Boy or a Girl?

We had our much anticipated 20 week ultrasound appointment today! Everything looks great, the baby looks very healthy and has all of its parts in the right spot! Of course the most anxious part of the whole visit is finding out the gender of the baby. I'm going to let the big brother tell you what it is, so enjoy!


And here's a picture to enjoy.


Now comes the challenge of picking out a name for the little one!

Hot weather calls for water!

To try and beat the heat today, we headed out to 2 different splash parks...one before nap and one after. The one after nap, I didn't take one picture at, so you'll just have to believe me that we were there! We also headed down to the Des Moines marina after the 2nd splash park and I missed out on some pretty awesome pictures because I was too lazy to walk back to the car to get my camera...I told Josh we needed to go back and replicate!

Anyway, here are a few pics from today's adventure at one of the parks.

drinking the water...ewww.


kid trying to badger Zane out of his bucket:


kid succeeds in getting Zane's bucket:


Zane upset b/c kid wouldn't give bucket back:


Zane stealing bucket back after mom told him to b/c the 2 attempts to nicely ask for it back didn't work:


Just too funny not to share...I was chatting with a friend of mine when Josh caught this little stinker in action:

Steel Lake

We took advantage of the gorgeous weather we had last night and paddled the kayaks around Steel Lake. It was such a beautiful night and I'm so glad we did it!







After kayaking we let Zane play on the play structure at the lake and I snapped a picture of him doing his current obsession...playing with his belly button. This kid will play with his belly button all day long if we let him, drives me nuts! Here's one phase I hope ends soon :)

8 Years Hitched...

Happy Anniversary to my wonderful husband! I don't know where I'd be in life if you weren't in it. I am so glad that God brought us together back in 1996-97 when we were lowly Freshman both living in Hitchcock Hall at CWU! I can remember right after we started dating telling my roommate (and good friend) Jen that "I was going to marry that guy someday"...there were definitely times during our 5 years of dating that I wondered if that would really be the case, but we perservered, had faith in each other and in love and in the end I was right...I did "marry that guy"! I will never forget the Christmas morning in 2001 that you asked me to marry you and August 3, 2002 when we actually tied the knot. Our wedding day stands out in my mind as one of the happiest days in my life and stands out as one of the best parties to this day that I've ever attended (nice to be able to say that about our own wedding)! Thank you for the best 8 years of my life and I look forward to many more down the road. Thank you for making me a mother, something that I have wanted to be since I was a little girl. Thank you for being a wonderful father to Zane and to the little peanut growing inside of me now...both kids are SO lucky to have such an attentive, loving, caring, diligent daddy. Thank you for helping me be the best person I can and always standing beside me in any crazy idea I might have. Most of all, thank you for being YOU.



And just for fun...here I am at 18.5 weeks.

Zane's Day with the Hall's

Zane's daycare is closed for vacation for 10 days and every summer when she does this, I have to scramble to find back-up childcare. I usually take more time off to take care of him (which I have no problem doing at all), but this year I am really trying to save all of my PTO to have as much paid leave as possible for when the baby comes, so I only opted to take 1 day off. My WONDERFUL friend Brenda graciously offered to watch the little dude whatever days the in-laws didn't pick up. Today was Zane's first day over with the Hall's and he had a blast! I love that Brenda sent me pictures and updates throughout the day to keep me informed on how he was doing and what they were up to, it was a special treat! The only downside to having her watch him is that she lives at least 25 minutes in the opposite direction of my usual morning commute. This morning it took me 1.5 hours to go 36 miles when I left her house to get to work...the way there tonight wasn't much better, but that was due to THREE accidents on one freeway! Anyway, the terrible commute was a small price to pay to know my little boy was having the time of his life and knowing that he was in wonderful hands! Thanks again Brenda and we'll see you guys again Thursday!

Here are some of the photos she sent me of their day...looks like fun!

First a ride to the park:


A walk in the park with one of his best girls:


Even a nap with one of his best girls!


I am amazed they actually fell asleep and didn't stay up giggling!

Sunday Sounders

We took Zane to the Sounders game this past Sunday and all in all he did really well. It was a later game (didn't start until 7:30, which is his bed time usually), but as long as he had his bag of popcorn he was mostly happy! He is getting a little big to sit on my lap (or maybe its me who's getting a little big), so its getting more tricky to have him at the games with us. Josh prefers to stand the whole game and Zane prefers to be on my lap, lucky me!







Its not a true Sounders game without a:
Tatoo


and meltdown.


Enjoy a cute little video of him dancing to the band playing (its obvious he gets his lack of rhythm from me), sorry buddy.

Sunny Sunday!

We were out the door and at the splash park by 10 a.m. this morning!! It was perfect timing too...we missed the big crowds (they came as we were leaving), got a great parking spot and the weather wasn't too hot! Zane's little friends David and Ethan joined us and what a great time the boys had running around in the water. I've said in previous posts and I'll say it again...I am so impressed with how much more brave Zane has become with the splash parks/water in general this summer...so proud of him!

Here are a few pictures from our morning!







Sitting on a water sprayer, not taking a pee, I promise!


Such a good daddy.






David quenching his thirst!