Merry Christmas!

Our sweet little family of 3 (plus one in the oven) had such a special Christmas yesterday. June Anne is at such a fun age and understood this year about the gifts being hers and new. It was so much fun to watch her little brain working! Santa came to see June Anne on Christmas Eve and when we brought her downstairs Christmas morning and set her down, she ran right over to the pile of new toys and started saying "Peeez, peeez, peeez!" Such a fun little monkey! Of course, an hour later, she was playing with her old toys! Hahaha!

Jason and I didn't go crazy with gifts for each other this year. We are saving up to put a pool in early next year! But, he was so sweet to get me a David Yurman bracelet with Madeline's (hopefully) birthstone to match the one that he got me for my first Mother's Day with June Anne's birthstone. I say "hopefully" because my due date is March 2 and he purchased the February bracelet assuming this sweet girl comes early ( Yes, please!!!! I love pregnancy - it is a special, beautiful, amazing time - but I need to be get back to being myself for my other sweet girl!) At any rate, I also informed him that he better not get me a "push present" like he did with June Anne - this is gift enough for both. Such a thoughtful husband.

We were also able to bless some others this year - some of those are people that we will never meet - but, to me, that's what it's really about. I loved seeing June Anne's face light up when she saw her gifts. But, I really can't wait to show her what it means to bless someone else because of how our Savior has blessed us.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Cheese!!!

June Anne's new thing is to say "cheese" and smile really big when I pull out my phone to take her picture. Look at this monkey! Love her to pieces. Such a JOY!

Magnets!

This girl is a smartie pants - let me just tell you. It took one time of me showing her that her letter and number magnets can be moved from the fridge to the dishwasher. And 30 minutes of instant entertainment!

Our Afternoon in Pictures

My Two Loves

June Anne loves her daddy! She totally prefers him to me, which is a little sad, but as my mom pointed out, will work out well when Madeline gets here in March! Today while June Anne and I were at the park, Jason called. He got off early (around 10), so he met us at the park. JA was over the moon excited to see him there! Surprise! It's Daddy! After we got home, she also decided she needed to supervise his yard work. Love these two!!!

Escape!

June Anne is getting tall enough to reach the door knob (which I never thought would happen!), and she totally understands that the door knob is the secret to opening the door. She's trying to escape to the back deck!

20 weeks!

This past Saturday marked the 20 week mark of my pregnancy. I can't believe how quickly it's passing since I'm so busy running after June Anne (literally, RUNNING). I'm feeling really good. Still tired but, again, I think that's due more to having a toddler than being pregnant. My only complaint with this pregnancy is horrible heartburn. The kind that makes you want to guzzle an entire bottle of Pepto Bismol (which, apparently, is a no-no during pregnancy?). Anyways, in addition to the Aciphex I normally take, Dr. Maddox has also prescribed karifate (no clue how that's spelled), which is supposed to help coat your stomach. Praying for some relief!

I'll leave you with a 20 week photo. I've been terrible about taking pictures of my progress with this one. And, if I do, it's usually one of these quickies. :-)

Manners

Since June Anne started really understanding us and trying to talk, we've tried to teach her good manner. At school, they also teach her baby sign language. So, she recently came home signing "more" and "please". We are working on putting words to these signs! She's said "thank you" for awhile now. But, she's starting to put it all together!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrvLVMD1hJo

It's a GIRL!!!

We are so excited to say that June Anne will have a little sister this spring! That's right! Another little girl for the Faunces! Jason is in trouble!

Jason wasn't able to make it to our appointment on Friday because he got stuck at the hospital. So, I had the sonographer seal the gender so that we could find out together. After the doctor, I needed to run to Kroger. I couldn't stand to wait any longer, so I made him meet me at Kroger to open the results! We are so excited that June Anne will have a sister!!! I really wanted to have two girls close in age. I can just imagine them playing together! So sweet.

So, here she is! Measuring right on schedule at approximately 10 oz, she is absolutely perfect. Currently breech, but so was June Anne at 20 weeks, so I'm not worried about that. She was moving around like crazy, so looks like we have another little active monkey coming along! We can't wait to meet this sweet girl!

BESTIES!!

June Anne loves some Caroline - they are so stinking cute together!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duAk3I2J2UI

Treasures

One of June Anne's recent activities is finding treasures in our front yard and driveway. These "treasures" consist of acorns, sticks, leaves and anything else that happens to be on the ground before Daddy blows off the driveway. She could literally stay out there for hours! She loves it outside - just like her Daddy!

Park Time!

On my days off, June Anne and I love going to the park. It's especially nice now that we are out of the 90's. She's learning to climb up on everything (with us close by) and loves going down the slide. The swing is still a favorite as well!

We had a very busy weekend with Jason's best friend, Kevin getting married, which included the rehearsal dinner at our house, so June Anne missed out on some of her usual Daddy time (which she loves - let's face it, he's her favorite. And I'm ok with it!) So, after her walking around all weekend from room to room saying "Dad-dee, Dad-dee?", we decided family time was definitely in order for Sunday! What better way to spend time together than the PARK!? As usual, June Anne loved it. But, so much more fun with Daddy also!

Hey Mama!

June Anne stayed with her grandparents for a few days this week. I'll post pictures soon of the fun she had. But, for now I had to post her talking to her Mama! (My dad took the picture while I was talking to her on my mom's phone). How stinking cute is she?!

Blood Drawn

June Anne had to have blood drawn yesterday to recheck her hemoglobin levels. (They were slightly low at her one-year check-up.) As suspected, her hemoglobin levels are fine. I'm thankful that Dr. Miller wanted to make sure before diagnosing her and treating her for a condition that she really doesn't have. I'm NOT thankful, however, for what we had to go through yesterday to get those results!

When Dr. Miller said we needed to go to a lab to have her follow-up blood work done, he said that they would more-than-likely just prick her finger to take her blood. Not the case. They informed me that she would have to have two vials of blood taken! Two! Why?! They proceeded to pull out a rather large needle (at least it seemed large for my baby!) and stick my screaming child in the arm. The nurse moved the needle around for what seemed like 5 minutes before pulling the needle out - no blood drawn, mind you - and informing me that she couldn't find the vein. Ummmm, I'm sorry, what??? She then said she would have to stick her in the foot! Perhaps she's never changed a squirming baby and doesn't know the strength of their tiny legs when they are protesting something they don't want to do! At any rate, foot it was. June Anne looked up pitifully at me and screamed. Not the usually "getting a shot really stinks, Mommy" scream. This was more of a "I can't believe you are letting this happen, Mommy. You are supposed to protect me" scream. In that moment, it was more than I could handle. Hormones? Maybe. Or maybe it was the realization that there will be so many moments in the next 18 years when she has no idea that what I am doing may hurt or seem unfair, but will always be in her best interest that brought tears streaming down my face. The nurse followed suite. She was able to get one vial, and I said that would have to do. Period. We are done here. And she agreed. I think the likes of me and June Anne was more than she had planned for a Friday!

Here's my sweet girl with her wounds bandaged. She usually only has a paci at nap time and bedtime, but I thought she deserved it after such an ordeal!