Big Kid Updates

A big kid update post is way overdue (much like my stack of library books sitting on the shelf next to me) here in this space! We keep super busy with our schedules, but it's a fun life to keep up with. 

The school year is off to a great start. Jackson in 2nd grade and Isabelle started kindergarten this year. 

Jackson has been busy losing teeth! If he keeps losing them at this rate, I'll be feeding him baby food. But speaking of food- this kid eats a ton. He plays hard and is ALWAYS hungry. His favorite snack is still pineapple. 

Jackson is playing fall ball and his first game was earlier this week. He's made some great hits and has been able to score some runs! It's a lot of fun to watch. When he's not playing ball (or begging to play on the tablet) Jackson has picked up reading quite a bit. I'll find him on the couch captivated by a chapter book sometimes in the morning and he's always begging to stay up a little bit later to read. He finished the Captain Underpants series and was distraught that the series had to end. He went on and on about how he likes the characters and wonders why the author couldn't just keep writing more! I said, "Me too, buddy. Me too." It made me chuckle because I still feel that way about Harry Potter. But I love that he's into books enough to care about when the books end!

School pics came home yesterday. My brown eyed baby boy sure is handsome! And the missing teeth are just my favorite.

Isabelle is learning to read, loves to play pretend, and enjoys art projects. We "made cookies" using a cardboard box and she played with them and her stuffed animals for a week! This afternoon, I found her cutting through the grocery ads to make a collage of her favorite foods. Which then progressed into cutting items of a party catalog-- and she could tell you a never ending story about every single item she cut. I love her imagination!

 Does this face just scream ornery?!? :) She is a master at saying whatever is on her mind and making her opinion known. She also picks up the funniest phrases and uses them in the most unpredictable ways in conversation. Belle makes us laugh a ton!

Here's her sweet kindergarten picture! I love that she wanted to wear a bow that day. It doesn't happen often. Neither does her hair actually looking this put together. 

Jackson and Isabelle have started watching Pokemon on Netflix. Derek and I are hoping the interest will fade fast. They are both big helpers around the house and love to earn stars for their chore charts. One of my favorite parts of the day is getting to read with them before bed. We are currently reading through a few Magic Treehouse books. I have to hide them when I get them from the library because otherwise Jackson will read them on his own before I even have the chance to start a new one. 

The 'big kid' stage of life is fun. I sure love these kiddos!

It's a BOY!

So I know I barely even made an announcement that we're expecting! I have a post for another day with an pregnancy update of the first 20 weeks. Yes, I'm already half way done! I had my ultrasound this week with my little sidekick snuggled up next to me of course!

I love ultrasounds! I could sit and just watch the baby all day. Plus, I've noticed a difference in the technology from this pregnancy from my first (eight years ago!) and it's so cool. The technician show me the different lobes in the brain; we saw hands, legs, and little feet; we even got a glimpse of an open mouth. We have ONE healthy baby growing and we're delighted!

Of course, we were anticipating a cooperative baby to determine the gender. Jackson had let us know one day at dinner one day that if we were having another girl, he would move out. I couldn't help but laugh! I'm not even sure where 7 year olds go when they move out. A guy from church asked Isabelle the other day if she wanted a brother or a sister. Her response: she wants a puppy. 

Everyone and their brother predicted a baby boy. I mean, even a stranger from NYC actually said it was a boy. My dad, who has been amazingly accurate, was confident Four is a boy. Fortunately, the baby was cooperative. I knew it right away! There would have been no way to keep it a secret. 

We're delighted to have another little boy! Derek had to head out of town for the day for work so he wasn't able to be at the ultrasound with me. I waited to tell the kids until I was able to tell him, which was pretty late in the day. I baked a blue cake and covered it in frosting for a gender reveal for the kids. It was cute. 

Both big kids were excited. Isabelle is happy because "boys are less wild" and Jackson because "boys make less noise." Caroline was enthusiastic simply because her siblings were excited (either that or she was really excited to eat cake). 

Here's a few reasons I'm super excited:

• I was hoping for another boy!!!
• Jackson isn't moving out!
• I like the name selection better for boys.
• We can save money on marriage counseling that would be necessary if forced to decide on another baby girl name.
• I don't have to go through the massive piles of clothes that Caroline has outgrown. They are going straight to goodwill!
• We don't have to start saving for a third wedding. 
• I'm excited for another round of blue baby clothes. Plus, I have a couple of my FAVORITE outfits I saved from Jackson. I can't wait to reuse them!
• I feel less bad about purging every single baby item from my house a mere six weeks before finding out we were pregnant because most of it was pink anyway. This is really more of a "laugh so you don't cry" bullet point. But really, so many people have graciously offered to let us borrow items so we aren't starting from scratch because seriously... this is the last one! :)
• I'm glad my two middle babies are girls so it separates them in a special way. Plus, I think it'll help Jackson bond with the littlest, even though he's eight years older. 

Obviously, we're thrilled with the news of a healthy baby! The rest is just bonus. The ultrasound technician wasn't able to get all of the views of baby's heart, mostly in part to my almost-two-year-old-extension that is connected to me at almost all time, but we just scheduled another quick sonogram in a couple weeks. I'm totally okay with another glimpse of this fella!