We met up with our friends, The Bloomquists for a fun morning of canoeing (for us) and kayaking (for them) at Zilker Park. It was a rough start when the first kayak got pushed out to no-man’s land. It was a fairly painless recovery and we were on our way in no time!
Marin loved it….and we felt like real pros since we didn’t tip or have to get towed back to shore!
Pretty neat view of our city (via my phone camera), eh?
July ended in the best way possible….we found out we are having a little BOY! Although I was way more sick with this pregnancy, we both were convinced that we were having a girl. We couldn’t have been more surprised when the sonographer showed us ‘the money shot!’
Here are a couple pictures from our ultrasound. The first one is his sweet little profile with his arm by his face and in the second one his legs are over his head! The sonographer said, “Oh wow, that’s a rare shot to get of a baby with his legs over his head!” Jason and I giggled because we have the same shot of Marin at 20 weeks in the same pose!
This little man is very active and I started feeling him kick at about 19 weeks. (I didn’t feel Marin until about 22 weeks.) In this picture he was about 9 inches long and all of his measurements, organs, bone development, etc. looked perfect. What a blessing!
Here’s Marin in the same pose at her 20 week ultrasound! Isn’t that funny? We love our little acrobats!!
We are very excited about having a Christmas baby!! What better Christmas gift could this mama ask for?? Jason’s work is pretty slow at year’s end so he will have time off to help with the baby….or Marin….or me….whoever needs the most help will win his attention most likely!
Here was our first glimpse of our little “Christmas Cookie” back in May at our first ultrasound. At this point, the baby was only about 3 cm in length and I was suffering from major nausea. Fortunately, all that has passed now and everything is progressing as it should. We have our ‘level 2’ ultrasound in a couple days that will give us a better picture of our little ‘Cookie.’ We can’t wait!!
We’re guessing it’s a girl. What’s your vote?
We’ve been trying out this look at the grocery store and we’re getting a very positive response. You should try it too!
Marin and I enjoyed her first movie, Winnie the Pooh. We met several friends at the theater and made a fun morning of it!
It was a very sweet movie and I was happy that we made it through the whole thing (about an hour) with the assistance of a hot dog and a few snacks snuck in from home!
Here’s Marin with two of her favorites: Leah and Pooh!
Marin and I drove to Nebraska with our friend Bridgette and her two kids. It’s always exciting to go home and catch up with the family AND it’s particularly exciting to get out of the Texas heat. Fortunately, we were there before the heat wave hit the Midwest-thank goodness.
Marin absolutely adores her cousins and she was exhausted trying to keep up with all of them!
Swimming with Conner & Ashley was fun, but squirting Conner with the water gun was a whole new level of excitement!
We met our newest cousin, Braelyn who was visiting from Alaska. Her eyes are the deepest brown you’ve ever seen! What a dolly!
We visited Grandma ‘Lene’ and enjoyed tickling her!
We had a nice time seeing Grandma Ruthie too! I hope I am this spunky when I’m 92!
Sitting in the fort with cousin Hannah couldn’t have been a better treat. I could barely take this picture with Goldilocks telling me to, “Please leave.”
Haley carried Marin around every chance she got!
Hannah is already 5’8” and has more to grow! Watch out UNL! Here she is standing next to my shrimpy sister.
Cousin Morgan barely let Marin’s feet touch the ground especially when the other kids brought out the fireworks. Marin was terrified. Fortunately, she was so exhausted by nighttime, she slept straight through the loud fireworks shows.
The cousins lighting a ‘boomer.’
A quick little birthday celebration for Haley’s 12th birthday.
It’s hard to believe that 12 years ago, I was teaching in Lincoln & babysat the two older girls while this little princess was being born.
We took a quick drive up to Yankton, SD to see Gavins Point Dam. Before we went to the dam, we stopped at a little aquarium.
The turtle and this ‘kissy fish’ were Marin’s favorites.
Due to the torrential rains & record snowfall, there’s more water than they know what to do with—so many homes have been lost or are under water. Too bad they can’t figure out a way to channel the water to Texas to relieve us from the drought.
This is what 160,000 cubic feet of water per second looks like. Consider that 150,000 cubic feet of water would fill a football field instantly to a depth of four feet. Crazy, right?
My handsome brother.
Aunt Gigi capturing a few photos. This is the largest flood the dam has seen in almost 60 years.
Farmer Dad schooling his grandson.
Me, my dad and a 16-week Christmas cookie.
My momma with the girls. Marin kept asking, “Are we moving?” The force of the water was amazing!
Time to go! We had a great trip home and Marin was a real trooper on the ride to and from Texas. I’m pretty sure we won’t be making the 14-hour drive any time soon once the baby arrives!
