Practice makes perfect...

Each day that passes, I try to do a little bit to help us prepare for our new baby in February. I think Sophia has caught on to my preparation. In the corner of the "baby's room," I have a pile of Sophia's unisex baby stuff that I have separated out, along with a few new things and hand me downs. One of Sophia's latest activities is to sift through the pile and pull out what "her baby" needs for that particular evening.

She loves to dress her baby doll, change its diaper, and give it a pacifier. Even though the room looks like a disaster when she finishes her baby duties and reassembles the entire stack of stuff, it still makes us smile. Her interest in her baby brother seems to be growing daily.

Lately, she loves to lay beside me at night and read a story before bed. Our storytime ends with a hug and kiss for us and then she rolls over to give her baby brother a kiss on my tummy. It really is one of the cutest and sweetest things!

Kitchen time with BonBon

Sophia's new favorite snack to make (courtesy of a little one on one time with BonBon)

Broomstick Treats (string cheese, life saver and pretzels)

It reminds me so much of the old days with my grandmothers in the kitchen. Fun times!

Tough Mudder

There is no doubt I could not have done it, but there was also no doubt that Kris could. The Tough Mudder is a 12 mile trek through mud, water, cliffs, walls, stacks of hay, electrical currents, and so on. Most would laugh at the thought of completing such a feat, but when you are married to someone who loves physically challenging himself, you expect him to compete.


And that he did. I knew he would be excited to a part of it and Sophia and I were thrilled to be spectators. Well, I was thrilled to be a spectator. Sophia would have rather been in the thing herself. She kept asking me if she could run through the muddy waters, climb on the obstacles, etc. Let's just hope she gets her athletic abilities from her daddy :-)


We are very proud of Kris. Even after 12 miles he was still doing push ups! It was at that point that even Sophia said "Daddy's crazy!"

Kris is swimming through the muddy waters at the Finish Line.

In the distance, you can see one of the many big cliffs to jump from and then you must swim through a muddy pond!

Push ups (just for fun)...The announcer at the end challenged these three to see what they still had left in them. Kris started with a white shirt and in this picture you can see there is nothing white about the shirt at the Finish Line!

Half Way There!

Not only was this week our big ultrasound of the baby, but it also marked the half way point of my pregnancy! Our baby boy now weighs over half a pound and is kicking away! I have felt him move and kick for several weeks, but this week the activity has definitely picked up. Although, I still think Sophia moved even more at this point.

At our doctor's appointment, he was measuring almost a week ahead of where my original due date (2-22-11) puts him and my doctor (who we absolutely love) has already said the chances of making it until the end of February are getting slimmer. Since I was only a little over 37 weeks along when Sophia was born, there is a higher probability that I will have this baby earlier as well. The guess right now is that we are looking at closer to the beginning of February to welcome him!

I am sure by then I will be ready. We have a TON of things to do before then. We will soon begin turning Sophia's playroom into a nursery. We have started moving some things over to her room to make the process a gradual one. As much as we want to jump right in on the conversions, I know that slow is better for her. We want her to feel like there is a special reason for all of the changes and we are not just taking over "her space."

Sophia's excited about having a little brother. She is really starting to understand that mommy's tummy is getting bigger and at night she normally gives the baby a "goodnight kiss" before bed. I know it will be a HUGE adjustment, but with time she will be a GREAT big sister. Exciting times for us and her :-)

It's a .......

BOY! And we are ecstatic!


I was so convinced we would be having another girl that when the technician asked if we could tell (as she pointed to the screen), I immediately said "Girl!" She laughed, Kris shook his head and they both looked at me and it was at that point I realized we were expecting a BOY.

As I have told everyone, either sex had it's advantages, but it will be a wonderful journey to raise our daughter with our son!

I think the reality that we are no longer a family of three really hit us today! When you watch your little boy move for several minutes as the measurements of all of his vital organs are taken, there is no doubt you fall in love. Everything was perfect, he was VERY active and we are so blessed.

I can guarantee that this little boy will have a well thought out name. His daddy and I are both very opinionated when it comes to names...this could take a while :-)