Baby Names

Choosing a baby name is one of the hardest things about being pregnant, in my opinion. We chose a name for our baby girl after much consideration. Most of the same factors were used in our determination of her name. Not too old-fashioned of a name, not too trendy of a name, not insanely popular, nothing that could be turned into a nickname, etc. We also, like with Blake, avoided choosing any names that were after any family members so we didn't have to choose one side or the other. With all this being said, her name will be Claire Harper! We love it and think it fits well with the rest of our names. I'm excited to have something to call her rather than "the baby." :)

Baby News and More!

I haven't updated the blog in a while because I was waiting on the big announcement! We are expecting baby #2, and it's a girl! We are so excited that Blake gets to be a big brother. He and his little sister will be 22 months apart (she is due December 2nd, 2012). We have had a few ultrasounds, and so far, everything has looked great! We were able to see face, her little hands and feet, and a few great profile shots! I haven't been feeling much movement, but I didn't with Blake until a little later.

We have been keeping pretty busy. We signed Blake up for The Little Gym. He loves it! He gets to play with other kids, sing songs, play on gym equipment, work on a few gym skills, and practice rhythm! We go to a weekly class and will start going to a weekly open gym next week. We have also have been visiting the beach and pool when it's not too hot. Blake loves playing in the sand and floating in the pool. He is a little afraid of the ocean, but who can blame him!? I got a maternity suit (ugh) and have even been out in it. And we can't forget our visits to Boston! We went to see the tall ships during OpSail and Chowderfest. It was delicious. We have a trip to the outlet mall planned for next week, of course, because there is a Ralph Lauren outlet (and Carter's and The Children's Place)... baby girl is about to get her first shopping trip!

Now that our news is out, I will try to be a little better at updating the blog! We will see how that goes... In the meantime, here are some pictures from the last few months!

Back in the Kitchen

We have been pretty boring with dinners lately... until this week. I decided we needed to step it up. We tried some recipes you can find on Pinterest. We had pineapple chicken quesadillas, chicken enchiladas with green chile sour cream sauce, ham and beans, and better than sex cake. So far, all have been good. We are trying some more this weekend as well. My pictures aren't that great, but trust me, they all tasted good. Check Pinterest out for the recipes. The main dishes are in my "What's for Dinner" board, and the cake is in my "Desserts" board. Enjoy!

It's been a while...

The weather has gotten so nice here, so we have been busy playing outside instead of sitting inside on the computer! We have had visits from family since I last was on here and many trips to the beach and park. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the last month or so:

Beautiful Weather!

Is it really March!? The weather has been so nice here this past week! I know it is just a matter of time before it gets cold again, so we have been making the most of it! We have been to the beach, the park, and outside the apartment enjoying this warm and sunny weather!

First Birthday Party: Part Two

We had a great visit with Alex's mom, sister, and aunt this past week! We did some sightseeing and had another birthday party with Blake. He thoroughly enjoyed all this attention!

First of all, we went to the Great Escape restaurant in Salem. This is a restaurant that is in an old jail. It was very yummy!







Of course, we walked around the town while we were there to check out all the witchy things!

Next, we went to the JFK Presidential Library and Museum. This was a beautiful place full of interesting historical items.











































We also had to go to Rainforest Cafe again since Blake loves it!




Finally, we had the birthday party!




















Blake got some great gifts! He got Duplo Legos, a playmat, and diapers!
















On a separate note, here are some random, funny pictures: