Boy or Girl?

Matt and I had our ultrasound this morning.  I was perhaps the most anxious about this ultrasound for a couple reasons. First, I was starting to doubt my initial feelings about this baby being a boy.  I knew for certain that my first two babies were boys.  No doubt in my mind whatsoever.  But this baby was throwing me off.  I just didn't know.  I've always imagined myself with three boys and never knew if a girl was in our future.  Perhaps that's because Matt and I both come from families heavy laden with boys, each with 4 boys and 1 girl.  That's not to say that I never wanted a girl.  I think I was just preparing myself for an all boy household.  I love to ask Rylan his thoughts about the baby.  Early on he told me that it was a boy and that we should name him Nixon (his friend's little brother's name).  He stuck with that for awhile.  Then, just one day before the ultrasound, I asked Rylan "Is the baby a boy or a girl?"  He dropped his head and with disappointment in his voice said, "It's a girl Mom.  But I wanted a boy.  Boys are so much fun."  I believed him! I was so excited!  It was as if I was hearing the doctor tell me herself that it was a girl.  Just to confirm his answer, I asked him again the next morning, "Is the baby a boy or a girl."  He gave me the same answer.  The second reason why I was so anxious for the ultrasound was because I just wanted to know if this baby was healthy.  A healthy ultrasound at 20 weeks is usually a good sign that everything will go well for the remaining weeks until birth.

We arrived at the ultrasound room and took our places.  Me on the table and Matt sitting next to me on the bench.  The technician came in and said, "okay if you could just pull your shirt up and your (pause and awkward look at my pants) coolots down a bit so I can see your full belly."  "Coolots?" I thought to myself and immediately said out loud.  "Those are from the 90's!" I said.  To which the technician immediately confirmed with a nod and followed with, "Yeah that was an awful decade."  That was the start of our strange 20 minute sit in with our technician.  He was an odd dude to say the least.  Anyways, he looked at the baby for a long time and couldn't get a good shot of the sex parts because the baby's legs were closed. For about 15 minutes he rambled on about more strange things.  Matt started to get a bit bored with him and pulled out his phone to check emails until he could determine the sex of the baby.  Randomly, the technician said quietly, "It's a girl."  My response was an immediate squeal, "Ahhhhhhh!"  Matt's eyes shifted up, dropped his phone to his side, sat forward with a surprised look on his face and said, "What?! What did you say?"  The technician repeated himself and Matt and I were both so shocked and beyond words elated!  We are having a girl!  We can't wait to welcome our little princess into this world!  

Our Little Van Gough

Okay maybe not a child prodigy, but definitely some talent there.  Rylan is just like his momma when it comes to his interests.  He loves to draw, color, do puzzles, and watch movies.  He can sit uninterrupted for a long time and focus on whatever task is at hand, giving me a nice little break too.  Rylan is also a perfectionist.  As a perfectionist myself, I haven't yet decided if it's a blessing or a curse to be this way.  Let's just say that if Rylan makes any mistake while coloring (using the wrong color, going outside the lines too much, etc) then he throws a fit and wants to start from scratch.  I can definitely relate Rylan.  Check out some of his impressive artwork.  Not bad for a 3 year old.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day has become one of my favorite holidays.  It has so much more meaning to me since I've become a mother. I can truly appreciate the divine role and responsibility that mother's have in God's plan.  After I had my first child I looked at my mother differently.  The sacrifices that were made on her part to raise five children is tremendous and I will always be grateful to her.  Motherhood is by far the most difficult "occupation" a person could have (I don't care what doctors, lawyers, etc. might say).  It's an unglamorous, humbling, always on the clock, little praise, makes you crazy sometimes kind of job...and it's THE BEST!  I'm grateful to be a stay at home mom to two wonderful, rambunctious little boys who fill my life with nonstop fun, laughter, and purpose.

A Perfect Spring

We could not have asked for better Spring weather.  Scattered thunderstorms and consistently record low temperatures pushed back our Stage 3 drought restrictions another month.  Texas has been in drought for several years in a row, making summer a long, brutally hot season that lasts about 5 months. So for now I'm just soaking up all this cool Cali-like (as in California) weather.  Let's just hope that this mild Spring is the indication of a mild Summer.

This mild Spring weather is great for many reasons, but my top favorite are 1) that I get to be outside more and enjoy the beauty of nature in a mild climate and 2) everything is green.  It makes me happy to look out my windows and see lush green and colorful plants.  I've never seen my plants look so good.  My dad came to visit a few weeks ago and was nice enough to build us a trellis fence that runs along our rock retaining wall.  I've been wanting to do it for at least a year but was intimidated by the project.  So when I mentioned these plans to my dad, he was out in the yard with a can of spray paint and a shovel digging post holes in no time.  I can't wait to see it when the vines fill it in.

Rylan and Taylor enjoying the first sprinkler time of the season

Brotherly Love

I love having boys. Now that Colby is walking I feel like they can have more interactive play together. Earlier today I was in my bedroom and all I could hear were the boys giggling. I came out of my bedroom to find them chasing each other around the living room and Rylan yelling out his silly superhero antics. Rylan is a phenomenal big brother. He is the best entertainer, can easily make Colby laugh, watches out for his little brother, is a helper, and is sweet and affectionate towards him. I'm grateful that, at least for now, they get along so well. Rylan told us that "Colby is my best friend". I realize that it's important to document this special brotherly bond and friendship just in case they have days where they don't feel like best friends. Brothers are forever.

On the Move

Colby started walking a little later than most at around 14 months. At first he kept toppling over because let's just put it out there and say that he's just a bit top heavy (which I absolutely love).  But once he got the hang of it he took off running.  Seriously though.  The kid can run!  Shortly after he learned to walk he took his first adventure to the mailbox.  Not only did he walk the entire way there and back (probably a good quarter mile) but he kept up with his older brother's pace.  I was amazed!  This kid was an experienced walker right out of the gate.  Colby loves to explore and he does it with a huge smile and lots of giggles. Here are a few photos of our little man about a month after he started walking, nice and steady on his feet.  He had a blast with all the animals at our preschool trip to Fiesta Farms.

A Few More Changes

Some might say that Matt and I have a problem.  An addicted to remodeling kinda problem.  I won't disagree that we love to do home projects.  It may in fact be our number one hobby at the moment.  But now it's time to find a new hobby.  I'm happy to say that the remodeling, as in the tear out walls, move electrical, cover the entire house in dust type of remodeling, has now come to an end on our current home.  With two little ones its just too much mess to deal with (honestly there are no more of those major projects left to do either). I feel out of sorts during it all.  I obsess over the details, try to keep the kids out of the way, never find the time to workout, and pretty much feel like I'm neglecting my children.  By the end of each remodel I'm so relieved just to have it over.  Although I will say that its worth all of that for the end result of having a home just the way we want it.  Plus I have an amazing husband who works extraordinarily fast.  Over Christmas we made big changes in our master bathroom, laundry, and baby's room in about 8 weeks.  Then shortly after completing that project we moved right into the expansion of our second story, which took another 4 weeks.  It's been a crazy Winter around here!

Here are a few photos during the project.  They really don't do it justice because it was a really ugly bathroom with clam shell sinks, brass fixtures, peach tile everywhere, and a tiny little shower where my new make up vanity is now.  We took our previous closet and transformed it into our new double head shower (we could literally fit the whole family in there!), and busted through the closet wall where the double doors are now and used the baby's room as our new closet and laundry room.  I absolutely love it!

During the bathroom project, I decided to take advantage of the mess and make even more of a mess by painting our entryway, dining room, and stairwell a lighter wall color than the rest of our house.  I was hoping that it would feel more welcoming than the previous color and I think I accomplished that.  I also tackled painting our crown molding (which had been looming over my head for at least 6 months) and ceiling.  You may or may not know that I am the family painter.  Pretty much every wall has been painted at least once, if not twice since we've moved in.

I forgot to mention that we spiced up our dining room with a tray ceiling, brick wall, and a new light fixture for some added glam.

Finally, is our upstairs expansion.  We were able to add on an additional 700 square feet with this one.  It's pretty amazing how much untapped space there was up there.  Matt could envision its potential through all the insulation, AC ducts, electrical, and plumping that covered the "floor" of the attic.  I don't think anyone else would have looked at it with so much excitement as Matt did.  Quite the talent I say.  So what you see in the picture below is the doorway that enters into the new space.  To the left is a huge food storage closet and full bathroom.  Straight ahead is some toy storage. And to the right is a massive guest suite, with a cute little nook (my favorite part of the space) that can fit a queen sized mattress for additional sleeping, and our guests very own 42" TV (Matt's excuse to get a bigger TV downstairs:), and more storage.  We had some fun switching it up with the Natural Acacia flooring too.  I love all the pattern.  It's perfect this space.

And last but not least I was able to score some new living room furniture out of the upstairs addition.  I finally feel like a grown up now that I have a real set of living room furniture.  The black chairs are my favorite.  I like to think of them as my Mad Men chairs.

Now that all the big projects are completed we can add all the finishing touches.  Now that's the fun stuff!  It makes me giddy just thinking about it!