Sesame Street Live!

Last Sunday, we bought tickets to watch the Sesame Street Live "Elmo Makes Music" show. The only Elmo thing we had were a pair of socks, so we made sure we wore those:

There was a play area set up for the kids that was open an hour before show time. Graham loved it! And he particular enjoyed it when some of the characters came out to dance and sing:

He had a chance to play on Elmo's piano:

And he enjoyed pressing the buttons that was associated to each Sesame Street character, like Elmo:

And Bert & Ernie:

I'm just glad that we were able to at least take one good picture!

And then, it was "I want this one, I want this one..."

How do you say "no" to a little boy..?! So Graham did end up with a spinning Elmo, which he was very happy about:

At least he wasn't begging for the $10 Elmo balloon that they were selling during the interim!

Graham's attention span was pretty good during the first half of the show:

But after that, it was rather difficult for him to sit still. Thank goodness I remembered to pack his blankie!

Yard work

Last week, we finally decided to hire some people to take down some cottonwood trees in the backyard. The cottonwood fell like snow last year and it ended up mostly in our a/c units and also in our neighbor's pool! And come to find out, we also had a tree that was dead and leaning sideways, so the safest thing to do especially with Graham around was to take it down as well.

It was a 3-man crew and they worked quite efficiently:

It sure was a lot of work, but this guy knew exactly what he was doing with that chain-saw!

And Graham was so excited to just sit and watch!

And who knows how this guy ended up in this tree!

And even higher up there!!!

So, here's the pic after end of day 1:

And once daddy was done clearing up all the wood chips from the stump-grinding and mowing, it all looks really good!

I was a little heart-broken about having all the daffodils taken out, but it does looks so much better now! Although, I am a bit annoyed at daddy when he weed-whacked my peonies yesterday!

In the meantime, I had been able to clear out my garden bed of weeds and planted some new tomato plants, basil, and lettuce. Graham has been very good about watering them, but if only he would not step into the garden itself!

He's such a Momma's little helper!

As usual, Mommy would almost always lose her watering can, but it makes Graham so happy:

The rain barrel has definitely come in quite handy:

We still have so much to do in the rest of the yard. I'm guessing we didn't mulch enough (or any!) this past winter.

As you can see, I am slowly chipping away at this one:

Look! A new azalea bloom!

And I thought for sure that this pine tree, given by Lowe's hardware store during Earth day last year was dead. But look again, there's new growth and new hope! :-)

Pregnancy #2 update - Week 21

We had a visit to the doctor's office this past Wednesday and also got a chance to see "peanut #2" during the ultrasound. And yes, it's definitely a boy! We weren't able to see the profile of the baby, so it will just be another excuse in a couple of months to have another appointment with the ultrasound technician :-)

The baby's weight is right at average now, which is good. I hope he doesn't become another 9lb baby! I did weigh myself the other day and I'm almost 10lbs heavier at this same time than I was with Graham. And here's why- here's the baby bump today at 21 weeks:

And here's my belly back in Jan 2010 at 22 weeks with Graham!

Look how much bigger I am! No wonder my belly button popped out to an "outie" so much sooner and no wonder I'm already huffing and puffing when I go up the stairs! The doctor did mention that my heart is pumping 40% harder than it normally is. Wow!

And speaking of "wow", my poor husband ended up sleeping on the couch early this morning! This is the first time EVER in our five years of marriage. He said that there was an "angry badger" in bed. I guess I was snoring up a storm last night! Poor fella! I'm guessing it's my allergies - hopefully it won't last too long!

Graham is 22 months old

What impressed me most this month about Graham was his ability to "read". I say "read" because obviously he can't read yet, but he has memorized enough of the pictures in the book that he knows the phrases that go with it! Check it out:

And Graham continues to love playing with trains and trucks. Such a boy!

And he loves wearing his fireman hat, which he got from school/daycare:

But most of all, he just enjoys being cheeky!

You think he's trying to tell me something???

Let's see... what else is new? Oh, we did start learning how to cut paper with scissors. Hopefully that's all he will cut for now!

And speaking of cut, Graham started to cut his second molar. I noticed it when I was sitting with him in the backseat on the drive back to Tulsa from Phoenix. Graham had this big yawn and I notice the new tooth on his lower left side of the mouth! No wonder he's been crying at night. Although, he also had really bad allergies when we were in Phoenix. He was really having a tough time breathing/sleeping at night. He seems to be doing better now in Tulsa and has been taking kids' allergy medication everyday. Poor fella!

I hope he grows out of his allergies since he loves playing outdoors. Here is Graham rolling his (plastic) golf bag back into the garage and parking it:

Too cute!

More happy times in Phoenix

Once my sister and her family had left Phoenix, we were off to our own little adventures again. This time, the LPGA was in town so we decided to head north to watch them play. It was Graham's first time on a school bus. He was so excited! But we still couldn't convince him to keep his hat on.

And once we got there, it didn't take him long to get comfortable in the dirt.

Boys will be boys, I guess!

We didn't stay for very long (or watch a lot of golf!) since Graham was quite busy running around. He shouted "Oh no!" just as one of the golfers were getting ready to hit and he also wanted to rake the bunkers. We figured that was our cue to go home.

The weather was quite bizarre the day after that. The temperature dropped and it actually hailed!

What is this weather coming too!?!

So on the cold/rainy days, we watched a lot of cartoons:

And Graham helped Mommy vacuum, especially at those difficult to reach places:

And we read:

Once the sun was out again, we hit the park to feed some ducks. It was Graham's first time and he really enjoyed it!

I'm just glad he didn't fall into the water!

And of course, another haircut before leaving Phoenix. He still doesn't like it, even while sitting daddy's lap!

I think he did attract a babe or two after that at the play area in the mall :-)

Ahhh... our little boy is growing up so quickly! And getting cheekier by the second!

Sis & family's visit to Phoenix

We were back in Phoenix earlier this month. We ended up driving there again since daddy took too long to purchase the air tickets and it was going to cost us about $700 a piece! Anyhow, it was better that way because we had left the other bar stool here in Tulsa. And so it was one of the first things to go into the car before forgetting it again.

My sister and her family decided to join us in Phoenix this time for about 4 days. It was great to see everyone again! Graham really enjoyed playing with Michael (4) and Caden (1). The new bubble machine was a big hit in the backyard!

And Graham loved hanging out with his cousins in the double stroller!

Play time at the park was great too. Monkey see monkey do!

And while Daddy and Scott enjoyed their "vegetables" in the fridge...

... the little boys enjoyed sitting in their kid-sized IKEA table and chairs during mealtime in the kitchen with us:

And it was definitely more fun having a crowd to watch cartoons with:

I'm just glad that the guestroom worked out with so many people! When we arrived on Sunday evening, it was trip to IKEA right away to pick up a daybed. And of course, it was assembly day the next morning. As usual, Graham was Mommy's great little helper:

He loves playing with that drill!

Ta da!

And we managed to fit a queen-sized air mattress in the tiny room as well:

And Caden ended up sleeping in Graham crib, so everyone was taken care of (while Graham slept in his travel crib in our bedroom). Phew! I'm just glad there won't be any more IKEA projects for a while.