Another ultrasound!!

Today I had to have another ultrasound because they were getting some distorted images of the brain yesterday. I have this large piece of mesh in my abdomen from a hernia repair I had after Aeryn's delivery. The ultrasound tech and the radiologist were having a lot of trouble getting good images. They think they got what they needed today, but I practically had to stand on my head for them to be able to ultrasound around the mesh ;)

They told me that I was the first person that they have ever had to ultrasound through the mesh and it was causing some distortions. I was there for an hour yesterday and then another hour and 15 minutes today. But the great thing was that they felt bad and made me a DVD of parts of the ultrasound. I am trying to put a few on my blog to day so you can see.

Here is a photo showing that this is a boy. I hope you can see that this is our little boy. Today the girls have started calling the baby their brother!! Aeryn, this morning, was yelling into my belly button...."baby brother, baby brother, wake up!!!" It was very cute!!

Big Day!!

Well I don't have a picture of the ultrasound because our scanner is not working, but I thought I'd make the big announcement anyway!! Well, we are having a ....BOY!! Can you believe that? Both Travis and I were shocked because we pretty much thought it was going to be a girl. We are very excited...a little nervous and overwhelmed. I mean, I know girls, I know a boy will be fabulous, but I know how to do deal with girls!!

The other thing was that Ellie had to go and get all her shots updated so we can send in the Kindergarten paperwork for the fall. She was so brave. She had to get a TB test and then 3 shots. She didn't even cry. You could see that she wanted to. But we went to Toys R Us afterwards and she was able to pick out one thing. She chose a barbie doll that you hook into your IPod and it a speaker for your ipod and the barbie also mouths along like she is singing. This really took the "sting" away. The sweetest thing was that Ellie really wanted to get a little present for Aeryn while we were at the store (Aeryn was home taking a nap). We got a little balllet dancing polly pockets, by Ellie's choice. I know they make each other crazy, but they sure do love each other!!

A boy.....oh my!!

Kids Say the Funniest Things

The other day, while we were out running errands, Aeryn yelled very loudly "Ellie hit me!!" These two girls are constantly picking at each other and so I asked Ellie if she had hit Aeryn. She very innocently replied "Oh, well, not yet." I couldn't stop laughing and then the girls started laughing and the problam was temporarily resolved. My girls can sure get on each other's nerves, but I certainly love them. They can be so cute!!

Crazy Dad!!

Travis is such a wonderful dad!! Travis and Ellie have a tendency to "but heads" some of the time, but when they play together...you better watch out, they are so crazy. Yesterday we spent another wonderful afternoon swimming at my Nana and Poppa's house. Travis had purchased a bunch of water toys. He bought a really great water gun that can soak the people at the other end of the swimming pool. He also bought these "splash bombs". They are balls that soak up a bunch of water but they don't sink. When you throw them, they make a huge splash!! I was laughing so hard as I watched Ellie and Travis fight it out with the splash bombs. My dad then got involved and these balls were flying hard and fast. I can't help but smile a huge smile when I see how he plays with the girls. He really loves them and they sure love him.
This picture was when Travis and Ellie came off the Rip Roaring Rapids ride at San Diego Sea World a few weeks ago....the two of them had such a great time. Ellie went on the ride 3 times... It was great fun!!

Our Little Flower!!

Ellie was in her first ballet recital "show" tonight. She was a little flower and was so cute. I was worried that she wouldn't actually get on the stage because of her shyness, but she actually did a great job!! They did a little dance to a song from Alice in Wonderland..."You can learn a lot of things from the flowers." She did a most of the moves, but also a lot of standing around. She really loved getting dressed up and putting on makeup!!

I dropped her off with her chaperone backstage and then prayed that she would be brave enough to go dance!! I even got teary when I watched her. My sister Allison got teary as well. It was just so difficult for her, so "out-of-the-box." She says she wants to do it next year. Aeryn would even be old enough for the class!! Wouldn't that be fun if they could be in it together.

Allison was very cute and she thought of bringing Ellie a flower. Ellie was so thrilled to get a flower!! Aeryn was also so proud of her sister. Aeryn clapped bigger and louder than anyone else around us. She kept asking for 'MORE' when they were changing dances. She loved the show. I am so proud of my girls!!

Swimming at Nana's

One of my favorite memories from my childhood is spending summer days at Nana's house. My mom would take us to Nana and Papa's house and we'd spend hours playing in the water. I remember being called "water rats." Funny thing is that my Nana had these old plastic measuring cups and spoons, and these were our favorite pool toys. Oh, we had all the tubes and such, but these measuring cups were great. Nana still has these same measuring utensils and my girls loved them.

Another favorite thing was playing "washing machine" with my dad! We had this big yellow rubber boat. All three of us kids would climb in the boat and my dad would shake it and say such things as rub-a-dub, three kids in a tub. We would laugh so hard. Another thing I remember is having the radio on, playing in the backyard (when the flowers are in bloom--it is gorgeous), while we would swim. Sometimes, when I hear certain 70's songs on the radio, it is almost like I am a kid, swimming in Nana's pool, feeling very carefree. Those were wonderful days. I am very grateful that I can take my kids to Nana and Papa's house to enjoy that same carefree feeling.

Close Encounter!!

Today we went to the San Francisco Zoo. Travis only work a part day and the girls were anxious. So we decided to renew our Zoo Membership and go up to the zoo. We went over to visit the Gorilla's. We went to a window area to see the gorilla's. One of the gorilla's...we think a female....came up to the window.

She put it's hands up to the window and I put my hands on hers. The kids got nervous and backed away. She would stick out her tongue and shake it all around. I can't tell you the amazing feeling of being so close....even though their was glass between us. She stayed with us for about 5 minutes then other people started coming over...of course, and we left...so did the gorilla!! It was so cool!!

This is probably the only proof that Travis and I were there. I find that I spend so much time photographing the kids that I forget about us. In the this picture, the giraffes were right behind us. The girls thought they were very facinating. The giraffes were eating from the trees right close to where we were! I kept thinking this was one of the coolest days at the zoo...the animals seemed much more interactive.

We went to the petting zoo while we were there. There was one goat, with big horns, that was greedy for the goat food that we had. He kept banging Aeryn in the head with his horns. We quickly got away from him. Aeryn then found the love of her life, a goat named Rose. She let Aeryn pet her, brush her, and even hug her and you can see here. At one point Aeryn told me..."I love Rose." It was so cute!! Rose actually was a very sweet goat. She sure liked having her hair brushed.

I let Ellie chose which picture she wanted of herself. This wouldn't have been my favorite choice, but she wanted everyone know how much she enjoyed her first Twinkie. Sad thing, and I shouldn't even admit this, I had to bribe her with a Twinkie to get some cute photo's. She would turn away everytime that I tried to get a photo, hence the Twinkie bribe!! I guess mother's do crazy things sometimes...even use Twinkies!!

I'm a blogger!!!

I LOVE reading everyone's blogs....so I'm contributing to the world of blogging!! I am sitting with Ellie as she paints her beautiful "suncatcher's", including fairies and butterflies. You know I really love my girls!!! They are so sweet! We are expecting baby numer 3 in October and everyone asks if we are trying for a boy. Not really, I am so happy with my girls. If you ask Travis, in all honesty, he is happy even if he has all girls. These girls love him. Aeryn would probably choose her dad over me. Ellie is a so interested in learning about medical information, especially the development of babies. She'll probably be an OB/GYN when she gets older!!

Aeryn is very sweet and gentle. She loves to just lay in our bed in the morning while we wake up. She will gently rub your face and tell you she loves you!! Today, we got ice cream cones at McDonald's. I shared one with Aeryn. As I was taking my lick, she told me to "be careful, it's messy." And very gently placed the ice cream cone at my mouth. She is a ham. Life is so great!! I feel lucky to be the mother of Ellie and Aeryn!!