November: A New Addition

November is here! Fall is in full swing and we just love this season. I wasn't feeling very well this month, not well at all in fact. The pregnancy was really getting to me and feeling nauseous and visiting the bathroom frequently with a toddler is hard haha. Henry learned the word "show" this month because some days I just needed him to lay with me and watch a show. Sometimes even changing his diaper was the biggest challenge because the smell made me gag, or throw up. This pregnancy thing with a toddler is not for the faint of heart!

We kept busy this month with Bailey and Henry. I took them both out on a walk at Centennial Trail and it was pretty intense having two little things at one time by myself haha. Bailey did great though, and so did Henry so I can't complain. Bailey also got her first trip to the dog park (and a couple more) this month. She gets so excited with all of the smells and then she will sprint around and start jumping. Man, she can jump! She is getting bigger all of the time. She's also learning a lot! She can sit, lay down, stay, shake hands, and get up. We are really working with her on not jumping on people, biting/chewing things, and heeling when we walk.

Henry also liked going to the park a few times, one of which there was this huge truck that we just stopped and watched for a few minutes. He also did story time again which he likes. They brought out the scarves and played music and for the first time he actually liked dancing and playing with the scarves! For some reason they always kind of scared him haha. Rusty and I also hung out with some friends and few times, and told them that we were expecting! And I did a girls night out! It was nice to go out and be kidless :)

At the beginning of the month I got a call from my dad saying that my grandma was really not doing well, and that she was in the hospital. So I loaded Henry up and we were gone within a couple of hours to drive to Idaho to see her. The original thought was that she wouldn't make it through the weekend, and I left on Thursday. The drive there was pretty uneventful, except for the fact that I got pulled over! That hasn't happened to me since I was a senior in high school! I was just getting onto the freeway and I wasn't speeding or doing anything wrong, I was pretty sure! So I pull over and I'm shaking and trying to find my wallet that I had given to Henry to play with and then the officer comes up and asks how I'm doing. I stammer out an answer, and then he reaches into my car and turns on my headlights and says, "Let's turn these on so you don't get rear ended on the freeway. Have a good night!" and walked away! I was shocked! After I gassed up I guess I didn't turn my lights on?! My excuse is that I had a lot on my mind haha. What in the world. We got there late Thursday night and it was so nice to see my parents. It was also really fun to be able to tell them in person that I was pregnant! I drew a little banner for them and showed them and they were so surprised and excited! The next day was Friday and we went down to see Grandma. We also got to see her on Saturday, and Sunday, and she seemed to be improving every day. I got to talk with her and paint her nails and by the end she was able to eat pureed foods. I went home on Sunday because she was doing better. Rusty had to stay home, but he made the most of it by going to Horn Rapids and riding!

Two weeks later, we went back to Idaho again but this time I got to take Rusty with me! That makes everything so much better. It was Thanksgiving, and we took off Wednesday afternoon so we could get there the day before. Angie and her family came, Jessica came, and Beckie and Olivia were there. It was so fun to have almost everyone there! Dinner and dessert were declicious! The weekend was also a kind of family reunion for us and the theme was Comfort and Joy. We did all kinds of things like a hayride carolling trip, crafts, and a Christmas Eve party. We had all of the dips and got matching pajamas and then the next morning we opened gifts from each other. After the carolling we all got matching mugs with hot cocoa and cinnamon sugar toast while we watched The Grinch. I love Christmas! I also got to announce to my family that I was pregnant! I took the kids into the living room and showed them the banner that I made. It said Baby Pollard July 2017. Then I told them that when we were done doing our grateful things that I would take them in there and then call all of the adults in. First of all, the kids were so cute and excited! They were like, "Really?? How old? Is it a boy or a girl?? Wow!!" Then the adults came in and I loved seeing Angie's face, and later Beckie's. I love it when they get so excited about these new things. It helps me to feel less worried and stressed and to see how wonderful it really is!

Henry's Highlights

• Henry is talking a lot! The words are coming so quickly, but some of our favorites are Grandma (gra-gu) and Papa (pa-pu). He can say lots of the colors, but if you ask him what color something is he always responds "blue!" He does lots of animal sounds (horse, cow, dog, sheep, dog, goat, rooster). My personal favorite is when he calls Bailey. He pats his legs and will stand watching her repeating "Bayee" until she comes. It is so cute!
• For some reason beeping sounds really make him nervous. He yells at the oven timer and gets a really terrified look on his face and starts running around, trying to drag us over there. The same thing happens with alarms or sometimes when a cell phone beeps. I have no idea why, but it's kind of funny! 
• He loves when we sing to him, but he is picky. Sometimes when Rusty sings he will say, "No, no, no" and then point to me and say "Pee pee" which means please haha. Also, if I start singing a song and it's not the one that he wants he will say, "No, no, no". If I keep singing, he gets more insistent until he is yelling "No!" It's pretty funny haha. I feel like I am on one of those singing shows where you are scared that at any moment they are going to make you stop because they hated it haha.
• Along those lines, he has a book with nursery rhymes. I will start singing and he will make it very clear which ones he wants to hear or not. Strangely enough, he always skips Pat-a-Cake, and his favorite is Yankee Doodle. He will find that page over and over again.
• He is doing great in nursery! Mostly he plays by himself, always with cars, but he hasn't hurt anyone or caused any trouble. 
• When he gives hugs he pats you on the back now. He also will voluntarily give kisses and hugs, sometimes when you need it the most. He is such a sweetheart!
• Bailey will sometimes nip at him, but mostly she does really good. But Henry has gotten into a habit of saying "Bi!" for bite and holding his hands up until I kiss them better. This happens even when Bailey is outside haha. 
• Cars are still everything he wants to play with or talk about. He found a Cars book that has four different stories inside and is actually just way too long for him, but he LOVES it. We just skim through and mostly talk about the pictures but he won't let us read anything else for bedtime. I've even tried to hide it a few times but he always finds it.
• Foodwise, he has become a little bit pickier. He basically just tosses any vegetables quickly and quietly to Bailey when he thinks we're not looking and without missing a beat keeps eating. Mostly though he will still eat whatever we give him! 

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