It's a Girl! We're pretty sure...

We had another ultrasound this past Friday, thanks to our favorite Dr Karns, and we basically got the same results as the week before. Sigh. I really wouldn't be concerned if I didn't know two people who had multiple ultrasounds and ended up having a baby of the opposite gender! I've been practicing saying, "We're having a girl", and I have received my first two girl clothing items. I even bought a cute dress online last night when I was ordering a gift for my new niece. So, I am taking baby steps into "pink waters" and praying that I really get to use the cute clothes and girly nursery! Since I cleaned out Owen's closet and moved him into Ethan's room, the nursery is really looking empty. The two lone girl items are just the beginning of some fun shopping!

Just like Daddy

Yesterday Chris' dad brought us a TON of Chris' clothes, toys, and memorabilia from when he was growing up. We've had a lot of fun going through it all and coming across some very exciting finds. Chris was thrilled beyond belief to find his missing box of baseball and basketball cards, while I was excited to get some very vintage clothes for the boys! There were some really fun shirts and jeans that looked like a lot of the clothes that are in style now. We had fun dressing up this morning seeing what would fit... Amazingly, I think Chris was skinnier than the boys are!

Bunkbeds!

I had truly expected this post to be much more entertaining...or to at least have a good story or two...but amazingly enough, it's been pretty uneventful around here with two boys sharing a bed room! We got the bunk beds a few weeks ago and went back and forth on when we were going to transition Owen from his crib to Ethan's room. We tried him in the bunk once, and he was totally for it until the light went off. Tears ensued along with cries of, "No bunk beds. Crib!". Last weekend, though, I got some sort of nesting bug and moved all of Owen's clothes over to Ethan's closet. I guess Owen decided that he needed to move too. He grabbed his plug, blanket, and animals, and climbed up on his bed. He hasn't gone back to the crib since. I was SO nervous that they would wake each other up. I hardly slept the first night listening for Ethan to yell out he had to go potty or something. But like my other friends had told me, they can sleep through anything! Owen has since thrown up in the middle of the night, Ethan has had nightmares, and the other one hasn't moved. Needless to say, I have been very encouraged. It's still a little weird walking by an empty nursery. I almost got a little sad the other night, but then I remembered that we will be filling it up in about three and a half months, and I wasn't sad anymore. Just thankful for a full night's rest!

Silver Dollar City 2010

We took our traditional family trip to SDC last weekend to see the Christmas lights and do some Christmas shopping. The weather could not have been nicer on Friday when we went to the park. (last year it was barely 30 degrees...this year is was a balmy 75)
Ethan is finally tall enough to ride the kid rides; unfortunately, Owen is not, and he was not happy about it. Chris and Ethan went on a few rides while Owen and I waited.
We spent most of our time in the "tree house" area where the boys climbed, went down slides, and play in the ball area. I kept wishing we had something like that closer to our house...we'd have a good nap time everyday!
We also took the traditional Christmas train ride and heard the Christmas story. Owen was so excited about the "choo choo". We stayed long enough to eat dinner, drink some wassail and catch the parade with the Christmas tree lighting. The boys were more than exhausted at that point...Owen was asleep before we left the parking lot!

The next morning we enjoyed breakfast with our buddies, the Harris', and then we all went for a swim in the indoor pool. We attempted the outlet mall briefly, but it was INSANE. All in all, it was the perfect little family trip!

It's a...

...a healthy baby! Yes, that's right, we still do not know the gender of Baby #3. We had our ultrasound this past Friday, complete with grandparents in attendance, but this baby decided to be either shy or stubborn (or both). As we kept looking for some clear indicators, I kept thinking, "This has to be a girl. She's already giving me grief!". The doctor worked for about 30 minutes trying to get a clear shot, and from what we could see there were no "boy parts"...but there were no super clear "girl parts" either. We were told we could go out and start buying pink things but to leave the tags on. Not the answer I was looking for! Thankfully, our dear friend Dr Karns has agreed to do an ultrasound this coming week when we're in Stillwater for Thanksgiving. Hopefully then Baby will be a little more cooperative. I seriously have some shopping to do if this is a girl!

Even though we didn't find out the gender as soon as we'd planned, we do feel VERY blessed to have a healthy baby. It is truly a miracle that I am able to grow life inside of me, and it never gets old seeing that baby move around in there. We found out that baby measured exactly one day off from my expected due date, which was encouraging, and we told the doctor that we were planning on doing a home birth if he didn't see any "red flags". He was able to give us the go ahead saying he saw absolutely nothing to be concerned about. So, Lord willing, we're going to move forward meeting with our midwife, Jennifer, and meeting this little one around the first of April!

Fall, Fun, and Friends

It's that time of year again when our trees dump loads and loads of leaves into our backyard. In the past it's just been a pain, but as the boys are getting older, seeing them get so excited to jump in piles of leaves has given me a little more incentive to rake them up. Last week the boys and I spent a full morning outside raking (done by me) and jumping (done by them). It was so fun watching them take such joy obliterating my piles that it made the blisters worth it! (yes, blisters...I am a city girl.)
Later that afternoon we had our buddies, the Crawford boys, over to enjoy the leaf jumping. Owen and Sawyer could have cared less when they saw pop corn for snacks. It was so cute watching them eat and interact together. I think we may have another set of buds forming.

19 and 20 months...

Oh, my sweet little Owen is growing up! It seems like lately when I look at him, he's less and less my little baby and is becoming a little boy. I know that's really going to be the case when Baby #3 gets here...

He's still my little cuddle bug...he loves to give hugs and make an "awwww" sound when he does it. Every night he asks to "rock" before I put him in his bed, so I happily oblige. (I'm really not used to having a kid that likes cuddling!) He's more of a "momma's boy" than his big brother ever was, but as he's getting older I see him really enjoying rough housing and playing with Chris more and more. He and Chris have bonded over Yoda from Star Wars. After Owen got over being scared of Chris dressed up as Yoda for Halloween, he's started requesting to watch Yoda on YouTube with Chris. Owen's impersonation of Yoda is hilarious.

Owen's little personality is definitely developing more and more. He's really laid back when he's laid back...and then when he's unhappy, he's really unhappy. I have watched in shock as he's thrown some of the biggest fits I have seen! In fact, I ended up on the phone with my mom yesterday asking what in the world do I do with him!!! But when he is happy, he's hilarious. He's really into dancing and singing (very loudly). He still loves lawn mowers and weed eaters. He's really gotten into praying at dinner or when he's in trouble (very convenient). His meal time prayers consists of him saying "Paw Paw", "Papi" and "Daddy" over and over again. Those guys are definitely covered in prayer every day. And my favorite "new thing" is him singing and talking to the baby my belly. He's quite sweet - giving it hugs, kisses, and talking sweetly. I pray that continues when the baby is out in the world...

Halloween Weekend

We celebrated Halloween over several days this past weekend. It was kicked off by a party at Chris' work where the boys broke in their Batman costumes. Then on Saturday Grandma Debbie and Lynn came in town to help us celebrate some more. The boys enjoyed getting spoiled with some fun gifts and candy, and of course getting some quality time with them. Saturday night we went to a park near our house where a church was putting on a Halloween event. The boys were able to walk around in their costumes, get a little candy, play a few games, and still get home for a relatively early bedtime. Both boys were Batman that night, and they were amazed at how many other Batman there were around!
Sunday afternoon we had a neighborhood party in our driveway complete with friends, wonderful food, games, and a bounce house. Ethan started out as Batman but ended up as Ironman (and I think was Superman at one point in there...). Owen started out dressed as our neighbor, Bob, complete with khaki shorts, plain t-shirt, yellow hat and a lawn mower (all-Bob uniform). As the night got cooler, though, Owen reverted back to Batman with more layers. I was Bat Momma, and Chris was Yoda - till he made Owen and two other neighbor kids cry.
We closed the night off by some trick or treating all the way to the downtown square where another church had some festivities planned. At that point, all the kids (and parents) were pretty wiped out and ready to wrap up Halloween 2010. As my mom likes to say, "We made some memories!" Now on to Thanksgiving!