This is what 22 weeks looks like...

...the second time around. :)

I had my 22/23 weeks check-up on Wednesday, and everything looks great! Baby's heartbeat is perfect, she's kicking around like crazy, and I finally gained some weight. I got a lecture at my last appointment because I had only gained 2 pounds in my entire pregnancy up until that point (even though my belly was already pretty big). Apparently all that king cake did the trick!

And yes, I said SHE! I think we've already told most everyone, but my 20-wk ultrasound revealed that baby Powers #2 is another girl! Andrew says we're going to try for #3 now, but I think he is failing to take the following information into consideration:

1. We've yet to win the Louisiana lottery,
2. Baby #3 could also very likely be a girl (there being a 50/50 chance and all), and
3. He is a really great Daddy to little girls.

We would have been super excited either way, but at least now we don't have to buy any clothes, bibs, blankets, etc. in any blue shades. I think we've decided on Hannah for baby's first name, but we're still working on a middle name. Please keep this little one in your prayers as she continues to grow. We can't wait to meet her in just four months! Crazy.

Caption: Apparently baby girl already shares her father's proclivity for mooning people.

It's Carnival time

We decided to skip the extended Super Bowl/Mardi Gras celebration (a.k.a. "South Louisiana has completely lost its mind") and head up north to Shreveport to spend some time with friends and family during our mini-vacation. It was sleeting and snowing the morning before we planned to leave, so we even scored an extra snow day off! Nothing stuck to the ground down here, but Lucy sure did love trying to catch the snowflakes. And she rocked her pink cold weather ensemble quite well.

Uncle Mike and Aunt Katie came in town (from Arkansas and Texas, respectively) to love on Lucy, and we got to spend a lot of quality time with Boogie and Pop Pop, too. Lucy especially enjoyed getting to play "pajama dress-up party" in all of Boogie's jewelry. Don't we look like the height of fancy?

We took in some lunch at Superior and had a grand time at the annual Hank & Audrey birthday party/Mardi Gras bash at the Welch household. It's so nice to get the chance to hang out with so many friends our age with kids and to just let them all run a little wild! The Cate girls were nice enough to let us ride with them in their Barbie-themed float, so Lucy got to participate in the kiddie parade that rolled up and down East Kings Highway throwing candy and beads.

On Sunday, we got in a short visit with Nana and PawPaw who were visiting from Dallas and then had lunch at Imperial Cathay with Honey. Lucy's a lucky girl to be able to see all of her grandparents in one weekend! Honey had a super special Valentine's Day present waiting for Lucy at the restaurant. His name is Max and he is so huggable!

And because we completely and totally refused to nap pretty much during our entire visit, Lucy missed most of the visit I had with my wonderful high school friends Lisa and Jen. We met at the park, but it was so cold that we had to move to library to keep talking (in whispers). Lucy threw a tantrum and had to go home, but cutie Caroline Walls was an absolute perfect angel. Love that little one! I miss these ladies like crazy and it was great to catch up and learn about all the happiness in their lives right now.

Special thanks to Boogie for keeping Lucy so we could go out on a Valentine's double date with Aunt Katie and Dave at Olive Street Bistro. It was cold in the restaurant, they weren't offering their regular menu (big disappointment), and the musical entertainment was horrid, but... it was a Date Night, people!!!

There's never enough time to do everything and see everyone we want to on these visits. I wished we lived closer to everybody so these fun times could happen more often, but we so cherish the times we get to share with those we love. Laissez les bon temp rouler!

Big fun at The Little Gym

I'm just getting around to posting these pictures from Lucy's first "school" birthday party from a few weekends ago. It was a gymnastics free-for-all for 2-yr. old Haydon at The Little Gym, and Lucy had an absolute ball! I think she was one of the youngest kids there, but she went all out for each activity. Her lack of fear is a little bit scary to me sometimes, but... I guess it's better than the alternative? Such a great toddler energy-expending activity on a cold Sunday afternoon. We might look into taking a couple of Mommy & me classes there soon.

Chasing bubbles with the birthday boy

Enjoying birthday cake, ice cream, and juice with the big kids

Hugging her sweet friend from daycare, Jack Henry (it was too cute -- they would grasp each other and say, "Awwww!", tackle each other to the ground laughing, and then get up and do the whole thing over again)

Like I was saying... no fear. But just look at that satisfied smile on her face at the end. "Susy" (as she calls herself now) thinks she is some pretty big stuff!

Just say no

We were trying to get a picture of Lucy with yogurt all over her face after a messy self-feeding session, and as soon as Andrew turned the camera on her all we got was a resounding, "NO!" This is one of the few sentiments we seem to be able to convey with absolutely no confusion these days.

Splish, splash I was taking a bath

We're moving on up... to the big girl tub!  We still have a Sesame Street bumper around the tub edges, and a non-slip mat on the bottom, but Lucy's now having a blast splashing and kicking around in all that space.  She's also highly interested in standing up to clean the shower walls with her wash cloth.  Fine by me!  Baby girl loves bath time (except when I have to wash her crazy toddler hair).

A post-bath snuggle with Daddy and Elmo is just the thing to get us ready for bed.

Let's go fly a kite

We took Lucy to the park last weekend to fly our Pooh Bear kite for the first time, and it was a big hit!  It was warm enough to head out without coats (notice Andrew in shorts), the sun was shining in full force, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.  In south Louisiana, you just never know if you're going to be wearing short sleeves or a ski jacket in January.  Beautiful day.

P.S. I think this bottom picture perfectly illustrates what happens to little girls at the end of a long day when they refuse to take a nap!  :)