Our number one concern is that baby is healthy…

Number two concern is that there is only one baby in there…

We’ve talked a lot about whether we want another boy or a girl. Each has their pros and cons, but I think we both agree a girl would be awesome… It sounds like a lot of our family is rooting for a girl too. Hopefully the baby cooperates and shows us what we need to see.

Also, here’s a recording from last month’s appointment that I forgot to post. It’s either the baby’s heartbeat or a clip from “The Hunt for Red October” sound effect reel.

I’m pretty sure my heart will be beating this fast (160 beats per minute for anyone that is curious) until tomorrow afternoon. I’ve been waiting for this appointment for a few months.

We took Ian to the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis for the first time last weekend. It went a lot better than I expected… sometimes Ian gets shy and clingy when we’re in public, but he was the exact opposite over there. Mal’s parents came with us and I think it turned out to be a pretty good day.

We spent most of our time in an exhibit called Playscapes that is for children 5 and under. Ian had a good time playing with water, sand, a kitchen, a construction Bobcat and lots of climbing the stairs in the treehouses. I think stairs are a novelty item for him since we don’t have any.

Ian is still talking about the choo-choos that he saw in the train exhibit. He walked through there with Grandpa John and I think they both had a good time.

I am still fascinated by the big water clock in the front of the museum. I remember staring at it for a long time when I went there as a kid. It was a lot bigger in my head… but I’ve grown a little bit in the years since I’ve been there.

The glass tower art installation was pretty neat… I took way too many pictures of it. Speaking of pictures, there are more from this trip over on my Flickr page.

Ian wasn’t very interested in the big dinosaur skeletons on display in the Dinosphere exhibit, but he had a great time playing toy dinosaurs with Grandpa John.

The Dora and Diego exhibit was a madhouse. I think the adults all enjoyed the other exhibits more. Something about the older kids yelling and running around the little kids… oh well. Before I know it Ian will be one of those older kids stressing everyone out.

Ian played in the little garden area for quite a while…

We took a quick walk through some of the other areas of the museum but they were pretty packed and Little Man was well past his nap time so we just kept on going.

My favorite part was seeing Ian have fun. He walked like a big boy and talked like a big boy and played like a big boy… he even tried to take some pictures. I don’t think my job is in danger anytime soon, but seeing him look through the camera really makes me smile.

Here’s one of Ian’s pictures from my point and shoot camera… the rest were mostly of the floor and his legs. We’ll work on his composition later.

He must have played hard… he was passed out in the back seat before we even got out of town.

It was a fun trip and I definitely see us going back again…

May- My first official Mother’s Day! Ian tried to make me a heart with a hand print in it. His hand didn’t cooperate too well, but I still love it.

Stephen started biking after I won him a free bike in an insurance drawing. He had been wanting to start for a long time, so it was a great win!

June - Stephen & I took our first real vacation together since our Honeymoon. We went to Vegas (our first time there together) & had a great time even though it was over 100 degrees every day! While we were gone Ian had an extended slumber party with Grandma Lorri, Grandpa John & Reggie where he learned to say his first two-word saying – “Uh Oh”

It was Stephen’s first Father’s Day & Ian’s first trip to the zoo. We went to the Scovill Zoo in Decatur, but it was about 105 degrees out so the trip didn’t last too long. Ian did like petting the (devil) goats for awhile though.

July - Ian’s first birthday!

We picked our first tomatoes from our first family veggie garden in late July. Ian LOVED checking the garden everyday & even knew which ones were ready to pick. Hopefully he gets a better green thumb than me.

August - Our niece Audrey was born.

Ian & I went to Holiday World with my parents, Grandma, Aunt & cousins. Ian rode his first amusement park rides & really liked it. I think he is going to love roller coasters when he grows up – just like mom & dad!

We took a family trip to the Ozarks (courtesy of Jimmy) with a couple from my office & their daughter, Rubye. It was Ian’s first time on a boat – a yacht  – and he seemed to like it a lot. The lake kept putting him to sleep though. He fell asleep every time we took him swimming in it & while riding on a speedboat!

September - Our niece Amara turned 1.

October - Ian had his first haircut – he did really well considering we took him right before nap time.

We took a few trips to Curtis Orchard where Ian rode the ponies & fed the goats. I got the most amazing salsa ever – try the corn salsa from there if you ever get a chance.

Ian was a green dragon for Halloween. He liked his costume so much that he insisted on wearing it to the grocery store that night.

November - Stephen went to Georgia for his best friend Chris’ wedding. It was freakishly cold for Georgia that weekend, so their outdoor wedding had to be moved inside. Otherwise they had a great time.

Thanksgiving with 4 kids under 2.5 years old = ridiculousness. We found out a couple of days later that we are expecting baby #2, but we didn’t tell our families until…

December - We cut down our Christmas tree & Ian was very disturbed to see a tree on top of our car.

Ian behaved wonderfully all day Christmas Eve & Christmas. It was a Christmas miracle! He knew Santa was someone cool, but he didn’t really get why yet. He LOVES the school bus he got at the JJ’s Christmas party, but the best present was probably his new best friend – Bearemy – that Grandpa Gary gave him.

Stephen’s last day at the Herald & Review was December 31. Ian & I are thrilled about this because we actually get to see him during the week now!

January - Ian began staying at home with Stephen on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. He still goes to daycare Tuesdays & Thursdays.

We officially announced Babywatch 2011 after our 1st Dr. appointment. We got to hear the heartbeat so it feels a little more real now. Our due date is currently set at July 31, but we will get an official due date after my ultrasound in March.

I finally got to have a girl’s weekend with two of my college roommates – Jessie & Steph (it was snowed out in December). We stayed up until 3:30 am one night/morning – I’m pretty sure I was in labor the last time I stayed up that late!

Ian has discovered climbing, so we tried changing his crib into a toddler bed. Let’s just say that didn’t go too well. He is back to sleeping in the crib for a while & I am just hoping he doesn’t figure out how to climb out of it.

And that brings you up to now!

–Mallory

I don’t have any major changes planned for Earth Day this year. I’d love to say that we are putting in solar panels and a wind turbine, but that’s not going to happen anytime soon.

The most important thing that I plan on doing this year is to keep teaching Ian about the outdoors. He loves going outside. It’s fun to keep track of how many things we can find in just our yard when we go out exploring. Green grass. Blue sky. Yellow sun. Brown trees. Yellow dandelions. Purple flowers on the ground. Red flowers in a bush. Bunny rabbit. Puppy dog. Kitty cat. Squirrel. Red bird (cardinal). Brown bird (sparrow, mourning dove). Black bird (starling, robin, grackle, woodpecker). Tiny leaves (honey locust). Prickly needles (pine). Big leaves (maple).

Now we just need to make sure he doesn’t try to put everything he finds in his mouth…

Mallory and I got this washer and dryer from my grandfather’s house when we got married. I don’t have the old manuals in front of me, but I think these appliances are around 15 years old. We can’t complain, though… they worked and the price was right (free).

The pump motor went out on the washer last week, putting a bunch of water out on the kitchen floor. The service man I spoke with said it would cost almost as much to replace the part on this model than to buy a new one. That wasn’t really the answer I wanted to hear, but didn’t surprise me too much.

I had to take a few loads of clothes to the laundromat down the street over the weekend. Normally not the worst thing in the world, but the creepy guy in the corner was paying a little too much attention to me while I was folding Mallory’s clothes. It was odd.

While doing research on new models we became pretty excited about the energy and water efficiency on this combo… I actually think I’m more excited about the new washer and dryer than I really should be.

The delivery guys just left, and this is our new set… not only are they energy efficient, but they play a little song at the end of their cycles. I think I’m going to install a countertop above the set to help with folding, organization, etc.

Who am I kidding? I think I’m going to write “INSTALL LAUNDRY COUNTERTOP” on my to-do list. I’ll get to it eventually.

When I was a little kid I used to love riding along with my Grandpa Darrell, or Grampy, on his business trips to Chicago. He would pick me up at home and we’d drive north to several businesses in the suburbs and in the city. His business card claimed he worked for a printing company, but for a while I’d always imagined that he was a spy delivering secret documents to other undercover agents. Who would suspect a quiet-mannered Midwestern grandfather in a Ford Probe?

As I was driving to one of my assignments for work I realized I was slowly turning into Grampy. Not in a deeply profound way, just a “wow, this is a little weird” kind of thing. Some of my earliest memories come from riding shotgun with Grampy, so it only makes sense that I see some of his patterns in my own daily routines.

Despite the fact that neither of our job descriptions include the words taxi driver or chauffeur, most of our time for work is spent on the road. We both put more miles on our cars in a year than most people do in three or four. Almost all of that time is spent listening to talk radio or the occasional ball game. My cupholder is always stocked with a fresh Diet Coke. My chap stick, change, gum and toothpicks are all in their own particular spots in my car. I keep a detailed log when I fill up my tank and track my mileage religiously. I know the best places to eat along almost any stretch of road in Illinois.

Of course a few things are a little different… I can make a phone call without having to pull over and stick the giant magnetic antenna from my bag phone on the roof of my car. Grampy’s music was a little more Southern Gospel and mine leans more toward alternative rock. His atlas is my GPS…

Some family members are the kind of people that tell hundreds of stories and try to load your head with advice on any subject under the sun. Maybe I wasn’t paying attention (which is a huge possibility), but I don’t remember Grampy as that kind of person. He was more of a “lead-by-example” kind of guy.

Hopefully I’m following along in those footsteps too. Even if he wasn’t a spy.

Mal is away for the weekend on a business trip, but we’re using Skype so she can still see her boys. Ian seemed very confused about Mommy being in the computer, but he’s starting to get the hang of it now.

Hopefully it’s not something we have to use very often for us, but I’m hoping we can use it whenever we can so Ian can see grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, mistresses, etc. The added bonus of using the computer? You can see the baby without fear of being spit-up on…

Actually, in the middle of writing this post Ian and I had a little video-chat with Nathan and Jaci up in the suburbs… here’s their dog, Chief, taking a closer look at the baby in the computer.

Are any of you already on Skype? Look us up… Mal’s screen name is malloryhaas, and I went out on a limb with stephenhaas. If you aren’t already on, it’s free… so you just need a webcam on your computer to chat. Hopefully we’ll be seeing some of you soon.

Ian will turn six months later this week and he is growing up so fast on his way there… in the past couple of weeks he’s started sitting up on his own, drinking from a sippy-cup and now he’s started this big boy laughter. He giggled and smiled a lot, but never this kind of laughing. I honestly can’t stop watching it… even when the flu had me feeling miserable this clip would make me smile.

(I recommend clicking the little arrows and the HD symbol in the bottom right of the video above to watch it full screen.)

A few people have asked what made him laugh so hard… so here’s a little glimpse of his Daddy with a Diet Mt. Dew box on his head.

Apparently I’m pretty funny looking…

Sorry that I haven’t posted anything for more than four months… Ian keeps hogging the computer to check his Twitter feed.

Here’s a quick picture of the Haas men hunting for the perfect Christmas tree. I’m not sure if his method was spitting up on the ones he liked or didn’t like, so we just let Mal choose for us.

Ian waits on a bed while dressed in his "going home" outfit Thursday, July 16, 2009, at Provena Covenant Medical Center in Urbana, Ill.