Pink or Blue???

We had our main ultrasound on the 25th of August.  So, I know I was only 17 weeks but I just couldn't wait any longer.  I think I would die from anticipation if I lived in a day and age where I had to wait a whole 9 months!  We would have loved to tell you all personally and do for you what we did for the grandparents but hopefully this will do instead. 

Anyways, this is how we told our families...

We gave them little packages like this...

With a cheezy poem that went like this...

First came the girl, Eve, that’s who.

Blessed with our princess, everything was so new.

Then came Jack and we found boys are fun too!

Both were so tiny but sadly they grew.

We love them so much. No doubt that’s true.

With one of each already, you’d think we’d be through!

But Someone had different plans- and now a third we’ll add to our two.

Another angel was waiting. Now we’re waiting too.

A girl or a boy? So different it’s true.

It goes far beyond the pink or the blue.

For a boy or a girl, a unique life will ensue.

But we know either one, we’d adore through and through.

So a new sweet someone we’re waiting to view.

We’re getting a little nervous- we hear three is way harder than two.

And boy or girl, either way sleeplessness will be a tough review.

Thankfully, with two already, there’s very little stuff we still need to accrue.

It was a surprise for me and maybe it will be for you…

Just what will it be? I bet you wish you already knew.

Our ultrasound tech is trusted and true and we just had to peek before the big debut.

We could have waited, but you know, for us that just wouldn’t do.

In a few months time, our boy/girl balance will be askew.

And we hope this cheesy poem should help you to construe-

The main reason you’re reading this… the whole boy/girl issue!

So what will it be? Open up for a sweet clue…

And inside was this...

Can you tell what it is?

Unfortunately the 3D ultrasound machine was broken that day.  But I think this is a cute picture anyways.

And a A BLUE baby bottle with BLUE candy.

I hope that's all obvious enough.

We took the kids in with us to watch the ultrasound.  They have been so excited to see the baby.  I told the ultrasound tech to not tell the kids what it is because I wanted to tell people in my own way and I knew the kids would blab and then everyone else would blab too. 

So, we the tech was doing the ultrasound and I could tell right away that it was a BOY!  I was completely surprised because this whole time I thought I was having a girl!

I knew Eve would be heartbroken to find out it's not a girl.  She wants a sister soooooo bad!  Like she says, she already has a brother. 

Jack could really care less about the whole boy/girl thing- though I think he will be really happy about this in a couple years. 

Now, I know it is bad, but I still haven't told Eve that it's a boy.  Gasp!  Now this partially has to do with the fact that we only let our families know just barely and I had to contain the secret.  But really I'm avoiding seeing her bawl for the next few days.  Ever since the ultrasound she's been walking around telling us "See, I told you it was a girl!"

Maybe we'll let her keep thinking that and we'll just dress the poor boy in pink.  You don't think that will give him issues, right?

Anyways, despite what I was expecting, this is a pleasant surprise and I am excited to have a new little BOY in our family... and hopefully everyone else will soon be happy too.

Now for the hard part- picking names.  Ugh!

Falling Stars and Toddler Deception Tactics

I realize I really don't keep track of the funny things my kids say and do very well. So, today I'm going to be better about that.

Do you know the kid's song "Catch a Falling Star"? The lyrics are pretty simple- "Catch a falling star and put it in you pocket, save it for a rainy day. Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket never let it fade away." Eve walks around singing it all the time. Anyways, Eve and Jack have these stick on, glow in the dark stars all over their ceiling. This morning one fell off and Eve found it. She comes to us and says she found a falling star. Then she asked us if she could keep it and put it in her pocket so she could save it for a rainy day. Ha ha. Sometimes things just get set up so well. Hey, I thought it was cute.

Also today, Jack got into one of our food dishes on the counter and made a big mess all over himself. As I was talking to him a little later, I asked if he was supposed to do that kind of thing. He looks at me all innocent, like he doesn't want to incriminate himself and then suddenly he looks and points out the window and asks in his toddler English "who's that man?" I look only to find absolutely no man anywhere to be found. Then he jumps down from his chair and runs out of the room. Hmmm. I didn't know two years olds were so skilled at changing the subject and tricking their parents.

Eve is so curious... lately she has been totally obsessed about where things come from. She is constantly asking the question, "Where do _________ come from?" Everything and anything... cows, houses, pasta, beds, trees, hair, cars, water, whatever crosses her line of sight. I feel like I need to read the encyclopedia just to be prepared. Well, last night I was changing Jack's bum and she asked, "Where do boy parts come from?" I mean, how exactly am I supposed to answer that? Um, where all the rest of your body parts come from. It's not like I'm shy about talking to her about her or Jack's body or even where babies come from, but some questions are just so random that they catch me off guard. I normally answer all her questions as best I can but this time I thought it would be much more fun if she asked the grandparents about that one. He he, I'm so mean.  More than anything, I just want to know how they'll react and what exactly they'll tell her.  Let's just hope she doesn't go ask her preschool friends. That would probably result in some awkward conversations with other parents.

Today she asked where Stella (Kole's parents' dog) came from. We told her she came from a mommy and daddy dog. But then she realized that Stella doesn't have a mommy or daddy around. I can practically see the little wheels running in her head as she tries to figure out why Stella's mommy and daddy don't live with her... so the next question to come out of her mouth was "Did you eat them?" I try my best not to laugh when she asks questions because she gets so embarrassed and runs to her room and cries but sometimes I can't help it. It worries me a little that after nearly 5 years together she thinks we are the kind of people that would not only eat dogs but also eat them so they are taken away from their kids. Strange child.

The Beginning of The End

Well, it's only mid-August but it feels like it is the beginning of the end- it seems that summer is practically over.  Sure, it's not officially over yet but with school starting next week for most of the valley and most of the biggest summer events having come and gone, there's not a lot of summer left to look forward to this year.  But, honestly, I'm OK with that.  I know I'm strange, but I've always liked the start of fall and even though summer is lots of fun, I'm not dreading the coming changes.  I like warm days and crisp nights. Fall seems to bring people back inside and back together after all the independence of Summer.  I also love that Fall always feels like a new start to me... kind of like an early new year.  After all, throughout childhood, fall brought a new school year with the hope of a fresh start, showing how you've grown and changed and the twitterpation of reuniting with friends and the wonderment of what this new year will bring.  I guess as an adult I've never really lost those feelings.  Now, since I'm not in school I'll have to live vicariously though my own children.  I bet they'll just love that, but we've all lived through it and it's the circle of life. 

We've had a pretty easy going summer. No real vacations or anything extra spectacular but we've been doing some fun things here and there.  This summer would have been ideal to take a real family vacation somewhere exciting since Kole is still technically jobless and it's like being on permanent vacation. Unfortunately that means less money to do all that fun stuff.  Stay-cations were our fate this summer but I'm not all that disappointed.  We still made some memories.

Thankfully, even though we're part of the 10% unemployment rate in the nation, we are not living on the street...yet.  Kole has been doing some landscaping for the doctors' office that his mom manages. (See all his nice work.  If only our own yard looked so pretty.  But no worries, I fully intend to keep Kole busy around here.  In fact today he is slaving away in our yard.  Don't worry, I'm going to "help" as soon as I'm done blogging.)  Anyways, the landscaping keeps us a float for now. Of course, he really needs to find a stable job before it gets too cold to landscape. I don't know exactly what will end up happening in the future, but we're still optimistic that things will somehow workout for the best. For now I still have really enjoyed having him home so much. He is so helpful around the house and with the kids. I feel pretty pampered and it will be a rough change when he finally does get a full-time job.

For the first time ever our little family went to the Cliffton fireworks. You're probably thinking, "What? Where?" Cliffton is a tiny little town outside of Preston, Idaho. I don't think I would ever pay much attention to it or probably even know where it is except that Kole's Grandma lives there. Normally, there's not too much to do around there unless you love cowboys and hayfields but they still managed to do a fireworks display on the 24th of July (even though it's technically a Utah state holiday). It's not overly grand or that impressive compared to the fireworks in other towns, but they set off the fireworks so close that they are right over you when they pop. What they lack in the "greatest show ever" factor they make up for in the "WOW!  I wonder if that firework is going to land in the crowd or start a field on fire" factor. Somehow risking your life and the life of your children makes watching fireworks so much better.

I'm not sure how or why but Uncle Nick ended up as the kids' jungle gym that night.  Even kids we didn't know ended up hanging all over him.  Hmmm.  What kind of negligent parents let their kids hang all over some strange guy they don't even know?  I, of course, only let my children hang all over strange guys they do know.  

The kids finally took swimming lessons.  Eve LOVED it.  Just the opposite is true of Jack.  I did a "mommy and me" class with him and he screamed and cried every time, the whole time, for the whole two weeks.  If you ask him about it I'm sure he'll tell you just how traumatic the whole experience was... though I don't really think clinging to me or the wall in total terror really counts as swimming. So, basically family swimming is out for the rest of summer.

Sadly, Kole's Grandpa Nielsen passed away a couple weeks ago but we ended up with a blessing in return... Kole's brother Keaton surprised everyone and came home from Iraq for the funeral.  He got to stay around here for a week and instead of having to go back to the Middle East, he got to go back to his base in Seattle since his unit was so close to coming home anyhow.  We're all happy that he's back stateside and he's safe and in one piece. 

We went to the Cache Valley Fair this last weekend.  I always feel like this is the last big summer event for Cache Valley so we just had to go battle the heat and crowds and overpriced attractions.  The kids loved seeing all the stinky animals and downing the cotton candy.  I however was not impressed that it costs $3 per kid to ride a dinky little ride for two minutes.  Seriously, who would pay $6 for two kids to do something for two minutes?  Answer: Grandma and Grandpa.  

Even my Grandma Louise was well enough to go to the fair.

My better side.

I feel a little sad for Eve that she is not starting kindergarten this year like all of her friends.  Since her birthday is not until Halloween she is still too young.  But then again, it's nice to have another year with her around more often.  Also, I think it is good that she'll be a little older when she finally does start going to school.  So many teachers have told me it is such an advantage to have them start when they're a little older.  For now, she will have one more year of preschool a couple afternoons a week.  Jack should be able to start preschool in January when he turns 3.  I think this time schedule should work out pretty well... Jack and I will get some one-on-one time together during the next few months while Eve is at school and then when January rolls around it will be helpful to have him in pre-school a couple days a week so I can have some one-on-one time with the new baby.  Sometimes it feels like so long until the baby will be here but when I think about all I need to do over the next few months, I think it's going to fly by pretty quickly.  Maybe, just maybe, I will post some growing belly pics in the future.

OK, time to get off the computer and go enjoy the last little bit of sweet, sweet SuMmeR.