McKinley Visits the Library

 

A few weeks ago McKinley experienced yet another first...her first visit to the library. I was a little surprised that she was much more interested in the puzzles, magazines, puppets, etc. and didn't really pay attention to the actual books.

 

She did make a new friend who was trying to encourage her to read:)

A week later, McKinley visited the library for her second time. We made a little bit of progress on this visit. I think I got her to sit still and look at a whole 2 pages of a book:)


 

Our next library adventure will be Wednesday morning story hour. I have no idea if this crazy toddler will love it or be clawing at the door to escape:)

Un-Belize-able!

 

Back in February Mike and I, along with six of our closest friends, took a little vacation to Belize. We stayed on a little Island off the mainland of Belize called Caye Caulker. The island is only 5 miles long, 1.2 miles wide and it has a population of 1,300. The motto of the island is "Go Slow" and it could not be more fitting.

 

There are no vehicles on the island so your 3 options for transportation are: Golf Cart (not necessary for tourists), bicycles or walking. The only time we used a golf cart was when we first arrived on the island. The rest of our time on the island we rode bicycles or walked. We stayed at The Iguana Reef Inn and it was by far the best hotel on the island. It was very clean, very hospitable and very quiet.

 

There is not a lot to do on the island, but that is one of the things I LOVED about his vacation. There is of course snorkeling and scuba diving, which was the main reason for us picking the location. All of our husbands are certified scuba divers and Belize is ranked one of the best spots in the world for scuba diving. But mostly the wives did the same thing everyday while the guys were diving: eat breakfast, relax by the pool and read, go on a bike ride, relax by the pool and read, eat lunch, relax by the pool and read and then go eat dinner.

 

The food was really good, especially the dinners. Lunch was average and seemed to be the same no matter where you went, but the dinners for the most part were amazing!

 

So that is the overview of our trip, now here are the pictures:

(Mike and I did not take all of these pictures. There are several taken by others on the trip.)

 

 

The Island

 



 



 

 

 

 

 

The Hotel: Iguana Reef Inn

 

 

 

 

Diving & Snorkeling

 

 

 

 

This is our afternoon snorkel trip. Jana was so nice to model the attire.

 

Yep, those are sharks and sting rays! And this 5 month pregnant (crazy) lady jumped in and snorkeled with them. I couldn't let Mike have all the fun:)

 

 

 

The Friends 

 





 

 The Food

 

The next few pictures were taken at our favorite restaurant on the island, Habeneros. Our main entrees were amazing and the desserts were even better!!! I wish we would have eaten here earlier in the week because we would have definitely gone back.

 

We ate at Sandro's twice while in Caye Caulker. They served some of the best Italian food I have ever eaten!

I had to include this next picture! This was probably the worst thing we ate on the island and poor Mike was the one who ordered it. It was supposed to be Key Lime Pie but it was far from it. There is no way to possibly describe it except absolutely horrible, but it made for a good laugh!

 

 

Our last hour on the Island:(

 

We LOVED our time spent in Caye Caulker, Belize! I would recommend this destination to anyone who enjoys a nice relaxing vacation. I can't wait to plan our next visit!

"Horsing" Around

Hello blogging world! Life has been busy at the Organ House and I have a lot of catching up to do on this ole' blog.

 

I will start with a picture I found from back in February. It was cold and we were stir crazy, so we headed to Opry Mills Mall for a morning out of the house. As soon as McKinley spotted the carousel she squealed and immediately let us know she would like to ride. Tickets were bought and after switching animals 5 different times McKinley had finally picked the perfect horse for her Saturday morning carousel ride.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

Organ Baby #2

 

Being pregnant with our 2nd child has been a completely different experience for me than when I was pregnant the first time around, and I am not talking just physical symptoms.  At times I feel a little guilty about how uninvolved I seem to be with this pregnancy. I know that sounds incredibly silly, after all I will be carrying this child in me for 9 months!

With my first pregnancy, I kept a very detailed journal. I would write in it every couple of days and report about every single kick, doctor's appointment, emotion felt, gift received, etc. Every week Mike and I would open the baby book to see what size fruit the baby was at that time. I read numerous books on the birth process, breastfeeding, taking care of and raising a newborn, etc. We took every class that was offered to new parents and we interviewed numerous pediatricians. I spent hours on the nursery: planning, shopping, hand making & sewing items. And as much time as I spent making the nursery perfect, I spent even more time just researching what products to put on the baby registry. Most importantly we had the perfect baby named picked out.

From the time I peed on that little stick I don't think I ever forgot that I was pregnant. There was a constant joy and excited energy that surrounded me at all times.

Now we come to pregnancy #2...
We have not done any of those things. I mean not ONE! A pregnancy journal, what's that? I have no idea if the baby is the size of an avocado or a grapefruit. Another parenting book or class, who's got the time? And besides our first one survived right? You get the picture and that is where the guilt sneaks in. I am busy and preoccupied just with taking care of McKinley and keeping a household. Often times I forget that I am pregnant until the baby kicks or my belly runs into something.

One thing that hasn't changed is the joy and excitement that comes along with being pregnant. I am incredibly excited about this little blessing and I can't wait to see our little family of three become a crazy family of four.

This past week was my 20 week check-up and ultrasound. Even my ultrasound experience was completely different from the first pregnancy. When we were pregnant with McKinley, Mike and I were in a quiet exam room, watching every flicker on the screen, wanting to know what every little thing was and was it normal. This ultrasound was a little chaotic. We were trying to entertain a talkative and inquisitive 21 month old while also trying to pay attention to the baby on the screen. At one point during the ultrasound I looked away from the monitor to check on McKinley and found Mike working (texting or sending an email) on his phone. For a split second this momma was not very happy, but I laugh about it now because I realize that this time around things are just different and that is okay.

Finally, the real reason for this post. The profile picture of our little peanut:

Some of you may be wondering if we are having a little boy or a little girl, well we are too! We have decided not to find out the sex of this baby. Everyone (including us) will just have to wait until Baby Organ decides to make his/her appearance sometime in the middle of June.