We can't believe it's already been 2 YEARS!

These were taken a couple days before Malia's birthday. We were busy taking care of our taxes, (which meant Malia was left to entertain herself), and turned around to find her "lounging" in her highchair with her blankie. It was cute!

She is so independent (which does have it's ups and downs), and is a great self-entertainer. I can't wait till she can keep her little baby brother or sister busy too! We gave her a piece of candy for being so good despite being ignored, and it is so funny to see how much she "cherishes" her candy.

We celebrated Malia's birthday on Saturday. All day we would say "Happy Birthday Malia!" She didn't really get it till it was time to open presents. We wanted to do something we don't always get to do as a family, so we took her to Kid's Club! (Aaron had never been before.) It really is a great place, except for the fact that it smells like stinky diapers, and daddy BO. Malia loves the little kid section, and cracked us up on this little slide. Every time she went down it, she'd raise her hands above her head, count to 3, yell "go" and squeal with glee! It was way too much fun watching her have a great time.

It was such a beautiful day that we headed off to Felida Park after Kid's Club. Every time we pull into the parking lot Malia will laugh, clap, and yell "park!" She loves this park. We loved even more that Auntie Laura came to spend the day with us!

Malia is a total swing hog.

After such a fun morning, Auntie Laura gave Malia candy, (which was probably the best part of Malia's day) and a birthday present!

Thanks Auntie Laura for the best gift ever! Malia is IN LOVE with choo-choo trains. This is the cutest Thomas the Train and makes lots of fun noises!

Later in the evening we had a small get-together with family from both sides. We served lots of yummy appetizers: veggies, hot wings, spinach artichoke dip, cream puffs, macaroni and cheese, and a fantastic fruit punch. It was a great relaxing evening where Malia had a lot of fun being the center of attention! Grandpa Brewer sure knew how to make Malia happy.

Blowing out her candle! I made ice cream pies with cookie bottoms. They were a hit! Malia even managed to down THREE slices!

Malia was in a coma after opening all of her gifts. She wouldn't even crack a smile! She was too busy "concentrating" on her new toys. I left her toys out after she went to bed and when she woke up on Sunday and saw them, she called them "happy birthday" toys. :)

Malia wore one of her new birthday outfits to church on Sunday. She LOVES church and nursery!

This was right before her 2yr check-up today... I couldn't believe how old she looks! She checked in at 26 pounds and 32 3/4 inches tall. She's petite and short, but healthy as can be! Malia REFUSED to stand on the scale, screamed when they tried to get her height, and had no problem showing the Dr. what a "terrible twoer" can be like. It is a good thing she is soooo CUTE! I was feeling like a terrible mom for scheduling this appointment on her birthday, but was so happy to find that she didn't need any shots!

Happy 2nd birthday Malia! We love you and look forward to ALL the excitement you bring to our lives! You really are the BEST!

18 weeks

We find out next week Friday what we are having! (I will be a couple days shy of 21 weeks.) I feel like the Dr. is prolonging this ultrasound and purposefully testing my patience! With Malia, I swear we found out as early as 18 weeks. Oh well... We can't wait to find out and as soon as we do we plan to do some painting, move Malia into a "big girl" bed, and get the new nursery ready! This pregnancy has been pretty different than with Malia. My belly has grown faster than ever, I've had a lot of acid reflux problems (I've gone through a bottle and a half of Tums), I passed out once, and have had some pretty terrible migraines. Other than that, I am feeling great and sometimes forget that I am even pregnant! (I guess that's what happens when you are busy with work, busy taking care of the home and husband, and chasing a 2yr old around.) Malia is starting to understand that mommy has a baby in her belly, that there are some things set aside for "baby", and she loves saying hi to any baby we come across while out and about. She is not really the jealous type, so hopefully that is not something we have to deal with down the road! We expect that she should be a very good little helper. She really is our independent, do it herself type of girl!

A "long" Valentine's weekend...

We decided a while back that we needed a break from the ordinary, and planned a fun trip to Long Beach over the Valentine's Day/President's Day weekend. We had everything packed and ready to go Wednesday night, and left right after work Thursday. We couldn't wait! (I do have to brag that I had a great start to the weekend after receiving this beautiful package at work. Thank you Aaron!)

We stayed in this cute little cabin 3 minutes from the beach. It was perfect for the three of us. Malia even slept in a bedroom, all by herself, on a queen sized bed! She did so well! As usual, we carry with us the lowest of expectations for nice weather at the beach, so we were very pleased to find breaks in the wind and rain to actually make it out for shopping and walks along the beach. Here's us, no shower, no make-up. That first morning we were having problems with the water heater. It was so nice to come back and find it working for a nice warm shower!

Malia did well holding her balance against the wind!

Okay, so it did get pretty windy at the end of our walk. Walking back INTO the wind was so lame!

This was our attempt at a family shot. It started to rain, and I didn't get back in time to move my hood!

When we weren't out and about checking out all that Long Beach had to offer, we had fun relaxing and hanging out in the cabin. It was nice to veg out and watch a ton of movies. It was so cute to watch Malia sit like 'big girl' on her phone book at the table. We realized on this trip that the dimensions of our "vacationing" have changed, but at the same time, they are sooooo much more fun when you get to watch your kids enjoy the new surroundings.

There is not a ton you can do in Long Beach (I forgot my camera when we went to the Lighthouse at Cape Disappointment), so on Saturday, we headed down to the Astoria Column to show Malia how out of shape her parents were when we walked up those billions of stairs.

It was so windy and rainy at the top! I don't think Malia enjoyed the view as much as we did.

After Astoria, we headed to the Seaside promenade where we put Malia in charge. It was her candy heaven!

She LOVED the carousel ride and yes... she was 'that' embarrassing child that screams when its time to get off the ride.

We sat and watched the kites for awhile...

...She thought they were so much fun!

Just in case we forgot that we were there with Malia we took a pic. :)

We really wanted to see the movie "Valentine's Day" during actual Valentine's, so we headed off to the local cinema where Malia sat through the entire thing! (Should I mention that she was constantly bribed with taffy?) The weather was perfect when the movie got out, so we headed back to the beach, kicked around Malia's new ball from Papa all the way from Hawaii...

...And headed to the ocean to splash in the waves!

It really was a fantastic trip filled with lots of great family time, R&R, and yummy restaurants! We can't wait for our next adventure!

Your most anticipated Malia update :)

Aaron and I have decided that we are NOT winter people, especially when snowboarding is a wash being pregnant and all... We really miss the summer! As a result, we really haven't been up to anything super exciting, let alone anything worth blogging about. It's been a lot of fun relaxing, catching up with friends, and having super fun game nights. But other than that, I know we've been real busy, but not exactly sure what with! You know how that goes...

***

Aaron is loving his new job, and we have been loving having every weekend together as a family. We have managed to do some random things to keep Malia busy. We make trips to the airport to watch the planes, we visit pet shops, we find new places to walk, and just recently, we took Malia to ride on the "choo choo train" (the Max) in downtown Portland. She loves trains and every time we pass a flashing red light, or drive somewhere that looks like Ridgefield's downtown (where we her the trains all the time), she'll yell out "choo choo train!"

I don't know what this goofy face is for on Malia, but she would not stop talking about the choo choo train, and she really did have a lot of fun! We rode the free part from Lloyd Center to Pioneer Square, did some window shopping, then took Malia to this ginormous fish store with hundreds of tanks! It is so much fun to watch her smile with joy. It truly is what being parent is all about. Malia has been keeping our hands full, and her personality is becoming all the more stubborn and demanding! We can't believe she'll be two! She is so independent, it is not even funny. She helps with the chores, which, I can't wait to put her in charge someday :). Her tantrums are outrageous, her giggles just crack you up, and her voice is becoming all the more pronounced. She doesn't enunciate words all that clearly, but she is soooooo smart! I love when she says "i love you". I know this video is long, but you'll be so amazed at how well she knows her alphabet!

Oops, I forgot to apologize in advance... you can tell she is taking a poo while I am video taping her. Speaking of, potty training has been put on hold. All of a sudden she has decided that she HATES her potty. We still try, but she won't even sit down on the potty, let alone pee. I don't know what happened! She is still young, but geez! She better be trained by baby #2! We've introduced her to her "no shi-shi's" (her undies), which she does love to wear, so we will just have to wait and see. Malia loves reading books, playing with her leap frog pad, playing with her potato heads, stuffed animals and baby, playing pretend with her kitchen, going to nursery at church, she loves putting her toy containers on her head, and her newest most favorite thing right now are "the wiggles". She loves dancing and singing along. Don't ever get your kid hooked on them. Their videos will drive you crazy! Kids love 'em though. Malia is working on cutting her upper canines. She still has her lower ones to cut, and then the dreadful second molars. She is so far behind in her tooth eruption! Malia is still a picky eater. She'll eat really good one day, and then terrible for the next two or three. We'll have to see how she falls on her growth chart next week. Oh, did I mention her love for candy? Aaron taught her that stupid ASL sign for candy and she can do it non-stop! Sorry this post is so random, but I wanted to give you an update on Ms. Malia. She really is so cute! Lately, I have been on a braid fetish with her. She is so good, and sits so still! Her hair makes me want to go on some great vacation to Mexico or something.

Soon I will update you on Baby #2. I have an appointment on Friday, and then I get to schedule my ultrasound! We can't wait. As soon as we find out, we plan to transition Malia out of her room and into the guest bedroom, onto the queen sized bed. I want to paint it something girly, but something that visitors don't have to feel so childish with. (That's why we plan to have Malia sleep on the queen bed, so if people come to visit, they still have somewhere to sleep other than the couch). Malia had the opportunity this last weekend to sleep on a big bed, by herself, and she did great! So we think she is ready. Maybe after that move she'll be more than ready to start the potty training again. :) I should have lots more blogging to do, so do check it again! Her birthday is next week, so it should be something fun to look forward to!