Five Little Pumpkins

We'll be back tomorrow with all the fun Charlotte's had this year for Halloween, but in the meantime, here's a short video of Charlotte reciting the poem "Five Little Pumpkins." When we were in Hawaii last week, my mom told it to Charlotte over and over again while we were driving around, so that now, she's completely memorized it!



(And the translation, in case you can't understand her)
Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate.
The first one said, "My it's getting late!"
The second one said, "There are witches in the air!"
The third one said, "We don't care."
The fourth one said, "Let's run, let's run!"
The fifth one said, "Oh, it's just Halloween fun."
Then ooooh went the wind,
And out went the light!
And five little pumpkins rolled fast out of sight.

Sugar and Spice...

... and everything nice.

Baby Berry 2.0 is a little girl!  We are so very excited.

And yes, if we're going to be honest, just a tad disappointed that we're not having a boy.  Chris really wanted to have a boy to take on camping trips, to play basketball with, to get geeky and play video games with. And I feel bad that he'll be so outnumbered - even our cat, Tandy, is a girl! But as Chris said to me the other day, Charlotte is a pretty amazing girl, so what can be better than having two?

We're so happy that Charlotte will have a little sister, one who undoubtedly will look up to her. I hope they're friends.  And yes, we'll have to dress them in matching outfits. Isn't that what you do with two daughters? :)

And our good friends are having a girl, due only three weeks before we are.  At daycare, Charlotte's friend Ava is going to have a little sister right around the time we are, so our little girl will have so many friends to play with. 

Apart from learning the sex, it was great to see little our new little girl in action.  She wasn't moving around nearly as much as Charlotte was when we saw her ultrasound, but she was cute just the same.  Everything looks good - as the ultrasound technician pointed out, she has two kidneys, so she'll be able to play sports.  I'm measuring 19 weeks 2 days, and I'm 19 weeks 3 days today, so you can't get much more precise than that. Also, turns out I have an anterior placenta, which means it's at the top of my uterus and explains why I've only intermittently felt the baby thus far.

We have a couple ideas for names, but nothing as sure as we were with Charlotte. The hardest part is finding a good middle name.

And now we have to think of what to paint the baby's room.  We already have a chair rail, which will stay in place, but the room is currently painted a grayish blue by the previous owners.  It's a hard decision. We don't want pink, blue, or yellow - at least, not as a wall color.  Time to start looking at girls' rooms to get some ideas!

Where Dreams Come True

Last week I was in San Diego for my organization's annual conference.  Since my parents no longer let me travel to San Diego without Charlotte, I flew down on Tuesday with Charlotte in tow.  I have to say, it was the easiest flight I've ever done with her.  She and I ate breakfast together in the food court, she colored in her coloring book, and she obediently followed every direction I gave her. I'm just so proud of how big she's getting.

Anyway, while I was working, Charlotte enjoyed three fun days with her grandparents - she went to the zoo, to Sea World, and charmed the pants off our neighbors.  On Thursday night, Chris flew down, but he headed straight to my parents' so I didn't see him until Friday.

On Saturday, we made the pilgrimage to Disneyland.  Having grown up in Southern California, I went to Disneyland quite often, but hadn't gone since Chris and I got married five years ago.  We were so excited to go there with Charlotte. And Chris was excited to implement his Fast Pass/Stroller Pass plan.

The weather was perfect, and Disneyland was decorated for Halloween.  The first ride we went on was the Haunted Mansion, which was redesigned to look like Nightmare Before Christmas. It was cute, but I actually think the original Haunted Mansion is much scarier. Then we went on the Winnie the Pooh ride.

Here is my first belly picture at 18 weeks

What Charlotte loved: the carousel, the flying Dumbo ride, and Casey Jr's train.

But Charlotte's absolute favorite moment of the day? Meeting Mickey Mouse.

It was her naptime when we finally got to the front of the line, so Charlotte was pretty tired. She just went right up to Mickey and gave him a great big hug.  And she wouldn't let go, so Mickey kind of looked at us, like "What should I do?"

Thankfully, she did let go and we were able to get these great shots. Charlotte was in heaven.

And of course, we couldn't go to Disneyland and not get Charlotte her very own Mickey ears. She was very clear that she didn't want the Minnie ears or the special Halloween ears, she wanted the very simple Mickey Mouse ears.

Charlotte did great. She napped for over an hour in her stroller. Papi watched her while Chris, my mom and I took turns going on Splash Mountain.  For the record, I did go on all of the roller coaster rides, except for Thunder Mountain, since we never got over there.  I'm glad Chris implemented his Fast Pass Plan, especially for Space Mountain, because the crowds were crazy that day. For Space Mountain, Chris and I zipped through the Fast Pass line, received a Rider Swap card, went on the ride, and then gave the pass to my parents. They got to bypass the line completely and go in through the disabled route. It was great.   The only ride that definitely gave me some pause afterward was Indiana Jones - it was truly bumpy - but other than that, I had a great time.  We stayed until about 9:15, but didn't exit until we got this cute picture (although I wish I was viewed in profile because I look really wide).

A perfect end to a magical day.

*Next up: Monday we find out if Baby Berry 2.0 is a girl or boy!  What's your prediction? Mine is girl, so is Chris'. But who knows? We could be surprised!