Thank you all for your sweet comments and rejoicing with us at the news of a new little Barnes! We are just so thrilled to be expecting this precious gift from the Lord! I had intended to update the blog fairly soon after I posted the picture of Aiden in his "Big Brother" shirt, but morning sickness has really just gotten the best of me, and most things have fallen to the side. I was fully expecting this time around to have less morning sickness. I figured since I am not working with this one (well, at least not outside the home ;)), and not waking up at 4:45am to get to work by 6:30am, that I wouldn't be too sick. Well, I was definitely wrong in my assumptions! I have been much sicker this time around than with Aiden. It started around 5 weeks and has continued to get progressively worse as each week has passed (I am currently almost 10 weeks). The nausea is so much stronger, which in turn means more throwing up. Yuck! It also is much worse at night, which is different than last time.

This weekend, though, I received a nice reprieve and I actually felt somewhat normal for a couple days. Yesterday morning was wonderful. I felt great at church and we even enjoyed a nice lunch out with a group of friends. It actually had me a little concerned, that I suddenly felt better, but this morning everything is back into full swing. As much as I don't enjoy it. I am thankful for feeling sick :) My cravings have been the same this pregnancy, fruit, fruit and more fruit. That is pretty much what I have been living on. Also a little organic yogurt or Kefir. That is all that sounds and tastes good to me! The Greek black olives that I craved with Aiden, though, are a no go this time around :)

Surprising Carl with the pregnancy test! I had taken it earlier that day and decided to surprise him with it that night at dinner. I wrapped it up and told him it was an early birthday present (since this little one is due around his birthday). I totally thought he would know what it was without unwrapping it when I told him that, but he didn't have a clue what it could be. It was so fun to watch him open it and see the smile come across his face!

I meant to get these pictures up earlier this week, but Aiden came down with a yucky, horrible stomach virus, and life stopped for a few days. Thankfully it was limited to throwing up, but it certainly was extremely messy and I have never washed so many loads of laundry at one time, in all my life. He is over it now and back to his old self, but Carl and I are anxiously waiting to see if we will be the virus' next victims.

Anyway, back to the snow. We did indeed have a record snow, just over a foot in 24 hours. We spent some time playing in it the next morning and then after lunch some of our neighborhood friends invited Aiden to join them sledding. Of course I couldn't let that opportunity pass. He absolutely loved it!!

Lots and lots of snow!

We went for a walk around the cul-de-sac.

Whee! It was so deep in some spots!

Going sledding down a hill in our subdivision!

Look at the smile on his face. He couldn't get enough of it! Over and over he went down. Such fun!

This picture is hysterical! My friend, Maggie, snapped this of Aiden with her cellphone. Poor boy went face first into the snow as he came to the bottom of the slope. He is always such a trooper, no tears, just ran over to me to help him brush the snow off and then proclaimed "again" with a huge smile on his face!

We woke up this morning to lots of snow on the ground! It started snowing in the early hours of the morning and it has been snowing non-stop all day. On the news they said this has been a record snowfall, the highest ever recorded in the Dallas Fort Worth area! When I saw all the snow outside this morning, I was determined that this time we would go out and really play in it. I am so glad that we did. I armed myself (and Aiden, but he could care less) with lots of layers of clothes. I even put on my cuddle duds. It helped so much and I really stayed pretty warm!

Eagerly looking out the window, waiting to go outside and play!

Quick picture as we got outside.

Mr Snowman! When Carl looked at these pictures, he laughed. I guess the correct way to build a snowman is to roll balls of snow?? I thought we did a fine job!

The same height as Aiden!

Trying to make a snow angel!

Aiden couldn't get enough of the snow. He would have played out there for hours if I let him. We went back out after naptime and finally he came in and said "I'm fweezing". He promptly took a nice warm bath.

I thought I would throw this one in. This is my one and only snow in all my years growing up in South Africa. After now realizing in my adult years how cold it is when it snows, I am curious (mom) as to why I was in shorts??? :) Also do notice the nice grocery bags over my shoes protecting them from the snow...

... I realized today how effectively they work :)

Just 2 months shy of being 3, Aiden is maturing in leaps and bounds! Sitting still and focusing on something, with the exception of looking at books, has never been one of Aiden's strong points. He just has so much energy and wants to go from one thing to the next. This has, in some ways, been very frustrating for me, but just in the last month or two he has grown so much in this area. One of the ways he has learned to focus more, is by doing puzzles. For Christmas he got a Sesame Street one from our neighbor and then a box of 4 different Thomas the Train one's from my mom. I figured he would take a while to get a hang of them, but after only doing them with him a couple times, he could do them completely by himself. He is now obssessed with doing puzzles and puts them together over and over each day. We'll clean them up and put them away, but then a little while after, he is asking to do them again. He just can't seem to get enough of puzzles! The most he has done is 24 pieces, but this weekend we bought him a 60 piece puzzle of the Map of the United States and he is already working hard at putting it together. It is really fun to watch him learn and grow. I am wondering if he is gifted like his daddy, with a love of working with his hands and figuring things out :)

Sesame Street puzzle

Working on one of the Thomas the Train puzzles

Working on his letters.