Exciting News!

We had our 20 week ultrasound today! It was very exciting - so much fun to see the baby moving around. The ultrasound tech took a long time looking at things and measuring every bone and organ so we got to see the baby for nearly an hour! It's amazing what you can see on those things.

We've debated back and forth whether or not to find out if the baby is a girl or boy. We didn't find out with Boden and it was a lot of fun, but this time Michael wanted to know, and I kind of did too. Sooo.....drumroll.......it's a GIRL! We actually had to wait about 30 min into the ultrasound before finding out because she was positioned funny and moving around a ton.

It was fun to see her stretch out her legs and at one point she looked like she was scratching her head and another time sucking her thumb. It's funny now to be able to say "she" when talking about the baby. I never was able to do that with Boden, so it's totally different.

Here's a few of the good photos from the ultrasound:

We are so excited and so thankful that everything looks just perfect. She's measuring right on target for our Nov. 3 due date and looking healthy in every way - Praise God!

Vacation!

We just got back yesterday from a weeklong vacation in Virginia Beach with my side of the family. (well, most of us were on vacation...Michael had class during the day, but was able to join in the fun for the afternoon & evening). We rented a great house in Sandbridge with a pool and lots of other fun things to do and it was just a few houses from the beach. We had fantastic weather too! I have tons of photos to go through but here are a few for now:

playing some golf on the putting green

Swimming with Poppa. He loved going "fwimming" - he has no fear of the water apparently

Running into the ocean. Boden had absolutely no fear of the water at all. It was hard work taking him to the beach because you had to stay within 2 ft of him at all times because he would just dart out into the ocean. He got overtaken by waves a few times and scared us, but it didn't stop him one bit!

And of course - no family vacation to the beach is complete without the "khaki and white family photo". It was interesting to try to get a group photo that included a 2 yr old while using a self timer. He's not real big on standing still for 10 seconds to wait for the photo.

Running on the beach with Daddy. The family photo shoot resulted in Boden getting completely soaked in the ocean.
I will have more photos to post later - but now it's time for a nap :)

Let's Go Cardinals!

Grandpa gave us tickets to a Cardinals game a few weeks ago - we almost didn't take Boden because the game didn't start until 7pm and we knew it would run into bedtime, but we decided to give it a shot anyway. Boden was such a little Cardinals fan! He cheered "Let's Go Cardinal's" the whole way downtown and all through the game. He sat for 6 innings straight on my lap without fussing or trying to get down and run around. When we did decide to get up and walk around, he just whined "Watch the game!" He's such a little sports fan - just like Daddy & Grandpa.

Busch Stadium

Boden wasn't really sure about this guy - he held on to daddy pretty tight

watching the game

Mother's Day in Nebraska

I haven't had the chance to update my blog in awhile - we've had internet issues. But thanks to my hubby who spent an hour on the phone this morning with AT&T (or rather a guy in India who was very helpful, but difficult to understand) we are now back in business!

A few weeks ago we traveled to Nebraska to spend a few days with family and celebrate Mother's Day. It was a short trip, but we had fun and got to see family. Boden usually sleeps a lot in the car, but not this time! He was much more interested in the cows in the fields, and the trucks driving by, and making me read stories and sing songs over and over and over. Makes me a little nervous for our upcoming drive across the country to Virginia Beach.

We had a nice brunch on Saturday with the whole family and both grandmas too.

Playing on Poppa's hammock

reading with Poppa

smelling the flowers with Great Grandma Brandt

Family

Boden & Mama

Goofing with Aunt Caela

My mom, Grandmas, Boden & Me
reading with Great Grandma Jeanne

Boden & Nana

We also introduced Boden to scrabble (a favorite of my mom and mine). he thought it was fun, but mostly he just wanted to collect all the letters on his tray and wouldn't give them up. :)

We had a really nice time and I'm so thankful for my mom -she is a blessing to me and to my whole family. Especially since becoming a mom myself, I have come to have such a greater appreciation for what she does & has done for me and my sisters - she's taught me a lot and is always there for me when I need some advice. Thank you mom!

memory verse

over the past week i've been teaching boden his very first bible memory verse. i taught the preschool lesson at church last week, and our memory verse was proverbs 3:5 "trust in the Lord with all your heart". i had never really thought of trying to teach boden memory verses so early, but he caught on quick! he surprises me all the time. it absolutely melts my heart when he's just playing with his toys and saying the verse, without me prompting him at all.

this past week

here's my project 365 page from last week. i've been being lazy about uploading them to the blog, but i am completely caught up! i can barely believe it!

michael was out of town last week in guatemala on a mission trip. it was a tough week not getting to talk to him more than once all week. some friends had boden and i over for dinner on tuesday, boden spent wednesday with michael's mom while i cleaned house and went to some meetings for CASA, and we had mom 2 mom on thurs and a playdate on friday - it went by fast! michael had a great trip (aside from the headcold that was made worse by the flying and high elevation) and can't wait to go back...maybe next time with the whole family! I think getting a first hand experince of a completely different culture changes you - it makes you appreciate even more all that you have - and realize how much we have that we probably don't need.

Easter Week

It's a little late, but here's some pictures from Easter. We had an egg hunt at church thurs night, the church on Sat/Sun, and dinner & and egg hunt at Michael's mom's on sunday afternoon.

he liked the easter bunny, but this is as close as he wanted to get!

"hunting" for eggs

Easter Basket from Grandpa - lots of goldfish & animal crackers!
opening a package from Nana & Poppa - bubbles, PJs, glo-worm, & playdough!

and a singing card - he loved it and danced with it

adorable little man

the family on Easter Sunday

coloring with his new markers at Bubbe's

reading with cousin Brea

Egg hunt at Bubbe & Zeyde's house

checking out the loot

Great Grandma, Boden & Bubbe

look at those adorable blondes! Boden & cousin Andrew

recipe for toddler fun

1 rubber tub
3 bags dry beans
1 bag rice

alphabet noodles

macaroni noodles

spoons, bowls, cups, and scoops of all sizes

an old sheet

monday was a yucky day and i haven't been feeling so good. i knew i needed to come up with something new to keep boden entertained for awhile. (i realized he'd watched too much thomas the train when i came home the other night and michael asked why boden was hitting my laptop and saying "thomas!") so, i dug through the pantry and poured a few things into a rubber dish tub. ta-da! and indoor "sandbox"! he had so much fun. usually his attention span is about 10 minutes at the very most and he played in his "sandbox" for almost 45 minutes!

*(yes, he's still wearing pajamas, and no, they do not match :) )

my little architect

boden loves building with his mega blocks. he builds towers, knocks them down, and builds again. i love watching his face as he carefully decides where to place the next block - he is in such concentration.

the other night he even made a tower just for me - he brought it to me and with a big smile on his face he said "momma's tower", handed it to me, then went back to building again.

it's definitely the little things that make my day :)

more project 365

i am actually keeping up, even though i haven't been keeping up with posting them, i'm still up to date on the scrapping. here's a few of the recent weeks: (if you click on them you can read the journaling)

march week 3



march week 2a


march week 2b




*layout using Life 365 by Gina Marie Huff - http://www.weedsandwildflowersdesign.com/