Official Guesses

We aren't scheduled for our sonogram for two more weeks... but we're ready to make our official guesses!!

We both are guessing..... BOY.
(I'm about 90% sure and Brian's about 70% sure.)

Here are some stats so you can make your own guess (and take our poll to the right!!)

(these are from old wives tales I found online...)

* Baby's heartbeat has been 166 and then 154 (says girl)
* Mom is carrying mostly out in front (says boy)
* Morning sickness from week 5 to week 16 (says girl)
* Chinese baby chart (says girl)
* Mom prefers salty over sweet stuff (says boy)
* Mom's face is rounder (says girl)
* Dad hasn't gained weight (says boy)
* Mom's hair is not shiny or full (says girl)
* Age at conception + Month of conception = an odd number (says girl)
* Mom is already too swollen to wear wedding rings. Not sure if that's boy or girl, but it is kind of uncomfortable! ;)


That's all I can find that aren't too weird. I'm not pouring Draino into the toilet or anything like that!

I will say this though: almost all of those were happening during ZZ's pregnancy - and he is definitely 100% boy.


So far, everything is going really well. I'm out of the sick phase (thank you Lord!!!!!!) and I feel great. My feet are already swollen. And if I open my hands up all the way, they turn totally white. I remember that freaking me out, but now I know now that's just from being swollen, too.

I'm already having some Braxton-Hicks contractions. So I should probably be drinking more water. But Brian thinks it's cool to how my stomach gets really super hard for a couple minutes during them. They don't hurt and I got them around this time with ZZ, too. (Definitely not a sign of early labor if you know ZZ's story! lol)

We decided to switch doctors and are extremely happy with that decision. Turns out it's the same doctor as Michelle had with her twins! And he's a wonderful man who we feel very safe with AND he is a strong Christian who offered to pray for us. We absolutely LOVE him. He said a VBAC was a "no-brainer." He has a 90% VBAC rate and has over 30 years experience - so we totally trust him.

That's all for now! Go take our gender poll!! :)

Easter weekend

First of all - HE IS RISEN!! Allelujah!!! This is my FAVORITE holiday!!! I just love it!!!

ZZ knows the whole easter story and we are so proud of him. He is asking such great questions. Today, he asked - what does Salvation mean? And we answered. Then he says, "Well, really it means you should build your house on Jesus' salvation." (he meant "foundation" but it kind of makes sense this way too!!)

When ZZ was first born, I had a little sewing business. I called it My Little Blessing - after him. Little did I know back then how TRUE it was!! He is such a total blessing to everyone around him. Truly a gift from the Lord!


We started off our weekend with an easter egg hunt at the nursing home. Some other moms and I are trying to teach "serving" in an age appropriate way. And on the way there, I talked a lot with Zac about showing Jesus to the older residents at the home.

I can't even express how proud I was of him. He hugged the residents and even kissed some on the cheek! He held some hands and walked around with me talking with them. The nursing home was so gracious. They hid eggs for the kids, dyed eggs, had candy and treats. Zac was given a little bunny by one of the sweet residents there - which he has slept with all weekend.


He proudly wore his Policeman badge - which was really cute and funny. :)

We made that "basket" before we left. It's an egg carton decorated with stickers. I didn't want him to be the aggressive egg stealer kid - so I thought limiting him to 12 would be a good way to prevent that. And to Zac, 12 eggs is a LOT. :)

It was at this Egg Hunt where I saw what a sweet little egg hunter he was. He made sure the littler kids had more eggs and he only brought home about 5 or 6 eggs. I was so proud of him. He didn't race around with a take-take-take attitude. He was so giving and kind. LOVE HIM!!

I didn't say anything. But this sweet lady was clearly not the easter bunny. What you can't see is her cell phone in her basket. Zac was sweet, but I knew HE knew it was definitely not the "real" bunny when he didn't even bother telling her his one easter basket request: Elefun.

After we left the nursing home, he asks, "Mom? Why did that Easter bunny have a cell phone?"

We were on our way to the mall to meet some friends, so I told him she was just a sweet lady who dressed up - and we'd see the real one at the mall.

YAY!! This bunny got to hear all about Elefun and how much fun it would be to receive it on Easter morning. :) Thank you Nordstrom's kid's shoe department! :)

Saturday morning, we had another Hunt to go to. But we've been *really* putting off putting the final touches on that silly bathroom of ours. You know - the one we started about a year ago? :)

So, we vowed to get the toilet paper holder and towel bars hung before the Egg Hunt.

The problem is... Brian and I are both so very independent!! Thankfully Zac provided some comic relief as we worked through that. ;)

Although, working on the house with a 4yo underfoot is not always easy. The hallway was destroyed as we gave him toy after toy after project after project to keep him out of the way.

Here he is with an allen wrench tightening all the screws on his Ikea table and chairs.

Of course, we were running late at that point. Brian finished up while I raced to get ready and get to the Easter Egg Hunt - not exactly something you can be late for!

But - right when we were about to leave - I couldn't find Zac's easter basket ANYwhere!! I was stressed and Brian was stressed and we both felt rushed and frustrated.

We never did find that darn basket (and now we are wondering if we ever brought it home when we bought it the other day b/c it's NOwhere in our house!!)

I was so embarrassed that he had to bring his ghetto egg carton to this really nice Egg Hunt. I had picked out this really cool, really BIG brown woven basket JUST for this hunt!! Grrr!

BUT. Zac never fails to amaze me.

I joined him in the car (where he was waiting patiently while his frazzled parents raced around on our OWN hunt for this basket). Brian had to meet us there since he missed any time to get ready.

I hand Zac his lame old sticker-covered egg carton.

And Zac says, "Mom? I'm so lucky to have the coolest basket of everybody."

Is he not the most beautiful child?!?!

We got there - and ended up being early b/c the actual hunt didn't start for an hour. We went to the petting zoo, which he LOVED.

Brian and I cracked up at these poor chicks. Bless their hearts. But the children sure loved their pretty colors!

That silly donkey just cracked him up. :)

And, although we've never been able to convince Zac to get his face painted, he sure loves the balloon makers! A SWORD!!

He played some games and got a really cool ring (which we promptly lost at Target that afternoon...lol).

And he got to make a great little bunny bracelet.

He made his own cookie concoction (notice that great egg carton).

Girl Scout cookie with icing and gummy bears anyone?

Then came the Easter Egg hunt.

First they called the 2-3 year old kids outside. I knew Zac was a very gentle egg "hunter" so I kind of wanted him out with the little kids. But we waited for the older group to be fair.

Then they called the 4-5 group and we headed outside.

Brian stayed inside b/c he had found some old friends and was busy talking. No biggie - what could go wrong at a little kids' easter egg hunt?

One rule was given to everyone: Only 10 eggs per kid. The lawn was covered in eggs, so we were all assured that everyone would get enough.

Well, the 4-5 year old group doesn't mess around on an egg hunt. It's a ruthless hunt-or-be-hunted mentality out there. When the eggs were all gone, Zac had ONE.

ONE EGG.

Being pregnant and completely hormonal, I admit, I did confront a mom whose child's basket was overflowing with eggs.

I'm not proud of this. But I gave her a friendly little clenched-teeth-smile reminder that the kids were only supposed to get TEN eggs each.

But she didn't speak english and smiled sweetly right back at me and walked off.

I'm not mad anymore. Now, I am holding back my tears.

Like a crazy pregnant lady, the field is clearing, and I'm with my sweet little boy who has ONE egg, and my eyes are filling up with tears.

I say, "Zac - I'm so proud of you."

And he says in the saddest little voice, "Why? I only have one egg."

**omg.... self control!!**

I found the director and I don't know what he thought was more pathetic - my wavering voice, Zac's egg carton, or the fact that there was only ONE egg in there. So he gave Zac a couple of the extras in a bag he was carrying. We were very thankful and ran in to find Brian and open up all the eggs.

Now I just wanted to go home. We were having an easter party that afternoon and I needed a NAP.

Our party was so much fun. We are so blessed to have such sweet sweet friends with wonderful children for Zac to play with.

Brian even got to hold baby Caroline!

(He tells me later that babies are soooo easy - he has no clue what an ANGEL Caroline is!! Hopefully our new baby will be HALF that good!!!)

The weather was so beautiful and all the kids stayed outside the whole time. They are SO cute! :)

Then we had an egg hunt for the kids. I made Brian buy 160 eggs so Zac would have more than one this time. :)

He started with his egg carton...

But ended up with a Walmart bag because there were SO many eggs!! YAY!!!

After everyone left, we set out to make Easter Cookies. My camera was acting TOO good all day and this is the last picture it chose to take for the day. I was hoping to get a picture of each step of the cookies, but oh well.

Didn't really matter anyway, since they didn't even work. (they were supposed turn out hollow and they didn't)

The next morning - it was FINALLY EASTER!!!! During our morning cuddle time, Zac was sure that the bunny had his basket on the back porch.

But it wasn't there.

And -of course - it wasn't a basket either... LOL

It was on the fireplace!! And the Bunny left ELEFUN!!! Hooray!!! And we were early for CHURCH!!!

Easter Sunday - truly a day full of miracles. :)

We got great seats at church and Zac took our picture. He was AMAZING during the service. He loves the songs and he lifts his hands up while singing to Jesus. How could that not make a Mommy cry all over again?! The people around us LOVED him. He just blessed so many people that morning!

Easter, 2009 - a blessed wonderful amazing weekend for our family.

Thanks for visiting!! :)

Big Brother

On the way home from bible study on Wednesday, Zac told me, "I wish I was a big brother."

I say, "Oh really? Maybe someday God can put a baby in Mommy's tummy."

He says, "Yeah, someone told me that today."


Apparently, someone made a statement about him being excited about being a big brother. I'm clearly pregnant, and I'm guessing his teachers at bible study mentioned it to him.

So, Brian and I decided it was do-or-die time. We needed to tell him.


Last night, we went out to Pei Wei (YUM) and then to Barnes and Noble to find some books. It was recommended to us that we do this through "bibliotherapy" and so we got a stack of children's books to flip through.

Brian had gone to the restroom only to come back to find me sobbing and sobbing in the middle of a big pile of books.


All of a sudden, I just had overwhelming thoughts of how this was going to impact my sweet little relationship with ZZ, the dynamics of our little family... and how in the world will I EVER love another little person as much as my baby boy?! I've been around other children for his whole life - and as much as I love kids - no one can come close to the love I have for Zachariah. He and Brian have my heart... how can I share it with someone new? Will Zac feel left out? Less loved? Reading these books designed the reassure the sweet little hearts of older siblings.... it was just too much.

I needed one to reassure me.

Then I thought about our special time in the morning... when ZZ wakes up (not supposed to come in our room until 7, but always finds a really important reason to be early) and comes in our bed for Cuddle Time. One of his two main love languages is physical touch. Cuddle Time is a crucial start to our morning, and is never forgotten. He spends time with each of us, and will rub our backs, play with my hair... sometimes he will cradle our face in his hands and tell us how lucky he is or how much he loves us. It's unbelievably SWEET!!!!! He's such a morning person, and it is a blessing to wake up this way for our family. He just makes us melt. And I wonder.... how will the new baby fit in here....

And I think about when we all drive places. Something we love to do is sing and dance. Like, all 3 of us. One time, on the long drive back from my parent's ranch, "Living on the Edge" came on. Zachariah just loves the hard rock songs where he can totally jam out. Well, we all were so into this song. It was full blast in the car and we were literally screaming the chorus while playing our air guitars and drums. I treasure these silly moments. And I think.... car rides will be so different now.....

Dinner time is another favorite time. We sit around and each of us has to give a "high" and a "low" of the day. It's a great time to talk and listen and include everyone in the conversation. We love hearing Zac's thoughts and what really impacted him on that day. Where does a baby fit in?


I know it will all work out... and hopefully this is all normal to feel like this. (is it? feel free to reassure me!!!)


Anyways, this morning, with my swollen eyes (gotta love what a good cry does to your face the next day), we sat Zac on the couch and told him he was going to be a big brother.




He's a processor (much like me), so he didn't have much to say. No questions, no thoughts. He's going to need some time to process this.

And in true ZZ fashion, he will bring it up - probably while we're driving somewhere or right before bedtime on a random night - and have a question or two. He doesn't want a big deal to be made out of this kind of thing and we're letting him go with that. The great thing is a great friend of mine (who's daughter is Zac's age and they just love each other) is also pregnant. So he will be able to have a friend going through the same thing.


Zac's not the kind of kid you can parade up to someone and say, "ZZ! Tell so-and-so our BIG news!!!" It makes him uncomfortable.

I might do something like hang a picture of how big the baby is somewhere in the house where he can see it when he wants to see it - but not make a big deal about it. I know he will be curious, but will need to adjust to it all in his own time. He has a while to get used to the idea, and we are patient enough to wait for him to let this all sink in over the next couple months. We plan on bringing him to our sonogram where we find out boy or girl (end of April!!!!). Also, we'll let him help us put the crib together, hang curtain rods, etc.

He's a guy - sometimes less words and something to DO is a better way to process... ;)


So, big hurdle #1. Check.


Now, today we are off to our first (out of three) easter egg hunts of this weekend. Dad's home today, so we are excited!!! Off to spend time with my boys!!!

Privacy Please

Our front door looks right into the family room.

It's nice to have the sunlight. And to know who's at the door.



But sometimes at night, by myself, I don't WANT to know if someone's at the door.

And I can't watch tv without being paranoid.

And no one really needs to know how animated I can get during ridiculous shows like The Hills and Little Miss Perfect while Brian's out of town.

So, today I did this!

It's not perfect, but after I get a cute wreath and a No Soliciting sign, our door will be complete! :)



Here's what it used to look like from the outside...

And now!!

$20 film was MUCH better than the hundreds it would have cost for a new door.

I have so many more projects in my head..... I'm totally nesting early!!!

Boy playdates don't look like this

We had friends over the other day and decided to create a shopping mall in the living room.

That's just what happens when there is only one boy.

We had the fake money out, everyone set up a store, we all had to price our items, etc.

ZZ made a sign for his "bloc" store.

Gosh, he's so stinkin cute.

And even though no one was selling ammunition and he never got to save us from bad guys, he still had fun!

He's going to be such a great husband someday!!!

First Monday weekend!

I convinced Brian to take me to Canton this weekend!!

We loaded up the car:


A cooler full of food. My sour candies. Mascara and chapstick. A tape measurer.
And Brian having to take the seats out of the minivan by himself.


On the way out of the neighborhood....
YES!!! An entire neighborhood of garage sales!!! This was turning out to be an awesome day. I found a computer table that I've been wanting. $20!

I got about 2 hours worth of Canton before Brian burned out. But, we didn't leave empty handed!

Then he got to come home and help me redecorate the family room. He is so awesome! Even when I had the crazy idea to frame some old spoons I got in Canton (he knows to step away from the hot glue gun). We had been going back and forth on selling our house, but since we decided to stay, I had to get all our family pictures back out and rearrange everything. I'm nesting early. ;)

Certainly wasn't Brian's dream weekend, but he got a free pass to go turkey hunting in 2 weeks. It all evens out! :)

Another fun playdate!

Remember the hair playdate? Well, that was super fun. I got to chit-chat, eat, and get my hair cut (AND styled!), while ZZ just played his heart out with someone else's toys.

Now, I love every kind of playdate, even the simple park ones, or just going to someone else's house. Zac has so much fun with his friends and I have so much fun with mine! (although Zac's favorite would probably be at Anna Kate's house because she has a cat named Houston and he is really going through a cat phase right now)

BUT - today was another super fun themed play date: the Crafty Mom Play Date!
And guess what I learned to do?

Knit!

On the way there, we stopped at Joanns, where I usually just drool at fabric. But this time, we headed straight for the yarn section (with a brief stop during which ZZ tried to convince me to cross-stitch a CAT for him. umm......No.)


I didn't know what to buy, so I got a beginners kit with a DVD that came with it. I decided on a scarf. Seems like a good choice for a first-timer.


Well, anyways - I learned how to "cast" and how to do one other stitch (can't remember the name....).


And it might not look like much to YOU....


but I put a LOT of work into this!!

And soon, it will look like that scarf in the picture.



Whoever gets this beauty at Christmas will surely be impressed.
Since that's how long ZZ told me it would take to finish it.