It's a...BOY!

This morning we had our ultrasound and found out the exciting news that we are having a baby boy! I never really had a feeling what it was going to be but before we walked in to the u/s Brad and I both guessed it would be a girl. I think because we so enjoy having a girl, and so many people said they thought it would be a boy, and because a lot of our friends have a boy and a girl, we thought maybe we would not follow that pattern since so many had...well, I guess we were not born to be trend setters after all:)

The u/s was so much fun! The technician was super nice and took her time going over everything so we could see and understand it all and her enthusiasm made it just that much more special and thankfully she reassured that all looked well. Our little man didn't take his time in showing us his manhood - we knew pretty much right away that he was a boy - not shy at all:) Unfortunately he did seem to want to hide his face. He was laying head down so we didn't get a lot of shots of his face or profile but of course it was just so awesome to see what we did. It just amazes me when I see the heart beat and the limbs moving. I feel him kick now every once in a while throughout the day, but it is so crazy to think that he is moving in there all the time - as the ultrasound proved, he is a squirmy little bugger! The tech said that he was approx 11 oz, and 8 inches long and his heartbeat was 151.

My favorite part of the u/s, besides the fact that we were totally surprised it was a boy, was seeing his face briefly really close up and he seemed to be smiling and making motions with his mouth as if he was chomping his mouth or eating. Also, there were moments when he was moving his arms and it seemed as if he was waving hello! Even though I had already experienced the thrill of having an u/s with Ella, I felt such a sense of awe at the little tiny miracle growing inside me. I already love him so much and it was really helpful to see him and know that he is doing well - it made everything seem so real!

Here is little man Koning...


I think this one is self explainatory - head up to the right and butt/legs down in the left corner. His arm is by his head in the middle of the picture.

This picture shows his position throughout the u/s. His head is down on the right - face down nuzzling into the placenta:) It is crazy how well you can see his back/spine!

Here is the straight on freaky alien picture that I convinced her to take- it is slightly disturbing but I wanted a close up of the face. The top of his head is to the right and it just shows his two eye balls, his mouth open (I like to think he is smiling) and his little hand next to his face in the middle of the picture.

Sort of a side profile picture:)

Only 20 more weeks until we get to meet our little guy:)

Little Miss Mommy

Lately, Ella is all about playing with her dolls and being a little mommy...acting like quite the grown up:)

I got her a few items for her little Baby Stella doll to help her learn how to take care of a baby in preparation for our new little one coming and she has played with them non stop ever since I brought them home. She will spend literally an hour or two playing with her baby and not paying attention to anything else...the first night I brought the accessories home she wouldn't even eat supper:) She loves putting her baby in the Bumbo and "feeding" her peas and cereal, giving her a "buba", changing her diaper, putting on lotion, and giving her a bath. It is so cute to see her little imagination at work and watch her be so gentle and take such good care of her little one. She'll just talk and hum while she plays with her all around the house - I think she is going to be an excellent big sister:)

She also has taking a liking to playing "library" or in her words "libarwy". She loves to sit on our high stools so I made one a reading stool and brought down all her stuffed animals and dolls to be her audience for her to "read" to. She loves to look at books and have me read to her so it has been a fun activity for us. She likes me to read the words but also likes to pretend to read and shows the "kids" the pictures in the books. Future librarian? teacher?

I know that Ella is still young yet, but just looking at these pictures of her makes me realize how much she is growing up! Ahh - my baby is not a baby anymore:) Good thing I have another on the way!

Random Summer Fun

At the end of July we celebrated our Nephews 4th Birthday - Toy Story Style:) Here is all the cousins (and Daysha) watching in anticipation what the next present will be that they all can play with:)...but the favorite birthday present of the night was the skateboard...

What a cool dude!

We love you Koop and can't believe you are 4 already! Happy Birthday Buddy!

Some girlfriends and our kids finally got together for a playdate at the park at the end of July. We were proud that we finally managed to do it before the summer was over! While we were there, I had the pleasure of taking some impromptu pictures of my friend Mere's kids while we were there. They are so precious and such happy little kids.

Gibson Oliver

Here is some of the mommas taking a break to feed their babies a bottle - just thought it was a sweet moment. Lindsey, Madison, Layla, Mere, Gibson, Julie, and Rex.

Layla Belle

Although Ella looks a bit out of it, I thought it was cute picture of the girlies

My little tooter...she doesn't like to stop for me to take pictures so this is about a good as I could get that day - she was on the go!

Baby Rex

Alden, Ella, and Jonathan checking out the water spout...which led to some pretty wet kids

Ella likes to play outside in her little turtle sandbox turned pool - here is a couple of pics of her enjoying the warm weather by the pool.

This past weekend Brad and I attended his 10 year high school reunion. It was a fun night out - adults only! We had dinner with some friends beforehand downtown GR and the reunion, also downtown, was pretty cool too. It was nice to meet some people Brad went to school with and also to get to see some people I knew from college that were there too.

Brad and Ella like to play "ball"/golf in the yard. Here is a couple of pics of them playing around the other night.

Ding Dong Ditch! What a little stinker:)

Down the road there are donkeys that we like to walk to or ride bikes to visit and feed them carrots. Ella loves to go and see them and try to feed them. I just wanted to be able to capture a few moments of her there since it is something she enjoys so much. Seriously, I think I like it just as much, if not more, than she does - they are just so cute and friendly!