Happy Sounds

The latest thing that makes me smile is this:

Happy, loud, boisterous singing to their ipods. Kason, Jaicee, and Halle can be frequently found singing their favorite song VERY emphatically while listening to their ipod. Kason's song of choice is "Low" by Flo-rida (not sure if that is a good one for a 10 year old to listen to), Jaicee's is any Hannah Montana song, and Halle's is "Popular" from Wicked. They all know every word - including Halle. It always makes me happy inside to see hear them singing their heart out and feeling confident that they must be one of the best singers in the world! Don't you remember thinking "Boy I sound good" when loudly singing to your "walkman"? It is such a freeing feeling - I think I need to try to sing my heart out to my ipod a little more often!

Conversation with a 2 year old

Braden and I were talking about the baby that is in my belly. You know, trying to prepare him for the shock that will hit his life in a few months. Well, this was how it went:

Me: Braden, what is in mommy's belly?

Braden: Baby!

Me: Baby brother or baby sister?

Braden: Baby sister!

And then touching my belly he excitedly said: "Let's open it!"

He then proceeded to pull on my already protruding belly button very hard! Obviously trying to open it!

Braden: "It's stuck mommy!" (While continuing to pull on my belly button - now making it stick out 4 inches instead of 2)

We laughed and laughed. Kids are so literal. I wish I could pull on my belly button and have the baby come out - now that would be great labor! Needless to say, my belly button was quite sore for a couple of hours, and if it didn't poke through my clothes before...well, it is huge now!

Baseball Begins!

This past weekend we went to St. George for Kason's baseball tournament. I can't believe baseball season is already upon us....here comes the crazy schedule. It was great, however, to have an excuse to take a mini-vacation. It was also nice to get in some sunshine - even though it wasn't nearly as warm as we would have liked!

Kason played two games on Friday, two games on Saturday, we had Sunday to relax, and played another game on Monday. They did great as a team - and it was fun to watch him play.

The girls and Braden on the other hand weren't so excited that baseball season was upon us again! They get a little tired sitting at ball games - so we have to pretty much transport all of their toys to the ball park to keep them entertained. Luckily, there are other little kids to play with to bide the time. And lots of treats at the "snack shack" to help keep Braden still...well mostly still (we did lose sight of him a couple of times). It is a definite adventure to have a very active two year old at the ballpark for multiple hours. Brandon and I just keep reminding ourselves that these are fun memories that we will look back on and laugh!

Jaicee, Halle, and baseball friends

We did get a couple of days of swimming in...which seemed to make up for the long baseball games.

And a trip to the park

Of course, Kason and Brandon only did one thing at the park....played baseball! Go Figure?

All in all, it was a fun filled family weekend. Of course, the temperature was 62 degrees when we had to leave on Monday. Isn't that how it always is??

Ever Seen This One?

The other day Braden was coming up the stairs, and then started screaming! I ran down to find this:

It almost immediately looked like this. Has anyone ever seen such a bruise? And there were no bumps on his head or anywhere else - just his ear. The picture doesn't do it justice....his whole top half of his ear is black and blue! We have had many strangers stop to ask what in the world happened to his ear! I am guessing he must have hit it on the edge of the banister....who knows? With all the injuries my kids have had (there have been plenty crazy ones) this one has to take the cake. He actually didn't cry long - and hasn't been bothered by it since. I guess it is a good injury to have!

Ode to Saving Money

So, this happened a couple of months ago...but I had to post it when I came across the picture.

Ever since we have been married, Brandon has always been able to do things himself to save money. Whether it is fixing a clogged pipe, replacing floors, finishing the basement, you name it - he can do it. He is an all around "handy man", and can figure out how to do anything! That, in fact, is one of the things that is so attractive about him!

Well, he has always changed the oil in our cars. He thinks it is ridiculous to pay someone $30-40 dollars, that he can easily do himself for under $10. He was routinely changing the oil in one of our cars when all of the sudden he walked into the house looking like this:

The filter fell while he was unscrewing it, and landed in the pan of used oil. Hilarious!! Talk about an "oily" complexion! Needless to say, we just recently needed our oil changed...and he took it to the local Jiffy Lube!

Family Wii Time

So, what do you do on a Sunday night when it is cold outside.....you have a family game of "Guitar Hero"! It was so fun just hanging out as a whole family with no place to run off too. That doesn't happen often around here, and it is so refreshing when it does. We had a great time trying to beat Kason and his quick fingers! Jaicee is pretty good - especially at adding her dance moves while playing the guitar.

Looks like her dad is stealing her moves!

Kason won every time...even on a higher level!

Braden was obviously very into it!

Family time is the greatest treasure!

It's A.....

So, before I give up the gender of our new baby...I have to give you a little background. When I was pregnant with Braden, I felt like there were two boys that needed to come to our family. I did not know that Braden was a boy yet, so when we found out that he was a boy, I thought "perfect, one more left."

About 7 months ago we were driving in the car and Kason said (out of the blue), "Mom, I feel like someone is missing from our family." Well, I had been thinking for a few months that it was starting to be the time to think about getting pregnant - but the thought of being sick was not appealing quite yet. I guess that was the little push I needed.

A couple of months later, I was pregnant. The kids were ecstatic when we told them! They all said that the news of having a baby come to our family was better than going to Disneyland! Kason was insistent from the beginning that he knew it would be a boy. I also was quite sure that we would have a boy. The girls, they of course wanted a sister at first, but have since changed to also "knowing" that it is a boy!

At the ultrasound yesterday, I felt like it was just a formality when she asked if we wanted to know the gender. She looked closely for a few minutes and said:

I was completely shocked! So much for mother's intuition, personal revelation, or whatever else you want to call it!

I looked at Brandon and he said: "Well, it looks like we might have to do this again."

What?? I am quite sure I cannot do this again...physically or mentally. So, there you have it....another princess will be coming to our family - I hope we have room! I love little girls, and it will be fun to end on one! Needless to say, the kids were happily dissappointed. They could not believe it was a girl and there reaction was priceless! I wish I would have had it on video!

One good thing, I have been dying to redo the nursery...and girl colors and decor are so much more fun to work with! Any great ideas? I would love to hear them!

P.S. I tried to scan in the ultrasound pictures, but my scanner wouldn't cooperate...sorry!