All things February

Celebrating our friend, Reid's birthday party with a ride in a firetruck!










Jumpy house play date with our friends, Neala, Makenzie, and Ambrie.


I came across this great idea for Tyler's class Valentines that allowed him to practice sorting, patterns, spelling and writing! Fun AND educational! It took a week for him to complete these, but I just love the way they turned out! And it's so much better than junk candy or cheap toy. Definitely won't be the last time we make these!








Tyler's homemade Valentine box. :-)


The Valentine class/sundae party another mom and I organized. The kids loved it!






Opening Valentines






Valentine surprises at home~


Hanging at the park with our friends: Callan, Chance, Ryder, Ethan, Cash and Evan. That's a lot of boys!!


A little quality time, just me and my little dude. :-)

All things January

We have attempted to see the Architects of Air display for the past two years and miss it each time because they were sold out by the time we got there. This year, I took Tyler out of school early (Shhh) and we got to enjoy the display. Very neat!! The kids had a great time in this giant kaleidoscope!









































Jumping with our friends- Ethan, Cash and Ryder~


A little fishing action at the Austin Boat Show~


Checking out a new restaurant in Dripping Springs with our neighbors while the kids put on a little musical show for us~

Baby News- It's a GIRL!

I am super behind on baby news! Our days are so busy and the time is seriously flying by. I'm already 24 weeks and while I think that time has flown by, thinking of being pregnant (and growing) for up to 16 more weeks seems like an eternity! We have a lot coming up so I know the remaining time is going to fly by as well and I'm trying to enjoy all things pregnancy right now! I've had a few prenatal visits since my last update, the biggest one being our gender reveal on January 20th. It's a GIRL!




If you're reading this blog, then you're considered a close family member or friend and you are most likely aware of the mini-meltdown I had over our gender news. Now that time has passed, I feel like I need to go back and do some damage control. HaHa. Seriously, I have felt so guilty and sad about my emotions right after we found out about baby girl and the very last thing I would ever want anyone, especially her (someday), to think is that we're not over the moon excited to have her with us.

A lot was going on then and I've tried to make sense of that silliness. Tyler was pretty vocal about wanting a little brother, naturally. He didn't have any concept of the 6 year age difference and that they wouldn't be best buds until much later in life. Travis quickly jumped on that bandwagon as they talked about all the fishing/hunting/camping, etc., they would all do. Disclaimer: Travis says that he would have been happy either way. Uh-huh. Kinley wanted her baby sister, naturally. The kids were so cute because they would have arguments at the dinner table and it really was entertaining, so we'd let them go at it. Tyler: "Baby brother!" Kinley: "No, Baby sister!" Tyler: "NO! Baby BROTHER!" Kinley: "I not like you anymore!" However, on the day of the ultrasound, even Kinley flipped her script and woke up that morning saying that she wanted a baby brother. Everyone said a boy and I was the only neutral ground. I had moments where I thought a boy might fit better with our dynamic- an older boy, a middle girl and a baby boy- just to simplify sibling rivalry/competition and squash any middle child syndrome worries. And then I had moments where I wanted Kinley to experience sisterhood, something that I don't have. If you asked me the day before, a week before, a month before... I maintained that I would be excited for either a boy or a girl and I honestly, truly felt that way, despite most of our conversations revolving around having another little boy. Fast forward to our big reveal moment and when the technician said, "It's a girl," the room was silent. That silence was broken by Tyler saying, "Oh, RATS!" and Travis saying to Tyler, "Well, I guess we gotta get our boat a little sooner now." I felt disappointed for the boys and left out as it seemed like Travis and Tyler quickly teamed up and were talking about all the fun that THEY were going to have... almost like I was booted out of the picture and Travis was stealing my baby boy! Let's just chalk that last feeling up to hormones. I'm not generally THAT crazy! But, the combination of everything left me an emotional wreck and to say that I was surprised by my reaction is such an understatement.

I think going into a third/last pregnancy is a little more tricky/delicate than I thought out in my head. With having a boy and a girl, this baby became our tie breaker (our bonus baby!) and as I've said to a lot of people, I know it sounds silly, but I almost felt like I was mourning the loss of the second little boy that I'm never going to have. I still have a baby in Kinley and with Tyler completely out of the baby phase and fast approaching college and leaving me to explore the world on his own (give me a moment to be dramatic!), knowing that I wouldn't have that baby boy experience again became a little painful. And after a lot of reflecting, I think I probably would have felt very similar about not having my second girl if this baby had been a boy. It just boils down to the finality of it all and that's what hit me in the face hard. I know we can't keep having babies, but I'm sad to think that we are entering the last chapter of babyhood, too.

HOWEVER, a month has passed since we found out about baby girl and our spirits are definitely lifted! We are all very excited and thankful that she seems to be healthy and doing well! Tyler came around pretty quick, especially once he realized that he wouldn't have to share his boy toys (ha), and he likes to rub on my belly and talks about how helpful he's going to be. He's already such a fantastic big brother, I'm excited to see him take on this role in a new way now that he's a little older. Kinley is just ready to have HER baby here! She tells me that HER baby is hungry or tired when talking about baby sister in my belly. ;-) She just doesn't know how lucky she's going to be.....



That photo cracks.me.up!! But, really... there are two sisters that live on our street, both in their 80's, and they live in separate houses across the street from each other. I see them walking over to each others houses all the time and it warms my heart so much! I'm very excited for Kinley and baby sister to share that special bond. I can't speak for Travis, but he seems excited. Kinley is such a momma's girl, I think he's hoping to have his little daddy's girl now. :-) And as for me, I hate that I wasted even half a second questioning our new family dynamic. God saw this as our right fit and I know it will be great! I look at this sweet ultrasound picture and am already so smitten with her. That little nose and tiny neck. Her already chubby-appearing cheeks. The more active she becomes, the more connected I feel. I know this is how it's supposed to be and I can't wait to hold this sweet angel in my arms.




21 week prenatal appointment: 2/4/14
Total Weight gained: 13lbs
After waiting for almost an hour to be seen, the actual appointment was super quick. An intern was trying to locate the heart beat and when she had trouble finding it, she started pushing a little harder on my belly and baby girl was not happy about that. She started pushing and kicking back. In that moment, I couldn't help but think that we're going to get another turkey!! Ha! Heartbeat sounded great. Baby girl is moving more and with stronger movements everyday. Despite some low back pain (that I have pretty often pregnant or not), I've been feeling great, too.

24 week belly picture. This picture is a little deceiving because I look and feel a lot bigger than this.