Aubrey's New Smile

SURPRISE!!! Aubrey now wears BRACES! She had some top teeth pulled in June that had the adult teeth growing behind so her orthodontist felt that it was best to correct her cross-bite now instead of later. Her treatment will be done in the spring so she won't be wearing them too long. She's very excited that she can pick and choose her bracket band colors and holidays will be fun colors I'm sure!

The New School 'Do' & Animal Sounds

Here's the new hairdo. We took Aubrey in to go get her hair cut before school started. She's been growing out her bangs for a very long time and since they were about shoulder length, we gave her the option of just getting an overall trim or cutting it all to the length of her bangs. This is what she decided on:

Isn't it cute?!?! She loves it--and how convenient it is for soccer now too. It's hard to believe she's almost 9. It seems like just yesterday... :/

***(Please pause blog music at the side right in order to hear the following video)***

I caught a cute clip of Jocelyn making her animal sounds on video the other day. Old McDonald is still one of her favorite songs so she has the animal sounds practically memorized. I'm glad I was able to video tape her laugh finally too. (You'll catch it in the beginning which is the main reason I'm showing you this video-putting my voice aside of course.) I love capturing little moments like this when they're learning and exploring all of the time. I found it particularly funny when I asked her to look at me and she shot me a 1 second glance and then back at it she went. What a stinker! :)

Fun In The Sun & 5 Months

The girls were begging me to take them to the playground and "wing and side" as Jocelyn would call the swing and slide. So before lunch we took a trip to our favorite neighborhood park and they had the best time ever running off their unused energy. Until it was time to go home of course. I have found that Jocelyn is rather picky of where she'll swing. Anywhere else other than this park she refuses to swing at. It's pretty funny. Here's some pictures I took of their before nap adventure. :)

The following photo is of me at five months that was taken on August 8th that I'm just now posting. (sorry for the photo but I didn't particularly like the shot John took of me so this is my half attempt of taking it on my own.) While I'm here sharing the photo I might as well add that this pregnancy has been going really well for me. Aside from the week or so in the beginning of feeling sick, there's been nothing to complain about. I'm still doing aerobics and have gained only about 10 lbs so far. Hopefully things continue to go well. Like I've stated before, this pregnancy is the complete opposite of what it was like with the girls. And "boy" am I thankful!! :)

Pre-Dinner Fun

So I have been putting off making cookies with the girls for a few days now. But when the rain and thunderstorm rolled in this afternoon and at that point decided to ditch John's softball game (sorry honey), I realized today was a great day to finally make them---just me and my girls. It was a little crazy at first because I was following a new recipe and I'm a clean freak and didn't know how best to let the girls help. I finally lightened up and watched them pour, mix, and scoop away. And 48 cookies later!!! Yikes. Maybe next time I'll slice the recipe in half? Looks like John's co-workers are going to be eating some cookies tomorrow. Better them than me. Don't let me fool you though...I'm not sending them ALL with him to work. :)

Ultrasound Results

I finally had my ultrasound done today and we couldn't wait to share our news with you! :)

Here are a few exciting things that we found out:

* Our baby is VERY wiggly - wouldn't hold still for nothing & was all over the place.

* Everything checks out and looks great in baby's development.

* They spelled my last name wrong but honestly who cares! Definitely not a first. :)

* Baby is not only wiggly but VERY flexible. (As seen in photo #2)

* John couldn't stop smiling from ear to ear for the rest of the day - then again, neither could I!

* The girls are way excited!

* Which leads me to tell you that...........we're having a: BOY!!! (As seen in photo #3)

We're HOME!

Well, home away from home that is. Wednesday we flew back to muggy & hot Virginia after being away in the awesome NW for 3 whole weeks. We had the best time seeing family and friends and we were even able to sneak in a little relaxation time at the beach. This of course was Jocelyn's first trip ever to the beach so we didn't know what to expect but we were quick to find out that she's in love with the water and sand and threw a FIT when it was time to leave. She's our little water baby!! Aubrey too! For the most part, we're back to our old routine here at home but I'm still pretty exhausted. I'll have to recap our trip in the next few days but I just wanted to get on here and update that we're all well and doing great. Thank you so much to all of you that made it possible for us to see you while we were in town visiting. Unfortunately we were unable to see everyone that we wanted to see on this trip but we love each and every one of you and we look forward to our next visit back. Hopefully next time around we can catch up with more of you. Right now we're staying pretty busy with getting Aubrey geared up for school (starts Aug. 25th), another season of soccer for Aubrey beginning just around the corner, John finishing up his softball season, Jocelyn (well, she is always keeping us busy) and I will be 21 weeks prego as of tomorrow and have my ultrasound scheduled this Tuesday to find out how the baby's doing and what the sex is. YAY! So I will be back to post some more news soon. All exciting things to definitely keep us on our toes! Stay tuned!! :)

P.S. Here's a few photos from our trip to tie you over until next time.

{Aubrey & Jocelyn playing in Papa & Grandma's backyard}

{The girls with their Mom at the Rose Gardens in Portland, OR}

{Aubrey swimming at Auntie Erin & Uncle Nick's}

{Our family at Cannon Beach, OR}

{The girls with their Dad making a sandcastle}

Playing Catch-Up

Hello! Yet again it's been awhile since I last posted! Not only has it been crazy around here but I got a little burned out on writing on the blog. We have also been consumed with our house remodel and in turn has unfortunately left little to no time to say much. But I'm back and I will try to post more often. I have a lot to catch you up on so I'm just going to dive in.

Here's what we've been up to in the past month:

* Aubrey's soccer season ended with their team going to the finals and finishing 2nd place. This picture is of Aubrey at her soccer awards party. By the time we arrived to the party, we thought the swimming part would be over so we didn't even bother bringing her suite. Boy were we wrong and she was so disappointed she didn't have her swim suite. Instead...all the girls were still swimming the night away so she borrowed some shorts and kept her undershirt on and partook in the festivities anyways. She had so much fun! And we were really happy to hear that she'll have the same coach again for the fall season.

* Aubrey had her first piano recital. She played two pieces as a duet with her piano teacher. She did really well and we're so proud of her! During the whole recital, Jocelyn did better than I expected. She sat on John and I's lap the entire hour and listened to the music. I think John had to take her out in the hall just once but that's still better than it could have been! We left our camera at home so if it wasn't for our Bishop taking photos, we wouldn't have what you see here. We got lucky.

{Aubrey playing her 2 songs along with her piano teacher}

{Aubrey (far left) standing with the other piano students for the Spring Recital}

{Jocelyn sitting pretty with Mommy during big Sis's Recital}

* John has started playing softball with a bunch of buddies from work. Their league is through the military on base. Besides getting poked in the shins pretty bad from another team player's cleats, he's enjoying it.

{John being silly with Jocelyn while waiting in the dugout. Look at those EYES!!}

{My two cuties playing on the slide together}

* John, Jocelyn and I went down with Aubrey's 2nd grade class to the Richmond Children's Science Museum just before the end of the school year. John had some time off of work and we thought it would be really fun to hang out with Aubrey and her class for the day. Glad we did but BOY WERE THEY A WILD BUNCH! :)

* Jocelyn has grown to love many things-one of which is to color. If she has paper and crayons, she'll be happy as a clam for a good long while. Of course once the crayons go crashing to the floor and the coloring book goes flying, we know it's time for her to move on to another activity. :) Other things she has been enjoying are: trying a few new foods (ketchup included), pushing things around in a laundry basket, watching Sesame Street, playing ball, eating popsicles, blowing bubbles, going on walks, pointing out tractors and motorcycles as we pass by (who knows why the fascination, but it's there!), playing at the park is still an all time favorite, being goofy, and just loving life. She also has been making small strides to using the "big girl potty." Just one week ago she told us that she had to go pee so we ran her to the bathroom where she instead when poop. We were just as proud of her as she was...she REALLY wanted that M&M for a reward! So my little baby is becoming quite the big girl. Don't have much time to be sad about that truth though as we have another baby on the way. It would be nice to have only one child in diapers instead of two but I'm not pushing it. As most children achieve this milestone, I know she'll get there eventually.

* Our family took a trip about a month ago to DC after dropping a friend at the airport. We really want to see as much as we can while we live out here. We chose to go to the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History. The place was huge and had so much to see. Lots of animals and insects and a dinosaur exhibit. Even with being there for a few hours we didn't get to see everything but we had a lot of fun and go to the car JUST before a big lightning and thunderstorm came through the city. I wasn't too happy that I didn't get a lot of photos on this trip because the lights in the Museum threw off the lighting of the camera (flash or no flash, it didn't matter) so I took a few and called it a day. Oh well. That's how it goes. But seriously...haven't we all seen bears and dragonflies before?

{The girls and I out front of the EPA building. We parked in their underground parking lot because it was cheap but we had to have the car inspected and show proper picture I.D. before we could even park. I guess we felt important that they cared so much. And the look on Jocelyn's face here is just priceless. She's not a happy camper that she doesn't get to walk the busy streets of D.C. But can you blame me?? I think not!}

{I snapped this picture of the Washington Monument while we waited to cross the street. Maybe another time we'll see it a little closer. HaHa}

* And we can't forget the celebration of Father's Day. (I'm leaving out Mother's Day because other than me being sick, I can't remember much. Funny how that works but anyways.) We surprised John with an early gift to show the girls and I's appreciation for him and bought him a grill. The look on his face was priceless. I was finally able to surprise him without any speculation. Without a fence in the backyard I was very reluctant to buy a really NICE grill in the event that it would get stolen off our back patio but don't let that little bit of information fool you. He's in heaven with the grill we got him and he tries to find any chance in the world to use it. John took this semester of school off to focus more on the kitchen remodel so the grill was also a reward for his hard work. "Thanks babe for all that you do for our family. We love you!"

{Our family enjoying a quick BBQ out back. And yes, you see that correctly-we were using a box as a table that day. First we have to tackle the kitchen remodel THEN hopefully we can tackle the backyard. If you look real closely...that's Jocelyn sipping my Rootbeer as I got up to take this picture. What a stinker!! And you better believe that it showed itself all over her shirt too! LOL}

* And well, I suppose I shouldn't leave myself out of this update. Although I don't really have much to say other than I am just staying busy with the girls-especially with Aubrey now out of school for the summer, cleaning, trying to stay fit while pregnant with regular walks and cardio, story time at the library, reading on my spare time (it happens on occasion), and yada yada yada. I'm now in my 15th week of pregnancy (2nd Trimester-YAY) and doing great. Haven't been TOO sick with this pregnancy so I'm extremely grateful. The major problem I have is that not a lot of food agrees with me and not a whole lot sounds good. Including chicken or any meat for that matter. I was very sick with both of the girls for 5 months straight so who knows! It could be a boy. I honestly don't care either way. John and I just want a healthy baby. But-we will be having the ultrasound sometime early August so if/when we find out-you can be sure that you'll find out not too long after we do. I hate this photo but it's the only current one taken of me pregnant (2 weeks ago). Mind you...it had been a very long day that day (like what day isn't LOL) and I was tired and heading to bed.

{Me pregnant with baby #3 at 13 weeks. 27 more weeks to go!}

This entry has gotten a tad bit long but I feel better knowing that I've caught up for the most part on how things have been going for us. We're heading out to the NW for vacation in a few weeks but I will write about more going on here soon, including our kitchen remodel that's almost done (pictures included). Until then...take care and hope you're enjoying the summer!