XX or XY?

Tomorrow is the big level 2 ultrasound for which we can choose to find out the sex of our baby. We have obviously talked with the girls about whether we think they are going to have a brother or sister. So tonight at dinner we decided to get the final vote.

Here are the results:

Brady- boy
Reese-girl
Karl-boy
Me-girl (I said it to even out the vote, but really still clueless)

Of the votes on the sidebar to the left, 8 of you think boy and 4 think girl.

So I said to the girls tomorrow the people with a correct vote should get a prize. We decided on a piece of candy at dinner. Reese immediately looks concerned. She says "I changed my mind, I think it is a boy" So she voted girl but when candy is on the line her vote is for a boy. We all start laughing, then Reese pipes in again "Can I have my piece of candy now?" Like I have said before but Reese keeps our family laughing!

I decided to share with the girls the adventure of trying to reveal their sex when they were in womb. They thought both stories were funny. I decided to share them with you in case you haven't heard yet...

With Brady, we went in for our 18 week big ultrasound. They measured her for growth, on track, checked out her heart, on track... then we were asked, do you want to know the sex....we said yes. Right as the tech moved down to examine between the legs, Brady politely placed her hand over her 'privates' and would not move it. Therefore we walked away from that appt. not knowing and it took a couple more attempts to find out she was a girl 4 weeks later.

With Reese, I had an ultrasound at 15 weeks. This appt. happen to coincide with Karl's birthday. He did not make the appt., but my doc said she could tell the sex, and wanted to share with me. I said Karl and I like to find out together, so she printed out the picture and sealed it in an envelope. She sent me off saying she was 95% sure of what she saw. I was so excited to give Karl this birthday present. He opened the envelope with me looking over his shoulder and sure enough it said boy! Three weeks later, they saw pink.

So with that said, I am somewhat skeptical that I will come home with an correct answer. At week 16 they had to do an ultrasound, she said she may have seen boy parts, but couldn't tell if it was cord. How do you think the story goes from here?

Change of Heart

As I previously posted, Reese did like the idea of my pregnancy during the first trimester. Constantly tell me it was a pretend baby in my belly. She has really had a change of heart lately. She plays with friends babies. Talks about her future sibling etc.

Tonight she feel asleep like this:

Yes, that is a baby doll in her night gown. I love the sweet hand draped over her belly in the first picture, just like a pregnant lady. She tells people that she is naming her sibling 'Snowflake' and it will be a girl because Snowflake is not a boy name!

7 more days until my ultrasound!

Nostalgia

The girls got lots of crafty gifts for Christmas. We got make our own stuffed bears, paper airplane kit, color by number, sun art, cardboard castle to color, tie-dye, etc. I love these type of gifts for several reasons:

-the girls are very into crafting now
-they are consumable (teacher speak)
-it gets me involved with them (I have been lazy lately)



Remember Shrinky Dinks?!?!?! I was pretty pumped about sharing this experience with the girls because I have such fond memories of Shrinky Dinks from my childhood.

 Karl even had to get involved...these are so fun!

 Coloring was done and I told the girls it was time to put them in the oven. Reese was distraught that I was going to cook her 'fairy'. We told her she didn't have to and we would just do the others, then she was distraught that we wanted to put ours in the oven.

 Reese watches cautiously as the Shrinky Dinks warm up.

 The girls loved watching them dance and flip!

 After:

 Now Reese is all smiles and wants hers to have a chance to warm up and dance in the oven...

 The kit Andi gave us had wings to put on the fairies, gems, and glitter glue! The glitter glue was definitely the girls favorite part!

 The kit also came with a tree and stands to create a scene with our new figurines. 

 Reese's fairy on left (with mommy help) and Brady's (all by herself) on the right

 Just in case you forgot how much they shrink...here is the before and after shots. 

Thanks Auntie Andi for all the nostalgic fun! I think I will have to go buy more.

Brady's Bike

I am so proud the improvements Brady made in the week since we have had her bike. She loves riding it everyday. I have to show you the video of her the first day, just to show how far she has come along.

For those that didn't know, previously to this Brady couldn't even peddle her tricycle for we have really enjoyed seeing her on her bike. Santa choose a good gift!

Operating Room

Our girls have a new little game they like to play. It all started when I left a laundry basket out and Reese flipped it over next to a stool to create a patient table like she had seen at my OB appt. She would lay on it with her belly hanging out. Well, with a 3 and 4 year old mind working together this quickly progressed with an OR with c-sections being performed. (FYI: the girls have seen photos of me on the table during Reese's c-section.)

1. Pregnant patient lays on the OR table.

 2. Patient gets comfortable with an owl pillow.

 3. Doctor covers patient with a blanket (think the sheet that blocks the head)

 4. Doctor 'cuts' the baby out.

 5. Doctor quickly gives the patient medicine (yes meds are given orally with a Mr. Potato head nose)

 6. Patient holds her baby that is washed and clothed!

They do this over and over switching roles. I had to laugh at myself when the doctor asked me at Reese's three year check up if she does 'pretend play.' Also, they asked if she interacts with her peers. Check and check!!!

Baby Bump: Week 17

New Year, New Baby Bump Photo!

I have to laugh to myself. I am not a huge new year's resolution kind of person. I try to assess areas that need improvement throughout the year and deal with them then. For example, September I made a goal for myself to be 10 pounds lighter by 2012. Here I am at the New Year and I am 20 pounds heavier. I however can't complain that I didn't meet my goal, some goals are worth breaking ;)

Well, without further ado, here is the belly shot of the month, then of course followed by the previous shots for comparison.

I am happy to say I don't think my thighs and face swelled up quite as much this month. I went to the doctor this past week and again everything looked great. Actually, I only gained 5 pounds in the four weeks (this is good for me) and my blood pressure is back to being low. :)

Once again, they tried to use the machine that you hear the heartbeat and once again it didn't work, so I got an ultrasound. I had Reese with me since I had her three year old check up the same day. As they were doing the ultrasound, they referred to 'the baby' and Reese exclaims, "HER name is Baby Dale!!!" The OB looks at me for affirmation, so I go onto to explain that our family uses a 'womb name' and I think she thought I was crazy. 

Also, during the ultrasound, they tried to get a sneak peak at the genitals. Like with my other two pregnancies, they baby is SO active that they can't get a good view. So we will have to wait a little longer. Also, I have decided to not have the sex revealing party. Lots of factors in this decision, so stay tuned later this month, for I will reveal the sex with the name on here ;)



Happy New Year!

Sun Art

My brother got the girls a pretty cool gift that we had loads of fun with today.

Sun Art Paper

You use flat objects to create a design and place the paper in the sun for a few minutes, rinse the paper and let it dry. They dry in a amazing royal blue color (that my camera didn't pick up well).

Here are our results: Brady's are the first three, Reese are the next three and my one attempt is last.

 I am thinking about photo shopping the nature based ones and blowing them up and putting them in my bedroom since I have this kind of pattern on my comforter. This is a super fun gift that is reasonably priced.

Hashbrown Casserole

I promised I would get this recipe to you all. 

So here is the recipe copied from the website. I halved the portion size and used a normal 9x13 Pyrex dish to cook it in. Also mine didn't brown on top in the allotted time so I broiled a little at the end. Here is the link if you want to read the reviews:

http://www.food.com/recipe/cracker-barrels-hashbrowns-casserole-copycat-15242

Ingredients:

Servings:

  10   10

10-12

Units: US | Metric

• 2 lbs frozen hash browns
• 1/2 cup margarine or 1/2 cup butter , melted
• 1 (10 1/4 ounce) can cream of chicken soup
• 1 pint sour cream
• 1/2 cup onion , peeled and chopped
• 2 cups cheddar cheese , grated
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

1. 1
   Preheat oven to 350°F and spray an 11 x 14 baking dish with cooking spray.
2. 2
   Mix the above ingredients together, place in prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes or until brown on top.

Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/cracker-barrels-hashbrowns-casserole-copycat-15242#ixzz1hsYCZSkS

Kodak Moment

There are some memories that are self explanatory through the eyes of the camera. So here are some events that speak for themselves this holiday season.

Nutcracker with Grandma and Auntie Andi:

Making Christmas Cookies and setting them out: (yes the girls had Karl in an apron)

Just plain Christmas joy:

Christmas Morning, including our Big Christmas Breakfast (hopefully our new tradition):

Santa Came

 Happy girl

 lots of joint gifts this year and they handled it perfectly, opening it together

 Yes we bought them cleaning supplies this year and yes they love it

 Christmas Breakfast: Fruit salad, biscuits, bacon, sausage, waffles, hard boiled eggs, scrambled eggs and knock-off Cracker Barrel hash-brown casserole (GREAT RECIPE)!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!