Some New Pictures

Here are some new pictures from the past week or so. As far as a bedding update goes, we're still undecided but we're thinking about ordering the bright pink and green and seeing if we like it and then going from there. I went to Sugar Land this morning and checked out a couple of boutiques and such and still can't find anything I want - I am being way too picky! I did find some random girl things though - of course - bows, headbands, shoes, a rhinestone monogrammed onesie - omg - too much fun!!!!!!!!!! I'll post as much as I can over the next coming week but we'll be doing off and on vacationing all week! We'll be busy, but it will be lots of fun! :)

Surely this child needs just one more tractor...




Here I am the day we found out we were having a girl - you'd never know by all the pink would you????????????




Every time Dayton putts the ball in the hole, here is the way he shows it off. He's getting pretty good - we go atleat twice a week...




Another random picture of my son sleeping w/ some type of sporting goods...




Date on the library computer:




Showing off his bandana he made at the library - he colored it all by himself!




I steal a kiss from my favorite little man:




My big boy:

A Couple of Choices...

Here are our top two choices right now. I like the bright pink but when you see the color in person, it's a lot more popping pink than it looks. The toile is a new line from Pottery Barn that Brandon and I like. Let me know what you think:

Fun Filled Weekend...

We are recovering from a very busy weekend. Starting Friday, we had some bad news come our way - the contract we had on our house fell through, again. This is the 2nd time this has happened to us and I don't think any one has as bad of luck as us. If you know anyone interested, let us know!!!!!!!! We ate in on Friday night because we were pretty bummed.

Saturday was a new day. We woke up bright and early ready to play some golf! Brandon and I playde in a tournament w/ my dad and Scott. We had the most wonderful time and we did pretty good - 13 under (if that means anything to anyone). The only bad thing that happened was Brandon got stung by something right after his first drive so he suffered the rest of the morning and it has since turned into quite the whelp - we've got to keep an eye on it. Date stayed w/ my mom and they got to come out w/ Amy and the kids to watch us play a few holes so that was really neat.

After the tournament, we got home and took showers and rested for about an hour and then it was off to Sugar Land w/ Brandon, Date, MeMe and DeDe to go "girl" shopping, of course! We went to Carter's, the mall, and Target and preggers got her way and got to eat at Escalante's - yeah - so good!!!!!!!! Needless to say, we came home with some extremely adorable loot! I was exhausted by the time we got back into town around 10:00 - a very full day for the whole family.

Sunday, we went to church, ate at my parents' house, came home and took naps while Brandon went and mowed the old house and then went to the Zabodyn's for the evening for swimming and spaghetti. It was a great weekend but I've been playing catch up all morning w/ laundry, grocery shopping and dancing stuff.

Our newest dilemma is baby bedding. Brandon does not want pink and brown so that pretty much narrows down our choices by quite bit. We just don't know what we want or like. We found one that we're leaning towards but we're still not sure. Any help is greatly appreciated. Please send me any links to any bedding you so fitting for us - we like pink and green right now, but we're considering anything!!!!!!!!!!

Someone just came out of the bedroom who's supposed to taking a nap. I better go tend to the little guy...

Date is going to have a Baby Sister!!!

Well, we are so excited that Date is going to be a big brother to a new little sister. We took him w/ us this morning to our dr's appt and I don't think he could've been any better - he was so well-behaved. He loved watching the baby move on the screen. He sat patiently as the tech took all of the required measurements. He was probably more patient than MOmmy and Daddy - I was looking to see if I could tell if it was a boy or girl every time she moved the wand. We were so happy when she made the big announcement! Now, she did say that she saw no boy parts so as of now, she thinks it's a girl but she's not 100% - let's hope the verdict doesn't change at the 30 week appt!!! Most importantly, evertyhing appears very healthy right now. The baby already weighs around 14 oz. - almost a pound. It was wonderful to have a healthy, positive sonogram. Date is going to make a wonderful big brother and Brandon is beaming - she is going to be a Daddy's girl for sure!

Oh, and her name is Mallory Marie - not sure on the spelling yet, but we are thrilled to have our little Mally! :)

Big Brother ready for the big appointment:



Here she is w/ her hand in front of her face:



Profile Pic:



Backbone view:




Let the shopping begin!!! :)

Being Pregnant...

Before tomorrow comes and I get really wrapped up w/ our new baby’s gender, I wanted to make sure I wrote an entry that I’ve been meaning to write and is something I feel very strongly about.

Being pregnant – it is like no other feeling in the entire world. So many times I write posts about the down sides of being pregnancy and most of the time they make for pretty funny stories – aches and pains, being nauseous, feeling dizzy, weird food cravings, weight gain, etc. There’s really no way for me to possibly describe what an incredible experience it is – I thought I’d be a pro this time around. I’d know just what to expect and be ready for everything that came my way. But, I must admit, this time has been just as exciting and unbelievable as the first. Experiencing everything has been like experiencing it for the first time. Society today gets so caught up w/ the very small things that don’t matter such as weight gain. Being pregnant is a gift and if it results in me gaining weight that I don’t need, so be it. I have a wonderful excuse. When else in my entire life will I have such a great excuse to eat ice cream at 10:00 at night or eat Mexican food three times a week just because ‘I want it!’ I feel sorry for the people who don’t embrace being pregnant, who don’t indulge “just because”, who spend their entire nine months being miserable and worrying about getting their pre-baby body back way too fast. I have news for all of them and for you – you will never have your pre-baby body back. It may look similar, but it will never be the same. And, you know what girls, we should be proud it will never be the same. We will forever have battle wounds and/or stretch marks that will always remind us that we carried a life inside of us for nine whole months. We took care of our children long before they were even born – what a great thing to see in the mirror, right? When I look into Dayton’s eyes I see the most wonderful gift that Brandon and I have been given. We created life – wow. It doesn’t get much better than that, and we are fortunate to get to try again. I spend every day of my life raising my little man and every day it becomes so much more worth it. It’s hard to believe that three years ago I was feeling Dayton swimming around in my stomach and now I’ve got a new little one doing the same thing. You blink and life changes. I have to admit I’m being pretty impatient w/ this one this time around. I’m so ready for the new kiddo to be here. I think time is going by slow, but just to think I’m already halfway through. Before Christmas this year, we’ll have a new member to our growing family. Will this be my last pregnancy? Who knows! But, I have to admit that if it is, I’m kinda sad. While the morning sickness stinks and the weight gain is no fun at all, I can’t imagine never going through this again. The bond between baby and Mommy starts this early and if nurtured and treated w/ love and care grows for the rest of your life. How special! All babies are miracles, all pregnancies are blessing and whether I’m carrying a boy or a girl, all parents are blessed… God bless you all for sharing in this special time w/ me! Sorry to for the sappy post – blame it on the hormones!!!

Test...

The first product of my new toy - my new Flip Video camera...

The Weekend

Here are a few pics from the weekend. We didn't really do anything too exciting. Saturday morning I had registration for Dance Pizzazz and that went really well. While I was there, Brandon took Dayton to one of his customer's new river housing development in Blessing. They got to ride on a pontoon boat, so Dayton was extremely excited. Of course, Daddy didn't get any pics. Saturday afternoon we decided last minute to pack up and head to the bay for the night. We went and ate in Palacios at PMR, fished a little and just hung out. We came back on Sunday morning, went and ate at my parents, worked around the house while Brandon played golf, and went to church. Not too exciting, but it was a nice relaxing weekend. Glad to have registration behind me, now it's just going to be getting everything ready for the kiddos before classes start!


Here's a pic of me, Dayton and Lucy playing baseball the other day. Dayton got the hugest kick out of letting Lucy 'play'.




At the bay, we gave Dayton an ice cream sandwich - what a mess!!!




Daddy helps Dayton swing on the playground. Dayton loves to swing so much, but we're still working on teaching him to do it himself - he'd rather just have Mom, Dad or anyone else willing to push him do the work for him!




Dayton's first go at the monkey bars:




Sliding!




Have a great week!

Lucky Charms...

I saw a commercial for Lucky Charms on Monday and ever since then I have been craving them so bad. I don't think I've ever purchased a box of Lucky Charms, I've had them before, but I don't ever buy them. I just sat down to my first bowl of Lucky Charms and it was wonderful! I'm such a weirdo!

The baby is moving around a lot lately. Not only is it starting to put a little more pressure on my bladder causing me to have to pee more often, he/she has gotten to where I can lay down and start to watch him/her move around and kick. So fun! I literally take in every moment that I feel this little life move - it never gets old. I know it'll get more painful as the baby gets bigger, but it is one of the highlights of my day every day right now.

One week till the big appointment - can't wait to find out what this little one is! Then Momma can start shopping or atleast preparing if it's a boy (I think we would have absolutely everything we need if it's another boy!)

Small Picture Post...

Here are some pics from our vacation last week - none w/ people in them, just some scenic stuff, and one surprise picture for you guys at the end - laugh it up!!! :)

Here's a picture of the view from our hotel room at Horseshoe Bay. It was wonderful.




They had many exotic birds in different cages scattered around their 18 hole putting course. Brandon and I had fun playing it one afternoon - it was beautiful but extremely hot - no shade and no breeze at all!!!




The waterfall outside the putting course:




A view of the course w/ the resort in the background:




Here's a view from our hotel room on Friday night at the AT&T hotel and conference center - located almost right on campus. Waking up to a tower view made Brandon a very happy man :) We loved it so much that we already booked a room for the weekend of the UT vs Tech game in Septemeber - it should be fun. We also got season tickets to the UT games on Monday. We are so excited! I will be a good preggers sport about it - I can't wait to see Dayton's face at the first game he goes to. He is going to freak out - I know this kid will love it and it will all be worth it! :)





I was very hesitant to post this pic, but here I am as of last night - 19 1/2 weeks along. The last pics I have is when I was only like 5 weeks and we don't want to compare the two - believe me. Talk about depressing! But, maybe this will help you guess - girl or boy? I'm really not sure. Excuse the bad pic, too - this was last night before we went to bed and Brandon chose to take this from below - as if I need to add to the largeness of the bump!!!

Boy or Girl???

Got an email this morning w/ a bunch of old wives' tales. Here are the answers to my questions - what do you think? Boy or Girl? We shall know the answer in 9 short days...

Breast Size
If your right breast is larger than the left while pregnant, you are having a girl. If the left is larger, it's a baby boy.

*Not sure, I like to think my ladies are pretty well balanced...

Dream Meanings
If you dream about having a girl while pregnant, you will wind up having a boy and vice versa.

*Haven't had any vivid baby dreams yet, so I wouldn't know the sex. I have had some really strange dreams, but no babies involved...

Stress Test
A child tends to be of the same sex as the parent who is less stressed at the time of conception.

*I think Brandon and I were both pretty stressed at the time of conception w/ the house building and all, but this was prior to dance recital stress, so I would have to say he was more stressed meaning GIRL

Baby's Heartbeat
If the baby's heart beats more than 150 times per minute, you're pregnant with a girl. Less than 150, it's a boy

*2 out of the 3 times, we've had the heartbeat checked, it's been above 150 meaning GIRL. But, the last visit it was in the 140s, so could be BOY...

EVEN AND ODD NUMBERS
If your age and year of conception are both even or odd, it's girl. One even, one odd means a boy.

*27 and 2009 = GIRL, but at the time of birth I will be 28 so that would mean BOY

(So far this test isn't helping much...)

Toddler Advice
Get baby advice from a nephew or friend's little boy. If a toddler boy shows interest in your belly, you'll have a girl. If he ignores you, it's a boy

*While Dayton is not that interested in my belly, Brock loves to comment on how "big" and "fat" it is and if you ask him what I'm having, he says GIRL

High or Low Pregnant Belly
If you're carrying the baby low on your stomach, expect a boy. If it's high, you're having a girl.

*This is a hard one - I'm really not sure. My frame is a lot different build than it was when I was pregnant w/ Dayton so it's hard to tell if I'm carrying the same or not. If I had to say, I would say I'm carrying a little higher than I carried Date, but that could be wishful thinking - GIRL

Mood Changes
If you're experiencing pregnant mood-swings, expect a baby girl to arrive soon.

*Mood swings - check! GIRL

Sugar and Spice Food Cravings
Craving salt during pregnancy? Potato chips, pretzels, and popcorn means a boy is on the way. Need a little something sweet? Ice cream, chocolate, and candy means you're having a girl.

*While I do crave a little bit of everything, I would say sweets more than salts now so GIRL. Although I did go through my huge tabasco sauce phase, so could be a BOY

Face Weight Gain
If your face gets fuller, it means you're having a girl.

*When I saw this one, it made me laugh. I think this is the very first place I gain weight anytime I do, so of course my face is fuller - GIRL

Graceful or Clumsy Pregnancy
If you feel as though you're gliding through they day, you'll have a girl. Stumbling? It's a boy.

*I'll know more about this one once I start dancing again, but considering my almost disasterous fall in the bath tub the other day, I may be a little clumsy - BOY

Adult Acne
If altering hormones makes your skin break out, expect a girl

*Who doesn't break out when they're pregnant - GIRL

Food Cravings
Your favorite pregnancy foods may tell you what sex the baby is. If you're craving citrus while pregnant, you're having a girl.

*This is pretty funny. I wouldn't say it's my favorite pregnancy food, but I love anything lemon right now - lemonade, lemon pound cake, lemon slices in my water, etc...

Soft or dry hands
If your hands are dry during pregnancy, you are having a boy; soft -- expect a girl.

*If you know me well, you know my hands are never dry and I'm not sure if they're soft, because they're always wet - I have the sweatiest hands ever - so I'm not sure on this one, it does me no good...

Upset Stomach
Little girls aren't always sweet. Extreme nausea means you are having a daughter.

*While I didn't "get sick" as much this time around, I was extremely nauseaus in the beginning a lot, and now I have an upset stomach all the time - GIRL

Sleep Position
Pay attention to which way you lay down in bed tonight. If you prefer sleeping on your left side, you'll have a boy. Right side? Your pregnant with a girl.

They say to lay on your left side when you're pregnant, so I do my best, but I always wake up on my right side - GIRL

Chinese Birth Chart:
Based on my age at conception (27) in month of conception (March), I'm having a BOY - however, the percentage of likelihood under the percentage chart is 50% Boy 50% Girl, so not tellin me much here...

QUIZ:
I took one other quiz w/ some really weird and personal questions and it resulted in BOY

~Well, I dont' know what we've got going on in there. I'm more confused than ever. If I had to go w/ my gut, I would say BOY. I will be extremely excited either way. Even though I may lean towards saying I want a girl, I would absolutely love to have another little boy. I'm just ready to know either way and to mainly see that everything is going okay in there.

Moving to Austin

Not really, just for one night, but today we leave the heavenly place of Horseshoe Bay Resort and we're off to ATX for the afternoon and night. It's been very relaxing to be away from everything the last two days, but I do miss my little Date and can't wait to be home tomorrow to see him. But, we must take care of business. We promised the little man a new Bevo shirt and we hadn't had a chance to go shopping yet, so I've got to get to that today or tomorrow morning. This place is absolutely beautiful. I would recommend it to anyone who just wants to get away. I got a lot of sun yesterday - a little too much, but it was great. I've also got a lot of work done believe it or not. It's been so nice to get to focus on work w/o Date running around or trying to cram 3 hrs worth of work into his 1 hour long naptime. It's been very enjoyable. We are so thankful that Brandon has such a wonderful job and works w/ such wonderful people!

Not much else to report right now. I hear my little man is eating like a machine which is no surprise. He must be having a growth spurt b/c he has been eating so much lately. I can't imagine when this kid gets to be a teenager - he's gonna eat me out of house and home. And, to think I might have another little boy swimming around in my belly right now - yikes! Two teenage boys at one time - oh my goodness!!! I am proud to report my mom was very impressed w/ Date's manners, so that made me very happy. It's good to know that when we leave, I don't have to worry about him being a total terror.

Have a great weekend!

You can feel that???

So I must've ate lots of protein or something over the holiday weekend because I think I bulked this baby up ;) Since Saturday morning, I've felt so much more movement than I was before. The last couple of weeks, I've felt a couple of little flutters every day. Now, I feel them all the time and they're a little more forceful than they were before. It's great - I love it. There is no better feeling in the entire universe than feeling a little life move around inside you. Last night, when we got into bed, the baby was moving quite a bit. I put my hand on my belly and thought I felt a kick, but wasn't sure if I was just feeling it from the inside or if it was on the outside too. I told Brandon to put his hand on my belly and just see if he could feel anything - I was for sure it was too early. The baby made quite the jolt and I kept my mouth shut - Brandon shouted "Was that it? I felt it!" I was like "You can feel that?" He did - he had just felt his new litte bambino move for the first time. It took us a while to get to this point w/ Dayton, so either this one is quite the mover and groover or Daddy is a pro at feeling baby bumps now. Whatever the reason, it was amazing!

Big news today - we signed (another) contract on our house - yeah!!!! Let's hope and pray that this one doesn't fall through! We are excited and hope everything goes okay. It would be such a huge relief to get that house off of our chest already! We've decided to stay in Austin on Friday night to celebrate after our Horseshoe Bay trip. I got us a room at the AT&T hotel right off MLK practically on the UT campus - it should be fun. I love me some Austin.

If I ever manage to get everything packed up, it will be a miracle. I better get off the computer and get back to that right now...

4th of July Weekend

We had a great weekend at the bay w/ family, food and fun. Scott, Amy and the kids came down and stayed Friday and Saturday night and we visited over at Coby's place a lot. We fished and ate and swam and played and saw fireworks and did a little bit of everything. The kids had a blast. I got tons of pictures, but here's some - enjoy :)

Here's a pic of Date last week while he was still a little under the weather. He fell asleep on Lucy's back.




Dayton loves to swing. Here he is on Anna's swing:




Dayton and Will play in the sandbox:




Dayton finally got up enough nerve to climb up the waterslide - twice! He had to have a helping hand on the way down, but we were still proud :)




Lots of fishing! Date, Daddy and Uncle Scott try to catch a big one!




Here's one I got of Date on the pier:




Another one of our cutie on the pier:




A cute one of two father/son moments :)




Night time fishing w/ lifejackets:




Too much fun - the next morning:




Here is my filthy child awaiting the start of the little parade. Snot + dirt = very messy and nasty face :)




Brock, Luke and Dayton begin to here the firetruck!




They threw candy from their little golf carts, trailers and such - so much fun!




Date takes another swing:




This was taken Sunday right before we left to come home - the kids were exhausted after their big weekend:




I'm battling somewhat of a small eye infection again and I've also got a taste of what Dayton had all last week. I'm taking it easy and trying to get everything ready for the week. We're leaving Wed. to Horseshoe Bay - northwest of Austin for two nights for Brandon's work. I'm hoping to get some much needed R and R. Date will be here w/ his grandparents. I'm looking forward to it, but not looking forward to packing again. We packed up Friday morning, left for the bay, came home yesterday, I unpacked everything this morning and washed clothes, and tomorrow I'll be repacking everything again - agh!

When it rains, it pours...

Well, yesterday it definently poured - on so many levels! To fill you in, I ended up taking Dayton to the doctor on Monday morning, he still wasn't himself and I was starting to get worried that it was something more than allergies or a cold. I tried to take him to run our morning errands and he was just so lifeless in the back seat. We managed to make it to the post office and then I was like, 'I'm dressed and so is he so we're getting our butts to the dr.'s office.' Strep and a virus are going around and neither him nor me need to have that right now. We went to convenient care and were lucky enough to get in w/ PA Williams who is wonderful. She has four kids of her own, so she is great w/ kiddos. Date did well and didn't cry at the dr's office for the first time in a long time. His temp was good, but his left side of his chest was very congested. She called it an upper respitory infection. His throat was red but no bumps. She wrote us a prescription and sent us on our way. He's been on millipred 4x a day since Monday until next Monday. It seems to be slowly helping, but it makes him a little loopy. He's either running crazy or he's staring off into a distance - kinda strange :) Then came yesterday. Mrs. Zabodyn had her hysterectomy (sp?) in the morning and all went well. They were able to do it all laproscopically (sp? - sorry Trace) so that was good for her. We went to see her yesterday evening when Brandon got off of work just as the weather was blowing in. While we were in Wharton, we took Brandon's dad to eat at Los Cucos and that's when the weather hit there. It was pouring and blowing like crazy. We had to wait to leave and we still got drenched. We went back to the hospital for a while - which by the way Dayton liked. Weird? We thought he'd be scared, but he liked the elevator and the babies in the nursery. He also wanted to push the buttons on DeDe's bed - not good. When we left he said, "I want hopital." It was good practice for when the baby comes. Anyways, it poured on us the whole way home and when we pulled in the drive way we realized that our little swimming pool was gone :( The wind had blown it away to Lord knows where. It was dark so we couldn't see it. Brandon went for a quick trip around the neighborhood and it was no where to be found. We're really not sure where it ended up, but as of right now, it is still MIA. Then, I come inside to let Lucy out of our bathroom because that's where she's been staying when we're gone for a while, and I see what could be her future death sentence. She ate one of our french doors in the bathroom. I don't mean a couple of teeth marks or a few scratches - I mean nibbled through all the paint down to the wood where it appears to be all splintered. It's horrible. I guess we'll have to sand down that corner and repaint it. It will never be the same. I had to break the news to Brandon, who of course freaked out and decided the best decision would be to let her out the back door and never let her back in and where ever she ended up, she ended up. As of right now, she's still inside, but we're not talking (me and Lucy, not me and Brandon). Anyone want a FREE shitzu who's great w/ kids and fixed? I think this is our breaking point, we're officially trying to give her away to a good home as of today. As much as it breaks my heart, I just won't tolerate her messing up the new place and w/ Dayton and another one on the way, our house is getting too full. I know, I sound so mean, but we've got to do it. I let it go too far and now we've got a $400 custom made door that's pretty much ruined. Well, that's my story, so let's hope if it rains today, it's some nice showers - not downpours. I don't need anymore downpours this morning...