Buying blue balloons

We're going to have a son!

We waited all day long for our 3:30 pm appointment.  The last hour of waiting was particularly excruciating.  The girls were resting, so Chris and I tried to kill time with electronics.  Such a lame idea. I finally said "It's 3:10!  We can get the girls up!"  We took a quick video interview.  Both girls asserted the baby was a boy.  Hallie in particular has been claiming girl hard, so we're pleasantly surprised.  We dropped them off at Ann's house and headed to the appointment.  Chris and I kept commenting "We can't believe we don't know now but we'll leave the doctor's office in minutes and know!" 

I thought the hour wait at home was hard.  Twelve minutes in the waiting room was way harder.  Then we get called back to the ultrasound room.  Those first five minutes of the ultrasound were crazy.  I am thrilled for every measurement that is on track.  I keep saying "great" to the tech when she says "looks good!"  Meanwhile, in my head, I am saying "Oh my gosh, it's gonna be another girl.  That will be great - I will totally cry.  But I really would love a boy.  It still could be a boy!  Oh, I'll cry if she says boy.  But it's okay if it's a girl too."  Several times I think I see what looks like a girl.  Oh my gosh we're having another girl.  Meanwhile, Chris is as the foot of my bed, lovingly rubbing my ankle.  Normally, I hate being rubbed (I'm a "hugger" who hates the touch of rubbing - go figure).  But this time, his touch is perfect.  I am so happy to have him here.  I am so happy we get to experience this together.  Even though this is our third time doing this, we are still just so impressed by the novelty of it.  We just can't believe this is our baby.  We can't believe this is our third baby. 

Chris comments "no matter how many times you see this, it never gets old."  He was so sweet to the tech.  He kept thanking her and said "you do this all day everyday . . . you might be used to it but it is sooo special to us.  Thank you so much."  I know.  He is so cute.  Finally the tech says "Well, the hands are down there . . . that's always a sign."  I had never heard that in an ultrasound before. It was only seconds until she said "Oh yeah, it's a boy."  I immediately grabbed my mouth and just yelped with joy.  Chris literally cheered out loud (kind of a woo-hoo/laugh mix).  My cheeks and ears were warm with wet tears.  We are so lucky.  We get to have both.  We get to have a son!

The doctor comes in and tells us seriously "I have two girls and a boy.  My boy is my third.  You just need to know . . . boys run around in circles for no reasons."  Chris and I nod our head solemnly.  We are simultaneously frightened and free!

On our way home we buy "It's a Boy!" balloons for our girls.  We pick them up at Ann's and bring them home to surprise them.  I prep the girls - Daddy will bring in balloons.  Blue means boy.  Pink means girl.  Daddy enters - they see no colors.  They just see balloons.  They are thrilled for balloons. We have to coach them "What color is it?" "What does blue mean?"  They finally grasp "baby brother."  They're thrilled for that too.

And boy ever are we!

Here comes the son?

Tomorrow (if baby cooperates) we get to find out the gender of our third child!  This is such a big deal to us.  Chris and I were talking about the three best moments of pregnancy-  1.) finding out you're pregnant in the first place, 2.) finding out the gender, and 3.) actually having the baby.  We are so thrilled to do this.  When I made the ultrasound appointment about a month and a half ago, I felt like it was forever away.  I was in agony that my cousins who are due at the same time already knew what they were having.  Now, it is just hours until we know.  And then my list of boys and girls names will switch to just girl or just boy.  Crazy!

I go both ways with my thoughts.  I don't feel like I am one of those women who instinctually know what they are having.  I do feel like there are HUGE differences between this pregnancy and my first two.  For one, I have been very sick with this one.  With Hallie and Claire those moments were fleeting.  With this baby, the daily deep nauseua started early at 5 weeks and lasted until about 15 weeks.  And at 20 weeks I still get sick for several hours a day, several times a week.  But, I am thrilled for the break from the daily.  Please note - I don't intend to whine here - I am just stating facts.  Also, with both my pregnancies with my girls, my skin cleared up beautifully.  This pregnancy has presented non-stop, painful cystic acne.  There are surely hormonal differences.  So, it makes me think this baby could be boy. 

But the other part of me thinks we're fated to have just girls.  And, my three childhood friends (who currently have two daughters) have all had or will have their third child be a boy.  Somehow I feel like just because their ultrasound said "boy," mine will say "girl." 

I know it sounds cliche but I am so thrilled either way.  The boy is something new.  It's fresh.  It's new boy clothes.  It's experiencing what it is like to say the words "my son."  And I would love to see Chris have a son.  When you have a husband this good, it just seems wrong he wouldn't pass that down to another boy.  We just need more men like that in the world. 

But I adore my little girls.  Adore them.  You know, I always pictured myself as a mom of boys.  Having daughters has been the most pleasant and thrilling surprise of my life.  They are true joys.

So, here we go about to embark on one of the last truly great surprises of life.  Now that it is here I almost don't want to know.  I said almost.  I'm dying to know.

HALLOWEEN approaches

Chris and I love having a child with a fall birthday. Because, after Hallie's birthday . . . the holiday season begins!  First up, Halloween!

Chris and I definitely scaled back with decorations this year.

We normally pull out every fall decoration we own - leaf wreaths, leaf garlands, orange lights.

Then, once Halloween is over, we trade the jack-o-lanterns for turkeys and call it Thanksgiving.

We decided we didn't want to grow sick of all the gorgeous leaves after two months.

So, we decided to save that for the Thanksgiving decorations.

Then they will be crisp and fun.

Let's pretend the smudge-filled mirror was an intentional spooky element.

Even though we all know it's not.

Although, I could swear one of the smudges looks like a witch flying on a broomstick . . .

I love getting out the Halloween books.

Some of our all-time family favorites are stuck in that little pile.

Cobwebs coming soon.

Will they be real or fake? 

Maybe I'll just stop dusting.

This happy haunted house is probably my favorite.

If you light a tealight candle inside, the ghost in the chimney spins.

I had to put it up high because apparently tiny Care Bears have been trying to throw house parties there.

And my girls can't help but lovingly bend the ghost.

Blurry picture - perhaps that adds to the spookiness?

I'll say it does because I can't bear to take another one.

The night we returned from St. George, we started decorating.

We turned on our best Halloween tunes (Harry Potter soundtracks on Pandora).

The girls were as excited to open those boxes as Hallie was to attack birthday presents.

Breaking open the first box.  I was a little excited too!

First we let the girls "decorate."  And then I rearanged the next morning.

Daddy bought us Halloween egg nog (with pumpkin pie spice) and Halloween Oreos.

It was the perfect way to end a festive night!

Let the costumes and cookies and cooking begin!

Claire's Rag Quilt

After months and months, Claire's rag quilt is complete!

This project technically shouldn't have taken me months.

Although time consuming, it's fairly easy.

And I've done rag quilts before.

It's just . . . I have the patience of a frog.

So, I would spend hours cutting material - and then get sick of it for three months.

Then, I would sew a hundred squares together - and get sick of it for another two months.

Once I finally got all the strips pieced together, I had enough momentum to keep going.

The cutting only took me about a week (probably should have taken about 3 hours).

And finally, we have a gorgeous rag quilt that is totally Claire.

The front.

I picked the Minnie fabric out last November. 

I found a coordinating pink and white polka dot and I added a layer of red to accentuate the border.

The back.

Plaids and checks.

Please note these colors match her old room perfectly.

It just took me that long that, when finally completed, she has a new room - that's purple.

Both sides together.

It is so pretty in person.

And it has a great weight to it.

Not too hot but extra comfy.

Did I mention Hallie was my little helper?

When given options like baking, painting, and crafting, she frequently says

"Let's zew! I love zewing!" (She will not be convinced to say "sew").

She is so patient. She holds down the foot press until I say "stop."

And she is great about cutting strings.

She likes it!

(That's her classic comfort suck).

Now to gather the strength for a Hallie quilt.

And once we know the gender of baby #3 (Oct. 17!), we can start dreaming a quilt then too!

Pray for my quilting strength and patience.

Sharing again

The girls are sharing again. 

They still fight over Disney Princess dolls (or as Claire calls them - "Bobbies").

But, they aren't squabbling over sharing the "purple room."

In order to get the pink room ready for baby #3 and to battle Hallie's nighttime loneliness,

 Claire moved from a crib to a big girl bed!

So far, so good! 

We have the not-so-aesthetically pleasing guard rail on Claire's bed.

We'll likely keep it there for several months.

Claire even goes down for naps in her big girl bed and doesn't get out until we come get her.

She can get out - she just doesn't.

This is soooo different from Hallie at that age.

This is an off-shoot from a design I saw on blogs and Pinterest.

Hallie already had a bulletin board stocked with pictures.

We wanted Claire to have a personal space too.

But I opted for something a little different than a bulletin board.

Hallie's bulletin board is above.

You'll also notice two mangled berry wreaths that turn into that as soon as the girls come in.

We love that the bigger girl gets the bigger lantern.

 

The girls are enjoying playing here.

This was a movie afternoon on our portable DVD player. 

They thought it was mega cool.

Here is Clairey's first night in her "big girl bed."

She did perfectly!

Here's to many nights of giggles, stories, and late-night chatter.

Here's to sisters sharing rooms!

Stunning and Sweet in St. George

On day two of our visit to Grandma, Claire did not nap . . . at all.

I totally regretted that decision as I sat with her in the back room at about 6 pm while she kicked and screamed and clawed.  I think everybody's ears regretted her lack of nap too.  So, on Saturday, John was kind enough to drive me back to the hotel so she could get an adequate snooze.  We used the black-out curtains and made the room pitch black.  Twenty minutes later when Claire was bustling around the room declaring "No, I NOT go to bed!" I knew my plan was a bust.  John was kind enough to indulge me in nap plan B: driving.  Not only did she fall asleep for a blissful 45 minutes, but we got to witness the stunning sights of St. George.  I am such a sucker for that landscape.  John said "It just makes me want to pull out a geology book and study."  Agreed.  Hallie said "Hey guys, I have an idea.  Let's pull over and search for dinosaur bones."  Another awesome observation.

 

More sweet sights were seen that evening as the girls twirled and hugged in the backyard.

Oh my gosh, sometimes I can't stand their cuteness!