birthdays!

Happy birthday, sweetheart. We love you more than life!

We're so very excited... Haley's going to have a little brother!! ♥ We've been thinking about names and nursery ideas. The pregnancy has been going really well. I've lost close to 20 lbs, but I'm pretty sure I'll start gaining now that my appetite is back. He's very wiggly and kicks a lot.

There's definitely no doubt that he's a boy!



The tech had a hard time getting a good shot of his face... He kept his arms up by his face the same way Haley did during her ultrasound.






We went to Disney for a few days and had a blast. Haley did so well! We can't wait to go back (when we don't have to worry about naps and strollers). :)

Last Thursday and Friday Haley woke up with a 102 fever. We kept it down with Tylenol, but she was generally pitiful. Friday I took her to her doctor, and she tested positive for h1n1 flu. She never got a cough or anything... she was just whiny and pitiful for a few days. She got a very mild case, and we're so thankful. Friday night I started coughing, and I felt rough off and on for a few days. The cough just got worse the past few days but seems better now. We're both doing great! I still have a bit of the cough to get over, but I can deal with that. :)



The pregnancy is going really well. Yesterday I felt baby moving and kicking a lot. :) We'll find out in a few weeks if it's a boy or girl - I can't wait!! Haley's going to be a great big sister.

Haley still isn't talking, but she's been signing more. It'll be interesting to see if she starts talking before her 2nd birthday!

We had a great weekend. We took Haley to the pumpkin patch and then up into the mountains. It was SO COLD up there... it was perfect! :)

Haley has been especially smiley lately. I think she's excited about being a big sister. :)





I hate that this one is so blurry... it's such a sweet smile. <3


She did get into the speech therapy program, so hopefully they'll be able to help with a boost to get her talking. We won't be able to get her to be quiet before long, and that will be perfectly ok. :)