Frio River Trip

We have gone to the Frio River with Ryan for at least 3 of the last 4 years between Christmas and New Year's and this year was no exception. We were only there for 2 nights this year because of some of our other holiday plans, but we still had a great time. The girls shared a room, which gave Cory and I our own room. That was nice, but it didn't give us a better chance of sleeping in. Kacy was up and at 'em both mornings by 8am. The girls loved playing outside, looking for animals, and their favorite thing was riding in the mule (4 wheeler type thing). They played with their baby dolls, gathered rocks and sticks by the river, and pretended to be camping in their princess tent. I love that any time we go somewhere outdoorsy they love being outside. I hope one day we can have our own little cabin getaway or at least a camper. The weather was beautiful, and we even had a chance to take a quick walk in the freezing river. We love our Frio December trips!

Adilyn updates

My big 4 and 1/2 year old is growing up so fast! I can't believe that in about 8 months she will be starting kindergarten. She is getting to be so mature in some ways. I love talking to her about her day, her ideas, and her friends. She is still very sensitive, and she gets her feelings hurt very easily. She is silly, and she loves to make faces, dance, and play dress up. I can't believe how much she is learning to do on her own, sometimes it makes me sad that she doesn't need me as much, but other times I am proud of her for being so independent.

Here are some of my favorite things that Adilyn says and does these days...

*For some reason she calls where we live "our land." When we go somewhere new, she will say things like, "Do they have Target in this land?" She will also say things like, "How do they talk in this land?" We were at the Frio and she said, "Do they have unicorns and other horses in this land?" I don't why I think it's so cute, but I just love the way she thinks that we have lands like fairies or princesses do.

*It is amazing what Adilyn remembers! We watched a short 30 minute show on Tinker Bell and the Pixie Hollow games one day. It was basically a show about fairy Olympics. There was this one guy on there who was really cocky, and he kept yelling, "One for the thumb!" I was dozing off, but I think it was kind of like his little cheer that he did when he won an event. Anyway, about a week and a half later we were in the car, and Adilyn just busted out, "One for the thumb! One for the thumb!" It was hilarious to think that she remembered that simple little thing that we never talked about or anything! She kept saying it over and over, so it was kind of bugging me. I told her to stop saying it or it would get stuck in her head. She said, "Uh, Mommy, actually it's already stuck in my head, that's why I am saying it!" Of course, what was I thinking...

*She has gotten to be quite a little helper, as long as she is in the mood to help that is! She will get things for Cory, she will help Kacy reach things, and she will help me clean. Her teachers at school say that she helps them a lot, too. She came home and told me that she was "being the teacher" when Ms. Niroo went to the bathroom, and she sent Elijah and Micah to the back of the line because they were fighting. :)

*Although Adilyn is getting more mature, one thing that she is still doing that drives me crazy is screaming when Kacy bugs here. They will be playing just fine, then Kacy will take something from her or something, and Adilyn will scream at the top of her lungs. I am trying to teach her to just use normal words to tell Kacy what is bothering her, but we haven't quite gotten there yet.

*She will randomly sing some of her words when she is excited. She will say things like, "Tomorrow is Friiidaaay!" or "We are going to Mimi and Poooopppps'ss house."

*I feel like she used to be really timid about trying new things, but now when we go to parks, she is pretty brave. She will climb high ladders, jump off things, and try to go across things that would have scared her before. She still doesn't like playing with random kids at the park when we go, but I wouldn't want to either! I have a feeling that a lot of her personality is going to be like mine.

*She has been having random tantrums, which is new and unexpected! She flipped out when we were at the Frio, and she actually ended up punching me in the face. I couldn't believe it! She started out getting mad about something stupid, and she just wouldn't calm down. Finally, Cory came to the rescue, and I went to take a shower to calm down. He ended up making her go outside by herself to try to calm herself down. Finally she did, thank goodness! I think she throws those fits when she is really tired, at least that is what she says. Who knows?!? Ryan asked her later about why she threw a fit, and she said, "I was just really, really grumpy!"

*Adilyn had been wearing pull-ups to bed forever. I never really worried too much about it, but I really didn't want Kacy to start wearing panties before Adilyn did. All of a sudden, I noticed that her pull-ups were dry for a couple mornings in a row. I asked her if she wanted to wear panties to bed, and she was so excited! I fully expected there to be many, many accidents because she always slept through her peeing before. She had one accident the second night, and since then completely dry! What a relief. It just reminds me of that old saying, "And this too shall pass..." Every time I think that a certain phase will never end, it always does!

Kacy's Favorite Sayings

My sweet Kacy is talking all the time these days. She still has some things that are hard to understand, but she is almost at the point were she can have an entire conversation with her. Sometimes she gets excited, and she will come to me and tell me an entire story complete with hand gestures and laughter, and I won't understand a thing she said. Usually she doesn't care if I don't get everything she said, but just recently she gets really mad if I don't understand her.

Here are some of my favorite things Kacy says...

*Ever since she started sleeping in a big bed, she just comes downstairs when she wakes up. It's kind of nice because I don't have to go all the way upstairs to get her. On the other hand, it's a bit of a pain because the girl is a morning person! She wakes up, and she is up and ready to go! She will climb in our bed, get about one inch away from my face and say, "Good mooning, Mama. Good mooning!" It's too cute to not smile, even if all I want to do is turn around and go back to sleep.
*Anytime we talk about her taking a nap she will always say, "Kacy nap early." I don't know if she says that because she thinks that I will think she already napped or if she is trying to say that she will nap for a long time, but whatever she means, it's adorable.

*I think that one day recently she was eating a lot, and I said, "Man, Kacy you must be hungry today!" Now every time she is hungry she says, "I hungy today."

*Instead of saying, "My feet are cold." It's, "Cold, my feet!"
*For some odd reason, she has an irrational fear of bugs or other strange things in the bathroom. Every time she says that she has to go to the bathroom, I tell her to go. She always asks, "Mama, bugs?" I have cleaned and cleaned in there, and I have shown her that there are no bugs, but she still asks me almost every time.
*Cory was hunting for quite a few weekends, and every time Kacy came in the bedroom in the morning and she would notice he was gone she would say, "No, Daddy" in the sweetest little sing song voice.
*Kacy loves playing with her baby dolls, and her favorite thing is putting them to bed. Anytime she puts them to sleep, she will tell us, "Baby sleeping. Be quiet! No talking, guys!"

She is so lovable and such a cutie pie! I love her little personality. She is so stubborn yet determined, and she is so silly yet serious at times. I can't get enough of her :)

The Last Christmas Celebration - Our House

Cory and I were really worried that the girls were going to wake up ridiculously early on Christmas morning, but it really wasn't too bad. Kacy came downstairs first around 7:30ish, and she totally missed the whole set up that Santa left by the tree. She jumped in our bed and just relaxed for a little bit. I don't think she even knew/remembered about Christmas. Finally, she started asking about Adilyn, and she said that she was going to to get her. When she walked out to the living room, she noticed the Santa gifts. She came running in the room and said, "Mama, bicycle, bicycle!" She was talking about the scooter. I told her to go get Adilyn, but she said, "No, Mama, play toys." I got a little worried that she was just going to tear into the presents! I hopped out of bed, and we went to wake up Adilyn. Once she got downstairs, it was game on! Adilyn normally takes a while to wake up, but I guess the Christmas excitement woke her up quick. She started passing out presents, and they both dug right in. They actually stopped to look at each present and talk about it before opening another one. We got about halfway through, and they decided to stop and play with some of the toys for a little bit. It was a really fun morning! Cory cooked us a fantastic breakfast, and we ate once all the gifts were open. The rest of the day was spent opening up all the toys and playing with everything.

Some of my highlights of Christmas this year were Adilyn saying, "How did Santa know I wanted this?" after almost every single present. Most of the things that she was given were not even things that she had asked for, but she thought that everything was exactly what she had wanted. It was so cute. Kacy's favorite gift was a tiny little princess camera that Adilyn picked out for her and her very own chapstick. She put that chapstick on all morning long, and every single time I took out my camera, she would take hers out too.

The girls really enjoyed a little birthday cake and cookie set that I gave them. Each one can be decorated in different ways, so they enjoyed pretending with those. They would come around and be the cookie delivery service and give Cory and I tons of cookies. They also really enjoyed scooting around the house on their new scooter. The weather was cold and rainy, so we let them scoot inside for the day.

Christmas was really amazing this year. Everything from decorating the tree to writing the letter to Santa to all of our Christmas celebrations. I always loved the holidays, but now, with kids it is even more fun, more exciting, and more miraculous. I can only imagine what next year will be like with Adilyn and Kacy being older, and a new little one joining the crew. What more could I ask for?

Henderson Family Christmas

Cousin cuties, hiding in the presents! Kacy is obviously excited!

Connor just loved hanging out by the presents, eating the bows, and pulling tissue paper out of the bags.

The girls and Grandma with their new Easy Bake Oven!

Callie and Adilyn working on decorating cookies for Santa.

We celebrated Christmas with the Hendersons on Christmas Eve. Everyone was there except for Ashley and her family, so it was a full house as always! Kacy and Adilyn love to entertain or "babysit" for Connor who is almost a year old. They just think everything he does is hilarious. Sometimes he likes hanging out with them, but he is crawling and trying to walk now, so he is much too busy to just sit there and be cute for them. Kacy thinks it's so funny whenever he touches her, and each time he does, she runs to tell me all about it. We watched a Diego Christmas show, and we did a little dancing to the Fresh Beat Band. All three of the girls pulled all the cushions off the couch and made a huge pile to climb and jump on. Adilyn and Kacy did their Rudolph dance to entertain the crowd, then we opened presents. After presents we decorated cookies for Santa, and everyone was very generous with the sprinkles! Good thing Santa loves sprinkles :) It was getting pretty late, and Adilyn was pretty worried about not being home when Santa got there, so we headed home.

Fort Worth Christmas

I love our tradition of having Christmas with our Fort Worth family the weekend before actual Christmas. It's nice to know that we will get our holiday celebrations started with fun, laughter, and lots of love! We started off the festivities at Nammie and Pawpaw's house. Nammie went all out this year, and as soon as we got there the princess wrapping paper under the tree was overwhelming. Adilyn said, "Mommy, are all those princess presents for us?" We didn't waste any time, and got right to opening presents. As always, the stocking stuffers give everyone a laugh! Nammie got a Home Drug Test from the dollar store. I got a special bra that keep popping up in stockings each year. Cory got some coal. The girls both got some silly headbands. After we did presents, the girls wanted to play with everything, so Cory and Greg got out their knives and went to town trying to get all those plastic boxes open. Once everything was open and spread out all over the house, we ate dinner and played some more. The girls worked with Nammie to create a spectacular gingerbread house. We were smart this year, and decided to buy a house that was already put together and only needed decorating. Adilyn really wanted to try to make it look "just like the picture", and Kacy just wanted to eat all the candy. Imagine that! Eventually our fun had to end, and it was time to head over to Mimi and Pops's house.

We got to their house kind of late, so we pretty much just set up the beds and went to sleep. We were trying a new sleeping arrangement with Adilyn and Kacy in the same room, and I was a little nervous. I put Kacy on a pallet on the floor, but she seemed excited to be sleeping with Adilyn. They went to sleep pretty quick, but Kacy woke up crying at 3am saying, "No floor, Mama, no floor!" I tried to get her back to sleep there, but it wasn't happening. Finally, I gave in and brought her into our bed. Luckily, she slept soundly through the night the other two nights! The next morning, we woke up and everyone headed over around 10am. Every time we get together with our Fort Worth cousins it is tons of fun. Adilyn, Taylor, and Kacy were so silly with each other, and Terilyn just tried to keep up. It hilarious to watch them grow and learn to play with each other differently. Maren kept herself busy this time with her new baby brother, Ethan. We had a yummy breakfast/brunch/all day snack time as always with great food. We began the tradition of singing and dancing around the Christmas tree. The has always been done with Kris's family, and she decided it was time to expand this tradition. The little kids loved it, the older boys didn't want to hold hands, but fun was had by all (even if they don't want to admit it)! After the amazing display of singing and dancing talent, it was time to open presents. Once the present opening chaos ended, all the kids played with their new toys and had fun being silly with each other. Adilyn's favorite toy was the beauty salon set that Maren picked out for her, and Kacy's favorite toy was a tiny baby doll that Nina gave her. Everyone liked the hammer and nails set that Mimi and Pops got Kacy, and Taylor's golf set. I love spending time with everyone up there, it is so nice and relaxed.

(Thanks to Anne I have some pictures from the fun! I stole them for her blog. Thanks, Anne!)

A musical parade!

Maren, getting all beautiful! (Notice the apron...my favorite part of the little set.) Brandon obviously hopes that he is next in line!

Mimi was getting her eyeshadow done.

Cory always has the fire on the patio, and Maren had a few marshmallows.

All the little ones "sharing" the mini golf set.

PInocchio Field Trip

Adilyn's school has started taking the older kids on field trips every now and then which has been really fun for them. The first one was to Dewberry Farm Pumpkin Patch, and I didn't go because we had already planned to go that weekend with Carl and Sonja. Adilyn was okay with it, but she kept talking about all the other moms and dads that went with them. I felt a little guilty, so I told her that I would go with her next field trip. The next one turned out to be going to see a production of Pinocchio at a theater. My first thought was that 3 and 4 year olds might not be that excited about sitting through a one hour play, but nobody asked me! :) We went on a big charter bus, and Adilyn was so proud to have me there. Of course, she wanted me to sit right by her and she snuggled with me the whole time. We finally got to the play, and the kids were antsy even before it ever started. They all did pretty well, considering the play was pretty hard to follow - even for me! We were going to go to a park afterward, but the weather was not very good, so we headed back. Lunch was at McDonald's which was pretty crazy. Our kids took up the entire eating area! They had it set up ahead of time, so we didn't have to wait for food which was great. It was still quite choatic! Our bus went across the street to the Walmart parking lot, so nobody was expecting 35 or 40 pre-kindergarteners taking up the entire restaurant when they walked in. Most people got one look at the madness and walked right out! Everyone ate pretty quickly, and we went back to school. I was looking forward to having a couple hours to myself to get some things down, but on our way back to school Adilyn told me that she wanted to come home with me. I felt bad, so I decided whatever I had planned for myself could wait. Adilyn and I went home and relaxed there for a while until it was time to go get Kacy. I am really glad I went with her. I got a little insight into what her day is like, who her friends are, and what she is like at school. It was also very sweet to see how happy she was that I was there with her. I am glad that I get to experience some of these things with her!

My Little Dancing Reindeer

Adilyn has been doing a weekly dance class at her school this year, and she has absolutely loved it. A dance teacher comes to her school and teaches them tap and ballet. I have loved having it at her school because it means that we don't have to disrupt our nightly routines with a dance class. The bad part about it is that I never get to see her doing her thing, so I was really excited to hear that they were going to do a little Christmas program. Adilyn and her little friends all dressed up like little reindeer and did a dance to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. It was absolutely darling!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHF4Tz4Npfo

24 Weeks

My 24 week appointment went well. I got to see Theodora, who is my favorite. She said the baby was growing well, and the heartbeat was perfect. I have been feeling okay, but this pregnancy is definitely rougher than the other two. I think there are a lot of reasons for feeling more aches and pains this time around. I have not been nearly as active as I was before. In fact, I was still running when I was this pregnant with Addy, and I can NOT imagine running for any length of time right now! Obviously, I am older and we all know that getting older also means the old body starts to fall apart :) Of course, I have two kids to take care of and play with while I try to keep the house semi-clean! Anyway, I hate to complain because I have none of the typical crazy pregnancy like heartburn or nausea, but still this pregnancy is a little bit more uncomfortable. I am trying to really savor each moment of this little miracle growing inside of me since this is my last time to grow one of these special miracles. :)

Catch up time!

So I have tons of things to blog about, and I am going to try to get them all done this week! We have had such a fun holiday season. I think it just gets more and more fun as the girls get older. It's been awesome to see the wonder in their eyes as they see a huge display of lights, watch as they learn about the real reason we celebrate Christmas, or see the excitement that they have as the open their presents. I love the fact that Christmas is so magical for them.

Here are some of my favorite things about the holidays this year -

*Every single time we are out at night, the girls yell "Christmas lights!!!" any time they see a house lit up. A couple of times we have been out late, and as they get more tired, their yell becomes a whisper from the backseat.

*Santa called our house, and it was amazing! So amazing, that it is worth an entire blog entry of its own!

*When we went to see Santa, neither girl even attempted to sit on his lap. In their defense, he was extra creepy and super old. I really would not have wanted to sit on his lap either!

*Adilyn loved looking at the presents that were wrapped under the tree. She knew immediately when there were new presents under there, and she had to go check them out.

*We went to "Celebration" at First Baptist Church, and Adilyn was totally into all the different story lines. She had so many questions about baby Jesus and all that she saw after it was over. I loved looking down the row of seats at her when something completely amazed her. Kacy was not so into it. Every single time a song finished, she would say, "Mama, done? Done now?" Yeah, she said that for almost 2 hours...

*I could not get a cute picture of them the entire holiday season! We tried to do Christmas card pictures in front of the tree, and all I got were ridiculous funny faces and wrestling.

Pictures of all our fun events and more holiday stories to come!

Christmas Decorations

For the last 3 or 4 years, we have gone to the Christmas tree farm to cut down our tree. Of course, the trees they have there are Texas "fake" pine trees that they trim into the shape of a Christmas tree They always look a little rough in the field, but once they are decorated they always look fine. The main problem we have with them is the fact that they are always so crooked. This year for whatever reason, they were really bad! I don't know if it was because of the drought, or just a randomly bad year - but we could not even find a decent one. They all looked great from far away, but when we would get up to them they looked awful! We noticed that they even spray painted them green this year, and you could see all the brown pine needles on the ground around it. It was very sad, but we finally decided just to leave and go to Houston Garden Center to get a "real" Christmas tree. Adilyn had a hard time understanding what was going on, but she was okay once we were on our way home with our beautifully straight, non-spray painted Fraser Fir. :)

Adilyn said, "I will chop this one down for my room."

Kacy was more interested in the ants than in looking for the perfect tree.

Santa is usually there, but he wasn't this year...one more reason to be disappointed! Cory and Adilyn decided to sit in his chair anyway and pretend.

Once we got home with the tree, the girls completely forgot about the Christmas tree farm failure and just had fun with all the decorations and trimming the tree. Since the whole ordeal had taken longer than expected, I had to get dinner started right when wegot home. I told Adilyn and Kacy that they could start decorating. About 10 minutes into it, Adilyn announced that they were finished decorating, and they just needed help putting the star on the top. This is what their finished product looked like. The bottom sure did look amazing!

I loved decorating the tree with the girls. Every time Adilyn opened an ornament, she would say, "Oh, I love this one!" or "I remember this one!" Every year it just gets more and more fun to celebrate this time of year with the girls! After some "reorganizing" of the ornaments, and actually using the other 75% of the ornaments that the girls didn't think were needed the tree ended up looking just beautiful! I always love getting a different tree every year because of the funny stories we have trying to find one that is perfect for our holiday season. It always turns out to be an adventure!

What a perfect beginning to our holidays!

Big Bed...Mission Complete, Kinda

Kacy has been in her big bed for a couple weeks now and things are much better. There have still been a few nights that she has gotten up a few times, but I think she has gotten the point that she is supposed to stay in there and go to sleep. The biggest problem we have now is that her sleep habits have changed so much! She used to be such a great sleeper. She would sleep in until 9am on the weekends, she never woke up too early, took great naps, and was pretty predictable in her sleep schedule. Now, the girl is crazy! You never know what she is going to do. Sometimes she wakes up at 6:15 in the morning and walks right downstairs completely wide awake. When she was in her crib, she was never, ever awake before I got her at 7am. Her naps went from two to three hours on the weekends to an hour/hour and a half if we are lucky. I think the main problem is that the minute she hears a noise, she is wide awake and decides to come downstairs to check it out. When she was in her crib, that was not an option, so she would just doze off again. Oh well, moving out of the crib had to happen one day, better deal with it now then when the new baby comes! At least I might get some sleep in the next 4 or 5 months :)

Thanksgiving 2011

We had a great Thanksgiving Day with the Henderson crew. Ashley and Chad weren't there, but every one else was, and we still had a pretty big group. Adilyn and Kacy loved "babysitting" Connor, even though they were really just handing him toys. We had 3 at the "kids" table this year - Adilyn, Kacy, and Callie all sat a small table in the kitchen. None of them were very thrilled about that idea, and they kept getting up to come talk to us. :) The food was great, and it is always so nice to spend time with family. I love seeing the cousins play together. My favorite part was playing with Adilyn, Kacy, and Connor. The girls wanted to both hold Connor, but he clearly did not want to be held by anyone. We ended up sitting on the couch together, and Connor was kind of falling on them to be silly. Any time the girls wrestle, their favorite thing to do is body slam each other. So, when Connor was doing that to them, Adilyn said, "Hey, that's a 'baby slam'!" It was so super cute!

Big Bed, Night #3

We moved Kacy to her new big bed on Tuesday night, and things went amazingly well. She never fell out of the bed, never got out of bed, and she seemed to be pretty comfortable with the transition. Then, came nap time today...she got right out of bed, opened the door, and came right out! I put her back in her room, and put Cory in charge of keeping her there. :) He said that it took about 25 minutes for her to stay in her bed and fall asleep. He ended up sitting in the chair in her room until she fell asleep. I didn't think anything of it because I just assumed it was a nap time thing...She walked her cute little self downstairs after about an hour and a half nap, which was not long enough in my opinion. We went to the park and had a fun time, then we came home and ate dinner. She was relatively fine until after dinner, and then the trouble started. My sweet little 2 year old was obviously trying to push limits! She unrolled an entire roll of toilet paper, put her foot in the toilet, dumped out a container of toys that we had just cleaned up, and other annoying actions. I figured she was tired from her short nap, so we went upstairs a little earlier than I had planned. We read a story, sang some songs, and I left. She followed me. I put her back in her bed, and she followed me again. And again, and again, and again! I was trying to read to Adilyn, and she came in about 5 times during one short story. Luckily, Adilyn was being very patient and good! Thank goodness for small miracles. As I was reading to Adilyn, I was also thinking about how I was going to deal with this little bed leaver. I was decided that I would go with Super Nanny's technique, pretty much because it was the only thing that I could remember. I kept putting her back in her bed without saying anything, but it wasn't working. Then, I laid down in bed with her and patted her back for a few minutes. She got still, but I was afraid to move. I stayed there for a few minutes, and I heard her breathing change. I slowly rolled off the bed and tiptoed out of the room...I hit the creaky board in the floor right before I opened the door, and it was over. She was up. I put her back in bed, and I sat on the edge of her bed for what seemed like forever. I started getting uncomfortable, but she was still obviously awake. I slipped down to the floor, and stayed there for even longer. I didn't know how much longer I could really stay there, but then Willow decided to find out what the heck was going on, and she pushed the door open. Again, Kacy popped right up. I changed my strategy, and I went in the hallway. Every time she came out, I put her back in her bed without saying anything. After about 10 more times of doing that, she finally cried herself to sleep. I hate that she is sad, or scared, or just pushing limits, but I refuse to have crazy bedtimes! I do not want bedtime to be a struggle every night, so I will continue to stick to my guns until she gets the hint that bedtime is bedtime!

"Was That the Baby?"

The other night Adilyn and I were watching tv, and my belly growled really loud. She said, "Whoa, was that the baby?" After I stopped laughing, I told her that we could not hear the baby, but the baby could hear us. She was really confused about that situation, but I told her that the baby could hear her if she sang to him/her. Although she thought that was pretty cool, she did not want to sing to the bed quite yet. I am sure that the whole thing is kind of strange for her. She has also asked, "Why did God know that we needed another baby in our family?" Tonight she said, "Mommy, I know why your belly is getting bigger. It's because the baby is growing everyday, just like me!" She also seems really excited to find out the gender, so I hope she stays excited no matter what we find out on Wednesday!

No More Crib, Night #1

Kacy has still been sleeping in her crib because I was trying to wait to see if we were going to move before making the big switch for her. This weekend, I decided that it was time to try her in a big bed. Her crib was supposed to turn into a full bed, but we weren't sure that we wanted little Kacy in such a huge bed. We had an extra full mattress, and no twin mattress...so instead of buying anything new now, we just put the little girl in a big bed. She was a little nervous at first, but after a few extra songs, and a few minutes of crying, she was out. So far, she has not rolled out of the bed, but the night is still young. I know that naps could also become a little challenging, but it's time to face it. Now, we just need to decorate her room a little differently. It's strange to not have the room as the "nursery" anymore. I know that we will need another nursery in a couple months, but hopefully we will have a new house by then!

Anticipation...

The long-awaited ultrasound is in three days! This pregnancy has gone by pretty quickly. I think the fact that I am due in April, when I had my other ones in June makes it seem faster. I am hitting all the milestones 2 to 3 months earlier than I ever have before. It's strange to me to be showing before Christmas time! Better this way that the other way, though! It will be very nice to have the baby before the summer begins and the heat sets in.

Anyway, back to the ultrasound. Of course, since I have 2 girls, most people have been saying. "Bet you are hoping for a boy, aren't you?" I always find it interesting that people will say that they hope it's a boy or a girl. What happens then when you find out that it's not what you said you wanted?!? I mean, even if I really did have a desire one way or the other, I don't think I would say it to anyone but Cory or my mom. Just like with every thing else in life, people have their own way of doing things, and I guess I shouldn't judge.

For us, there are equally as many benefits with having a boy as there are for having a girl. A girl would fit right in with our lives. We have the baby dolls, the barbies, the pink, and the aspects of having a girl down. A boy would bring variety to our lives. We would have to buy "boy" things, experience boy issues growing up, and participate in different types of activities that he may be into. For the future, I think there are also good and bad with having 3 girls vs. 2 girls and a boy. Whatever the gender is, it is what were we meant to have, and what our family was meant to become! The mix will be what it is, for better or for worse.

I thought that I might regret finding out since I will not have the anticipation of the gender to keep me excited through the pregnancy, but I don't think I will feel that way at all. We will see when it's all said and done, but I think finding out the gender will be fun! The girls are going with us, so I hope they are just as excited as we are. Adilyn keeps saying that we need a boy for Daddy since he is the only boy in our family. Kacy says she wants both a brother and a sister. That's one request that I will definitely not fulfill!

What's That Noise? and other Kacy stories

All of a sudden Kacy has become very aware of noises around her. She is constantly asking, "What that noise?" A car alarm goes off, "What that noise?" The buzzer on the basketball game on tv, "What that noise?" Half of the time I don't even hear what she is talking about, so I have to keep listening for anything that is different. She is very persistent, so you can't just ignore it. I just find it funny that she is all of a sudden hearing things differently.

Any time anybody puts shoes on she immediately asked, "Where going?"

Cory has been hunting a lot, and when Kacy wakes up and Cory has been gone, the first thing she says in "No Daddy. Hunting." She says is matter of fact, like she is reminding me and reminding herself.

Kacy is much more independent than Adilyn ever was. She will wander just far enough away not to scare us, but far enough to make her feel like she is being a little rebellious. She also plays very well by herself, when she is in the mood, of course.

Adilyn never wanted me to sing to her at night, but Kacy seems to like my beautiful voice :) I made up a song when she was little, and we called it the "Kacy Song". Now, when I sing it to her at night, she will sing it with me. She only knows the last word, so she sings that super softly and sweetly when I get to the word she knows. I usually hold her while I sing one song, and then I put her in her bed. When I lay her down, she always wants me to hold her little hand. Melts my heart.

Speaking of holding hands, she loves holding hands with people. Her favorite people to hold hands with are Luke and Isaac, unfortunately, Luke is not a big fan of hand holding. It's cute to see her grab little hands with people.

From happy to frustrated in seconds...

It's funny how things can change in an instant. We were outside playing on our little sad baby slide, the girls were having so much fun together. They were being silly, dancing on the "stage", sliding down the slide in funny ways. Then, it was time to go inside for Kacy to take a nap. Adilyn got upset because Kacy took her socks inside, then all hell broke loose. Adilyn got mad at me, and she hit me on the leg. Then, she took it out on Kacy and hit her really hard on the head. After I told Adilyn to calm down, and stop hitting everyone, I scooped up Kacy and took her upstairs. Suddenly, before I knew it I was smack dab in the middle of the biggest battle Adilyn and I have ever been in! She kept coming in Kacy's room while I was trying to put her down for her nap, then she wouldn't stay in her room. When I told her she needed to do something, her response was, "nope" or "I don't have to". She wouldn't stay in her room unless I held the doorknob from the outside (mature, I know). I sat on the stairs, and every time she came out I yelled for her to go back in. I did not know where to go from here. I love this girl more than anything, but she can frustrate me to no end! Finally, I my patience was completely and totally gone. I had to get away from the situation, but I didn't want her to think that she had won. I told her that I was going to take a shower, and that she was to stay upstairs until I was out of the shower. Now, I don't think she actually stayed up there because when I went upstairs to check on her, she miraculously had some "downstairs" toys up there, but whatever. I was so done...I told her that she had to clean her room before she came downstairs. If she listened to me this time, I felt like she had learned her lesson. She returned downstairs about 2 minutes behind me. There were about 20 books on the floor, so I knew that there was no way she was done. She kept saying she was done. I told her not to lie, and she kept saying, "But, Mommy, I am not lying. I promise." Of course, when I went to check her work, not one book was picked up. I told her that she needed to tell the truth, and that she needed to really clean her room. Finally, it was done. Maybe she thought that she had won, maybe she learned her lesson, maybe she did not learn anything...whatever the end situation...it was over! Now, we are sitting on the couch. I am writing this, she is working on her letter sounds in a workbook, we are both over our Battle Royale, until next time. :)

Let's Eat!

Kacy has just gotten really into pretending, and it's so cute! Her newest obsession is pretending to make us all dinner. She gets paper plates out for every one, she places them strategically on the floor, and she well tell us when dinner is ready. When we get there she usually tells us that it's too hot. Every time I ask her what we are having the answer is always mac 'n cheese and bananas or pizza! If I ask her for more, she will go to a place, pretend to get more and put it on my plate.If I ask her for something different, she will go to a different place and get a pretend scoop of whatever I asked for. She makes the cutest little face because she knows that she is being silly. She added to the game by writing our "names" on the back of the plates, so we would know which one was ours. Of course, they are all just a bunch of circles, but she gets mad if we go to the wrong one. I love that Adilyn goes along with the game, too. She will ask for more food or more to drink, and she never tries to take over Kacy's game. I absolutely love with they get along and play well together!

Pumpkin Patch #2

It was a beautiful day on Saturday, so we decided to go to another local Pumpkin Patch. It was a lot smaller than Dewberry Farm, but it was a lot cheaper and less busy. The girls enjoyed the tractor hay ride and playing in the covered wagon. Adilyn loved riding around on the pony, but Kacy was not too thrilled about it. She was fine sitting on it, but when it started to walk, she freaked out! So, Adilyn got lucky and got another ride. I still didn't get my cute "sisters in the pumpkins" picture for the year, but I am over it :) We had a fun time, and that's all that matters!

Bedtime Conversations

Adilyn has not been as tired as she used to be these days. I put her in bed between 8 and 8:30 every night, but last week it was taking her forever to go fall asleep. The first night, she sneaked downstairs without us knowing. Cory and went about our nightly routine...doing dishes, folding laundry, watching tv, etc. About 9;15 we heard a noise from the playroom. I went in there, and there was Adilyn. She was playing in the dark room with stickers and marker all over her. I couldn't believe that we had completely NO idea she was in there. I asked her how long she had been down there, and she said, "I heard you ask Daddy if he was cold." That was like right when I had come downstairs! That little sneaker! I couldn't believe that she played down there so long quietly. She totally knew that I would make her go back upstairs, so she just stayed quiet for as long as she could. I took her back upstairs and explained to her that she needed to stay in her bed when I put her in there at night. I definitely do not want to deal with a kid that won't stay in there bed at night!

Later that week, I could tell that once again she was not tired! I told her she needed to stay in her bed. I turned on the monitor and listened for any movements. She was singing different songs, "Three Blind Mice", "Old McDonald", and many more. Then she was talking about people at school, and it sounded like she was playing school. Finally, I could tell she was out of her bed reading books. Cory went up there and had her get back in bed. Luckily, she didn't fight it. She kept talking about different things. Then, her one way conversation turned toward God and Mother Nature. All of a sudden, her voice got real serious, and she said, "Do not be afraid, Mother Nature is with you." I don't know why, but it totally cracked me up! She went on to talk about how God makes every person, animal, and plant.

Even though I would much rather have her go right to sleep, it is very entertaining to listen to her talk to herself about what's going on in her head!

Rock-A-Baby!

I never posted the most exciting news that we have gotten in a long time...we are having another baby! We were surprised when we found out, but so, so, so excited to add another little cutie to our family. I waited until my 12 week appointment to tell the girls. I wanted to make sure everything was fine by then. We told them one afternoon, and Adilyn was so excited. She was confused because she said that my belly was not big enough to hold a baby. I told her that the baby was tiny right now, but it would get bigger. She asked some funny questions like, "How do you know it's in there?" "Who told you it was in there?" And of course, the best, "How did it get in there?" After she got over the confusion, she was really excited. Kacy didn't get it, which I expected.

Adilyn has had some sweet moments about the baby. The other day she found a baby toy, and she said, "We should keep this out for our new baby." There is a plate that Adilyn has that has little flowers on it of all different sizes. She said, "This one is my flower, this little one is Kacy's, and this tiny one is for our new baby." The Monday after I told her, she shared the news with everyone at school during their circle time, and she said she was so happy! She keeps checking my belly out and keeps saying that it keeps getting bigger everyday.

Kacy hasn't really said or done much because I think she's just too young, but she did the absolute sweetest thing this morning. She was sitting on my lap while I was putting her shirt on, and she put her hands on my belly. She started shaking my belly back and forth, and singing "Rock-a-baby" which is her version of "Rock-a-bye, Baby." I didn't know if she was doing that on purpose, so I asked her what she was doing. She said, "Singing, baby" and smiled so sweet at me! It brought tears to my eyes. It was a great start to a Monday!

I can't wait to see how this new little bundle will fit into our family!

Dewberry Fun!

This was our 3rd trip to Dewberry Farm, and each year it is a wonderful time! Cory was in San Antonio at drag races, but the girls and I met up with the Griffins there. The only thing that I was so excited about was that our short-lived cool front was already gone, and it was in the upper 80's. I was really hoping to get some pictures at a pumpkin patch with at least long sleeves, but no such luck!

We got there right when it opened, and apparently that was everyone else's plan, too! There were a ton of people in the parking lot, and I knew it was going to be pretty busy. Fortunately, there were tons of things to do, so we never really had to wait in any lines! We waited for the hay ride out to the pumpkin patch for just a few minutes, and every thing else was just ready and waiting for us. Every mom goes to a pumpkin patch in hopes of getting a super cute fall picture, and most years I succeed. This year was not so successful! Every time I pulled the camera out, Kacy would literally look the other way or run away. It was impossible! Luckily, Sonja snapped a few cute ones :) When it comes down to it, though the pictures are the most important part by any means - they are just an added bonus (one that I didn't get this year)! :) When we were out with the pumpkins trying to get that great pic, Adilyn kept "falling off" them, and Kacy kept trying to roll them around. I gave up pretty quickly! We rode the hayride back to the main area, and we looked at the geese, watched the pig races, looked at the baby chicks, played in the haystack, and rode on the rope swings. Carl and Sonja had to leave to get home for naps and a birthday party, so the girls and I hung out for a little while longer. We played in the hay some more and went back to the playground where we started. The only time I got a little frustrated was when we were trying to leave. I was hot, sweaty, and starving, and all Adilyn wanted to do was pick weed flowers. I let her pick some, then she dropped them all and had to re-pick...I was so done. Luckily, the car wasn't too far away, so once she finally got a couple more flowers, she was okay to go.

I am so glad Sonja, Carl, and the boys came with us. It's always more fun with friends! Kacy loves Luke so much. She absolutely loves holding his hand and "helping" him...poor Luke doesn't love it so much. Kacy finally realized this trip that Isaac was ready and willing to hold her hand any time Luke wasn't in the mood, so she found a new buddy!

Dora

I try to not have the girls watch too much tv, but we usually watch one 30 minute show each night before books and bedtime. I know there are some people out there that would say that it too much, but I also know there are toddlers out there that watch tv all day long. I figure we are probably okay. We have been through many different favorites...Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Handy Manny, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, but the most recent is Dora the Explorer. Thank goodness for Netflix streaming because we have over 80 episodes, which means we don't have to watch the same ones over and over. (Good for them, better for me!)

Some people get really annoyed with Dora's repetitiveness and excessive wait time, but it doesn't bug me too much. I think the show teaches good lessons - helping friends, sharing, solving problems, not giving up, wearing seatbelts and lifejackets, etc. Anyway, I also think the Spanish is fun for them to learn and listen to. It always cracks me up to hear Adilyn yelling, "Corre! Coree!", "largo...corto, largo...corto" or "Dora, take the azul path!"

Kacy really likes Dora, too, which helps. She has picked up some of Dora's favorite sayings, too. At the end of each show, Dora always says, "What was your favorite part of today's adventure?" Kacy has started repeating the whole thing, "My favorite part is..." She usually says, "Dora" or "Boots." Recently, she has started saying it all the time for different things. She will just randomly say, "My favorite part is..." then whatever is on her mind. She says it so cutely, too, like she is trying so hard to say every word just right. Kacy also loves Map. The other day when Dad and Kris were here, Kris said something while they were playing like, "Which way should we go?" Kacy yells, "Map! Map!" Dora always says, "Who do we ask when we don't know which way to go?" and of course, the answer is "Map!" It was so cute that she even connected Map to real world. So, all things considered, I do enjoy Dora and all her friends, and I am certainly glad that there is a variety of episodes for us all to enjoy!

Adios, amigos! :)

I Have Nutin! (Nothing)

Kacy has grown to be quite dramatic and vocal, which is frustrating at times, but completely hilarious at other times! Her newest thing is when she gets upset when I take something away from her. She immediately screams, "I have nutin, Mama, nutin!" This outburst is usually accompanied by her throwing her hands up in the air like she is absolutely disgusted! It's usually pretty funny because we always have at least 10 other toys within reach of her, but if she can't have what she wants, she has "nothing"!

Another thing that Kacy says lately is anytime anyone sneezes or coughs, she says, "Okay, Dada? Okay?" I think she says it because I probably ask her if she is okay when she's coughing. It's really cute, though, because it sounds like she is so concerned about us.

Kacy is really into books, and she always asks Adilyn, "Addy, read me?" Adilyn always answers, "Kacy, I can't read!" Kacy responds with a very dramatic, "Oooooh, okay." Then, of course, she asks her again 5 minutes later. Oh, little sisters! :)

Camping with the Hrobars

We love the Hrobars, and we got to hang out with them last weekend at Huntsville State Park. They bought a pop-up camper, so they have the "good life." :) We were stuck in a tent for the night time part, but we still had a great time. Brandon was in town, so he came up with us. We drove up after Adilyn's BlastBall game, and we spent the day riding bikes and hanging out. Dana made a delicious Taco Soup for dinner, and the kids watched a movie in the camper. Adilyn and the boys play so well together. It's neat to see how they change their style of play when she comes around. One of the cutest moments was when Mason and Adilyn set up her princess tent in a little open section across from our campsite. They had camp chairs, and they set up a "campfire" of twigs. Then, they invited Dana and I over because we were their "neighbors". Bedtime was a little stressful. Adilyn went right to sleep, but it took Kacy about 2 hours to fall asleep. Of course, I tried everything, but she was just too distracted with everything around her. It turned out just fine, and we made it through the night. We just realized that we really need to get a pop-up for our family! It makes sleeping, and hot camping trips much more bearable. Oh well, maybe one day :) For now, we just love hanging out in the "wilderness" with our family and good friends!