Troy's party

We celebrated Troy's 2nd birthday with family this past Saturday. His actually birthday is the 22nd, but to avoid all the holiday rush of Christmas week, we partied a little early.

Not the best picture being an action shot, but man did he love the balloons!! They practically trumped almost any gift he got, they were a hit!

Opening gifts, notice the soccer ball, it didn't leave his side the whole time we did presents.

Playing with his new b-ball hoop with his cousins.

Sitting on his new dump truck, if you see the clothes stash behind him you'll know his parents were very happy this year, plus a smile when asked for it is hard to come by.

A cupcake, juice & a ball! What better way is there to end a party, he was in heaven!!

Things that make you go hmmm . . .

So when you're not quite 2 year old randomly says to you "mommy, potty, go peepee" & say this mom reluctantly takes him to the toilet where he indeed does proceed to do as he said. Then as she shockingly checks his diaper to see if he had already gone, thus reminding him he likes to "play" by the toilet & that's why he wanted to go & it turns out it was bone dry, does this mean said 2 year old is trying to tell mommy something?? Especially since mom was in no way trying to push potty training (hasn't even mentioned or attempted anything of the sort) & basically was planning on having little sister here for a bit before any "big boy" changes of the sort were attempted! Does this mean that mom yet again gets to be reminded that she's really not in charge of the household . . . hmmm.

Don't get me wrong, I don't expect him in undies tomorrow or anything, actually I don't even plan on buying them yet, he got praise & a happy meal, hopefully that will suffice. Yet I just wonder if this little mans mom doesn't push this, if he's going to try to do it on his own anyway!! Hmmm . . .

Think . . .

PINK!
We just found out that baby #2 is a girl!
We're very excited for our new little sweetheart to join our family in March!

Halloween

Pinocchio! Our little man LOVED being in his costume this year! He even kept the hat on for most of the night. We weren't sure if people would know who he was, but it was a fun weekend & not too cold for his "not so wintry weather" costume.

Off to the ward party! Halloween bag & stake directory in hand, what more do you need?

The family, pre-trick-or-treating.

All the Ulrich cousins on Halloween, pirates on your left & soccer players on your right. Always a hilarious attempt to get them all looking at the camera, smiling we don't even go there, we just try to see all the faces! Troy was a bit more interested in the toys he was stowing in his bag before it was filled with candy.

Bringing up the rear with the trick-or-treating gang.

The chaos at the doorstep, this one had a talking something that Troy wasn't digging!

Just our cute boy, I guess technically in Halloween colors right! He's growing so fast, almost 2!

Update

19 Weeks!

I'm not very good about keeping up on/documenting my pregnancy so here's an attempt, we'll see how it goes. I'm actually exactly 19 weeks here, in my mind officially "showing" not just looking like I have some extra around the middle.

An actual smile, teeth included. He's a rare "smiler" when it's asked of him, but there are occasional documented glimpses.

Riding with daddy on "Small World". He loved singing & clapping along with this ride at D-land. His 1st official big boy trip, where he could interact & remember the rides names, etc.

The merry-go-round, a favorite of course, but he was all business. No smiles, no letting go before-during-or after the ride.

We got to visit cousins in Utah for little Claire's blessing, he loves babies! I'm pretty sure that's a good thing for his lil bro. or sis., but time will tell. :)

Giving hugs to Jake, he's loved saying his name constantly & talking to him on the phone since the trip!

More love for his cousins, he had a great time playing & interacting

with them on their own turf.

Being a silly boy in the closet & his attempt at smiling while saying "cheese".

So time has flown by lately! I started feeling like an actual person again around 15 weeks, breaking through the fog of the 1st trimester. But it still seems like a whirlwind since. Troy is our happy little talker. We've joked that he's definitely not our "show off" baby, in that he would never perform something new (smile, crawl, walk, talk, etc.) in the moment we'd ask him too, mainly for family. But he sure loves to repeat words now!! He sits at his chair when he's eating & points around the room to all the words he knows. We quiz him on cousins, aunts & uncles names & he'll repeat them back. Most things sound accurate or pretty close, but a few favorites that don't are "merker" aka microwave and "myker" aka uncle Michael. He's getting much better at letting us know what he wants via words, not just pointing & grunting, which has been a good thing . . . usually. For instance when he was in sacrament meeting at church a few weeks back while pointing to the door he kept saying oh so quietly, "outside please, outside". We were not thrilled!! We're having fun adventures in our family & are grateful for our blessings!

CONGRATULATIONS!!

My little sister got engaged yesterday morning!

Congrats sis & Ben, you lucky guy! We can't wait for you to join our family or for May to come. We love you both! Enjoy your "happy engaged Provo" living! :)

Early birthday!

So before I turn the big 3-0 tomorrow, we have some exciting news! Troy is finally joining the ranks of "big brother", YIPPEE! We're very excited for a new little bundle to join our family sometime around mid March, 15th or so. Yes that means I'm barely pregnant, but our lovely little addition has very kindly made itself known since before I could even think pregnant & loves to remind me ALL DAY LONG that he or she is in existence. Much different than with Troy, unfortunately!

I had big plans of announcing it with a cute shirt or something similarly fun, but due to how lovely I was feeling decided I didn't want to "pretend" to feel fine around family anymore & so Mark's idea of "ghetto- paper on the shirt announcement" won out & you have what you see before you. Gotta love the creativity right!

We're excited to be expanding our family & to share our news with all of you!!

Beach bum!

Running to the water, this was Troy the whole time. On his 1st real beach outing where he could enjoy it like a big boy, our little water lover was a blast to be with. Though we didn't get there until the afternoon when it starts to cool down sooner than you'd expect & with pretty good winds coming at you, he stayed tough & shivering came back for more!

Getting the feel of the water with daddy. He'd soon be running after the waves when the water receded.

Trying to hold on to him, he preferred at times to not be holding mom or dads hand . . . scary!

Playing in the sand was a favorite as well!

Oh the joys of being covered with sand everywhere & not caring one bit.

Loves from daddy! My sweet boys!

He's off again, water here he comes.

This is what you call a successful outing, within 5 minutes of being in the car he was OUT! He's not a very good car sleeper anymore, drove 5+ hours to St. George a few months back leaving at 5 am & he didn't sleep a wink. But exhaust him at the beach & a beautiful result occurs, even at 6:30 at night. What a sweetheart!

Summer loving!

My sweet little silly face enjoying his $2 hat, a little big you say . . . nah he loves it!

"Smile Troy" or stick out your huge tongue, whichever you prefer.

A recent attempt at all the Ulrich cousins, 6 & counting.

Waiting for Mr. Turtle's appearance! (Yes he does sleep in a dog house)

His first task every time he goes to grandma & grandpa Trasks house . . . feed the turtle. Sleeping, hiding, these minor set backs never deter Troy from his task at hand. Luckily grandpa loves their little routine & stops whatever he's doing to let little guy do his thing!

Petting his friend while he tries to eat & mom just glad she doesn't have to touch it!

Hmmm are you trying to tell me something son?

Troy's little cousin Austin came over to play for a day while his older brothers went to Sea World. Troy just couldn't get enough of him!

"Stay there Troy"

"Ok, just don't get any closer he's trying to sleep"

"Honey, leave the baby alone"

Needless to say the hardest part of the day was trying to have Troy give him some distance! Luckily his little cousin has an almost 3 & 16 month older brothers who give him lots of "love" too, so he's pretty used to it.

Vacuum advice!

Hello friends & fellow bloggers! So our vacuum officially hit the dust, not without many resuscitation efforts on my part. I've actually kept better care of this appliance than most others in our home, because when it comes right down to it I'd rather vacuum than basically any other chore. I'm not sure if it's the instant gratification of going from unclean to clean or what, but regardless I try not to analyze the few chores I don't mind doing as much. So I come to you for advice. What vacuum has worked best for you? Given you the least amount of trouble? Isn't as heavy as moving a car? Also doesn't cost $500, not exactly in the budget, though I'm sure the Dyson vacs work the best since they cost the most right?? ;) So . . . any advice to offer me as I begin the search, even if it's just what to avoid it would be helpful. I'm all about word of mouth especially when it means less time for me to "figure it out" & hope I like it! Thanks & happy Friday!

Air Troy

Slamming it home!

Ok maybe dad was helping a little.

The joy of success & cheers after the dunk!

The silly son playing with the rice cooker bowl, basically his favorite toy of late.

"Smile Troy" & this is what you get, I fear he may have the smile/eyes close syndrome of some on the Ulrich side . . . we'll have to work on it!

This picture was taken to forever remember the huge wide open mouth when he eats.  His mouth opens this big for every bite & always has . . . now that I've been spoiled, every sibling Troy has will need to do the same, he will get to help them if they need it! :)