It's a.....

BOY!!!

That's right, Graham's going to have baby brother! We are so excited! He is perfectly healthy! Tonight we got to see his heart, brain, stomach, diaphram, bladder, and kidneys. He was moving all over the place! It feels so good to finally be able to say "he" instead of "it."

OK so we need your boy name suggestions! We agreed on the name Graham so easily. We can't seem to agree on any boy names this time around. Help!

Pink or Blue???

Tonight we are going to my Dad's office for another sono. I am hoping we will be able to tell if the baby is a boy or a girl! We found out that Graham was a boy when I was 13 weeks pregnant. Today I am 14 weeks and 5 days. However, I know that it still may be too early to tell for sure. But I am excited!

Chad is hoping for and expecting another boy. I am hoping for a girl, but of course we will both be happy no matter what. We are just thrilled to be having this baby!!!

We will find out and report here later...!

PS: We have picked out and decided on a girl name but are struggling with boy names! Any ideas?

Memorial Day Weekend

This past weekend the 3 of us took a mini-vacation to Beaver's Bend State Park in Oklahoma. We had so much fun! This is a really nice park and I highly recommend it, especially if you have kids. They had so many fun activities for kids, we couldn't do them all. We drove in late Friday night, it was a 4 hour drive. We stayed in a really tiny cabin, and we were really comfortable there. We brought and cooked all our own food while we were there. Saturday morning we drove around the park to check it out. We were both stunned by the beautiful forests, rivers, hills, and lake. We decided to rent a canoe to enjoy the beautiful landscape up close. This was Graham's first time in a boat and we weren't sure how he would like it. He didn't like it, he loved it! 

Here were are getting ready, putting on sunscreen:

The only thing Graham didn't like was wearing a life jacket. 

Here I am letting him dunk his bare feet in the ice cold water. He really wanted to dunk his whole body! He was pretty much soaked by the time we were done. 

Saturday afternoon after lunch and a nap we rode the mini-train that runs through the park. Graham liked it so much he cried when it was over! Then we shared a funnel cake. Fun!

I got Graham this mini camp chair for our trip, couldn't resist. Here we are hanging out while Daddy grilled dinner. He was pretty tuckered out, as you can tell. 

Sunday morning we decided to go hiking. This park has a ton of beautiful hiking trails. We picked the easiest one. But hiking trails can be pretty tricky for a 2 year old, even though Graham's a pretty good walker. He kept tripping and ended up riding on dad's shoulder's most of the way. He was pretty happy there. Chad and I have always enjoyed hiking together and having Graham with us just made it so much more fun! 

Sunday afternoon we decided to rent a motor boat so we could check out the lake. Here we are waiting at the marina: 

Here's who really drove the boat!

It was windy!

It was a beautiful day on a gorgeous lake! 

I think one of Graham's favorite things about this trip was getting to eat junk food, which I never usually let him have. 

We headed home Monday morning. Here's Graham enjoying a kid's meal at Burger King.

It was such a memorable trip. All my life I have been going on vacations to relax and enjoy myself. Now its all about watching Graham enjoy things. I have to say, it's about 10 times more fun!

Dentist

Graham's pediatrician recommended at his 2 year checkup that I start taking him to the dentist. I finally got around to it last week. My dentist referred me to a pediatric dentist. These people really know how to work with kids!! As soon as they took us back they started to give Graham toys to play with. It was obvious that they truly desired for it to be a positive experience for him. The dentist said that he wouldn't put Graham in the chair and clean his teeth until he turns 3. He planned to just examine his teeth while he sat in my lap. But Graham wanted to climb up in the chair! He let the dentist look at his teeth without crying or fussing at all. I was so proud! Graham has 17 teeth (3 more molars still to come in) and all his teeth look perfect. Graham then got to pick out a prize. I hope he won't be afraid of the dentist the way I always was!

Here we are waiting in the waiting room:

In the dentist's chair:

He kept his teeth clamped down but the dentist was still able to look around.

Night Night

This is one of Graham's new favorite games: playing "night night." He lays on the couch with a pillow and blanket, and I tuck him in with a kiss just like at bedtime. He loves it!

I really enjoy seeing the things he comes up with that he thinks are fun. It's fun for me too!

13 Weeks

This was the first day that I felt like I really looked pregnant! I've lost my waistline! It's definitely popping out a lot faster this time around. I cut off my head in this photo because I had no makeup on. But wouldn't you rather look that that little cutie playing in the sink??

How far along? 13 weeks and 5 days

How big is the baby? About 3 inches long.

Are you in maternity clothes? I'm wearing maternity pants, and I can still wear my regular shirts (mostly). 

How do you feel physically? I caught a nasty cold this weekend, but I'm feeling better now. Besides that I feel great!

Sleep? I've been sleeping better the last week! And not napping as much. Loving the 2nd trimester!

Miss anything? Besides my coffee....not really!

Feeling movement of the baby? Not yet.

Food cravings? Fruit, cereal, spicy foods

Gender of the baby? Still don't know! Hoping to find out soon. 

Mood? I feel a little overwhelmed. We just sold our house so I'm going to have to pack everything up and prepare for a garage sale. But I am excited about this next phase!

WE SOLD OUR HOUSE!

Well....almost at least! On Monday Chad and I accepted an offer we received on our house, after some negotiating. We are thrilled and very relieved to have our house under contract. We are one step closer to Uganda! We will, Lord willing, close on June 29th. We will probably rent a house in Arlington to be closer to Chad's job in Dallas but not too far from Fort Worth, our home. 

It's hard to believe that this house:

which we've called home for 5 and 1/2 years will not be our home anymore! It is definitely bittersweet. We moved to this neighborhood to be close to my school, where I no longer teach. We now live pretty far from our church, most of our friends, and most importantly - Chad's job. I think he is pretty tired of driving more than an hour each way. Plus, we will need to sell it by next January anyways, when we move overseas. 

BUT....this is this house where we became a family. It's the first house we've ever owned. We got our first real jobs here. And we brought our first child home here when he was 2 days old. We've been very happy here, so it's hard not to feel a little sentimental, even though we are both ready to move on to the next chapter in our lives. 

Please pray that the sale will go smoothly. And that the move will too. And that we will find a wonderful place to live for the next 6 or 7 months. Thank you!

12 Week Sonogram Pics

I got to go to my dad's again for a sonogram this weekend. Little one was really moving! He/she was all over the place! It's amazing to me that I can't feel a thing yet. My dad took some incredible 3D shots. 

This picture with the little hand up is my favorite. 5 fingers! Looks like he/she is saying, "Hi!"

Baby measured 5.26 cm long, which is about 2 inches. 

Here is a a look inside his/her head. You can see their brain! Baby sure does have a big noggin. 

I like this picture, you can see his/her ear. 

12 Weeks

Still no pictures....sorry. I am not really a huge fan of preggo pictures because I always just feel so fat and ugly but I promise I will eventually post some. Some. 

How far along? 12 weeks 1 day - I'm almost to that 2nd trimester!!

How big is the baby? A little over 2 inches long - about the size of a lime

Are you in maternity clothes? Definitely in maternity pants. I wore my regular jeans earlier this week and decided it would be the last time, I was so uncomfortable! I can still wear regular shirts though and regular pants if they are stretchy. 

How do you feel physically? I'm feeling better and better! No more sickness (unless I wait too long to eat something). Still tired, but not nearly as much. 

Sleep? Still napping some. I'm having a harder time sleeping through the night though, not sure why.

Miss anything? I'm definitely still missing my caffeine! I allow myself ONE very small cup of coffee every morning and that's it. I so want more, especially in the afternoons. 

Feeling movement of the baby? Not yet, can't wait!

Food cravings? Watermelon and other juicy cold fruits, bean burritos, spicy foods

Gender of the baby? Still don't know! Hoping to find out soon. 

Mood? I am so very thankful to be a mom. I just love taking care of Graham all day and can't wait to know this little one too. Will they be similar? Very different? I can't wait to find out. What an amazing blessing!!

Getting Dressed

Can you tell he put his own shorts on??? :) The cutest part was him walking around like nothing was wrong. 

Lately...

We've been playing outside in our backyard. It's been pretty warm, but Graham keeps cool playing in his new water table. He's not so much into smiling for the camera these days (or even looking at the camera), so it's hard to get a good shot. He sure is handsome anyways!

Pizza night! I got a rare smile for the camera. Too bad his face is covered in sauce! It's a good thing bath time was right after dinner, pizza can be pretty messy.

Water Play Date

Graham got a water table for his birthday from his Grandmother. I decided to invite all our play group friends over to check it out. It was a big hit. The kids also enjoyed playing with Graham's other fun outside toys, like his new trike. Graham especially loved the water table. He played at it the whole time and got soaked. I tried to get a picture of everybody but I missed Baby Sloane - oops! Thank you so much for coming over everybody, it was fun!

Graham, Macy, and Max checking out the water. 

Macy looked so adorable in her swimsuit and shades.

Check out Graham's new swim outfit - another birthday gift!

All the kids took turns on Graham's trike, although none of them are really big enough for it yet. 

Graham and Jaxon checking out the water table.

Graham and Wyatt. Wyatt preferred to play with Graham's cozy coup most of the morning.

Spoon Practice

I'm trying to teach Graham to successfully feed himself with a spoon. To be honest, it is so much faster/easier/less messy to just spoon feed him myself that I haven't been very good about giving him chances to practice. I'm trying to get better. No harm in a little spilled milk, right? Anyways, here's what Graham feeding himself cereal right now looks like. We're working on it! 

10 Week Sonogram Pics

I am so blessed to have an OB/GYN dad close by that likes to do extra sonograms for me! We did one this past Monday night (10 weeks along) that was so good. The baby was moving so much! He/she is 3 centimeters long which is still very tiny but we could see the little arms and legs moving, and we could even see toes! My dad now has a 3D machine which he didn't have when I was pregnant with Graham so it was fun to get some 3D shots too. 

 In this picture you can see the little legs crossed:

 This is the one where my dad took the measurements and you can see the little toes!

 His/her head looks so big right now!

Baby has a very strong heartbeat and looks perfectly healthy. We feel so incredibly blessed! Thank you so much, dad, for taking these amazing pictures!