The Gender Revealed

It was a "gender party". My dad made homemade pizza and bread (which deserves a post in itself, but I don't have the time right now) and after we gorged on an ungodly amount of carbs, we found out that...

We...

 are having...

 ANOTHER BOY!

 This whole pregnancy I really felt like it was a girl, because I had a few of the same small different symptoms like I did with Brooklynne. We were shocked!

 Brookie was very upset and cried for a long time. She prayed for a sister since before I was pregnant. By the next morning, she was (and still is) very excited about having another baby brother. :)

 My nephew and new little boy will only be 8 months apart!

 The ultrasound tech printed many "boy" pictures and put them in a sealed envelope for us. There is NO mistake! heehee.

We don't have a name picked out as of yet, but thankfully we still have almost 5 months to decide! This week is our missions conference, and my family is in town, so normal blogging will resume in a few weeks. :)

Ribs the size of Texas. Almost.

Columbus Day Weekend was filled with fun outings, boat rides, plates of beef ribs the size of Texas, glorious rain, birthday parties and saying goodbye. After a wonderful 5 day visit, my grandparents left to go back to N.Y. I am so glad that made the effort to come all the way down here just to visit us--it means so much to me and we had the best time!

The San Antonio River walk is, as always, the best place to take people who have never been here before. It's beautiful with lots of good places to eat and shop. Our first stop was The County Line where we devoured bbq like there was no tomorrow.

The kids coloring pages could be done with fingers--you didn't need crayons!
It was pretty cool!

Deciding what to order...ribs, sausage, brisket, mixed meat plate? Now that's a TX kids menu if I ever saw one. (They also offered chicken strips, hamburgers and corn dogs for the less adventurous among children)

A wonderful meal, the best family--what more could I ask for?

Don't let my thin, fit, beautiful Mother fool you. She can put down some ribs if she needs to! ;)

Grandpa getting his first taste of real TX bbq!

Seriously. I love NY but you can't get food like this there.

Me and my 3 babies on the beautiful river walk. (Joe is starting to get that fake smile down pat)

One of the first times I actually looked pregnant! 18.5 weeks--getting close to halfway :)

The kids patiently waiting for the boat which seemed to take forever to come. I think they were backed up because of the downpour we had that day. Trust me, NONE of us were complaining about the rain--it was such a relief!

Finally on the boat and ready for our tour.

My sweet girl

He finally crashed on Lydia's shoulder--it was so cute! He was so tired and would only go to Lydia and as soon as she got him he fell fast asleep. We put him in the stroller and he slept while we shopped--it was so nice. :)

Next time will be more of our weekend. I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful Fall weather--I know we are!

Special Memories in the Making

My Mom, 2 little sisters and Grandparents are in town right now. In a few weeks, my entire family will be here, but for now I am enjoying this special time with just them! Brookie loves having her aunts around as they are only a few years older than her, and Joe-Joe is entertaining everyone with his hilarious 2 year old comments! 

Nate set up the girls with a game of Frisbee golf and I just love the looks on their faces here... :)

 My house is full of chips, cookies, trail mix, caramel popcorn--all things that I normally don't have around. You can tell Grandma is in town! 

 A memory I will cherish forever. Grandpa and Joe were sharing a bedtime snack, and Joe was picking out each individual piece of the trail mix and asking what each one was. After a little while, he had it down--cranberry, cashew, peanuts, etc. I loved watching them have a little conversation together!

 Sweet Lydia was at the right place at the right time for me to take this of her--isn't she pretty? 

 Speaking of pretty, my wonderful Mom who is loving and spoiling her grand kids--and I'm not sure who is enjoying it more!

 As you can see, Brookie is in her glory! I love that her and my sisters are best friends :)

I hope to be posting more while my family is here, so stay tuned!

Friends and Fondue

My sister-in-law Joanna recently gave birth to her 5th child--which in my book calls for a celebration! I've wanted to do a chocolate-themed-something for a while now, and this was the perfect excuse! A fondue fountain--surrounded by strawberries, pound cake, rice krispie treats, pretzels, marshmallows and pinapple--was perfect for a fun night with girl friends.

 My friend Hannah (Joanna's sister) was in charge of something fun we could do and give to Jo at the end of the night. She came up with an awesome idea to decorate a big felt storage box with flowers and creative things we would all make and sew onto it.

 She showed us how to make simple flowers and we started tracing, cutting, stitching and having a grand time.

 It reminded me of an Amish quilting bee--except we weren't quite experts, laughing about our mistakes and how inexperienced we were at this type of thing.

 Talking, laughing, all working together for a finished product--it was SO fun, even if we were a little confused at first!

 Beautiful new Mom five times over 

 The great master-mind behind it ;)

 Even little Bryan got in on the fun! :)

 Focus, focus, focus

 "I don't remember the last time I threaded a needle". Or something like that. 

 A pink pom pom and a pink nose.

 The chocolate was on all night, and we made several trips to the kitchen to get more...

Girl clothes are really so much fun. And so cute.

 Starting to come together!

 Liberty Love, the guest of honor at 2 weeks old.

 Some people are just way too creative. I am very proud that my flower is the "dot" for the "i" on Liberty. It is one of my biggest accomplishments in life.

 A darling little bib...

 Flowers and buttons and bows...a labor of love from all her friends that will be special for years to come!

 Congratulations to Joanna on baby #5 and for being a wonderful Mom to all of them!

 I'll end with this picture: Almost 18 weeks--starting to show a little more! :)

I hope this will prompt you to have a fun night with friends, whether it's 2 girls or 20. Women need each other, even if it's just an evening once or twice a year. To get away from the normal life and have a night without kids is a refreshing experience. A new baby, birthday, new season (think Fall!) is a great excuse to get together! Eat lots of sugar, plan a fun activity and talk and laugh the whole night. You won't regret it!