It's aaaaaaaa...................

BOY!!!!

A healthy baby boy. I'm actually kinda shocked. I guessed right on the other 2--totally missed this one!! That's okay though. We are excited!! Everything looked great in the ultrasound, so we're feeling blessed. Ty is still at work (we scheduled it for his lunch break) and he won't let me tell the kids until he gets home and can see their faces.

Boy or Girl??

I have an ultrasound scheduled for this Friday the 22nd at 2:00. If you wanna take a guess at what we're having, leave me a comment before then.

A little update: I'm 18 weeks along now. Starting to feel the baby move. I've gained __ pounds (you didn't really think I'd tell you THAT, did you?) I'm pretty much over the morning sickness. I found out I was quite anemic and since I've been taking an iron supplement, I've had more energy, which is nice. Getting into the easy part of the pregnancy.

Our Garden

Our garden has been an ongoing project since before Easter. We planted some seeds in our house and they have been growing in front of our glass sliding door. Ty got our garden all tilled and ready and we've planted onions, spinach, carrots, strawberries, and peas so far--a lot of other plants you have to wait 3-4 more weeks till the chance of frost is gone before you can plant them. The kids have been absolutely elated, and loved every minute of it. They tend and watch and water the plants every day. Hopefully we can keep it all alive and actually get some good food from it--it's our first attempt at a real garden, so we'll see. (and yes, I know I graduated in horticulture, but I did floral design--working with flowers that are already dead. The class I had to actually grow plants in, I got one of the 2 "non-A" grades on a report card I've ever had in my entire life, because I killed ALL of them. I only got a "C" because I did a lot of Extra Credit!!)

Happy Birthday Kara!!

My sister turned 17 last month, and I've been a slacker getting pix posted to share. Isn't she a cutie? She looks a lot like me (hee, hee). Anyhow, we had fun celebrating with her.

Welcome Kate and Mandie!!

We got two beautiful new nieces this week--Ty's sister Shay had Kate (pictured in the swing with her 2 brothers). And my brother Damon, and his wife Catherine had Mandie, just a few days later. We are so grateful that everything went well and that everyone is doing well and healthy. Congrats, you guys!! (Now it's our turn....only 24 weeks left!)

Rice box

And just what, you may ask, is a rice box? It is an idea I got from my mom, from when she worked at a preschool during her unmarried college years. Basically, it is an indoor sandbox. Perfect for winter time or rainy days (or in Florida's case, those sweltering summer days where you can't do anything but swim outside). Also good for people without yards, and mommies who don't appreciate dirt or sand on their children every day. It is simple, yet ingenious. You wouldn't believe how many hours the past few months my kids have played in this. I made ours from a huge rubbermaid container. Put about 10-15 pounds of rice in it, and wha-lah!! You can use all kinds of "toys" in it--funnells, spoons, lids, toy cars, whatever!! They can dig for buried treasure, make roads and hills, etc. The nice thing is that clean-up is a snap. I let them play in the kitchen, and when they're done, you wipe the counter and sweep the floor. Easy. At the preschool where my mom worked, they actually used one of those tables you fill up with sand. Vaccuumes up easy too.

My Spring Flowers

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

This is how I've been scrapbooking lately--it's easy and free. I finally took the time to figure out how to post it on the blog. You can click on the pictures to enlarge them. This is the album I made of the flowers in our yard, and the kids enjoying them. It took me hours and hours last year to landscape our yard and plant bulbs (I planted over 150) and I have absolutely loved looking at my flowers every day. They don't have tulips and stuff in Florida, and of course, this is our first home/yard. I think gardening is one of my new favorite hobbies. (a hobby which is very much encouraged in my family since my dad has a tree farm, grows thousands of landscaping plants, and runs local green houses). I just love springtime in Idaho.

Easter

A few highlights from the Easter season--
I went to Marissa's Kindergarten class and we made bunny baskets and had an egg hunt. We colored eggs with my mom and sister. We did tie-dye eggs and glitter eggs (neither of which would I recommend or do again--think I'll stick to the plain jane kind next year.) We had easter egg hunts here and at my mom's house. The kids and I are showing off our new Easter clothes (Kids are so fun to dress up). The kids got Seeds for our garden, play dough and CTR rings in their baskets. (There must be a dentist in the house.)Even the eggs were stuffed with non-candy items--balloons, quarters, stickers, little toys, and sugar free gum! Part of it too, is that I am craving stuff like tomatoes and steak, and not chocolate and sugar (I know, WEIRD).

Obsessed.

I tell myself every time I'm pregnant that I am not going to get obsessed. It never works. It's all I eat, sleep, think, and do. Pregnancy. It's such a big deal to me. I tell myself not to make it such a big deal--not to make it the subject of every conversation, the reason for everything I eat or do, but so far I have been unsuccessful. It just seems to encompass and affect every aspect of my life. It's not easy for me. I get sick, I show early, I always have complications. It is such a LLLOOONNNGG 9 months. So, here is a formal apology to everyone for the next 5 1/2 months left and the 3 1/2 months already past--it's gonna be a main topic, I'm warning you, so sorry for the obsession.