Our newest little baby face...and her NAME! :o)

We could not be more excited about our sweet new addition, who we found out on Christmas Day is a little girl! 

I didn't have a specific preference as far as gender goes, honestly, because if it were a boy: (1) we've done a boy before...not that children are in any way carbon copies of each other, but it just adds a bit of comfort and familiarity to the whole situation, (2) Nathan has been so much fun: how could we not be excited for another boy? and (3) we have 29358 rubbermaids full of NB-2T boy clothes...can you say cheaper than buying girl clothes!?

However, we got a GIRL!!! When we were pregnant with Nathan, all I wanted at first was a girl (sorry, Nathan--obviously no hard feelings now!) because I am the oldest in a family of all girls. All I knew were girls. I had no idea what to do with a boy, and it still surprises me when he's obsessed with words like "gross" and "pee-pee/poopy"...it's an ever-learning process :o) 

In any case, when I thought Nathan was a girl, I couldn't be more excited to buy headbands, baby tights/leggings, dresses, and other fun little things that boys just don't get. It didn't take long for that to change, though. I love it on days like today, when Nathan is running around in little blue jeans that look like an adult's and a fun little shirt that could be his dad's also. He looks so grown up and adorable! I love how classy he looks on Sundays in his little sweaters or button-downs and sweater vests, complete with little leather shoes. I love the mini tennis shoes, etc. This whole girl shopping thing is just a completely different world! I have only looked at girl clothes a total of, oh, three times so far, but it is just different! And I tend to be picky. I hate how ALL baby clothes are cute as can be and then you see a stupid butterflies or puppies embroidered right in the middle. Just leave it plain! Anyway, I'm glad we have time to buy all these clothes because it might take me awhile :o)

As far as a NAME goes, we have put a lot of thought into it, since we got pregnant with Nathan and wondered if he were a boy or a girl. We used our boy name on him and saved our girl name for this little sweet pea! We like to use family names. Nathan is Nathan Patrick Dooley. Nathan is just a name we liked, but Patrick is my father's name, Mitch's brother's middle name, and their uncle's first name. 

Dooley is a weird name to match first names with. Larson was easier. But anyway...

This little girl name has quite a story behind it as well. Mitch's parents were sure they were going to adopt a little baby girl from China years ago, after they had their four kids. At just about the last minute, things fell through. My poor mother-in-law felt as if she'd had a miscarriage, losing a baby she was sure would become part of their family. So we picked the first name that they were going to use for her, in honor of the sweet little girl they never got to hold. As far as a middle name, that was easy: my mother and mother-in-law have the SAME middle name! So, we name our little baby after both grandmothers at once. Awesome!

So, come end of May/beginning of June 2013, 

Eliza Kay Dooley

will join our family, and we could not be more excited :o)

(Disclaimer: YES, I know that Eliza Doolittle is the main character in My Fair Lady, and Eliza Dooley is a close call to that character's name. I will also probably end up calling her Liza for short, it just rolls of the tongue easier, and I know that Liza Minnelli is a basket of weirdo. However, no one our little Eliza's age will know who either of these people are, so I don't really care! Ha!)

Overdue Updates (plus tons of pictures, of course!)

Wow, this semester has been by far my busiest! 

So far I've been up to my ears with teaching preschool (my practicum for my degree), normal class workloads, growing a baby, chasing a toddler, running a business, and editing fun stuff like this:

 It's been SO fun, but I am feeling SO busy! Whenever I have down time it's editing time, not tv or nap time like I'd like at this point :o)

 

I also just found out that the little lady in the last couple you see pictured will be singing in her graduation ceremony (convocation) and she's asked me to accompany her! I'm so excited! She sings like an angel and I can't wait to revamp an old piece that she and I traveled all over performing years ago. I really can't wait!

As for Mitch, he's READY to be back in school. We just registered for next semester. I have so appreciated him during this semester (his "off-semester" of the year...mine is April-July like a normal university schedule, but his is Sept-Dec of every year). He has been Mr. Mom and has taken care of me when I come home from school exhausted and sick. I am feeling much better now, but it has been a rough few weeks for all of us! 

Mitch had the chance (aka HUGE BLESSING) to work for AFP, Americans for Prosperity. It is a non-partisan group that made millions of calls all over the country (mostly swing states) before the election, informing people and reminding them to vote. He could work 1-40 hours per week, coming in whenever he wanted, which worked out perfectly with my schedule. In fact, after doing some math, we decided it was worth it during the 3 weeks the job lasted to have our sweet friend and neighbor, Juanee, watch Nathan for a few hours, a few days per week, so Mitch could be at work while I was at school. We were able to have him grab enough hours to get us through Christmas and January (until our grant money comes...always a guessing game when THAT will happen...), which we were getting worried about. They spoiled him when he was there. He called it the happiest call center he had ever seen! Free food and drinks whenever you're there, candy every hour, prizes for answering random questions, etc. He had several people very angry with him on the phone, cussing him out and worse. He is glad it's over, but it was very worth it while it lasted. 

 

Other than that, he keeps himself busy donating plasma, working evenings on campus, and going duck hunting whenever he can (he just walked in the door from hunting, actually!). 

I realized I never posted about Halloween, Nathan's birthday, and other fun things we've done! Poor Nathan has just kind of been caught up with whoever has time for him during our busy semester. We're both in school from January-April, so it'll be even busier then. 

 

But, it's made him great at playing on his own. He has never been independent at all, and the last thing I've wanted is a clingy 6 year-old who won't do anything on his own. So, our busy-ness has helped. All he does these days is play with his trains. He got several more Thomas figures and engines from his grandparents (and a few from us) for his birthday, which he's just in love with. 

 

Whenever we go down for a nap and we're taking him back to his room he says, "Nigh-night, Thomas! Nigh-night, Percy! Nigh-night, James! Nigh-night, Harold! Nigh-night, Henry!" (The list goes on!) He knows all of their names and loves watching Thomas and Friends. He doesn't get to watch as much as he'd like, but he has learned a lot from them. 

 

He'll eat carrots for the first time since baby food because one of the engine drivers grew carrots for a vegetable contest! Sweet! Grow green beans and peas next, please!! He has also learned what cymbals are has learned probably 25 new words from that show alone. I always recommend it to other mom friends; whenever one of those engines doesn't have a good intention or is selfish, their end result never works out and they have to be humbled. Kind of deep for a kids' show. I love it.

I haven't finished pictures of Nathan's birthday yet, but here are some of what we've been up to:

Halloween:

Nathan was Charlie Brown for Halloween, because his hair is still mostly invisible in pictures, being the same color as his skin!

There was a cute little family Halloween activity one night. My friend Amy and I went with our boys while our husbands were working. Nathan wasn't quite sure about the hay ride!

After the hay ride we tried to take pictures with the horses "ho-sees", because Nathan always likes pictures of them and can neigh like a horse. Turns out it was a little much...

Haha I find this hilarious...

Nathan and his best friend Burton, who was a monkey. They loved the cheap-o little dum dums that were being given out!

 This morning it snowed for the second time this season. We are lucky that this is all has fallen this year! Well, we are lucky, the farmers are not. Don't worry farmers, more is coming, I'm sure!

I fall in love with this kid every time he looks at me :o)

Goofy boy :o)

Then it was Toby the train's turn to look out the window!

 Like I said, we are never without our trains!

  We are getting super excited for Thanksgiving! This year, most of all, I wish I could be in three places at once. I want to be here, where my sister and her friends (all people I grew up with) are coming to our house and celebrating with us. It's going to be tons of fun! I also wish we were going to be in Wyoming with Mitch's family, and in Kansas with mine. Oh family, why are you so far away!? Oh, western US winters, why are you so deadly to travel through!? Thank goodness for Skype!

Bittersweet Autumns in Idaho!

Autumns here are pretty bittersweet. The leaves are gorgeous, the grass is still green, the mountain air is getting crisp, and I get to do fall photo shoots with just the most beautiful colors!

However, we all know that about 8 months of snow and negative temperatures are upon us. My sister Camille told me the other day that it is usually 10 degrees colder here than it is in Provo, UT where she goes to school. Awesome. And I'm already freezing!!

Anyway, speaking of gorgeous leaves, Nathan is not sure what to think. So, since I couldn't convince him to sit in the leaves for a little photo shoot (BOY did I try!), we decided to join our neighbor Juanee and her daughter Sunny while they raked/played in the leaves. Nathan is just getting braver every day, but you can still see the frustration on his face when he throws leaves...he's just still a bit nervous!

Haha that FACE!

Neighbor baby Sunny, doing her one-legged crawl across the concrete...silly girl! It was so warm that day so she could move all around for a long time without getting cold!

Wondering what the heck Nathan is doing. I would, too!

THIS is what he was doing.

Oh I LOVE his "concentrating" face!

Add caption

No idea... :o)

Haha! My favorite :o)

Eww...haha I think this is the last traces of the "freaked out" face.

Future golfer?

 And now, for our little announcement!! It's been SO hard keeping it a secret, but here is DOOLEY #2!!

 I am 8 weeks along and due June 4th. We are SO excited!! Everything has gone well so far, although I'm already sick, exhausted constantly, AND I've already gained 7 lbs in 8 weeks. This may be normal, but I feel like it's all in my stomach! Bump pictures to come later...as if you can't tell, I'm totally showing already. I would have waited to 12 weeks to tell people but I CAN'T because it's getting obvious! (Depending on which time of day you see me, haha!)

We told Nathan about the baby today. We asked, "do YOU want a baby to come home with us?" He answered, "Ehh...no. No baby. No." Haha, sorry kid, you don't get a choice! He's still a bit young for the idea anyway!

This is the third time we have gotten pregnant right away...Needless to say, Mitch is feeling like a real man! :o) We switched OB/GYN practices and are IN LOVE with the new doctors. I will post more details on that later. However, I NEVER should have gone to the practice I did with Nathan!! I am so glad I made that discovery before going through another pregnancy! Forget choosing a practice because it's close to you house...