Almost 15 weeks

Yes, there is a baby on board!

I had an appointment today. The baby's heartbeat was strong and in the 150's. We are scheduled for the anatomy ultrasound for mid-May...I guess then I will believe if I am on the doctor's timeline which would put me closer at 16 1/2 weeks instead. I know I am looking more like 16 1/2 weeks! :)

Easter Fun

We had a nice Easter here. The boys were up by 6 a.m. and we held them off from finding eggs until 6:30.
W's basket of goodies:

J's basket:

J distracted by his basket mid-Egg hunt:



So many treats!


When we start the day so early it makes the 10:30 church service seem late!



Then we had a yummy brunch with a couple of other families followed by another outdoor Easter egg hunt.
Run!




By the time we got home it was already 4. So we watched "Mary Poppins" -was one of their Easter presents. Hope you all had a blessed and joyful Easter Sunday!

The Day to Day Stuff

Six months seem to go by fast in regards to dental time. I feel like the boys just had a check-up. This is the first time they attempted x-rays: got some on J but not on W.
W getting his cleaning:

Inspecting the goods:

Not liking the whole thing...here comes "the scowl"

J chose to accessorize for his cleaning:


But they both did great and got a clean bill of health-dental health that is.
As for our health in general, ours has been horrible the last week or so. J and W fighting colds, then W caught the stomach flu, then I caught it three days later and it completely wiped me out. Just praying that it alludes Geoff and J. This is the third round for the stomach flu around town and I thought we had avoided it.
I had my second parent/teacher conference at the boys' preschool. Their teacher amazes me. She had three hand-written pages on each of them. And they always are doing fun projects. This week they brought home lots of projects they had been working on for Easter: wheat grass they grew, Easter bags they made, plastic eggs they found at an egg hunt at school, hard-boiled eggs they dyed, and a craft project with colored rice glued onto an egg. I got W to hold still for a moment with his bag that he wrote his name on. Love the expression.

And now his "grumpy" face:

Geoff has been busy taking a Quickbooks class in the evenings after work and putting up our fence in any free time he has. Katy inspecting the work:

Is good.

Of course when we took the chicken wire fence down to start putting the chain link up, the dogs got skunked. Again. The fourth time since we moved here. Katy just knows where to find them and just can't leave them alone apparently. Soon Geoff will be able to go into the de-skunking business professionally from all of the practice!

Now we are back to the dreaded task of researching blinds for our great room. The sun is out longer and we can't go another summer here without something for our big windows. We were looking at Hunter Douglas Architella shades...but the more we think about it...
...we are now considering something like this:


where you can have the shades open even when they are up? Of course they cost more so that will probably be the deciding factor. I hate making such a big decision on a little sample...but wondering if any of you have shades similar to either of these or know someone who does. Curious what the pros/cons are.
Hope you all have a nice Easter. I need to go make some rolls now for an Easter brunch tomorrow. Enjoy!

Nashville

We were in Nashville, TN all last week visiting Papap, Grandma and Uncle P.J. and attending some meetings for the FJC Company. Geoff was in FL the week prior so the boys and I flew to TN ourselves and met him there. Here are the boys as soon as we arrived at the first airport...very excited about the trip. Here we go! I learned quickly that I can't let them sit next to each other on the plane. A few minutes in and they got in a little punching fight. Fun. It was a long trip and I was very thankful for the TVs on the 4-hour plane ride to Houston. But we made it and my stomach did OK. I wasn't feeling the best on the drive to my parent's house from the airport but survived. We headed off to the zoo the next morning...


The weather was just too nice to stay inside.
< J and Papap having a discussion about hot dogs over lunch.

Fun feeding the lorakeets:


Funny hand dryer station at the zoo:

I couldn't get a great pic of W and Papap at the merry-go-round bc W kept choosing the animals on the inside of the ride.

J and Geoff:
Enjoying the awesome playground in the zoo.


Geoff and I went on a date night to PF Changs that night for dinner. I was craving their lettuce wraps and their food. I didn't get my standard Singapore Street noodles and then I craved them the rest of the trip. We should have gone back! The next day mom and I did some shopping damage. They have such great shopping there but the sales tax is painful! Almost 10%. Especially painful when we have no sales tax where we live.
The next day we headed about an hour away to Murfreesboro, TN to the Discovery Zone. The boys, Papap and I went a couple of summers ago and they have great activies for the boys.



We were there about an hour or so when the managers had to move everyone in the building to a room due to storm sirens going off. We stayed in a room for about 45 minutes before we could return to the museum. Papap called and said there were 75 mph winds back at the house. They have crazy storms there.
Before heading home...Geoff and J built a complex train:

And W and I stayed with making dominoes (don't you love W's ventriloquist-doll face here?)


My parents lost a very large tree from the storm...as it fell it took out a few more:


W sawing:

And earning his keep:

Building a fire pile:

Then Papap, Geoff, Uncle PJ and I attended meetings Wed and Thurs while Grandma stayed home with the boys. On Wednesday night we had an amazing dinner at Maggianos for everyone in FJC as a kick-off dinner for the company. I look silly bc one of the boys is at my feet and was reaching for my neck when the pic was taken.

Here is J just after leaving the restaurant...minutes before...

passing out for the night.

I think Geoff is the sleep-whisperer. The boys didn't nap on any of the three flights on the way to TN. On the first trip home (Geoff flew back with us)...W was next to me (wide awake) and J was next to Geoff (fast asleep). Fast forward to the next plane...the boys both sat next to Geoff and W finally took a nap.


The boys have gotten such good use of their penguin backpacks/roll suitcases we bought a couple of years ago. I tried to get a pic while we were walking but they were all blurry. They get lots of attention and comments on those penguins. J was a different person on our flight to Nashville. He talked to everyone we met and smiled and said hi and bye and "We are going to Tennessee to visit Grandma and Papap" to everyone we met. Normally they are pretty shy around strangers so this surprised me.


In fact, while waiting to fly home, an airport cop on a bike came by and talked to us. The boys told him about our trip and then W said "the next time you come back we want to ride your bike."


It was a nice trip. I was so close to an entire week being sick-free. Until I threw up as our plane was making its final decent into the airport. W said "the airplane is making you sick?"