So much has happened around here since I last updated this poor, neglected blog!  Harry had his 3rd birthday party, Elliot doesn't seem so much like a baby anymore, and Travis and I have had some pretty interesting developments of our own!

Elliot has recently greatly improved his walking skills.  He still prefers to crawl since it is faster for him, but he is becoming more steady and sure of himself by the day.  He can also get up from a sitting position to a standing one without using anything to pull him up!  A new found love for him is monkeying around on the couch and his brother's bed, flopping himself around on the pillows and cushions.  Of course, this has resulted in several falls with none of them causing serious damage or deterring him from doing it all over again.  He has become a lot more vocal, adding so many cute new words and phrases to his vocabulary.  Here are some of my favorites:  I'm gonna get you!, tickle tickle tickle, pop tart, and cheese! when having his picture taken.  I'm almost to the point where I'm ready to take him for a little trim...I love his hair, but his bangs are starting to hang into his eyes a little bit too much. 

Harry, all in one day, can be the best little boy and such a handful within the matter of minutes!  Thank the good Lord above, he has actually started to use the potty!  Hip hip hooray!!  We were having zero luck at home an at school, then all of a sudden one day he decided he could do it!  He's not totally trained...#2 continues to be a struggle and he still has accidents, but progress is progress!  Going to the potty at least every hour of the day is starting to wear on us both though and I'm looking forward to that to come to an end.  He is still doing so great at school and really seems to love it.  I am horrible at doing art work and playing outside with him as much as I should so I am so thankful that he has that outlet a few days a week.  His teachers are so fabulous and we are so thankful for them.  He has become quite the backtalker which has been frustrating to me and Travis, and it is sometimes like pulling teeth to get him to do something.  I know all things considered he is a really well behaved kid, but sometimes I'm like...where's the real Harry???  He definitely keeps us on our toes!

Travis and I found out some veeeery unexpected news in the beginning of April...we are expecting our 3rd child!  I was always kind of skeptical when women would say that their pregnancies were a surprise.  The pharmacist in me would say, pregnancies are not that hard to prevent!  Birth control isn't all that hard to use and it is very effective!  Boy, was I served up a big piece of humble pie!  When I found out, I was certain it had happened when I switched the kind of pills I was taking after finishing nursing Elliot.  However, a recent ultrasound showed us that I was 4 weeks further along than we thought and that I was already into the 2nd trimester!  I will be 16 weeks along this Saturday.  I was once again totally floored.  That means I got pregnant while nursing Elliot (I was on a pill that is less effective than normal, but it is the only one you can take while nursing) and I didn't find out until I was 10 weeks along!  I felt like a total and complete idiot.  I like to think I am fairly intelligent, and I am a healthcare professional for goodness sake!  I now am convinced that God protected me from finding out for a while, because now that I know (without going into great detail) when I was actually pregnant and had known that I was, I would have been convinced that I was having a miscarriage without a doubt.  The ultrasound showed that I have a healthy little fetus growing in me that might very well be a little.....girl!  That was another great surprise--I was far enough along for her to make a good guess.  We have had some great lessons lately about rolling with God's plan, not with ours.  It has definitely been a humbling experience, and now that the shock has worn off just a bit I am letting myself get a little bit excited about having another little one to hold.  

We had planned the most awesome vacation over Thanksgiving and quickly realized that it wasn't going to be possible.  We had thought I would be due during the vacation and now it turns out we will have a newborn (my due date is Halloween).  So we went back to the drawing board and moved it up to June which meant that our friends Nate and Krista and their little girl Mary will be going with us as well!  We are soooo looking forward to this!  Nate works for a travel company and is scoring us awesome accomodations for very little cash which is helping us out so much!  We also found some very reasonable plane tickets so we don't have to drive!  With this extended vacation (12 days!) and my girls trip to NYC (5 days!) I figured up I will be gone more days out of the month than I will be home!  We have such an exciting summer planned!  I guess I better get it all out before the next baby comes along!!