It's about time...

So, it's been awhile. But, I promise to make it up to all you who've checked the blog lately and haven't seen any new posts by including lots of pictures today.

Things are going well. We're in the homestretch of pregnancy now -- less than 11 weeks left (and hopefully even less than that...I'd love it if Jr. decided to come before Christmas). I'm feeling good, but getting pretty big. Poor Lawrence doesn't seem real comfortable on my lap anymore and has taken to sitting next to me. I think he was tired of his brother kicking him in the back.

This was taken before a wedding at the end of last month.

I've grown a bit since then... (taken last week)

Lawrence is doing awesomely well. He's getting so big and talking so much. He's hilarious! AND, our big boy pooped on the potty last week!! Mr. Big Stuff! He hasn't done it since, but we're excited that he's showing interest...though he doesn't seem to "get" what underwear are all about quite yet...

He's loving his new room and sleeping like a champ in his "big boy" bed. We did have to add a full-length rail, though, because he kept managing to fall out of the opening.

September and October are busy months for us. Mike and I celebrated our anniversary on September 9th and then my birthday the 23rd. Here's Lawrence feeding me some birthday cake:

Mike's and Uncle Ryan's birthday was October 14th. Here's Law with his daddy and uncle "helping" them (actually, we're pretty sure he thinks that every birthday party/cake is for him):

We try to fun outings when we can with Lawrence. Two weeks ago, there was an open house at our neighborhood volunteer fire department. Law wasn't as interested in the trucks as we thought he'd be...they seemed to freak him out a bit (just like when we took him on the "choo-choo" at the zoo we were convinced he'd just LOVE it...and then he cried during the entire round trip ride) . But, I think this picture from the day is just too precious.

We went to the zoo for the eleventy-billionth time today. It was COLD this morning, but it turned out to be a really nice day. It wasn't busy at all and I let Lawrence run free with the other kids (Tracy's and Sara's and the kids Sara watches) and he had a BLAST.

We're going to the pumpkin patch on Saturday, so I'll be sure to update with some fun new fall pics after that. And next weekend we're taking our first solo mini family vacation and driving up to Minneapolis. Mike and I are looking forward to getting away and it'll be fun to take Law somewhere new.

Hope you're all doing well!

He's such a big boy!

Lawrence moved to his new "big boy" room last weekend. He's been doing pretty well with it. We converted his crib to a toddler bed when we moved it over. He's fallen out several times, but we figure he'll learn eventually. He LOVES all the "trackers" in his bedroom.

These are the sheets that inspired it all:

I bought the fabric and Nana sewed him these curtains. They have blackout lining on them and homeboy sleeps SO well in the mornings now. Score!

His awesome lamp. It has a touch base and he loves turning it on and seeing the "trackers" light up!


I made this painting for him based on his sheets.
Not much else is new with us. Hence why I haven't updated in awhile (well, that, and the fact that I'm a lazy slacker). Law is talking up a storm and it's so cute! He's starting to say sentences and is getting really good at communicating his wants/needs.

Oh -- we did end up in the ER again this week. I swear that our child A) wants us to get our money's worth out of our insurance this year and B) is incapable of having health issues during normal business hours. He had some bowel/intestinal problems, but everything turned out alright. And hopefully he didn't catch anything else from the icky, germy kids in the waiting room we were in for nearly THREE hours.

Last weekend, we celebrated GiGi Sweetie's 75th birthday and we FINALLY took some family pictures. Here are a couple of the better ones:

And, because he's just too cute, here are a couple fairly recent shots of the little mister:

With his buddy Hunter:

Mr. Pasta Face

Too many choices!

No, I'm not talking about names. I'm talking about the nursery. Nana will be sewing Baby B#2's nursery bedding just like she did for Law. We could totally just use Lawrence's bedding, but where is the fun in THAT? Besides, we're re-painting and getting a new crib and dresser anyway, so we may as well go all out, right?

I've put together some options and we love a lot of them. So, if you could take a little look at the following pics and then cast your vote for your favorite, we'd really appreciate it! (The background color is what we might paint the walls to coordinate, but we're not certain yet, so don't let that sway your decision). You can click on each photo to make it bigger if you want a better look at your options. :)

Thanks! Of course we'll post what we decide to go with and then pics of the finished product (and of Lawrence's "big boy" room) -- can't wait!

Nursery Bedding Poll

Which fabric combo should we use for the nursery? Option #1 Option #2 Option #3 Option #4 Option #5 Option #6 Option #7 Option #8 Option #9 Option #10 view results

We're home!

We took our annual vacation to Lake of the Ozarks last week and had a great -- albeit it a bit stressful -- time. Lawrence LOVED Papa's new boat (especially driving it) and really liked "swimming" in the lake. He was a trooper about wearing his life jacket and liked to sit in the bow even though it was really windy (he's nosy like his dad -- he wanted the best view of what was going on!).

Here's Papa and his Skipper:

Our little fisherman (we didn't do any fishing, but his hat screams it). He looks crabby because he is...this pic was taken the afternoon he got really sick. He'd been running a fever since Tuesday (possibly Monday) and we thought it might be strep. His pediatrician didn't want to call anything in even though Mike just got over strep because it's apparently really rare for kids under 2 to get it. Well, our son is special...because when we raced him over to Osage Beach when his temp spiked to 105.1, the doc confirmed he had strep. And an ear infection. And Fifth's Disease. Oy. Poor little guy. We always feel like horrible parents because it seems like he never just has one ailment at a time, but he's such a laid-back little guy that you'd never know that he was *that* sick. I have to go for bloodwork tomorrow to make sure I've already had Fifth's because it can be dangerous for pregnant women to be exposed.

By Friday, he was feeling a lot better.

This was Friday night...he was feeling MUCH better. We'd all almost forgotten about how much energy he normally has. He was hysterical.

To prove that Mike was actually there (since he didn't end up in many pics...oops):
And Jill was there, too.
In baby #2 news...

-I seem to have "popped" last week. It's funny/weird because I "popped" while at the Lake with Lawrence.

The first pic was 18w1d and the second is 19w2d.

-We had our ultrasound Friday before we left. The tech was abusive (seriously -- she bruised my abdomen with the wand!), but we were happy to see the baby. Here's a pic of Baby B #2 (and, yes, our child is flipping the bird. I'm quite convinced it was because the baby was as annoyed with the tech's roughness as I was!)

We have to go back for a follow-up ultrasound at the end of the month because there may be something wrong with the baby's heart. Please keep us in your prayers that everything turns out normal (and also that I've already had Fifth's).

Lawrence "helped" me frost Nana's birthday cake. It was her big 5-0 the same day as the ultrasound, so we decided to announce what we were having by filling the cake with pink or blue icing...

Everyone was ESPECIALLY excited for cake...

Lawrence is stoked to be getting a BABY BROTHER!! (actually, I think he's probably just excited about the cake...but he'll totally love having a baby brother!)