How long can you keep a secret?

Well I have been keeping one for 20 weeks and I’m ready to let it out:

I’m Pregnant!

Baby Rigg #2 will be joining us in early July. (Due date is July 14^th)

We thought since we don’t live by family, it would be fun to keep it a secret until we found out the gender. We didn’t think it would be a problem to keep a secret for 20 weeks, but I’ll admit, it’s been harder than I thought. Especially since we went out to visit family for Thanksgiving and Christmas! Sure I was only in my first trimester, but I was also dealing with morning sickness. Luckily all the holiday food made a good cover. When I felt sick I just told people I ate too much. It was also a good excuse for my poochy belly. : ) Another road bump we hit was when my little sister noticed a different “aura” about me and asked me point blank if I was pregnant. Yikes! So here’s my confession to the world, I lied! (Sorry Liz!) I felt bad because she was so sure and even predicted the gender (which, as we found out today, she was right about!) So yes, it was tricky when we were staying with my family, but since we’ve been back in Tennessee it’s been smooth sailing.

So today we went to our 20 week ultrasound and found out that Teya will be getting a new little sister! Taber’s first reaction was, “Whoa, there’s gonna be a lot of hairspray around here!” But after getting over the shock of being out numbered 3 to 1, he is very happy to be expecting another little girl.

As far as my pregnancy goes, I was only sick for about 4 weeks in the beginning, but once I hit the 11^th week it got a lot better. I feel great now and am totally starting to show. In fact, I swear my belly just popped out overnight about 2 days ago! (I’m sure it doesn’t help that I’ve had mad cravings for Girl Scout cookies and other calorie laden goodies) I don’t mind the belly though. Teya likes to rub it and say “I got you baby, I got you” She also gives it hugs and kisses and always asks to “see” the baby. I think she’s going to be a great big sister.

Another fun fact is that two of my sisters are or were pregnant at the same time as me. Naomi just had her baby at the end of January, and Sarah is due 5 weeks after me! We actually took a funny picture at Naomi’s baby shower with Sarah and me stuffing our shirts to look pregnant. At the time, neither of us had announced our pregnancies, so even though all three of us are really pregnant in the picture, nobody else knew!

So now the secret’s out! 20 weeks down, 20 to go!

Girl Scout Cookies

A few days after Teya was born some Girl Scouts came knocking at my door with their wonderful boxes of cookies. I bought some Samoas and Thin Mints and I must say, those cookies were a great source of comfort to me in those first few weeks of adjusting to life with a newborn.

Now at the end of February I always get antsy, wondering when the Girl Scouts will be around with their cookies. This year I've been going crazy trying to get me a box of that partially hydrogenated goodness. I've done drive-bys at Wal-Mart, hoping to see them there, I've searched Craigslist and eBay, I even almost announced in Relief Society that I was looking for them, but didn't think that would be the appropriate venue.

Finally I was venting to Taber about it and he said, "Oh, you want Girl Scout cookies? I can get you some, I know a lady who's daughter is selling them, how many do you want?"

Oh my Goodness! Words cannot express how happy I was in that moment! Why didn't I think to ask Taber in the first place! duh! Anyway, long story short, I am now happily into my second box of Samoas and looking forward to many more afternoons with my delicious little friends.

Weekend Report

We had a great weekend, here are some highlights:
Friday Night: We got a babysitter and went up to Nashville to eat at the Cheesecake Factory! It was sooooooo good! It took us awhile to feel comfortable actually having a babysitter put Teya to bed, so this is only the second time since moving here that we've gotten away for the whole evening! Usually we either leave early and get back before her bedtime, or wait till she's asleep and then leave. It was awesome just being able to go and not worry about getting back early! I totally felt like we were back to our dating days, it was awesome!Saturday: Earlier in the week we set up a tent in the living room to keep Teya entertained on a snowy day. On Saturday we moved the tent upstairs into the guest room, put a blow up mattress inside it, and turned it into her very own jump house! We all know how much Teya loves to jump, needless to say it was hours of entertainment!
Sunday: We had dinner with an awesome family in our ward, the Lees, who are a Hmong family from Laos. Taber Home-teaches them and they always insist that we eat dinner when we come. Hmong food is the most amazing Asian cuisine, we were in taste bud heaven! Taber and I even conquered their hot pepper tomato dip! The Lees were so impressed they said that before we move they're going to give us Hmong names. : )

The life of a busy body toddler

Anyone who has a toddler knows that they can really keep you on your toes! They are always moving and looking for the next adventure. I put this little music video together in honor of Teya's never ending energy and toddler busy-body-ness.

Brrr!!!

I just looked out the window and this is what I saw. Snow in Tennessee! Okay, well maybe it's more of just a light dusting, but still, that's something I didn't think I would see while living here. I guess the folks around here aren't used to it either because they canceled school today over this! My friend says it doesn't snow often out here so when it does, people really freak out. They mob the grocery store and stock up on milk and bread like they're going to be "snowed in" all winter. : ) I think I'm going to get the fireplace going, make some hot cocoa, and spend the day with Teya making blanket forts, reading books, and staying warm indoors.

Daddy's Work

This last week Teya and I got the rare opportunity to visit Taber at work. It was actually our first time inside the building. We'd been to the parking lot before but since the plant isn't open to the public, we'd never been inside. We still couldn't go on the plant floor, but we got to see his office. As you can imagine, it was quite the treat for us to see his office and finally have a small idea of what his day looks like. Teya was in full charming mode and made all his coworkers "ooo and ahh" over her cuteness. She was giving high fives, blowing kisses, and telling everyone that she's one (even though she'll be two next month). The best part was that she got to raid Daddy's snack drawer full of General Mills goodies. She grabbed a bag of caramel Chex Mix and didn't put it down till it was gone.

Tennessee twisters

Last night we had a bit of a scare as several tornadoes touched down in Tennessee. We were on Tornado watch and then Tornado warning for part of the night. As we watched the storm move through counties right next to us on t.v., Taber scrambled to get our "safe place" ready with blankets and flashlights. Since we don't have a basement, the safest place in our house is our little half bathroom under the stairs. Not the ideal place to spend the night, but we were ready if necessary. Luckily the worst of it passed us by. We still had a night of howling winds, rain, thunder and lightening, but no funnel clouds. We woke up this morning and saw that over 11 people died in Tennessee from the storm. We feel very grateful and blessed that we were spared from the storm's devastation.

Another thing we learned from this experience is that we have a long way to go with getting our emergency preparedness things together. As Taber was gathering things together we realized we didn't have any batteries for our flashlights! We also only have one 72 hour kit for all three of us, and even that hasn't been updated for years. This was definitely a good wake up call to get those things in order!

Some of the damage to a mall in Memphis.

More Sunday Entertainment

We had another exciting sacrament meeting with Teya today. Here are two highlights worth mentioning:

1) When I closed my eyes and bowed my head for the prayer, Teya cupped her hands to her mouth and shouted, "WAKE UP MOMMY!!" Even I had to giggle at that one. : )

2) For whatever reason, Teya decided to snort down her string cheese snack like a wild and ravenous beast. I thought it was kind of disgusting but an older lady sitting behind us tapped me on the back and said, "It was worth coming to church just to see her eat that cheese!"

New Niece

Welcome to the family Brooklyn Noelani Hanks! This beautiful little baby is my newest niece, born just one week ago to my little sister Naomi and her husband Kevin. I'm so sad that she lives far away in Utah and I can't hold her, but I'm loving all the pictures and videos they've been sending! Thanks you guys!