Second Time Around

So far this pregnancy has been very similar to the first one. The only difference is I now have a small child kicking, punching and jumping on my belly from the outside instead of just the inside. I swear he knows an annoying younger brother is in there and he's trying to get rid of him. I finally got George to say "baby" instead of "mama" when he sees a baby or small child. We're making progress!
He can also say about 80% of the letters of the alphabet. He doesn't know the song but he will point out the letters in his books, on street signs, in subtitles and anywhere else he sees them. He also knows how to say numbers 2-10. He has a hard time with 1. He also points out numbers where ever he sees them. It's crazy! He's getting too big way too fast. He gives excellent hugs (or "hums" as he calls them) and kisses. He loves to be read stories before bed and he won't start eating his food until it's blessed. He tries saying the prayer on his own but it's just humming with his mouth open. That must be what I sound like when I pray...I love this little boy more every day! I won't lie. There are days I want to give him up to a nice family. Sometimes he will just scream and cry for no reason and he won't stop for 15-20 minutes and I just want to scream. I'm learning patience, that is for sure!

Little Brother

Birthday Week!

My birthday week started on Sunday. My mom made the dinner of my choice (Navajo tacos) and Glen made the dessert of my choice (New York cheesecake). My mom had also made her famous cinnamon rolls and Glen made a two-layered carrot cake for good measure. It was all delicious and it was all a lot of food to digest. My mom also gave me some gifts that day since she would be in Utah for the actual day of my birth. She got me a giant bag of Hot Tamales, a real-live wok (which we used the next day for teriyaki chicken) and a rotating waffle-maker. It was an awesome day!
On my actual birthday, yesterday, Glen made me some from scratch waffles in my new waffle-maker and I ate them with the leftover strawberry sauce from the New York cheesecake. I received lots of lovely phone calls, texts and Facebook messages. They made me feel so special! Glen got home from work around four-thirty with flowers, a card and a few gifts. I got Epic Mickey and Dance Dance Revolution for the Wii and Dumbo on blu-ray! I'm so spoiled. Then told me he had a babysitter lined up and we had reservations for 6:00pm. I had just gotten out of the shower and the nearest place with reservations was at least 30 min away. So I hurriedly got ready and we dropped George at my wonderful brother and sister-in-law's house with my amazing nephews that are George's best friends. We had a lovely dinner at PF Chang's that was only interrupted a few times with more texts and a phone call from my other brother who was mad at Glen for not answering his text about our address so my flowers from him did not get here on time. I love brothers!But the birthday celebrations are not over! Unfortunately for my family, they continue! We will be going to Buca di Beppo on Saturday. If you have never been to this restaurant, I suggest you go and at least try the gnocchi. Mmmmmm...
In my defense, I was planning on simply celebrating my birthday on Saturday at Buca's and Glen added all of the fanfare on my actual birthday. It wasn't supposed to be a three-day celebration. Thanks Honey!!

New Pictures!

We got new family pictures yesterday in preparation for Christmas cards. I can't wait to see the rest!

No More Candy!

Halloween was so fun! We had our annual Allen Family Halloween party the Monday before and ate lots of food and candy. Then the ward Trunk-or-Treat was that Friday. George picked up on it right away. He didn't like it when people would put candy in his bucket, though. He just wanted to be handed the candy and then he would put it in his bucket. We figured he didn't know it was all candy but then someone gave him non-candy and he gave it to me. No thanks, Mom!

On the day of Halloween, George's cousins and Aunt Miken came over and picked George up to go to my brother's office for their trick-or-treating. He made a killing and was a hit with the co-workers. He even stole candy from some unsuspecting little girl who only had about two candies because she had just started. He's sneaky.

That night, we went trick-or-treating in a nearby neighborhood. Our neighborhood has a lot of kids but it seemed like last year we only had a handful come by so we went somewhere else with George. The old ladies loved his hair. He would go up to the houses by himself or with the other kids and take care of business himself. No need to wait for mom and dad. Besides, he didn't want mom and dad. If he was going to hold someone's hand it was Uncle Taylor. Which seemed odd since Taylor was dressed as a zombie. But George didn't care. He knew it was just good old Uncle T.T.My tongue is now sore from all the candy. I let George have a piece or two a day. He doesn't seem to mind. Hopefully it will be gone soon...