you voted....

....and 100% of you were right. It's a GIRL!!!! We went for a 3D ultrasound yesterday in Atlanta a day shy of sixteen weeks to determine our new baby's gender, and it's a GIRL!!!! We could not be more excited! And by the way, my friends would make great gamblers. Every single person that ventured a guess on baby #2's gender was RIGHT! Every single person. Like fifty or more people. So, all I'm saying is that I would love to go to Vegas with each and every one of you, because y'all make some really good guesses.

And here is our baby girl. Look at her long, skinny legs. She definitely has Wicker legs.


After six ultrasounds, she's definitely not camera shy.


And here are her girl parts. Do you see the three white lines up and left of the word "girl"? Yep, we can definitely paint the nursery pink after we got this shot in between her legs.


Apparently gender is determined best in 2D black and white, but the ultrasound tech let us have a sneak peek of our sweet girl in 3D. She's so pretty. She kept putting her hands up by her face and crossing her legs in true girl fashion. I cried like a baby watching my sweet girl make herself comfortable in her cozy, temporary home. We cannot wait to meet her! And Phoenix is floating on Cloud 9. We asked him what he wanted to name his new baby sister, and without missing a beat, he replied, "Shoes". My response, "Shoes is a nice name." His response, "Yeah, mama. Let's call her baby Shoes." Who knows where he came up with that, but it might be her name for a little while until Taylor and I can agree on the perfect name for our sweet girl.

step right up.

P's 2nd birthday party this year was a carnival-themed party, complete with carnival games, prizes, hot dogs, popcorn, and cotton candy. All of the kids had a blast, especially the birthday boy.


The games.








The prizes.


Some details....










And the best part, the people....















A HUGE "thank you" to all of our family and friends that came to help celebrate P turning two. We are so blessed to be surrounded by such awesome people. The weather turned out to be perfect and the party was a ton of fun for all. P asks everyday for another birthday party.

color me happy.

I love dying eggs. Something about blue-stained fingers and the smell of vinegar really gets me in the Easter spirit. P shares my love for dying eggs. And my husband? Not so much. He wanted no part of our little egg dying party. So P and I went at it alone. And we had a lot of fun. I didn't get too many pictures during the dying process because I definitely do not want a rainbow-colored Nikon.

P dyed at least a dozen eggs all by himself. And he was so proud.


If anyone knows the secret to perfectly dyed eggs, please let me know. Ours never turn out too pretty. I'm not too worried about it right now because P is two, and he could care less. But in a couple of years, I am sure P will want our eggs to turn out looking nice, rather than all mottled and splotchy. Plus, his mama is a bit of an overachiever. Any secrets to your success?

I tried making the eggs look better by displaying them in these cute little egg cups I got at Walgreens. It may have helped. A little.



And I used some leftover moss stuff to make a makeshift nest.


Our egg dying party was a lot of fun. Maybe next year the hubby will participate.

eggstra special sunrise.

Because P was sick on Easter Sunday, we decided to attend the Easter sunrise service on the square in McDonough. It was outside and there were very few children in attendance, so we felt confident that P's germs were contained. (I really hate when moms bring their sick kids to school or church. Leave them at home, people.) The service was beautiful, with perfect weather, a good mix of local preachers, and over five hundred people in attendance. It was quite refreshing to attend church outdoors while watching the sun rise over our quaint and cozy little town square. P was an angel throughout the entire service, talking only once to point out the moon to his daddy. He danced and "sang" to the hymns and watched the speakers intently. We were very proud parents.

After the service, he was crawling with excitement to check out the bell tower, which chimed on the seven o'clock hour during the service.


He waited as patiently as a two year old can wait for the bells to sound again.




The bells are actually quite loud. I'm surprised they didn't scare P. He is definitely not afraid. He has asked to go back every day since.

I actually convinced the boys to pose for a quick picture in front of this pretty dogwood tree..



And I got a picture with my sweet boy.


It was a great sunrise service in the square. We just may make it an Easter tradition.

number two.

After five ultrasounds, eight appointments, and a heartbeat as further assurance, I can finally and officially confirm that baby number two is on the way! It has been a roller coaster ride the past three months, with some extreme nausea and vomiting, miscarriage scares, and utter fatigue, but we could not be more excited about our new precious bundle. I am finally feeling much better as I enter trimester number two and I am looking forward to the next few months. I love being pregnant. But I especially love the second trimester.

So, for documentation purposes, here are some facts about this pregnancy thus far. This pregnancy was a complete surprise. I know, I sound like that dumb high schooler that doesn't know what causes babies, but I finally understand those "surprise" stories you hear about. For those of you that know me, you know that I am a planner. But God's plans for us were different. We now know that God's plan was much better than ours. Phoenix and the new little rice cake will be about two and a half years apart in age, and I really think their age difference will be absolutely perfect. We could not have asked for better timing. I am due 10/10/10, which is really cool. I doubt I will actually give birth on my due date, since P was five days early, but, hey, you never know. So, that makes me 12 weeks, 5 days today. This pregnancy has been completely opposite from mine with Phoenix. With Phoenix, I was not very sick, had zero cravings, my only aversion was meat, and my skin remained blemish-free the entire nine months. With this little peanut, I was miserably sick for about five weeks, I crave a bizarre variety of foods but I can only eat something once and then that craving flies out the window, and my skin is an absolute mess. I must get back to the dermatologist in the next few weeks. I need some serious help. My sense of smell is also sharper than a razor. Almost all smells made me sick, including my husband's soap. That was interesting. I even made him move his coffee pot to the garage because the smell of fresh coffee brewing makes me green. But once I reached week eleven, most of these crazy things have dissipated. I even let my poor hubby make coffee in the kitchen this morning.

And, of course, I must include some ultrasound pictures. I know these may be quite boring and basically look like a satellite image of Hurricane Katrina, but to me, they are very precious. This blog is my baby book for these two kiddos, so I must include them.

We got to know the ultrasound tech quite well, and she always cracked me up with how she described the images of our baby. So in Ms. Ultrasound Tech's words, here is our baby blob at 5 weeks, 1 day. We finally got an image of the embryonic sac, yolk sac, and a fetal pole! This was the first time we heard our baby's heartbeat. I"m tearing up just typing this. It was the sweetest sound.


And here is our baby tadpole at 7 weeks, 4 days. You can kind of distinguish the head from the body.


And we went back yesterday for our twelve week appointment and heard the baby's heartbeat on the doppler. It was nice and strong and reassurance that this baby is alive and strong. So, do you think it's a boy or girl? I have a hunch, but I'm not quite ready to share my thoughts on this. Just for fun, answer the poll in my sidebar. It will be interesting to see what you think. And, FYI, our family friend that has been an obstetrician for thirty plus years swears that every pregnancy is different and that it has nothing to do with the sex of the baby, but all to do this the mother's hormone levels before and after she got pregnant.

We could not be more excited about our baby on the way. Phoenix cannot stop talking about his new brother or sister. We are overjoyed and thankful for this blessing God has given us.

shiner.

Two days in a row. I'm on a roll.

My son got in his very first fight. With the coffee table. And I think the coffee table won.


Of course, the fight occurred on a Sunday. It always seems to happen that way, huh? We rushed him straight to the emergency after hours pediatrician's office. I admit, I was freaking out a little. P acted very quiet and reserved on the ride to the doctor. I swore he had a concussion. Turns out, he was just upset that he lost the fight. He's a typical guy. His pride was hurt more than his noggin'.

He doesn't look too upset about the incident in these pictures, does he? His new jumper from Granny and Grandpa makes everything all better.


You should see his eye today. It really looks like he comes from an abusive home. It's black and yellow and still kinda purple in spots. It's real pretty. I'm sure this won't be the last black eye for P. At least this one was from the coffee table and not some punk kid at school.

happy 2nd birthday, baby boy!

If I only post once in March, at least it's a post to wish my sweet baby boy a happy birthday. He has brought us so much happiness in just two short years. It is hard to imagine how dull and bland our life was before his arrival. I thank God everyday that He blessed us with a perfect son. We love you so much, Phoenix!


I say this at every age, but two has to be my most favorite age yet. P cracks us up everyday. The things he says are hilarious and we laugh all.the.time. His latest phrase is "How you doin'?". I swear he says it just like Joey from Friends. He still likes to jump, only now, he's mastered jumping off of things, like the couch, coffee table, or the stairs. It's kind of crazy, actually. He is extremely well-mannered. He says please and thank you often. This week alone, I think he thanks me for his birthday party last weekend at least every 2 minutes.
P: "Mama? Mama. Thank you."
Me: "For what baby?"
P: "Thank you for my birthday party, mama."
Me: "You're welcome, buddy."
P: "More birthday parties, mama?"
Me: "Next year, baby. Next year."
He melts my heart. We love him so much. Happy birthday, buddy.