Sea World–Take Two

We wanted to take advantage of our Sea World passes one more time before the heat set in, so we headed out on Jacob’s birthday.  I think the boys had an even better time this go round.  Elijah is a big fan of the shows and I’d have to say that the most fun part for me was to watch him laugh and clap during each of them.

My hatted boys.

I think this is the first time my boys have played anything similar to a video game.  They enjoyed it, but lost interest pretty quickly.

Waiting on the dolphin show…and for Daddy to bring the much anticipated popcorn!

Splash Park:It was just hot enough to be a little uncomfortable and when we first when to seek the cool comfort of the splash park area it was closed due to a faraway storm.  Thank goodness they changed their minds and opened it up…after we changed them into and out of their bathing suits twice :)

Snack time with a  ham while we wait on Daddy and Josiah in the rope climbing/slide play area:Josiah talked most about seeing the whale show all day long, but I think we were just to tired to care much by the time we went.  We walked out early.

We had a great time, but this pregnant Mommy definitely decided that that was the last time until cooler weather this fall, when we may just take a wheelchair rather than a stroller so that we can all benefit!  (It actually wasn’t that bad, but any hotter and it would have been!)  The best part of it all is how the boys zonk out in the car and are easily slipped into bed without any hoopla when we get home.

Self Discipline

I just thought this was funny and wanted to post it.  It may give odd insight to our parenting methods, but that’s ok. 

I always feed the boys their veggies before the remainder of the meal to make sure they eat them.  I called them to the table to start their veggies the other night and, as usual, Josiah hopped right up to scarf them down because he loves anything edible.  Elijah, on the other hand, isn’t such a fan of anything green, so he started complaining.  I told him he could choose between sitting in his seat at the table or he could sit in the corner.  He said “sit, corner” and walked to the corner and sat there quietly for a good five minutes.  I figured I’d ride it out and see how it ended.  Next thing I knew he was crawling out of the corner and down the hallway (he always pretends to be a dog when he’s getting out of the corner).  He crawled right up to his seat, got in, buckled himself in, and started eating his veggies as soon as I gave them to him.  He ate it all without trouble!

It was the easiest discipline experience I’ve had yet as a parent :)

It’s A…

BOY!  We think.

Today, at 12.5 weeks, I had a routine OB visit and our little spitfire was kicking the doppler while Dr. Million was trying to listen to the heart beat (which was steady in the 140’s).  Just for fun, she put the ultrasound on to take a peak at the movement and, sure enough, he (?) was kicking around!  While she was there, she looked around to make sure everything looked good and she saw what appeared to be pretty convincing evidence of boyhood, though at 12 weeks, she was not willing to commit.  I told her the real question was if he would have red or brown hair!  The answer to that will have to wait.

Dr. Million commented that I might even be able to feel those kicks if I was still and thinking about it which is funny because I thought I did the other night while I was reading in bed.  I started feeling Elijah consistently at 14 weeks, so maybe it was real…or maybe I’m crazy!

Isn’t he getting more human-like, I mean, cute ?  He has 2 legs and 2 arms.  We checked.

I’ve only seen the doctor twice, but I’ve had three ultrasounds already!  I’m not sure why she did today’s.  I was the first appointment and they didn’t seem to busy, so maybe she really was just having fun, though I’m sure since she does this daily that it’s not really that exciting to her.  But, at my last visit, one of her patients was delivering and she rushed through, so maybe she was making it up to me.  Unfortunately it is the first OB appointment Jacob has ever missed in three pregnancies because I convinced him it wasn’t worth dragging both boys to, that it would be routine, and I’d enjoy some time alone, even if it was just to go to the doctor.  Now I feel bad and he wishes he had been there.  At any rate, we aren’t claiming for sure that it is a boy yet, it just looks that way early on.

I’m sure the big question is, are we disappointed it isn’t a girl?  It depends on who you ask.  I am relieved that I have everything I need already and it just seems easier, though I was convinced it is a girl because of Josiah’s insistence and the fact that everyone keeps telling me the siblings are always right, so I had gotten used to that idea and kind of miss it now.  But, I’ve been surrounded by boys my whole life, so it feels natural to me.  Jacob is a little bummed he may not have his little girl, but knows he loves his boys dearly and this will be no different.  He’s proud!  Josiah, on the other hand, when asked what he thought about it said, “not good!”  When I asked why, he just said because he likes girls :)  Many of his playmates are girls and I think he is anticipating one of his very own.

We considered keeping this information to ourselves since it is so preliminary, but it is all in good fun so we wanted to share.  Please stay flexible and happy with us!  :)

8.5 Weeks

I am feeling the need to make sure at least one ultrasound picture is posted from each ultrasound for memory sake.  So, here’s two from my second ultrasound.

I know it’s not much to look at at this stage, but it is a good memory for me because Josiah confiscated the pictures as if this baby was his very own, then he pointed and showed me very seriously that this was his baby’s eye, meaning the whole big black structure!  It was so cute :)  He was convinced of it and wouldn’t believe that the white within the black was actually the whole baby.  Guess we’ll be having a monster!

Coon Hollow Fun!

These pictures are from our visit to the fall festival at Coon Hollow Farm in early November which somehow I never posted.  Jesse and Savannah joined us and we had a blast on the tire swing, giant slide, petting zoo, corn maze, obstacle course, eating fun food, and best of all, feeding the cows on the hayride.

Big tractor tire!  The hat and sunglasses were his idea, but they didn’t last long before they got in the way and were discarded.

And Elijah picked it up.

Giant slide fun:

Hayride:

We stopped in the shade and all the cows came from across the pasture to get treats, though they are hard to see behind Elijah’s head in this picture.

I love long, curly cow tongues!

You can see the treats in these pictures.  They were brown and cylindrical.  Josiah absolutely refused to feed the cows, but liked watching the rest of us do it.  The next day he asked me why we fed the cows poop :)  Guess I wouldn’t want to touch poop, either!

Slimed!  Yuck!

Jesse loves my boys and treats them so well.  I love watching my brothers dote on my boys, though I wish he wouldn't purposely teach bad habits!

This “cow train” was extremely dusty!  The kids thought it was great, but the rest of us coughed and hacked and I had to rub it out of my eyes.  Josiah only cared about the trash in the bottom of his seat.

This goat wants Josiah’s lollipop!

These provided a lot of entertainment:

 

Coon Hollow was lots of fun and is a “must do” for years to come.  They also do a Christmas movie in their pasture, so we’ll be looking into that!

How I Told

This time around, I wracked my brain to think of a way to tell Jacob about our coming baby.  It seems it gets more difficult to do it well each time.  I finally came up with something just a short time before leaving to go out to dinner – just the two of us.  I decided to come up with a little saying to print up, laminate, and have the waitress put into a surprise dessert!  I managed to accomplish this while Jacob was in the shower getting ready, but he came out while I was laminating and walked right past the laminator that I quick hid under a jacket.  Luckily he didn’t notice the hot smell it puts off :)

I was very nervous and embarrassed about arranging it with the waitress, but it went great, except for the fact that I was a babbling mess when she brought it to the table!  The best part is, it resulted in a free dessert!  We have joked about using it at every restaurant in town, but that just seemed too deceptive :)

We didn’t think to get a picture, but this is what the little sign said:

Soon we’ll welcome

baby number three. 

Will it be a he or a she?

Red hair, brown hair,

which will it be? 

Either way (s)he’ll be

a part of you and me!

Then there is Josiah.  We weren’t going to tell him until well into the pregnancy so as to decrease his wait, but then we didn’t have a babysitter when we had to go in for a precautionary ultrasound, so we told him around 7 weeks right before going into the doctor.  At first he didn’t seem to get it and paid no mind, even after seeing the picture (but not the actual ultrasound).  But the next week he got to see the doctor actually perform the ultrasound and he put 2 and 2 together that that baby with a heartbeat was actually in me and he was all about it after that!  Elijah just goes with the flow, completely oblivious for now.

As for family, we got that first ultrasound just days before Easter, so I decided to make little Easter baskets with candy and cards that had pictures of the ultrasound and a little saying about Easter and spring being about new life and growth and that our family would be experiencing both, then we delivered them personally throughout our Easter celebrations.  It was nerve wracking…I don’t do well with big announcements…but it was fun to anticipate this little one.

And then there was my boss.  I tried for weeks to tell him personally, but the timing never worked out since sometimes our paths just don’t cross.  I finally called him because I was getting tired of sucking my growing gut in, word was getting out, and I didn’t want him to hear through the grapevine.  He was GREAT about it and the first word out of his mouth was WAHOO! and he said there was no reason to be nervous to tell him that.  What a relief!  My previous two experiences were not so positive, so I’m thankful for that.

It’s funny that this 3rd time around we made no attempt to hid it until the end of that first trimester.  I think it was just a natural decision since, as I said, I seem to be growing big much earlier.  Also, with two healthy pregnancies behind me, it seems a little less scary, though the worries are still present.  Between Jacob and I and a certain little four year old, though, this baby is heavily prayed for!