So, is it a girl or a boy?

At 29 weeks I finally got to find out what I am having! For weeks people have asked, "do you know what you are having?" And when I say "no", they say, "oh, you don't want to find out?" Yes, I want to find out. . . it wasn't MY fault they couldn't tell on the first ultrasound! From the beginning I have thought it must be a girl because I felt so DIFFERENT than I did with Stetson; I have been more moody and alot sicker (definately traits of a girl right?), also I haven't grown any extra facial hair like I did with Stetson (wierd, I know, but I did grow some pretty good blonde sideburns when I was pregnant with Stetson).

At about six months I started getting lots of comments like, "wow, you are finally starting to look pregnant!" It's true, but even though I didn't LOOK pregnant, I sure FELT pregnant! The baby was just tucked away inside, smashing all my organs. But then when I started to show, I REALLY started to show. . . and now I feel HUGE (and my organs are still smashed). Anyway, here is a photo of me (and Stetson) in our green St. Patrick's Day attire, at 29 weeks.


So, I got my ultrasound today (St. Patrick's Day), and I didn't even get dizzy laying there on my back (which is a HUGE accomplishment for me!) Everything checks out, and the baby appears to be healthy and have all its parts. . . and those parts don't include any outdoor plumbing. . . yup, WE ARE HAVING A GIRL!!! Yay!!! We are so excited! Last week my sister McKady asked Stetson what he wanted it to be, and he told her, "girl", so I think he is excited too (until the baby comes and steals all of mom's attention. . . I think that will be a hard day for my mama's boy). I guess now that we know, we had better start thinking of a name. . . any ideas?

It was so fun to see the baby moving around in there, with her feet clear up by her face, and her hand behind her head like she was posing or something. I think she is going to be a dancer as she is already super flexible! My favorite photo is this one of her profile. . . it looks like she has Stetson's nose!


I also liked this one, as it looks like she is scratching her nails down the side of the uterus or something, plus you can see her little body and a leg at the bottom.


I decided not to post the photo showing that she is a girl, as a girl deserves SOME privacy, right?

House Update

I just wanted to do a quick post to update the progress on our house. The second dormer on the back is done, and they are now working on the dormer in front. It was kind of funny, when they took the existing front dormer out, the house looked really lopsided. Now that the front dormer is framed, it looks much better. I took a couple photos today, but can't seem to get them off my camera, so those pics will have to wait until the next post.

Wouldn't you know that when the house was at this stage, we got a storm. Luckily the guys had covered the hole with the hugest tarp I have ever seen, and we all stayed warm and dry.
They took out both walls and the door at the top of the stairs, and now there is just a big piece of plywood covering the hole.
Before. . .

. . .and after

I felt like a gofer as I removed the plywood and poked my head up through the hole to see the progress. Having the walls gone makes it look so much bigger! I thought for a minute that maybe we should leave it that way, but then changed my mind. Where the blue tarp is will be the front dormer, and this room will be our office. I was very surprised (and pleased) to find out that this new dormer will add 4 feet of floor space to that room - yay! You can see the doorway to our bedroom framed up on the left hand side of the photo.
The office before. . .

. . . and after

Where the plywood is leaned up against the frame will be our bathroom.
Looking toward the bathroom before. . .

. . . and after

And this will be our living room. I know you can't really tell what everything is now, but I just wanted to post the progress.
Before. . .

. . . and after

The Terrific Terrible Twos

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. . . I have always heard people talk about the "terrible twos", though I didn't know HOW terrible - and terrific - they could be, until I had one of my own. This is seriously the CUTEST and FUNNEST age, but it is also one of the HARDEST!
It all started with the fits - I was in shock the first time my cute little son threw himself on the floor and started kicking and screaming (literally), though it was almost funny. But then when he started throwing a fit in the grocery store, I was embarrassed and wanted to just disappear. So what do you do? You can't really punish them in public, but you don't want to just give them what they want because then they think they can get away with it. Luckily he doesn't throw fits as often now, and he understands a punishment a little better.
Have you seen the cartoon about Curious George? I'm pretty sure that cartoon was made to portray Stetson. He is so curious, and he is into EVERYTHING!!! The problem is that he is so dang cute, and when you catch him getting into something or doing something naughty, he looks up with an irrisistable grin, and it is hard to get mad at him. Then when I do get mad at him, he throws his little arms around my neck and says, "sorry mom". Now, how can you resist that? Some of his greatest accomplishments include breaking almost every statue I own, getting into the fridge and breaking a whole carton of 18 eggs in the fridge and on the floor, dumping baby powder all over the carpet in his room, flooding the kitchen then dumping powdered gatorade all over, unloading everything out of and off of the desk, and tipping over a full big candle that was sitting on a warmer on top of the entertainment center - yes, it went all down the wall and settled into the carpet, not to mention that the entertainment center doesn' have a back so all my movies and the TV were covered in wax! Have you ever tried to clean up wax, especially out of the carpet - not fun! The cute thing though, was that he went right into the bathroom and got some toilet paper and tried to clean it up, so I had to take a photo!
I have found that NOTHING is impossible for Stetson. I put child locks on things, and he breaks the locks, I put things up high and he finds a way to climb up to them. He can seriously climb ANYTHING! He just takes off his shoes and socks and uses his toes to climb up the cupboard and then the fridge, and anything else that might have something exciting at the top. I honestly can't keep up with him. Also, he LOVES to hide, and is very good at keeping quiet when someone is looking for him. There have been several times I have almost had heart failure because I couldn't find him. It will be nice this summer when he can go outside and play, but then again. . . there are a lot more places to hide out there - and, I don't have a fence! Here he is hiding in a box, I honestly don't know how he was able to squeeze himself in there!
On the other hand, Stetson is so sweet and kind, and such a joy to have around. He makes me laugh with all the cute things he says, and surprises me every day with how smart and observant he is. Very often, when I am doing something and he is watching, he'll say, "good job, mom". And usually, when I ask him to do something he says, "okay" (he doesn't always do what I ask him, but at least he is being agreeable).
Stetson HATES haircuts, and throws the biggest fit every time. He is too strong for me to hold him down on my own, I have to enlist the help of my wrestler brothers to put him in a wrestling hold so that we can TRY to cut his hair. My mom is very patient though, and does a great job - thanks mom!
Stetson LOVES baths, and if he happens to miss his bath one day I hear about it or he tries to take one on his own. One Sunday we were all over at my parents' house for dinner. Suddenly I heard water running, and I thought, "oh no!" I ran to the bathroom, and there was Stetson in the bathtub running himself some bath water. He had taken off all his clothes and diaper, and decided to have a bath. Funny kid! He has a bad habit of taking off his diaper, especially when he is stinky - maybe that means he is ready to go in the toilet. . . nope, but that would sure be nice!
Another thing Stetson likes to do is line things up, I find things like this all the time. He is very particular though, one day I was helping him line up some cars and put one facing a different way than all the others; he noticed right away, and got it turned around. It is actally amazing that a kid that makes the biggest messes can be so neat an particular at times.
I guess this morning he was super hungry because this is how I found him when I woke up, just munching on a BIG HUNK of banana bread.

Hiding in the cupboard. . .

Stetson LOVES to play with the puppies, we named ours Jasper by the way, he is the brown and white one. I don't know what they were looking at, but it made for a cute pic!

Stetson is NOT into anything out of the ordinary or "scary". I took him to see the childrens' Christmas play at the high school and spent most of the time out in the hall. As soon as the grinch came out, he started screaming; he was shaking all over because he was so scared! He STILL talks about it! We were over at Grandma and Grandpa Black's house and his cousin Derek got out a scary mask - he was NOT impressed, and wouldn't leave my side for quite awhile. Anyway, Kenny shot this big wild pig last year, and had the head mounted. We just got it back, and Kenny introduced him to Stetson - again, he was not impressed! He eventually warmed up though, and started petting the pig. He said, "I like it pig".