We Were Wrong...

So on our way to the ultrasound, we asked Benjamin how he'd feel about the possibility having a little sister. He would not even consider the idea and said he didn't like girls. When the doctor asked him what he thought the baby on the screen was he said, "It's a snake."

But in very clear terms, my doctor pointed out that this was most definitely a little girl! She's really active too. I feel her kicking almost every time I lie down, and Paul's even felt her little kick too. It's still very strange...I don't know what to do with girls, but it's sinking in. We're really excited about having a little girl in the family, and Benjamin is even starting to warm up to the idea. :)

On Saturday it was really warm, so we headed over to the zoo. We were in the reptile house when I told Paul I just saw our future. And by that I mean I saw a family with two older red-headed little boys and a brown-haired baby sister in the stroller. So part of the equation was right. I guess we'll see if I was right about the hair color in a few months!

The Boys

Peter has been changing a lot this month. He used to eat anything and everything we put in front of him, but now he has to be incentivized to consume food (i.e. bits of food must transform into trucks and helicopters and have the appropriate sound effect...that, or it has to taste like junk food). He has also started tantruming already, which seems early to me. I found a picture of Benjamin at about the same age. It's funny how much perspective can change. I really thought he was such a big boy here.
But Peter also enjoys Benjamin's company now rather than just tolerating it. Yesterday, they played on their own together for much of the day, and I even heard quite a bit of laughing! I love that my baby is becoming a big boy.

A Rather Stupid Observation

So, have you ever wondered why M.L. KING's Day is more widely celebrated in the U.S. than PRESIDENT's day? Yeah, me too.

And onto another random note, I am loving our new orchid! That pot has been empty, sitting in the basement for way too long. Real plants make me happy!

Valentine's Day Decor

One of my favorite Valentine's decorations I've ever seen is at my good friend's house. She has kids almost my age, and has traveled all over the world. She's collected various heart ornaments through the years and each Valentine's day she hangs the collection from her chandelier. So last year, inspired by her, I turned some of Benjamin's art projects into hearts to hang from our chandelier. I ended up throwing them away after February was over, so this year I decided to make my own little ornaments that I can use from year to year. I had some self-hardening clay sitting around, so I made some hearts and painted paper heart doily-inspired designs on them. It took a while, but I like them.
Now to get more ribbon so half of them aren't hanging from sparkly pipe cleaners!

Snowy Saturday

We had a nice little snowfall yesterday after a day of rain, so it was great for packing. We had a fun time throwing snowballs at each other and running around. It was a really nice sunny day!
You'd think by now we'd have size and gender appropriate snow clothes for the boys, but we don't. Those are my old (adult size) gloves Peter is wearing. :)
Peter was a lot more cautious about the snow this time, so he just watched us.

Benjamin really wanted to pose with his snowman under an umbrella. Paul really wanted to give it a gentle embrace.

It was a good sized snowman for how little snow there was!

During nap time, I decided to make a little Valentine's decoration. I found the idea on my cousin's blog. I think the original was much cuter, but that's ok. I used what I had, so it was free!

Welcome to the Family

Yesterday, while Benjamin, Peter and I were doing this:
Paul was looking at a whole lot of this:
and feeling very grateful he got home safely in this:

My sister and her family just got transferred to Scotland, so we bought their Honda Odyssey from them for a great deal. Paul was nice enough to fly down to Houston and drive what was supposed to be a 13 hour trip back home. It turned out to be more like a 17 1/2 hour trip when he got stuck in Arkansas, inching through ice along with hundreds of semi's. I was very relieved when he finally came in around 3:30 a.m.!

We're all thrilled with this new addition, but perhaps not as fervently as Benjamin. As we were taking our first drive together in it as a family this afternoon, he said, "I love this car SO so SO so SO much!" Little boys and cars...He also informed me this morning that the baby has permission to be born now since we have enough room for three boys. Good to know.

Out of the Haze

It's interesting when you realize how little energy you've been operating on for the past couple months when it finally comes back. I'm enjoying my second trimester so far!

A few weeks ago, I dug out my old maternity clothes. Since I block out most memories of my pregnancies, it was like rediscovering a bunch of clothes I never knew I had. And since they're mostly hand-me-downs, it wasn't that exciting. So I thought of a few items that I knew I'd like to add to my maternity wardrobe, and decided to try and alter what I already had.

I bought some eyelet trim and turned this formerly long sleeve shirt into a lighter short sleeve one. For some reason, I can't stand wearing long sleeve cotton shirts. I'd much rather layer. I think it will be cute when it actually fits!
This isn't a maternity cardigan, but I've never loved it. It was an awkward length and was baggy at the bottom. The bottom now has a hole and a small stain, so it was pretty much worthless. I decided to crop the length and add some layers of tiny ruffle lace. I think this one will work during pregnancy and afterwards.

I'm kind of motivated now to make all of my maternity clothes work for me. It's kind of a thrill.

Also this week, I got to go to what was formerly known as Enrichment to learn how to decorate cupcakes. It was a lot of fun, and made me want to go get a basic cake decorating kit. Here are my attempts.

I'm also happy to say I finished reading "Rebekah" (by Orson Scott Card) this week, which I loved. I haven't been very good about finding and reading good books lately, so this was big for me. Usually I'm not a huge fan of historical fiction, but it's been fun going back and reading those familiar stories with new questions and insights.

I guess I'm not operating at full capacity though. Benjamin was sick the other night, and I took care of him a little bit before I fell asleep, assuming the medicine I gave him worked. Paul let me know the next morning that my assumption had been wrong, but also that he didn't mind taking care of his sick child (and pregnant wife). Benjamin told me in the morning shortly after Paul left for work, "Mommy, maybe you should go to work and Daddy can stay home with me and Peter and he can take care of me when I'm sick." Sweet...for Daddy I mean.