Some big news!!!

Well, we have some big news to report! We are expecting baby #4! We are very excited and looking forward to the new addition. I am about 12 1/2 weeks and feeling pretty good. My official due date is 1/31/09 but I plan on being induced about a week early (who wants to take 3 kids at 2am!). I had my second doctor appointment yesterday and everything looks great. We got to have a 3D ultrasound which we have never had before. It is amazing what you can see and how clear it is. I included a few pictures below- the baby is about 2 1/2 inches long and still has that alien like look! It kept its hands up by its face most of the time until the radiologist had me roll on my side and the poor thing woke right up and started moving its arms and legs every which way! It was too cool. We are going to find out what we are having but won't know for sure until 20 weeks. The ultrasound tech did say that if she had to guess right now she would say a girl. How crazy is that! I can't even get my mind around that after three boys! I guess we'll have to wait 8 more weeks and see! As long as the baby is healthy we are happy!!

We told the boys yesterday and they are so excited. Jack has been asking me lately if I was "growing a baby in my tummy". I have started to show just a little but not enough that my six year old should at all notice! Very strange. Jack asked typical Jack planning questions about where the baby would sit while we eat dinner, where the baby would sleep, and where it would take a bath. Will just smiled his Will smile but last night at the Rockies game started rubbing my tummy and asking if the baby was moving etc. Will has already told everyone he has run into that "mommy has a baby in her tummy". I am so happy that they are excited. When we asked Andrew if he wanted a new baby he simply said "no, no, no!" He has a pretty good thing going and doesn't want his "baby" status to end!

A new car and a camping trip!

We had a busy weekend here! On Friday afternoon we got a new car! We have been talking about this for awhile and just decided to do it. We loved our Tahoe but just need some more room- with both rows in the back there is no room for anything else! We got a used 2008 Suburban and we love it. It is a light tan/silver color which is just what I was hoping to get. I am still trying to get used to the few extra feet in back but that will come. The boys, especially Jack were sad to see the "monster truck" go but once they climbed in the new truck and saw the dvd system and all the cool things all was well again!

saying goodbye to the monster truck

and hello to the new suburban!

On Saturday, Tim took Jack and Will camping with his brother Matt and cousin Matthew. This was Will's first camping trip ever and Jack's first in a long time. They had a great time. Will did get an injury- a log fell on his toe and knocked off his toenail-yuck! Apparently he was unbelievably tough though. He's not quite as tough with me but that's okay! They saw deer and bats and could see the lights of Denver from the campground. They are definitely looking forward to going again soon! Andrew and I just hung out at home. He wasn't quite sure what to do without his brothers but we stayed busy going to feed the ducks, for bike rides, and for ice cream!

an injured Will-poor guy!

Will, Jack, Matthew & Matt with the lights of the city behind them

Bikes and more bikes....

Yesterday afternoon (Sunday), we had big plans to go swimming after Andrew's nap. He slept too late though so I suggested we just go for a bike ride. Simple enough. No, no, no. Tim decided that he should teach Will how to ride his bike without training wheels. Mind you, Will doesn't ride his bike that much at all but he is very coordinated (not from me!!). Tim took him out to our cul-de-sac and right away he did really well. We decided that his bike was just too small for him though so he started practicing on Jack's bike. He did great and Tim told him that we would take him right then to pick out a new bike! Off to the store we went and we came home with two new bikes- one for Jack and one for Will. I will admit that I may be to blame for that. I didn't think it was right that Will's bike was bigger than Jack's bike. Tim thought that was crazy but then went and found one for Jack! We took the new bikes over to Jack's school- the same place Jack learned- and we practiced some more. He was really scared on his new bike at first

but then he started chasing Jack and Tim and there were big smiles!

Jack loved the chance to try out his new bike as well.

Andrew just hung out and cheered everyone on!

A crazy week of vacations....

Well things have finally settled down here this week. We had been traveling the previous week and it is nice to just get settled in at home again. Tim and I left on Sunday June 29th to go to Santa Fe on a kid free vacation! Tim's parents were coming out to watch Matthew and Callie while Matt and Beth went to a wedding in California. They offered to take all five kids- yikes!- so we just couldn't say no. We had not been away without the kids in almost 4 years so this was very exciting! I had never been to Santa Fe and it was a great place. Very artsy with lots of shops and galleries. We stayed right downtown so we were able to walk everywhere. We ate lots of great great food as well. We took a few day trips- one to Bandelier National Park (lots of old Indian cliff dwellings that you can climb ladders to get to) and one to Taos another artsy city about 1 1/2 hours from Santa Fe.

We came home on Wednesday and left again on Thursday for my family reunion in Illinois. I have not been able to go for three years so it was fun to see my grandparents and aunts, uncles, cousins etc. We also got to spend time with my parents, Kevin, Becky, and Brady and Jason. The boys had not met their new cousin Brady yet so they were so excited and had lots of fun. The boys spent the days running around, climbing trees, and swimming at the hotel pool. It was a quick trip and we drove the 13 hours back home on Sunday! UGH.... all of our summer traveling crammed into one week.

Look who turned 2!!!

Well our littlest guy is now 2! He turned two last Thursday on July 3rd. Unfortunately, because of vacations we didn't get to have a big celebration on his actual birthday. We celebrated on Wednesday at our house with Gmom and Gpop (Tim's parents) and cousins Matthew and Callie (Matt and Beth were in California!). He didn't know the difference and loved his little party. We got him an Elmo ice cream cake which was a big hit! His big gift-his play kitchen- just came in today so we are waiting for Daddy to put it together (I was not on the ball with that!!). He loved his tickle-me-Elmo too. He has finally starting saying that he is two now. For the last few weeks whenever we asked him how old he was he would say 4, 5, 6- basically anything but two! He's come to terms with it now I guess! We were traveling on his actual birthday but he did get to have another party on Friday with Nana and PopPop (my parents) and his uncle Kev, Aunt Becky, cousin Brady and uncle Jay and lots of extended family! The celebration just kept on going!

Father's Day....

Tim had a great Father's Day this year. We went for a hike up near Copper Mountain (near Frisco CO). There was a little more snow that we had expected still on the ground. We weren't able to hike as far as we had planned but it was still fun. We finished up with a late lunch at a brewery in Frisco. When we got home Tim got to play with his new toy from the boys- Guitar Hero for our Wii! Tons of fun!

Fire trucks and baseball....

Okay....the summer is half over and I am just getting some of these pictures up. We had a neighborhood block party at the beginning of June and they had asked a fire truck to stop by for the kids. Well, Andrew is all boy and loves loves loves his trucks. We told him that the fire truck was coming and he was so excited. The problem was that it was late and the truck still hadn't come. We took the kids home to put them to bed and sure enough as soon as Andrew was in bed we heard the truck come. We went and got him out of bed and Tim took him over in his pajamas! He was so cute and in awe of this big fire truck! He got to sit in the drivers seat and see all of the lights and stuff. So glad that we woke him up!

The boys just wrapped up their t-ball season. The t-ball ranges from ages 4-6 so lucky for me, both boys were on the same team. With two games and one practice a week that worked out well. Next year I will be spending just about every night at a baseball field probably! They loved it and are sad that the season is over. Will is already asking when the next season starts. Onto soccer in the fall now!