Brothers

We got a peek at number two today and, you guessed it, (or not based on the poll...) Lance is going to be lucky enough to have a little brother just 20 months younger than him. With me growing up with all sisters and Stef growing up with all brothers, both of us really know and understand the value of those same sex sibling relationships. Not that they're all perfect, and not that brothers and sisters don't also share an awesome bond, but there does seem to be something about two bros who love each other like best friends. This is what I'm envisioning (hoping for!)with Lance and our new addition.

Gender aside, the little guy looked great. His heart, head, spine, and limbs looked healthy and the ultrasound tech remarked a few times on how active he was. Looks like we're in for another energizer bunny! I can just picture the two of them tearing the house apart in another year or two...
Here's a quick video of the baby in action- you can see the heartbeat and spine if you look closely.

The Christmas Spirit

Lance is really feeling the Christmas spirit this year. It's so fun to see him get excited about trees and lights, decorations and advent calendars. I think it will only keep getting better with each holiday season!
Here are a few videos from the start of the festivities...

This is at the annual Hilo Christmas Lights Parade. Lance was so into it!!! He loved all of the marching bands, floats and lights. If you look closely, Lance says "get out of my face, Mommy!" and then, at the end, "More, please."

Here's his first glimpse of an actual tree inside the house... a strange but much loved Christmas tradition!

and here he is testing each bulb for temperature control:

Introducing Number Two!

Yep! We have officially fallen into the category of crazy parents going for two babes under two years...
Lance has a little sib on the way- due at the end of May!
Stef is convinced it's a girl, while I'm not so sure. Any votes from our faithful readers? New poll on the right!

Now that I'm starting to come out of the first trimester ill, hopefully I'll be a more active blog poster. Lance has been up to all kinds of exciting new things like walking all over the place, climbing everything in sight, propelling himself face first down the slide and face planting at the bottom, traveling to California with mommy for 10 days and behaving like a world traveler on the plane, and getting more proficient at his animal sounds.
More to come!! I promise!

A Fall Trip to California

Lance and I were lucky enough to spend a little over a week with family and friends last week. Despite both of us getting sick and having to lay lower than planned, we had a great trip.
The only camera I had was my phone, so these aren't the greatest shots, but here are some highlights from the trip:

enjoying his last moments with daddy before getting on the plane:
relaxing in the extra seat we scored and playing with the airline's crayons and coloring book:
fascinated by the sunset on the airplane:

enjoying Nini's chili with Max and Millie:
coincidentally having the same jammies as Will:

locating the music source and cozying up (and dancing with) the speaker on a regular basis:
rocking his new sweatsuit and bouncing on the trampoline:
watching his cousins and somehow learning how to hold a bat in excellent form (I swear this isn't posed):
and falling in love with Japanese food and miso soup especially:

It's always great to get home after a good trip. Lance got some new sneakers while we were gone and after a complete tantrum in the middle of the shoe department (not wanting to wear them) he now begs to put them on every time we go outside. Here he is, back in his element:

"Please"

For those of you who aren't aware, baby signs are all the rage these days. I haven't done much in terms of teaching Lance any signs but since he learned to say "more" a couple months ago, he has become increasingly demanding in his tone... So, every time he chants "mo, Mo, MOR! MOR! MORE!", I calmly, say, "more, please," and recently added the chest rub for emphasis on the please.
Imagine my surprise when, out of the blue, Lance picked it up! He performs his own creative version of "please" now when he wants something (almost always food) and this morning we caught it on video...

Please from Melissa Harmeling on Vimeo.

A Trip to the Kohala Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday we made our way to Kohala to the only pumpkin patch on the whole island!! We were super excited to get to trek through a real pumpkin field, and actually score some of these hot commodities (pumpkins can be scarce in ol' Hilo). It reminded me of the old days at Webb Ranch!

We didn't make it out there until the last day of pumpkins, but we managed to find three winners!

and we got some great shots from the day. It was gorgeous up there!
please note, that this was an especially "big" hair day for Lance... he had swim lessons in the morning and his hair is always very exciting after he swims. I thought about pulling it back, but it was just too fun to let it go wild.

(you can see the top of Haleakala on Maui in the background)

He's a Climber!

Like I mentioned in my last post, Lance has mastered climbing the ladder. Scary for Mommy, and pure joy for Lance and Daddy...
Here's a quick video:

Lance vs. Ladder from Melissa Harmeling on Vimeo.