Quick ultrasound comparison!!

I just really wanted to see the ultrasound pics side by side to see how much the kiddos look alike!

Woot!  I found Addison's scanned in ultrasound pic.  Not quite as clear....but here she is at 20 weeks.

So here is Lauren at 20 weeks

And Baby boy at 20 weeks

I think their head shapes are pretty much the same.  I really think that Lauren's and the Baby's are the closest.  Can't wait to see who he looks like the most!!  Only 12 weeks to go!!

What do you think?

The ultrasound reveals....

It's a BOY!!!

Here is a picture of him.  His profile looks almost identical to Lauren's ultrasound profile!! 

We are all just so excited that the baby looks great and all is well.  Addison is thrilled.  She guessed it was a boy and Adam guessed it was a girl and when she found out she said I beat you Dad!!  I guess it was a contest as well!! :-)  Lauren doesn't really seem to care or even understand that there is a baby coming.  She still thinks that everyone has babies in their tummies so she might have a little larger transition in January than anyone!!

You kiddin me?!

Lulu has been saying "are you kidding me?!" and we haven't been able to get it on video.....until today!!

This is for you Mammy and Papa!!

OK........and she was putting on deodorant!!

 

Dancing to their own beat

Lauren & Addie decided to share Mommy's iPod on Sunday.  Addie is singing the song for you.  Lauren really has the beat in her!

Lauren - 23 Months

I have all sorts of other things I need to blog on, but this morning it just hit me what a funny age that Lauren is at.  Even now at 23 months, she is still changing so much everyday and doing and saying a sorts new things!

She starting to put three word phrases together which are so funny sometimes.  Adam plays high-five with her and then he says "Down Low" and moves his hand quickly and says "Too Slow".  She thinks this is hilarious and so when I say high-five she will say....."Daddy Down Slow"!!!  She only wants to play high-five Dad's way.  "I do" is also becoming her favorite thing to say emphasis on "I" or "Wha-dat" to everything she sees.  And the questions begin!!

Lauren also is big into pretend playing right now.  Her big thing is acting like a shark.  You never know when Lulu the shark is out.  All of the sudden she will look at you and say, "I Shark" and start chopping her teeth together.  It is hard not to laugh at this....even in the middle of trying to get her to sleep!!

Like every little one - Lauren loves the outdoors.  She loves playing rocks & taking rocks with her everywhere.  She still loves swinging too.....but you have to be able to decipher when she asks to swing....she says...."Chuggy".  Daddy pushes each girl when they start swinging by going "Chugga, chugga, chugga" and then as he lets go he yells, "Choo Choo".  Lauren just keeps yelling for "Chuggy"!!

She also is in the copying stage.  Every....single....thing....we say so we have to be careful.  We never know when she may just copy what we say.  Usually it isn't when we would like her to be!! :-)

Lauren is really gaining confidence everyday.  She wants to play in the pool by herself without being held.  She has started sleeping with her sister in their big girl bed.  She wants to up and in EVERYTHING that her big sister is.  Lauren is funny, silly and so loving!!  Happy 23 months Lulu!!

Happy Independence Day Weekend!!

We had a wonderful 4th of July holiday weekend.  First, Adam hadn't been home for days & he got three days off in a row which was heaven for the girls!!  Second we did lots of fun family things over the weekend together!

Saturday morning Adam was at home & then we all got ready and headed over to What Cheer to ride in the parade.  Adam's work always puts floaters & tractors in the parade and we have ridden the past few years so it was fun to do it again.

This is the tractor that we rode in.

Here is a close up of the girls & I waiting for them to line up the tractor in order.  Yes, Lulu is eating a chicken patty!  We had to flip naps & lunch around so we could get to the parade area in time to line up.  So we all ate Wendy's as we were waiting! 

Guess what I am hiding in my chipmunk cheek???

A grape......ding, ding, ding!! 

Daddy & his girls waiting for the parade to start

After the parade, we went "downtown" in What Cheer for the kids games & the girls had a blast.  Lauren just had fun playing on the playground equipment.  Addie's favorite was the dunk tank & she was super excited that Daddy was able to knock the girls in!!

Then we ran out to Grandpa & Grandma's for a Daddy to take the girls on a ranger ride.  It was hot, but the girls had fun.  We rode up the lane to see the cows.

Then we made a very necessary stop at the Frosty Udder or as Addie calls it, "The Ice Cream Barn" for a pre-supper treat.  If you are ever in Oskaloosa, it is the best soft-serve ice cream.  It hit the spot!  Then we ran home for some burgers on the grill!

Sunday we went to church and kind of vegged out at home.  It was rainy and kinda yucky and the girls just enjoyed having Dad home.

Monday the 4th we spent some time outside enjoying some icy pops! 

It was hazy and hot and the sun was beautiful shining through our shade trees.

We have a pretty rigid bed time here....even in the summer so we decided to let them both stay up late since the fireworks were at dusk.

We started looking for lightning bugs, but all Lauren could talk about was the "moo".  She was pointing at the moon and kept telling us over and over. 

The search begins! 

Then the sparklers!!  Addie was a little hesitant to do them this year, but she warmed back up again.

Of course, Lulu wanted to do them right away........man did that make Mommy nervous!

I was playing with my camera and shot some sparkler pics in manual so you can see where they had the sparklers.  Here is Lulu.

The funniest part is that is almost impossible to catch her because she moves fast and is quickly out of the frame!  Can you see her moving in this one?

Addie was doing circles with hers.

We have a tradition of going to the Osky fairgrounds in the truck with our lawn chairs & watching the fireworks there.  They are always fantastic and totally worth either waking the girls up or keeping them awake for them!

Here is Lulu and Daddy waiting for the fireworks.  She was really starting to about have enough at this point!

Addie was so excited and not tired at all.  She is really getting into the tradition which is fun!

The weather was perfect, the fireworks were beautiful & we all had a great time!! 

Menu Plan Monday

It is a great Monday.....tax day and Menu Plan Monday.  I have actually been doing a Monday Menu Plan for a couple of years now.  It is great for our family.  I also have recently started monthly menu planning which has been good too!  I will have to share more on that later!
For now here is our Menu plan:


Monday: Mini meatloaves
Tuesday: Roast & potatoes & carrots in slow cooker
Wednesday: Chicken topped with soup & rice
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Pancakes & Bacon
Saturday: Leftovers
Sunday: Easter - Still in the works with the family!


Now get to planning and link up to MPM!!!

Ok....one more....

Lulu was worried that the guys that were working on the bathroom had left.  AND I was trying to get her to sing.

Lulu sings....

Little Behind.....

There have been no posts for a month due to the craziness that has been going on here.
We are in the middle of a bathroom remodel during the day and I am doing tax work for TDT in the evenings.  Needless to say, there is very little spare time.
I am hoping in the next couple of weeks I will find a little time to do an update or two or ten!!
Keep watching!

Lulu says NO!!!!

Perfect snow man weather

We were gone over the weekend and when we returned it has snowed a little bit and the snow was wet and perfect for building snow men!!!

Addie and Lauren got an awesome snowman kit from Great Aunt L and Great Uncle M for Christmas and Addie was very excited to use it!  I think Daddy may have done a majority of the building, but they both had a great time doing it together!

Addie also figured out that the little hill of snow by the driveway was perfect for sledding down without her sled.  I am kind of glad she didn't try it with the sled....it was kind of steep!!

Lulu at 17 months

Lauren just turned 17 months old last week and there are two words to describe this month....copy cat.

She has just started copying every word and sound we make.  It is clear that she wants to say EVERYTHING!

I sat and tried to make a list of all her words now.  I got to about 20, but I am sure there are more.

Mammy, Papa, Dada, Momma, Addie, baby, hi, ow (ouch), shoe (my favorite), off, up, yeah, no, mo (more), go!, buh bye (bye), poopy, muh (milk), uh oh, appn (open), nigh nigh (night or nap), ball, ot (hot).

She has started with a few phrases.

Buh bye dada, hi dad, all done, all gone, I duh nah (I don't know).

We have been working with her to point out her body parts. She has mastered eyes, nose, cheeks, ears, mouth, toes and beebo (belly button) so far.

We also started on animal sounds.  She was just copying the sounds we would make, but within the last week she started saying them on her own as she saw the picture for dog, cat, duck, lion & monkey.  It super cute except for when she opened the book in church last Sunday and just started saying, "roar!"

The other thing we have done with Lauren from about 9 months on was a little bit of sign language.  Now she signs milk, more & please very well.  I have introduced a few other words and she really seems to be getting them too.  It really helps for her to be able to communicate what she needs.

She has also has started throwing a ball back and forth, using a spoon/fork, pointing to objects, running, enjoys short books with texture, bodyparts or rhyming, loves to brush her teeth, doing the shape sorter, crawling up stairs and scootching down them.

There is many one thing that causes frustration.......being told no (of course!) and then she tries to bite when she is frustrated.  So....that begins a whole other lesson to be learned!! :-)

All in all she is a really happy girl and is really changing a lot every day!! 

Mammy's here!!!

While Daddy was there.....

Mammy stayed here!!!

 We were so glad to have Mammy come stay with us while Daddy was in Florida.  She helped with baths, played games, read books, watched movies with Mommy, went to the library, went grocery shopping, took Addie to school......the list goes on and on!!  Thank you Mammy for staying with us and helping us out!

Welcome Baby S!!!

We had a new addition to our family.  Our niece S was born this past Wednesday.  She is adorable and we are all so in love again!!  Congrats to Mom & Dad!! 

Here are my girls meeting Baby S. 

 Aunt Evie & Baby S.

All the cousins together - now there are five little girls!!

 Sweet baby girl!!

 Uncle Adam and Baby S.

We can't wait to watch you grow up!!

Little flash back

Here is a little flash back video of Addie singing and Lauren bopping along to the song as usual.
This was the girls in March last year.

Ok and one more.....this was just so funny when Lauren got her bumble bee for her birthday and all she could do was go backwards!

Lulu 16 month update

Lauren turned 16 months and what a big girl she is now!!  The week after Christmas she just exploded with new words!
Latest words:  Mama (constantly), go, on, up, off, Addie, buba (baby), nigh-nigh (night-night), bah (bear), rugh (dog barking when she sees a dog), Papa, Papa ack (Papa Jack), Mamma (Mammy).

The poor munchkin ended up with a staph infection after New Years and so she has been on oral medicine and a bunch of other creams.  It takes Mom a good half hour at night to get both girls ready with all their medicine!!  After two weeks all has pretty much cleared up and she even gained a little weight.  Our little peanut is up to 17 pounds 14 ounces now.  So maybe we will get to turn her carseat around when she turns 2!!!

She learned in the last week how to crawl up on the couch using the step stool.  She got a new "Lauren" step stool from Aunt Lish for Christmas and so now there are no shortages of step stools to crawl up on or stand on!!  We really have to keep an eye on what she can get up on!!