I know everyone else is waiting for the new baby to arrive - so are we - but in the mean time, I'm getting some things done I wouldn't have otherwise - and one of them is posting these pictures of Esther :) There's a lake here in town with a walking trail around it and we've gone a couple times recently to walk - you can't see them well on this picture, but there's ducks in the lake and Esther was pretty excited to see them, which made it more fun for us as well!
"Duck" is one word in her growing vocabulary, along with baby, Daddy, dog, milk, ball, teeth, and "nana".
Esther was pretty tired and cranky when we went to this Christian bookstore, but thankfully they had little chairs and a kids movie playing - she doesn't see a lot of movies, so it kept her entertained quite well while we did our shopping close by :)
Another day we took a picnic lunch to a park in Nashville - they had this old train engine on display - it was huge!
They also have a life-size replica of the Parthenon in Greece - sorry this picture is dark, but it gives the feel of how big it was!
Yes, I know I'm huge! You may pray with us that the baby will come soon!
This is the front of the building, they also had a museum inside, but since we're not really into Greek mythology, we skipped that part...It was pretty impressive to see though!
They had a pond at that park with ducks too -
Grandpa O. gave Esther a "piggy bank" for Christmas, and Aaron gave her some change we had laying around and taught her to put it in the slot. She's had lots of fun with that project! We try to keep an eye on her though so she doesn't put the money in her mouth....
I was trying to get a good picture of her in her new dress from Auntie Rebekah, but she wouldn't stay still long enough...
Playing peek-a-boo, one of her favorite games :)
So Esther's doing well, I actually feel pretty good too and since I tried to get most of the baby things ready like three weeks ago, I've been doing other little things, such as trying some new recipes - the pita bread and overnight French toast turned out well, the squash souffle did not - and reading some books - such as Loving the Little Years, and The Power of Motherhood - both good and encouraging and ones I'll probably reread every couple years. Even if I did end up with a whole list of things I need to improve on after reading them! Aaron's been keeping busy with church work - he did a funeral, and a couple new people have joined the church - and is doing a great job.
Anyway, hopefully next time I post, Esther will be the "big" girl!
As you probably all saw on my mom's blog, on February 23, 2012 our family was joined by Anna Elizabeth! We were and are very happy :) - she's a good baby, looks a lot like Esther did, eats well, sleeps fairly well, and is a blessing from the Lord!
She likes to be with Mommy and Daddy! Esther wasn't too sure when I was holding Anna and wouldn't pick her up...but she's already getting used to it and makes sure we know if "baby" is crying :)
It's hard to believe it's been over a week already! I went into labor in the middle of the night, about 1:30 and since I was already part way along, I thought it would go quickly - however, she wasn't born until that evening! Much more painful than with Esther, but at least this time I'm not as worrried about taking care of a baby - with Esther I was sort of in a daze for a couple weeks just trying to figure out if my life had just ended or not :)
I'll try to post more picture later -
