It's a GIRL!

We had our 20 week ultrasound today and are thrilled to announce we're having a baby girl!!!! I have to say- you can kind of tell from the post below, I had a gut feeling it was a girl, but in the back of my mind I kept thinking- gosh, what if I'm wrong?! For about 2 weeks now in my head I've been calling baby "she" and I've been secretly going over girl names. If it's a boy I'm going to have to seriously start re-thinking things!

Luckily, we didn't have to wait long to know. I told the u/s tech I'd like to guess, but as she was rubbing the gel around my stomach, I caught a glance and had a feeling I was right! She then got a really good shot and paused, looking at me, and I said, "Well, I certainly don't see any boy parts! It's a girl?!?" Yep!

Everything looked perfect- baby girl was measuring spot on, at 19weeks5days, so just 1 day shy of my due date, which is really good for me! We have such small babies, usually by this time we're already at least a few days behind. Baby girl was moving all around and didn't seem to like the poking and prodding the tech was doing. :)

We saw no remnants of the blood clot too, which I'm so happy about! It's gone! It will be nice to not have to worry about that anymore.

We got some great shots, but then later saw the tech didn't print out many at all. We got this super cute one of her perfect little footprint that she didn't print. Dang it. Take it from me, she has cute feet. We did get some great profile shots- above, and some very clear "I'm a girl" shots like the one below.

Raz watched the kids while we were at the ultrasound, so we had it planned to film them as we told them the news. Here's how it went:


Yep, Hailey was excited and Thomas cried. I thought it was cute when Colin said, "I wanted a boy to be my best friend!" Awwweeee. Too bad, it's a girl. You can kind of see Thomas acting subdued, then of course, you saw what came next. Everyone should know that now, hours later, he's doing much better about adding a girl to our family and is getting to be excited. When I told him we'll have one room for girls and the other room for boys, he perked up. He's tired of sharing a room with Hailey, she has too many girl toys.

So that's our update. It's a girl! Now only about 20 more weeks until she makes her debut...

Boy or Girl ???

I put a poll up on the side bar- what do you think our baby will be? Boy or Girl? We find out on June 28th!

Thomas and Adrian are convinced it's a BOY.

Hailey wants it to be a GIRL so badly I think she might move out if it's not.

My gut instinct...I've actually felt a certain way this whole pregnancy so far, but I'm afraid to say because, well, I have been wrong in the past! I was leaning toward pink with Hailey and I was right. Colin's pregnancy was identical to Hailey's, so I felt that he was a girl too...which he of course is not! This pregnancy most closely resembles Thomas', with bad morning sickness, so I'm a bit wishy washy. If I had to say one way or another though, I'd say GIRL. Each pregnancy is so different though, it's so hard for me to say! I'm eating a lot, which makes me think BOY. Heart rate is still in the 160-165, which makes me think GIRL. I've been so, so sick, which also makes me think GIRL {except I was really sick with Colin, so moot point!} I could go on and on...but in a nutshell- if I absolutely HAD to choose right now, I'd say girl...but don't quote me on that!

We don't have a name either way, but I'm beginning to get very, very curious! Just over 2 weeks and we find out!

School's out for Summer!

School for this year has officially ended! Thomas is now in 2nd grade and Hailey is in her 2nd year of pre-school- one more year until she starts Kindergarten!

Thomas' teacher was Mrs. Young and she was wonderful. We've been so lucky to get such great teachers so far! She liked Thomas a lot and was so willing to help him out in any way. Thomas is doing so great in school. He loves going and he is just really excelling academically. He's an incredible reader and I'm hoping to really continue to nurture that over the summer. {I'm introducing him to Harry Potter!} Thomas has this cute little 1st grade singing program that we went to last week, but the camera was dying, so hardly any of our pics came out- boo! The one above is him in his classroom afterwards. All the other kids decorated their pencil boxes with stickers, markers, etc. Thomas' was still in pristine condition- just like when he got it months ago. That is SO Thomas!

Hailey loves school. I'm so happy we opted to put her in preschool as a 3 year old because it was just what she needed. She's doing great with letter recognition and her printing is improving. Again, we're going to really work on it this summer and start getting her ready for kindergarten!

She too had a cute little ceremony at the end of the year. Before the program started she came to me and very seriously told me that everyone was going to wear costumes. Everyone. I looked at her and said, "really?" I thought about calling her teacher really quick to confirm, but just decided- what the heck, it's first year preschool, let's let her have fun! So we went and of course, Hailey was the only one in a costume! You just have to laugh and love her for it. She didn't blink an eye over it- nothing phases this girl!

A Day Out with Thomas...the Train!

My mom and step-dad, Michael came and had a lovely visit about a week and a half ago. Not many of my family visits us here in Utah, so we were so excited! The highlight of our trip was when we traveled to Heber City to go see Thomas the Train!

The weather was just barely cooperating, but we managed to have a great time...and leave before the rain began! Whew!

Colin took to Michael and enjoyed following him around as we looked at trains.

We got Thomas-the-Train tattoos, watched videos, saw Sir Topham Hat and even got some cute balloon animals. We were able to ride the train, and although it was a short ride- about 20 minutes total, it was fun.

New Baby on the Way!

We have another baby on the way, due November 22, 2011! We are super excited and have been waiting a while to be able to announce news like this!

I'm 12 weeks along as of tomorrow and am...so very nauseous! Ahhh, I wish I could be one of those women who find out their pregnant at 10 weeks and can say, "wow, I'm so shocked, I had no clue!" Hahahaha! Not me! I'm the one who experiences 348 out of 350 possible pregnancy symptoms, most of those being not-so-pleasant symptoms. The morning/afternoon/evening sickness came on gradually this time. At 5 weeks, I thought- this isn't so bad! At 6 weeks I was thinking- great, I can handle this! Then by 7 weeks, I was miserable...and not much has changed since then! I've tried a few different meds and they all seem to take the edge off, but they also all have side effects. So I take each day as it comes.

Unfortunately, I've already had some complications and was diagnosed with a subchorionic hemorrhage. Not fun! Thankfully, I haven't had any issues in a couple of weeks, so we're praying like mad that this situation has resolved itself. I'm still supposed to take it easy and rest as much as I can, which is really hard when you have 3 kids! I'll know if its gone away by my 20 week ultrasound, at the latest.

The good news is, the baby is doing great! We first heard the heartbeat at 10 weeks and it was a strong 180 beats per minute. Now, 2 weeks later, we're finding the heart beat a lot higher up on my stomach and it's in the 170's. We'll find out in a couple months if it's a boy or a girl! Due date is 11/22 but we're anticipating another early arrival. Baby was already measuring a full week ahead at 10w, and so far all my early u/s dates have been incredibly accurate as to when baby actually arrives.

The video above is when we told the kids. They have been asking for months when we're going to have another baby, so needless to say, they were excited! I especially love the part where they ask how the baby comes out. Yeah, mom's not ready to answer that question...

Easter 2011

Another Easter has come and gone! I don't know about anyone else, but I prefer Easter candy over just about any other holiday's candy. It's those darn Cadbury chocolate eggs...mmmmmm.

Here the kids and Dad are coloring eggs. We have fun decorating them, then make deviled eggs the next day. Yum!

I love babies, but as the kids get older and their personalities really start to come out, I love getting to know them. Our kids are funny. They love posing for pics. Here they did a happy shot.

Then a scary shot.

Then a silly shot. These pics will haunt them when they're teenagers. Hehehe.

Easter morning- look what the Easter Bunny brought us! I love how the Easter Bunny brings each kid a box of cereal so Mom doesn't have to worry about making a giant breakfast that morning. Thoughtful huh? Santa Claus does the same thing!

Easter bunny gets really creative hiding eggs at our house. Sometimes so creative we find eggs for months afterwards. That's always a treat!

Another Trip to the Zoo

We love the zoo and go all the time! We particularly love to go when it's still cold outside because the animals are so much more active. Here are a few pics from a trip we took in April.

Hailey Update

I wanted to give a little update on how Hailey's doing. She turned 4 in January and is really coming out of her shell. Wait, this is Hailey I'm talking about, was she ever inside a shell?! LOL! At any rate, she's gaining a lot more interests and is a joy to watch. She's lately gotten into puzzles and is really good at them. All our kids love puzzles- that's definitely a Williams trait because I don't care for them at all! At any rate, she loves them, so I do them...again and again and again...you get the idea. She's in preschool for another year before starting kindergarten. She's doing really well writing her name and recognizing all the letters. She sings and talks all the time, making up her own songs and yapping my ear off. She is such a girl too! The other day I was dressing up for an event and she eyed me and said, "What shoes are you planning to wear with that, Mom?" Oh my...and it begins!

Trip to Hollywood Connection

I got some free passes for us all to try out Hollywood Connection in West Valley. We'd never been before and it was actually really fun! They have several rides, a big slide/ play area, a mini golf course, bumper cars and an arcade. I think Thomas rode the roller coaster about 15 times, no joke. He loved it, and surprisingly enough, so did Hailey!

Colin actually got a hole in one on the golf course too! Adrian lined him up so he would hit the ball, but he hit it all by himself and lo and behold- it went in! I won't tell you how many strokes it took me...mini golf is not one of my strong points. LOL.

Right before we left, we were all pretty tired but a guy crafting balloons was there and the kids were just mesmerized. We got them each a balloon and Thomas really wanted to keep it in the fridge because apparently balloons last a lot longer when chilled. Thanks to whoever told him that little tidbit of info...thanks a lot!

Colin's Pacifier Trick

We're giving up the paci, but this little trick he did will never be forgotten!

Colin and the Bubbles!

I had some bowls soaking in the sink before washing and the phone rang. Kids know they have free reign when the phone rings, don't they. I can remember at least a few sneaky things happening while I was on the phone.

At least he was cute and somewhat clean afterwards, right? Gosh he was having so much fun, I just let him go at it for about a half hour. Just to let you know, he's 10x worse in the bathtub! Hailey joined in on the fun later on.

Getting Caught Up

So apparently I'll be blogging quarterly...lol. Oh well, at least I'm trying. I need to be better about blogging the day-to-day stuff, because if I always wait for monumental events, nothing will ever get written! So here are a few random happenings/ pictures that will let you see how we're doing!

I've been trying to take more pictures of Colin so he doesn't feel ousted being the poor 3rd child that he is. He is 2.5 years old now and is Mr.Personality. It does help that he talks really, really well, so we get to hear many of his toddler thoughts, which is often hilarious. He thinks the space between the railings are parking spaces. It's not uncommon for us to have a car in each and every slot, all along the banister. Funny kid.

Colin has a few items that are very precious to him. One is his blanket with the small blue zoo animals on it. He calls it his "elephant blankie." The other is the stuffed dog with the musical pull cord. Both doggie and the elephant blankie are necessary items when he's tired or about to go to sleep.

Being the only kid at home a couple days a week, when Hailey is in preschool enables us to get some one-on-one time. Here we opted to play in the snow! Boy did we get a ton of snow this year...actually, it just stopped snowing about a week ago. Thank heavens, I'm ready for warmer temps!

I Can't Dance

Adrian is learning a video editing program to help me with my website. He used this fun footage of the kids to assist in the process. What do you think?

Enjoying our Days Off!

Adrian's been able to be home several days this past week, so with the kids off school, we've done some fun stuff!

We went to the zoo! I know, some might think we're crazy but the zoo during the off season is so fun. The animals are out and running around and there are no crowds- perfect! Yes, it was cold, but we bundled up and had a great time.

We also braved the snow to go sledding! We found a nice little hill at a nearby park and spent about 40 minutes sliding down on the discs. Even Colin enjoyed it and he normally doesn't even last 10 minutes in the snow. Although he did want to go down the slide at the park and was a bit disappointed when it just didn't work. :)