2 Years, 1 Month

What a fun, exhausting age.

Toddlers are a real mental strain ... lets be honest.  But with a little creativity and some serious consistency, they are quite a bit of fun.

Mac loves to color and paint.  Mostly circles, ABC's, numbers, and puppies.  Oh, and with finger paints, "bubbles" are a favorite -- made by energetically tapping a paint-laden finger and exclaiming, "Pop, pop, pop," with each tap.

 Painting with a brush is much more serious and requires a lot of focus.  No messing around.

 Also a recent obsession:  tracing hands.  Especially when they are showing off different numbers.  Sending these tracings to missionary aunts and uncles is always a good idea.

As far as counting goes, he loves to count to four over and over again as he lines up his favorite toys across the floor ... but on a few rare, magical occasions I've heard him go up to seven all by himself. 

Mac loves shapes, and thanks to ipod applications and neat toys he got for his birthday, he can name all the basics and feels really cool when we quiz him.

He loves to point out letters on signs.  "S" is what we hear most often, but O, P, T, A, B, I, M, R, U, X and Z are also pointed out from time to time.  This is one of our favorite ways to survive shopping trips.

He loves to be involved in conversation.  If ever Mark and I are deeply discussing something, Mac can tell and never fails to break in with a, "Mom!  Dad!"  (pause while he looks around him) "Big big garbage truck."

Few things make our mini man as excited as "helping".  Whether it's cooking, cleaning, shopping, doing computer things, or fixing something, you can count on him to be right at your elbow pointing out colors, telling you to be careful, and handing you things.

This boy is my little shadow.  Having Daddoo come from work never fails to throw him into a fit of excitement, but in general he is a real mama's boy.  It is wonderful and exhausting.

He still loves sports, and lately has been quite into hitting the ball when we pitch it to him.  He's getting really good at it ... especially now that he has a bat that is actually his size.  (Thank you, Grandma!)

He is also finally getting into books again.  There were several months where he refused to sit still for a book.  We kept reading to him though, and now he is showing interest again.  Especially if it's "Hungry Hungry Caterpillar" or "Caps for Sale".

He also loves to sing songs before bed, and will ask for them over and over again as you are trying to put him down.

He is quite emotional and manic depressive.  He can turn it on and turn it off in a split second.  Sometimes, when he is feeling particularly ignored, he'll put himself in time out -- without my saying a thing-- utter a few badly faked cries, and then say "I nice, I nice," which is how he lets us know he's ready to come out.  He knows that Mark or I will come without fail to give him a hug and talk to him about why he was there.  This is the most clever trick he has come up with yet ... and it works like a charm.  I immediately feel bad for ignoring him and try to involve him in whatever I'm attempting to finish.

Oh Mac.  What would we do without you?  You make our lives one great, big, never-ending adventure.

Yard Sale Success

In case you are wanting to have a California yard sale any time soon, here are some things to keep in mind:

• Take your time to gut your house, and give everything a second chance in a new owner's hands.  Don't throw it away, no matter how much you hate it or consider it to be junk.  Like those busts of Mike Scocia you "scored" at an Angel's game ... believe it or not, somebody out there will be really excited about them.
• Ignore your husband when he tells you to empty out the garage and toss it all in the trash.  Keep adding to your piles ... the yard sale day will come.
• Give good friends a chance to look through your stuff before you hand it out to the masses.  It's always good to know you can help each other out a bit.
• Find a friend with a yard and a truck.  Avocado trees and circle driveways are a real bonus.

•  Husbands would be nice to have around, but they are not a necessity.  Plus they'll think you're really cool when you come home with a wad of cash your foraged all on your own.
• Bring food and drinks, especially if you are without aforementioned husband.
• If you can manage it, try to be enormously pregnant so people are not as eager to take advantage of you.  Doubly awesome if your friend can be pregnant too.
• Bring along a little salesman that people just can't say no to.

•  Make sure you have plenty of pennies to give to your salesman.  He will want money jingling in his pockets as well.
• Bring slightly bigger coins and bills for yourself.  Mostly ones.  Lots and lots of ones.
• Prepare yourself for lots of third-world, hard core haggling.  
• But lets be honest, your stuff is kind of junky ... so get rid of it.  Nothing's better than scoring something for next-to-nothing.  You've experienced it; let others feel it too.
• If a potential buyer appears really interested in something, but then puts it back when you name a price ... ask what they're willing to pay.  Settle for that and get rid of that item!
• Bring plastic bags so people can load up on aaaaaall those old clothes of yours and pay by the bag-full.
• Ones and quarters really do add up.  
• Some hospitals send out trucks to haul away the rest of your stuff for free to take to their charity.  Call them in the afternoon as things start to slow down.
• Shower your friend with compliments for making it all possible.  And make their whole family dinner.

Fish Fish!

At the absolute last minute, Benny and Katie decided they would like to hit up Sea World while they were so close.

And we came along.

Mac loves water, splashing, and fish. 

This was the perfect place for him.

We touched three different dolphins.  They must've known it was just about feeding time, because they were coming to everyone!

 The Shamu show really rocked Mac's world.  Those were the biggest splashes ever.  He was quite sad when the show ended.

I think my favorite is still the shark tank.  Wish there wasn't a conveyer belt ... they are so fun and terrifying to stare at!

 Just as the sun was setting, we hit the splash pad.  Oooo the magic!  Mac, Eva, and Grace played till it was dark, they were soaked, and their lips were blue.  Luckily Katie and I were really on par that day and brought extra clothes, so we continued on with our day without a hitch.

 The key to getting Mac through an entire day at a park:  pause for a good fifteen-ish minutes and let him run "fast, fast, fast" up and down the sidewalk and into Daddoo's arms.

He sure wanted to take this giant penguin home ... but the $100 price tag scared us away.

We got there around one and managed to touch the dolphins, catch three shows, see the sharks, the polar bears, belugas, manatees, penguins ... and at the very end, made it on the last round of the Elmo ride.

What a day.  Thanks Ben and Katie, for giving us a real reason to spend a little mula and make some great memories.

One Last Visit to the Happiest Place on Earth

Apparently we are not the only ones feeling our impending move weighing on us.

We've got a couple visitors hurrying to come stay one last time and enjoy the greatest, cheapest California trip they will ever experience.

Ben and Katie came with the girls last week.  So, so very fun.  It's always nice to get one of the eight Gunn siblings to yourself ... getting the whole family together is also a blast, but it's a bit less exhausting and significantly more personal when you get one little family at a time.

So what did we do?  Hit up Savers, their favorite restaurants, the jacuzzi, naps, sunshine ...

And Disneyland.

As this could be our last time as well, we couldn't miss the opportunity to come along.

Thumbs up for the carousel!  Still one of our favorites.  (Actually, this is how Mac points these days.  Don't know why he switched to the thumb.)

Ariel!!  Gracie was in heaven, and of course Eva followed suit.  Mac became quite bashful and kept whispering "Princess."  He did the same whenever he saw a little girl in a Princess dress throughout the rest of the day.

Jungle Cruise ... Mac got so excited when we got in line for this ride.  Kept yelling "Booooat!"  He loved the water, the fish, the animals, and of course all the classic jokes.

Eva snuck in a nap.

Mac did not take any hint of a nap.  Mark wanted to a little.

We finally tried Pineapple ice cream!  We admired it the entire time we had a season pass last year, and never got it.  We were missing out ... it's divine.  Right next to the Tikki Room, if you're interested.

 We were lucky enough to get a park hopper, and so made our way to California Adventure for half the day.  It was under some crazy construction, but the Little Mermaid ride, Toy Story's Midway Mania, and Lightning MacQueen more than made up for it.

This ride is perfect ... we went on it three times and would've done more if Gracie had had her way.  Now Disney needs to fix all those scary Princess rides in Fantasyland!

High fives and knucks while waiting in that still super long line for Toy Story.  When will they get a fast pass for this thing??

Not quite as bashful with Buzz as he was with Ariel, but still needed a little coaxing to get close.

Ooooh Disneyland, you never fail to amaze.  How we love you, and will seriously miss living 15 minutes away. 

Good thing we have a couple good friends down here that won't be leaving ... please make sure you buy homes big enough for us to come stay whenever we'd like!

32 Weeks

This sweet little gal is now supposed be around three and a half pounds or so. 

Is that all?

I'm to the point in pregnancy where strangers who glance will glance at my stomach before my face.  I distinctly remember that with Mac as I waitressed up until a week before he was born.

I've also hit a wall of aches and fatigue that I don't remember with Mac.  I am really, really loving Mark's chiropractic skills these days.  Yesterday when he was trying to release the tension in one of my stretched-out abs he smiled and said, "I'm having a hard time figuring out if I'm feeling a tight muscle or a little arm or leg."  But little Miss and I helped.  She kicked him if he squished her, and I squealed if he squished a sore spot.  He definitely figured it out and I feel much better today.

I am generally not sure what I want, but I always want to eat.  I still cannot quite figure out what will satisfy these occasional surges of desire to inhale something.

I never want anything around my waist.  Not even pregnancy pants will do.  It's pajama pants, skirts, or nothing.

I can feel her rolling around inside of me a lot.  She still kicks no doubt, but it seems like she's getting more fluid and maybe ...feminine?  Who knows, but it is certainly entertaining to watch my stomach change shapes as she wiggles.  She moves when I drink anything, when my belly is rubbed, after I eat, late at night, and when Mac bumps into her (accident or not).

Mac has finally gotten to a point where he'll point at my stomach, say, "Baby!" and kiss it, but I still get the feeling he is a little oblivious to what lies ahead.  But maybe not ... maybe there's a reason he has started hitting and being possessive just in time for her to arrive.  Might I add however, that he has also really started to love other little babies he sees and wants to hug every one of them.

Her little girl's closet is slowly growing, and I am getting excited to meet her.  8 weeks.  Hopefully we can nail down a name by then ...

Belen? (As in Buh-len.)  Or will she hate us for having to explain her name the rest of her life?  Would she prefer Riley?  Sadie?  Elsa?  I guess we'll have to figure it out.