valentine's day

both kids got a ridiculous amount of valentines and treats at school today!  not to mention goodie packages from both sets of grandparents.  i went out and bought them balloons from matt and me after dropping them off this morning.  maddux was the happiest boy in the world to help carry all three through the grocery store.  it was also funny to see all of the men doing their floral shopping - they just seemed so confused and out of their element.

madelyn brought valentines, candy and cups for her valentine's day party at school and i had signed mason up for "goodie bag/treat" along with bringing valentine's day cards for his party.  we got a little craft, a bouncy ball and playdoh for each of the kids and put them in a little pink bag.  i figured that they were getting enough candy already and didn't add any to the bag.  we were way off on the goodie bag!  mason got several goodie bags (even though we were the only one's signed up) from kids in his class.  there were stuffed animals, candies, pencils, toys, coloring books, stickers, etc. - in just one of them!  oh well.  matt thought i had gotten too much and i would have bought more.  we also didn't write mason's name on the goodie bags which, again, was apparently wrong.  oh well.

we had never gotten around to making valentine's cards for daddy so we were decorating hearts when he surprised us by coming home early!  matt and i exchanged cards (and i.o.u.s since we don't buy each other gifts) and instead of going out for dinner (honestly, i wasn't feeling up for it), matt went out to pick up pizza while i made a salad.  after dinner we watched our newest dvd addition - lady and the tramp.  it was a perfect way to spend the evening and the kids really enjoyed snuggling up under the blankets on the couch with us.

we hope that you had a love filled day too!  love.

heart ball

matt was invited (asked) to attend the annual american heart association heart ball.  i was looking forward to a night out and a nice dinner.  the kids were excited to have their babysitter come over again (madelyn had been 'dressed up' for her all day).

madelyn writing her name on the valentine's for school while 'dressed-up' for the babysitter.

since we were dressed up we thought that we should at least try to take a picture.  i was so excited that one of my long gowns would fit over my belly.  this one had just enough stretch in the velvet to not look like a sausage casing on me.

madelyn took this one (maddux wanted to be in it too and i am still wearing my house shoes - being flat footed and pregnant makes walking around on the hardwoods painful, so i wear shoes with arches in the house)

mason wanted a turn and took this one with madelyn in it

and matt took this belly shot, just shy of 23 weeks

we had a nice time at the heart ball; given that we didn't really know anyone (matt knew two of the people at our table).  everyone was a little sad when they said that they tried to make 'healthy' selections for dinner.  it was good, just not the rich, saucy goodness you hope for at a black tie event.  but it is the heart association - they should set a good example.

i was glad that we were able to go and was equally happy to go back home when it was over.  i got emotional when they showed a video about the girl who was there to be a spokes person for pediatric heart research (the fundraiser purpose for the night).  matt and i have been so blessed with healthy babies and we do not take it for granted.  love.

mops valentine's day party

friday was a super busy morning so that we could go to the mops valentine's day lunch with the kids after school.  they had set up a craft ('lovebug' masks) and cookie decorating before a shared lunch.  mason had helped me pick out the veggies for our dip at the grocery store that morning.  he picked carrots, broccoli and green peppers.

mason coloring the hearts orange on his 'lovebug'.  he is getting really good at coloring inside the lines!  he has always been more interested in coloring that madelyn.  she still likes to just scribble in the page most of the time (she can color in the lines but just doesn't see the need).

madelyn was pretty excited about the whole thing - the girl loves a 'party'.

and maddux was happy to find yet another bench to sit on.  he loves sitting on new chairs/benches.

it was pretty crowded in the little room and several of the moms commented that they will have to look for a larger location next year.  thankfully, maddux was very good about staying right with me and holding my hand so that i didn't have to hold him the whole time.  i was so proud of maddux when he finished his grapes and took the vine over to the trash can to throw it away without having been asked - not bad for a one-year-old.  we had a nice time but didn't stay around very long after lunch.  it was a difficult set up to keep an eye on all three kids.  plus, it was past naptime.  glad we were able to go, the kids had a lot of fun!  love.

wiggle worm

and now we know that the baby is a boy!  i am not getting rid of our girl baby items just yet due to the angle we could see from and the proximity of the umbilical cord, but it's a boy.  he flipped his head from my right side to my left side while the tech was trying to measure his head.  i had warned her that he moves a lot and almost all the time.

in  this picture he is looking up - at his shins!  he was in this jack-knife position for the ultrasound with his ankles crossed.  i think he might be the only one who had their legs straight for the entire ultrasound.

full arm shot - when i saw the arm i started to think that our chances of a girl were very slim.

full leg shot

he is looking forward in this shot (his face is the middle oval)

and here are his hand held up above his head

and here are his straight legs with crossed ankles on the left-side of the picture

we were so certain of a girl that we didn't even have a boy name picked out - or even discussed.  funny enough, i think we agreed to one before we got to the restaurant for dinner - first and middle.  we will most likely pick at least one other name so that we can decide what suits him once we get to meet him.  now we will get started on our preparations.  we have both grandmas visiting in march but after that we will get maddux into the toddler bed so that we can move him to a twin bed before baby is born.

madelyn has been so excited about the ultrasound and had her heart set on a sister.  she stood right next to me through the first half of the ultrasound whispering about the baby and trying to stay interested in everything that wasn't telling her boy or girl.  she finally went off to play with mason and maddux.  mason came over and heard that it was a boy, but madelyn somehow missed us talking about it.  as we were getting ready to leave the doctors' office, she asked if the baby was a boy or girl.  when i told her that it was a boy she broke down in tears.  she was really devastated.  i told her that i only had brothers and it would be okay.  she calmed down a little and by the time we got to the restaurant was able to talk about a baby boy without crying.  she still gets sad a little, but i think she will like being the only girl when she gets a little older and doesn't have to share a room. 

matt and i were a little disappointed too at first because we were so sure that it was going to be a girl.  but the more we have gotten used to the idea, we are really excited that it is a boy.  matt will have an all-male foursome for golf too.

we are so excited to meet him!  love.

girl or boy?

tomorrow is the big day!  let's hope that little baby cooperates so that we can find out girl or boy.  i am feeling girl - every thing about this pregnancy reminds me of being pregnant with madelyn, but i have been wrong before...

madelyn thinks it's a girl and mason thinks it's a boy.  we have been working on being happy with either option because God knows what our family needs.  it seems like they are both okay with whatever and tell us that the other option is okay whenever they say what they hope the baby is.

we can't wait!  the appointment isn't until late afternoon so it might not be until friday that i get a chance to post the news.  i am also interested to see how the ultrasound is here because they sent home instructions about drinking 16oz and eating a meal 1-1/2 hours before the appointment.  this is the first time i have ever had instructions like this and when i mentioned it to the neighbor (did i mention we have been having playdates with one of the neighbors?) she said that it is a really big deal around here.  they almost sent her home because she had gone to the bathroom before her appointment!  we will see. love.

traffic light

last week at school mason made a school bus with a sticker of his school picture on it and a paper traffic light.  he loves them!  i think that they are his favorite things made at school thus far (he is currently working on an airplane that he seems pretty excited about).  there is a little poem or song that goes with the traffic light and mason has been telling us what the lights mean almost every day.  he has even brought it in the car a few times so that he can help with the 'backseat driving'.

the video is a few days after he brought them home so some of the enthusiasm and gestures have lessened but i still think he is pretty cute.

mason was the snack friend today so i made him 'traffic lights' (and grapes) to share with his friends.  he was pretty excited and madelyn, maddux and i were happy to try the left overs after school.  yummy!

i love that he is excited about what he is doing in school.  we have requested four days a week for him next year because he loves it so much (and i will have my hands full with maddux and 'new baby' while he and madelyn are in school).  love.

61 and sunny in january?!

what?  crazy warm for this time of year and we were not going to spend it indoors.  we weren't the only ones who thought of going to the zoo either - it was packed.  mainly it was packed when we went to find a table to eat lunch in the cafe - more on that in a minute.

i let maddux walk the majority of the time again.  he does such a great job of staying with us and coming right back when called.  we have even been working on holding hands in the parking lot and i would say that he is doing better than madelyn and mason did when we first started (i.e. i don't have to pick him up because he pulls away from me).  for some reason madelyn was very focused on maddux and 'helping' him walk to the next exhibit.

i should have taken video of this part, but madelyn was assisting maddux to the exhibit and telling him about the snow leopard while mason was running back and forth as the snow leopard paced in the exhibit.

and then we made it to the cafe for lunch.  it was very crowded and after looking around for a while i realized that all of the highchairs were taken.  so i just had maddux 'sit' in a regular chair.  what was a little frustrating is the table next to us had two highchairs and at least one of the children was closer to mason's age than maddux'.  not only that, but the boy was not sitting in the highchair but going through our stroller instead! and the two women at his table didn't say a single thing. now, i really should have just asked for the highchair they weren't using (maddux was having a difficult time sitting in the chair because it was open in back and his feet kept sliding back and getting stuck) but i didn't.  later in our meal maddux fell out of the chair and bit his tongue.  it bled quite a bit and i was wearing a white shirt.  thankfully, it wasn't very bad and stopped bleeding pretty quickly.  but i did put him back in the stroller once he calmed down because i didn't want to risk him falling again.  i was glad when lunch was over and we were able to get back on our way.

maddux was telling madelyn about the lion.  i tried to get the lion in the shot too but couldn't get the angle right.

like i said, it was a warm and sunny day...

so mason decided that he should wear his sunglasses.

part of walking for maddux means stopping to try out every bench we passed.

we always have to stop by the train with the bell.  it is stationary but the kids love playing on it and i usually have to persuade them to move on and see the rest of the zoo.

i was hesitant to take and then post this picture of madelyn because i was always the 'flamingo' when i was little.  but we were talking about how her outfit matched the flamingos' colors and then she showed me how she could stand on one leg just like them.

i feel so lucky to have somewhere to take the kids for some outside time and that we had such a beautiful day in january!  it makes me so excited for spring and spending time outside every day.  love.