Busy Weekend

Last weekend was a busy, but enjoyable, one for us.  We started out Saturday morning with a trip to the "Flights of Fancy" Kite Festival.  Daniel thought it was ok, but Bobby and I really enjoyed it.  We hope to make in an annual event.  Hopefully Daniel will enjoy it even more next year.

Saturday evening, after an eventful trip to one of Daniel's favorite stores, Lowes, we came home.  Our neighbors were outside (they have four kids ranging in age from 8-14), and they wanted to play with Daniel.  It was really sweet.  We enjoy our neighbors and neighborhood very much.

The boys were "knocking down" the grass telling Daniel what a good job he was doing mowing.  It was very sweet!

The next day was Easter.  Daniel woke up happy and excited to see what the Easter Bunny left him.  We took a video, but I'm having a difficult time getting it to upload.  Here are a few pictures instead:

The Easter Bunny hid the eggs at our house.  This was a new concept to Mommy since the Easter Bunny always left a trail at her house.  :)

Daniel's fish face - with his Easter presents: a scooter, helmet, construction paper, glue sticks, and scissors.

We also dyed some Easter eggs, a first for us as a family.  Daniel really liked it.  He enjoyed putting stickers on the eggs, but he especially liked it when Daddy drew a washer and dryer on one of them!

And finally, Sunday was Trixie's 10th birthday!  It's hard to believe we've had her for almost 10 years now.  We still like to spoil our furry babies, so we celebrated with some doggy ice cream and Aspen got to join in the fun too.

The birthday girl!

Aunt Carrie & Luc Visit

Last weekend Aunt Carrie and Luc visited us while on their way to St. Louis for a hockey game.  Daniel loved all the extra attention and play time.  We made sure to take them to see the highlights of Lee's Summit including our bank and Target.  We really know how to show our guests a good time.  ;)

Here are a few fun pictures:

We also tried potty training on Saturday.  It did not go so well.  We'll give it another shot soon.  Daniel did, however, get to watch a lot of washer and dryer videos.  I'm pretty sure that was the highlight of his day!

Second Trimester

Today, Amy officially enters the second trimester!  We took some pictures to celebrate:

And earlier today, I talked to Daniel a little bit about the baby while recording.  He was mostly cooperative and had quite a bit to say:

Big Brother!

It's time to go public with our big announcement... Daniel is going to be a big brother!  This October we will be welcoming a new baby into our lives.  Amy will be starting her second trimester on Sunday.  She's battled a lot nausea and exhaustion, but both of those seem to be getting better over the last few days.  We're all hopeful that she really starts to feel great soon as she enters the second trimester.

Last week we had the first trimester screening (it checks for Down's Syndrome and a few other birth defects) and everything came back within normal ranges, putting us in the lowest risk category - great news!  The next big ultrasound will be on May 28.  That will check for different birth defects as well as tell us the baby's gender.  We can't wait to find out!

We talk with Daniel a lot about the baby.  He knows that it's in mommy's tummy and will say that if asked.  At first he didn't really have much interest in talking about it.  We'd ask if he was excited for the new baby and he'd respond with an emphatic, "No!"  Lately, he's starting to change his tune a bit.  He and I spent some time talking about how we are going to have to build the baby's crib and other furniture and get the baby's room all ready.  He then said:  "I'll share my robot cool chair with the baby.  I'll sit in it first and then the baby can sit in it."  After our hearts melted hearing that, he went on to tell perhaps the longest single story I've ever heard from him:

"I'll still sleep in my robot cool bed.  The baby will sleep in the crib.  When the green light comes on, I'll get out of my bed and go knock on the baby's door.  Then I'll go get the baby and take the baby downstairs.  And then I'll show the baby how to do laundry in the big washer and dryer.  Then I'll show the baby my toy washer and dryer and laundry detergent and softener."  I wish we had been recording, but we'll try to get something similar out of him on video sometime soon! 

Along with this announcement comes another update.  We are going to be redesigning this blog.  We would really like this to be a place to share news, stories, pictures, etc. about our whole family.  Prior to now, we have always tried to keep everything here Daniel focused, but unfortunately for him, the little guy isn't going to be the complete center of attention anymore.  Poor kid.  So, in the next day or two, this will no longer be Daniel's Blog and will become The Gilliam Gazette.  

The new address is http://www.gilliamgazette.com  The old address will still work and bring you here, so you shouldn't have to update your bookmarks.  Also, those of you who have subscribed and receive updates via e-mail shouldn't have to change anything either. 

One final note.  We really had a lot of fun keeping Daniel's name a secret from everyone until he was born, so we'll be doing the same thing with Baby #2.  But, we will happily share the sex with everyone as soon as we find out.  

Fun times ahead!

The new car is a minivan!  Daniel loves it!

Baby #2

Grandpa & Grandma Visit

This past weekend, my parents came for a visit.  They helped us out a lot by driving down so that Bobby and I could buy a car (pictures of our new car to come soon!).  It was so nice to buy the car without Daniel in tow (it took over 2 hours to purchase the car and we already settled on a price before we got there - crazy!).  On Sunday, my parents then transported Bobby's old car back to the buyer (a co-worker of my mom) in Des Moines.  THANK YOU MOM AND DAD!

We also managed to get some play time in too.  The weather was nice, so there was lots of playing outside.

Here are a few pictures from the visit:

A cuddle with Grandpa

Even a cuddle with Grandma!

We all shared some delicious cupcakes

Playing outside

Family Visit & a Trip to the Zoo

Last weekend my cousins, Chris and Nicole, stayed with us while they attended a family reunion.  It was so nice to see them, and I think Daniel had a great time with them too.  We also got to see my Aunt Debbie and Uncle Mark (though we didn't snap any pictures, unfortunately).  It was fun to see Daniel take each one of their hands and show them around the house, being sure to point out the especially important parts of the house like the laundry.  Here are a couple of cute pictures of Chris and Nicole playing with Daniel:

Playing a pillow game with Nicole

Chris teaching Daniel how to play football

We also managed to make a trip to the zoo on Sunday.  It was a beautiful day, and Daniel enjoyed it there more than he ever has.  He especially loved the polar bears who were playing with "garbage cans," and riding the carousel while talking Daddy's ear off the whole time.  "Look, Daddy!  Penguins!  Look, Daddy!  Birds!  This thing goes up and down."

He fed the sheep!