so full...

So much has happened this spring.  I put pressure on myself to document it, because I know these fleeting days are treasures, but are so hard to remember!  because I can't seem to document it all well, I just don't, and that, I believe, is a mistake.  So I'm going to try.  God gives me such joy in the hard of having young children...and sometimes not, but I don't want to miss this!  So here is an attempt at remembering some of this spring.

We had a followup ultrasound at 25 weeks and baby boy looked great!  His tummy was emptying and seemed to be functioning normally, which relieved my anxiousness so much.  I have had way more peace since then, and as he grew bigger, it didn't even really matter that I have an anterior placenta--i can feel him move just fine!

We got to spend some time in Memphis this spring--a few weekends for Whitney's wedding showers, and a whole week for her wedding.  It was fun to do Memphis things with the kids like go to the zoo and to the park where I grew up playing and to the children's museum.  The real highlight for them is time with their cousins, so though I was busy helping Whitney get married, they had a blast with Gracie and Gretta and with Ruru, who of course, serves us so faithfully.

We went to the beach with Nana too.  RuRu came and we had a great time swimming and playing in the sand and eating lots of yummy things.  It was Easter and it was my birthday, so Jeremy flew down and joined us for the weekend.  We went to dinner and saw the Hunger Games at the movies on a real date with no kids and we also got to go for a long walk on the beach.  It was a pretty happy birthday.  Isaac spent Easter trying to figure out how the Easter bunny got all the way up to Nana's condo hondo, which is something we should remember for the future in keeping the focus where it needs to be, but he  finally decided that he's just a really big bunny that can hop really high.

The kids have said cute things this spring, some of which I can remember and many of which I know have already escaped me.  I'm not sure if i've recorded this yet, but I will never forget driving down Hillsboro Road and having Isaac ask me if there will be flowers in heaven.  After I told him that I think there will be and that they will be the most beautiful flowers we've ever seen, Ada picked up on the fact that heaven is wonderful and asked with delight, "oooh!  is that where the hot dogs grow?'  (She would eat hot dogs 3 times a day if we let her).  She has since transitioned into her big girl bed.  It was such a big deal when Isaac did.  With her, we just put her in it one day for her nap and she was sold.  I love her in it because I can snuggle with her a little bit.  The morning after her first night in her bed, I ran up to check on her (thinking that she would come down to play as soon as she woke up).  When I saw here, she was content, surrounded by all of her dollhouse family, her favorite stuffed animals, 3 open books and wearing her sparkly flip flops.  Of course she loves the freedom of her big girl bed!

Isaac finished his first year at mother's day out, and really loved it.  He has a t-shirt souvenir with all of the hand prints of the boys in his class that he wants to wear forever and if it ever gets too small :) for him, he wants to at least keep it forever so that he can always remember his boys.  I'm so grateful for that experience for him.  He gained so much confidence socially and creatively and looked so forward to every day he got to go to school.  He went to Vacation Bible School at St. Paul last week (Ada calls it Bible Cation School), but he said they didn't play--they had to sit for a long time in Babylon :)

Another spring highlight was the "countdown" Isaac and Ada and I made to count the days until we get to meet baby brother.  We made it out of construction paper strips and stickers and markers.  We stapled the strips together to make a very long chain--over 60 loops!  each day the kids take turns taking off a ring.  I thought it would be a huge gift to see how many days we have until July 5th, but in the beginning it was really hard to feel like it was so far away.  Now there are only 11 loops left, making it hard for the kids to reach them (they have to stand on a chair).  Getting close!  We can't wait to meet you baby!!

Going to start Season 5 of Friday Night Lights with Jerome.  We are so tired.  So it makes sense to watch a show, right?

the big reveal!

Saturday was our big day!  We had a fun little family gathering to find out if our littlest one is a boy or a girl.  Pops and Ruru came to town, Nana and Papa T came over, and Dusty and Ellie did too.  We played a few games when they got here before we discovered the big secret.

First we played Bananagrams, the Baby Name version.  Jeremy and I are having a terrible time agreeing on a name no matter the gender of this child, so we thought it would be fun to have the family help out.  This is what they came up with:

This is Nana's board.  She's SO good at this game.

This is Uncle Dusty and Ellie's board.  Ubbonsaquar is totally in the running.

And here is RuRu's.  Not sure how we could pull off an Ada and an Oda, but well played, nonetheless.

After Bananagrams, we went downstairs to play a game we named "zone defense" since the grown ups in our home will be outnumbered by the children in just a few short months.  One defensive player guarded a baby pool while two offensive players tried to get the balloons of their team color in the "goal."  Papa T and Jeremy meant business.  who would mess with these guys?

Game on.  More later...

it's a boy!

And so, after games with the grandparents, uncle dusty, and ellie, we found out we were getting a brother!!  First we played bananagrams, only the goal was to name the baby with your letters.  Then we played a balloon game that involved hitting pink or blue balloons with fun noodles into a baby pool being guarded by a member of the opposite team.  Next we opened our big box, and to our surprise, balloons of all colors floated out!  we thought it would be filled with blue balloons or with pink ones, but in the midst of all of the color, we saw one rise that said, "it's a boy!"  I love the bottom picture of our "announcement" floating up out of the box right under the painting Dusty gave us of the Prodigal son.  I love the image of our baby boy being welcomed into the Father's arms, day after day and forevermore.

After the big reveal, the big kids ate popsicles and then they went on a poop hunt in the backyard to clean up after the dogs.  though i have to confess a little bit of sadness over not having another girl (i knew this would happen-it does every time), I am so excited that God chose a boy for our family.  As time passes (and now it has!  he is only 11 days away!), it's great for my heart to claim our threesome as brother, sister, brother.  it feels perfect for us!