Hoppy Easter!

We've been busy with Easter activities for the past few days! It's Dominic's first Easter where he's been old enough to enjoy an Easter egg hunt and egg dyeing.

Last year we were just arriving in AK and we did a last-minute run to Target for a basket for Dominic. Here's a pic from last year at 7 months:



And this year at 19 months:

We went to the Easter egg hunt on base today! And just like I thought, it was like Def Con 5. I've never seen so many children under the age of 4 in one place. It was interesting for sure. Dominic didn't mind picking up the eggs but he thought it was more fun to throw them as opposed to putting them in his basket. Everytime he threw one he exclaimed, "I DID IT!!". He ended up with 3 in his basket and he was so tickled!

Next up was our first Easter egg dyeing as a family. I thought Dominic would be covered in the dye but luckily he was more interested spinning the eggs than the dye itself.

His very first egg!


Making an egg for baby sister


Kisses for Mommy (Proving that she isn't just an urban myth)


Our super-bright Easter eggs!

Hoppy Easter to everyone!

The belly!

Here is a photo of my belly at almost 25 weeks! I went to get a pedicure today and realized when I stood up that I can't see my feet anymore. :( The girl who did my pedi said my toes looked great though :) Baby girl must be growing at a rapid pace now!

Sugar, spice and everything nice!

That's what little girls are made of! We're having a little girl! We couldn't be more excited for a little pink in our lives!

She looks very healthy and was kicking me as much as possible throughout the ultrasound.

She doesn't have a name just yet but we're working on it! I think it's tougher to name the second child than to name the first one!

Menu Plan Monday and 20 weeks!

It's Menu Plan Monday! Here is this week's menu for dinner:

Monday: Spaghetti with homemade meat marinara (since we ended up having chicken cacciatore last week)

Tuesday: Fat Tuesday!! Blueberry pancakes and scrapple

Wednesday: Chicken and Dumplings in the slowcooker

Thursday: Baked spinach gnocchi

Friday: Chinese carryout (meatless for Lent!)

Saturday: Leftovers!

I'm 20 weeks today! Happy half-way to me! We have our big ultrasound tomorrow in the morning! Stay tuned for tomorrow's post with all the details!

So very blessed!

Just recently, I has started to think about what to do with Dom's big boy room and whether we should move him into a larger bed or buy a new set of furniture for the new baby. Either way, we would have to start making our ideas a reality since it takes time to order and deliver furniture to this side of the world.

Then one day as I was visiting my usual website favorites Project Nursery, Pottery Barn Kids (I am in L-O-V-E with their bedding), BabySteals- just to name a few. I decided to enter Project Nursery's Kendall Low-Profile Crib Giveaway. I figured, what do I have to lose? There's a strong probability I won't win but you don't know unless you try, right?

Well, lady luck must have been on my side because I WON! I was one of two winners of this fabulous crib. It was delivered today and I have to tell you, I squealed like a child on Christmas Day when I opened my front door. It will stay in it's box until we arrive back in MD this summer but I am SO tickled we actually own it!

Here is a picture of the enormous box

The color swatch of the crib

The Kendall Low-Profile design

Crib color in the original Kendall design

This crib will match a dresser and rocking chair we currently have at my parent's home in MD. We can't wait to put it together for our new little one!!

A HUGE 'thank you' to the ladies at Project Nursery and Pottery Barn Kids for this amazing prize! We are indeed blessed!

Menu Plan Monday and 18 weeks!

Well today I am 18 weeks! You know what that means- only two more weeks until the anatomy scan! Of course we are getting really anxious to see our baby again and make sure he/she is doing great. Naturally, we are also excited to see if Dominic will have a baby sister or brother to love on in a few months. We shall see!

I am feeling great! I have started feeling tiny flutters and last night, one good kick. Craving all kinds of dairy products like yogurt, cheese, ice cream and just plain 'ole skim milk. My new thing is Cheerios and milk in the morning. With Dominic, I craved Mexican food (not too easy to find in Central VA), peanut butter, and pineapple. I know that sounds terribly weird. I can still see my feet (yay) but I have definitely popped. My favorite pair of jeans are the skinny pair from Old Navy.com. I could literally sleep in them- they're just that comfortable. Oddly enough, my pre-pregnancy tops still fit and I am thoroughly enjoying it.

I've also been trying to be more organized in all areas of life. And one of my biggest organizational hurdles is trying to maintain a menu every week for the family. Dinner is a big deal in this house. All 3 (well, 4 by proxy) sit down every night to eat dinner as a family and what we eat holds a lot of weight. I stumbled upon a website that has all kinds of organizational tips, downloads and ideas for keeping your house (and your mind) in order. It's called I'm An Organizing Junkie and there seems to be a ton of good ideas and information.

Menu Plan Monday allows you to link up your blog post on the website so other blog readers can see what kinds of dinners they have planned for their families. I have already got some great ideas to give our menu some variety. Here is our menu for the week:

Monday: Homemade Roasted Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese

Tuesday: Rotisserie Chicken with Potatoes and Peas

Wednesday: Sausage and Tortellini Soup

Thursday: Spinach and Mushroom Quesadillas

Friday: Spaghetti with homemade marinara

Saturday: Leftovers!

Hope you have a great week!

L-O-V-E

We had the best Valentine's Day weekend!

We took the little man to hear Valentine's stories and make crafts, cooked a fantastic meal and exchanged presents! Here are some photos from the weekend!

Making Daddy some artwork

L is for Love!

Rockin my new T-shirt

Our sweet Valentine :)

Candy and hearts!

Happy Valentine's Day to our family and friends!

We love dinosaurs!

We look the little man to the Natural History museum not far from the AFB today. He had a ball running around the museum seeing all the dinosaur fossils. They also had some stuffed wild animals and Dominic couldn't take his eyes off most of them. :)

Please excuse the crappy photos. Note to self: get a new P&S!

Our cutie


Dominic's favorite :)


I love to dig for dinosaurs!


HA! Shovel!


He found so many!

We are so glad we brought him there! We'll be making another trip back soon!

Big news....huge!

We're pregnant and due in July! I am currently 14 weeks pregnant with our second child and we are super excited to be adding one more to the Lanasa clan!

Stay tuned for updates!

Some recent photos of us!

We had TONS of fun while we were home for the holidays. We can't wait to get back there in June!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing all our family, friends and blog readers a Merry Christmas!

First visit with Santa!

Okay, so we've been horrendously busy this Christmas season but I had to add these photos for your viewing pleasure. We visited Santa today and it went SO much better than I thought it would. Well, have a look for yourself!

And then the elf tried to tickle him...

Merry Christmas everyone!

Thanksgiving - Alaska style!

We had a great Thanksgiving! We made the turkey and all the trimmings. And we got to play in the snow! We ended up with about 6 inches and it was the first white Thanksgiving we've ever had. It was a lot of fun! Here are some photos from the day!

Monkey in the Museum!

I took Dominic down to Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center for their first annual Fall Carnival! There were all sorts of activities for kids, snacks and spooky stories. It was so cute seeing all the kids in their costumes.

And of course, Dominic had a great time! Here are a few photos from today:

Time for autumn!

Infections, distractions and sunsets

We had quite a weekend. It started out with Dominic coming down with a double ear infection. After two trips to the ER, antibiotics and many sleepless nights I think he is finally on the mend. I don't think there is anything scarier than having baby who is running a 103.6 degree fever and feeling helpless. I was so busy taking care of him, that I barely had any time to take photos for class much less complete the photo challenge.

But in any case, here is at least one photo I took for the "sunset" portion of the challenge:

This is the sky just over our backyard looking West. The colors were amazing!

I hope everyone is having a great week!

Wordless Wednesday [father & son]