Visiting my grandparents

This past weekend we went to visit my Grandparents. We had a lot of fun hanging out and eating a late Thanksgiving dinner with them and the rest of our family!

A fun family photo. :)
We would like to congratulate my sister and brother-in-law on their upcoming adventure of becoming parents!! We are so excited for them and can't wait to have another niece or nephew!! We know they are going to be great parents and are so glad that our children are going to be close in age so that they can be great playmates! Our baby girl and their baby will be three months apart!

My grandparents took us to a very fun and festive hotel, that had tons of Christmas decorations and trains (for Brody) to look at! They surprised us by taking us in a limo to and from their house to this hotel. It was a lot of fun! Brody really liked riding in it and enjoyed watching the trains go along their track at the hotel.

Mom and Dad :)

I am now 28 weeks along with our little girl and it is very hard to believe that we are not far from having her! The bigger I get, the more Brody is interested in touching my tummy. He will come up to me and say, "I want to see baby sister". :) It is very cute. Tonight we were trying to get her to kick while he was touching my tummy. I think it is cute to see him trying to feel her! I am sure there will be times when she comes that he will wish she was back in my stomach! :)* Our prayer is that they will be great friends and playmates!

Ja and Brody cooked a wonderful Gingerbread cake tonight!! Yum, Yum! He had a great time helping Ja make it and then later eating it!! :)

He loves his teddy bear! We have lately been feeding Teddy, taking Teddy to go pee pee on the potty and putting big boy underwear on Teddy! Stuffed animals can be such good friends! For some reason he wanted to get in this bucket and hold Teddy. :)

Learning how to be a big brother... :)

I had a doctors apt today to check on our little girl. Because of some complications that I have we are able to get an ultrasound done more often then normal. Our doctor has a 3d ultrasound machine so that makes it really fun to look at! This morning before my appointment Brody and I were talking about how he is going to be a big brother, and what he can do with his little sister. So he wanted to go and read a book to his little sisters Daisy Duck doll and practice being able to read to his sister. :) It was so cute that I had to capture the moment on camera! He likes going in his sisters room and playing with some of the stuff that we had in his room when he was a baby. We then talk more about her and hope that the idea of having a sister will sink in and he will understand what we are talking about. :)

*I would also like to share that Brody is now going pee pee in the potty when we ask if he needs to go. He knows he gets 2 MM's if he goes and that is great motivation for him! We are still at the very beginning of this, but I wanted to document the date on here of when he first started for my records. :)

Reading in his sister's room. :)

Some pics of our baby girl in my tummy!

We also were able to have these done on Brody and it is amazing how much they look alike, yet there are some noticeable differences. :) She has a smaller face right now and a pointy chin. However her nose is the same as Brody's was. :) Cool to look at I think!

I am 27 weeks pregnant with her.

26 weeks!

26 weeks and counting.......

I am now 26 weeks along in my pregnancy with our little girl. I noticed on the pregnancy count down that I am now under 100 days!! It has been going really fast and yet at the same time I think about how long I still have to go. :) I am trying to enjoy my time with this pregnancy. I want to enjoy my lovely schedule that I have with Brody. :) We have a pretty set schedule during the day and I enjoy it and know that this little baby is going to shake things up a little around here. :) As I was getting ready for church today (as Ja worked) I was thinking, how am I ever going to get out of the house on time with TWO kids, I can barley do it with one! I was blow drying my hair in his room, while reading him a book and holding all of his stuffed animals in my lap. Wow that about wore me out right there! :) I know that I am going to figure it out and in time things will become on a schedule again, however I am going to enjoy this time with Brody right now! :)
Brody has been very talkative lately. He has started saying I and me instead of referring to himself in 3rd person. The other day I was sitting on the floor playing with him and he said, "I am going to go get you a pillow mommy". He went and got me a pillow to put behind my back to lean on!! How cute is that! He is also telling us in words that he is becoming a big boy and has a mind of his own. I told him it was time to go and take his bath and he said, " No I am busy right now." :) You don't know whether to laugh or not when he says funny stuff like that. People ask me if he understands that he is going to be a big brother. I am not sure that he understands it completely and really how could he. We do go into the baby's room and talk about her and how he is going to be my big helper with her. We try to talk about her all the time so that it is not a shock to him when she comes home! :) Our prayer is that it will be an easy transition for him!!

Brody and I tried to take some pics together of how much he is growing and how much I am growing. :)

Brody's Big Boy Bed

Last weekend we decided it was time to switch Brody from his crib to his big boy bed. He was not having trouble in his crib, however we thought that we needed make the switch a good time in advance to his sister coming. We were not sure how it would go and had heard and read to leave his crib in the room and let him sleep in that at night if he wanted to, while sleeping in his bed during nap time. So we made a big deal about his new big boy bed and told him that his sister was going to sleep in the crib since that was for babies. So I guess something clicked in his brain and he said ok, and he has been sleeping in his big boy bed nap and night time ever since. I had heard horror stories about this switch and was told to wait as long as possible, however he has done really good and enjoyed being in his big bed. :) Yeah! Praise the Lord! He is the type of child that if you explain something to him where it makes since to him then he is ok with it. Like throwing away his passie in the trash can and telling him that the trash truck came and took it away, or why it is time to go to bed even when he does not want to, why he can not throw his toys, and how he is a big boy for sleeping in a bed instead of a baby crib. I can only hope and pray that our next big step in becoming a big boy (potty training) will be as easy!!!!!! :)

Yes I know some of you are thinking, man does he sleep with all that stuff in his bed? The answer is yes. :) He has always liked to have his head up against something when he is sleeping (like his bumpers in his crib). And having his stuffed animals in there is a security thing that a lot of kids do. We always go in and check on him, and at night we take some stuff out when he is asleep. :)

Trick or Treat!

This year for Halloween Brody dressed up as a fireman. He loves to play with fire trucks and loves watching them drive by when we are in the car. So it was very fitting that he was a fireman for Halloween. He looked very cute and loved his costume and even kept the hat on!

(I had a smudge on my camera lens that I did not realize until after a lot of the pics were taken so some of these are a little blurry, but just to cute to not put on here!)
Family photo

I love this pic of him smiling!

Marmee and Pop's with Fireman Brody!

Pop's and Ja took Brody trick or treating to some of the houses in my parents neighborhood. He had fun watching all the other kids on the block and got into it when he saw them doing it. However he was done after about 5 houses. :) Here he is showing Marmee the candy that he got.

Looking at the goods and eating some yummy candy!

We went over to Nana and Papa's house and hung out with them, Brody's Aunt Holly and Uncle Ryan and cute little Lilly who was a pumpkin!

cutest little pumpkin I have ever seen!

Here Brody is showing Lilly how to play with her new toy. :) We did not have much success getting them to both look at the camera at the same time. :)

We had a great Halloween spent with family and some yummy candy!

Another Party and A Visit To Aunt Amy and Uncle Eric's House

We had another birthday party for Brody on Sat. morning with all of Ja's family. We had his favorite thing instead of cake (since it was in the morning), Monkey Bread! Yum Yum! This time he knew what to expect when everyone was singing Happy Birthday and knew to blow out his candles when they were all done. It was so cute!
Enjoying the yummy monkey bread, it is lick your fingers good!

opening all of his birthday presents from family! He loved them all and really liked tearing the wrapping paper off of the presents! He also loved a card that sang the itsy bitsy spider..... :) We want to thank everyone for all the wonderful gifts that you gave him!

He got a wonderful police car and has played with it ever since!

Lilly had a lot of fun at his party watching him open his presents and intently watching him play with his fire truck and police car! I think she was taking notes for Christmas and making a list of some fun things she wants. :)

Uncle Jeremy teaching Brody how to hold his new putter that him and Aunt Brandy gave Brody! They also gave him a very cool golf bag so he can be just like them when they go play golf! I know that Ja and him will have a lot of fun on the putting green or in our back yard hitting golf balls. :)

Aunt Heather and Uncle Drew were in town visiting and Brody was very excited to see them! He really liked making things out of play dough with them. Brody had a great Birthday and we are grateful to all of our family's for making it so special!

A VISIT TO AUNT AMY and UNCLE ERIC's HOUSE!

Brody and I went to spend the week with Amy and Eric, while Ja was out of town on business. It was nice to be able to go there and spend a little more time with them. We were able to do a lot of fun things and I know Brody had a blast while we were there! I was a little nervous about the car ride since I have never driven with Brody by myself for a long distance drive. However he did really good and was able to entertain himself by watching some videos, driving on his steering wheel that we have for him, reading some books, and eating lots and lots of snacks!!!! :)

We went to a place called the Wonder Place where it has a lot of different centers that children Brody's age can pretend play with. It was very fun and I know that he would love to go back there! We also did a little shopping and Brody got to try out his new bicycle. My sister and I did some scrapbooking while Brody took his nap and was in bed. I was very grateful for this since I am so far behind and really need to get caught up before our little girl arrives! It is always better to scrapbook with someone else and especially her because she gives me good ideas! Brody and I also ate some very yummy food while we were there!! It was a great little vacation for us!

Pics from the Wonder Place

Thanks Aunt Amy and Uncle Eric for a wonderful week and for helping out with Brody! We had a great time and were sad to come home!

HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY BRODY!!!

Yesterday Ja and I celebrated Brody's 2nd Birthday with him! Hard to believe that he is 2 years old already! When people say that they grow up so fast, it is really true! We had a great day and I really think he enjoyed himself all day long! When he woke up he had his favorite breakfast of yogurt and homemade cinnamon toast! Then we got ready and went to go do some of his favorite things!
We went to Mardels where they have a big train track for little kids to play with. He LOVED this since it is much bigger then the one we have at home. He could of played with it all day, but it was getting crowded by other little boys who wanted to play as well! :) (I definitely think this will be a great winter activity for us to do)!

Then we got the hook up at Chick fil A during lunch. Ja knows a lot of the managers there since it is right across the street from his work. So when they found out it was Brody's birthday they made a big deal about it! :) He had a blast and loved all the attention! He then when to Nana and Papa's shop while Ja and I headed to the Doctor. (more about that at the bottom) He had a blast playing in his "play house" that Papa made for him out of boxes!

Marmee and Pop's then came over to celebrate his birthday at night. It was funny while we were singing Happy Birthday to him, he kept putting his fingers in the icing and licking them!! :)

" Hurry Dad I want to play with that!"

Marmee reading Brody a scratch and sniff book that they got him. He loves these!!

Reading another new book with Pops.

Here he is drilling some holes in his new tool bench. :) Funny that he knew right what to do with it since he has seen Ja use his drill before. :)

Riding on his new tricycle! This is going to be a lot of fun for him and keep us outside for endless hours I am sure! :)

It was a great day of celebration and we are so thankful that Brody is in our lives to bring us all the joy that he does! :) Happy 2nd Birthday Brody!

News about our little girl---

We went to the specialist yesterday and he told us some very good news! The bubble in her brain is gone and as far as he can tell she does not have any chromosome problems. (which is what they look for when they see the bubble). He was able to answer our questions and tell us that some babies have these and they don't cause any problems and that is what he thinks happened in our case! We are so thankful and know that God has had His hand in this the whole time. We are continually praying for her health and a healthy pregnancy! I am now 23 weeks and as you can see in the picture above am looking like I am pregnant now. :) I am definitely bigger at this point then I was with Brody, but I am thankful that she is growing and I will get as big as I need to for her! So keep growing Baby girl, we can't wait to celebrate your birthday as well!!