Watch this Mary!

Big brothers adore their little sister. At the playground today I heard a lot of "watch this Mary!" I used to hear a lot of "mom, look at me!" Looks like little miss has stolen the hearts of her brothers.

In other new, James lost his first 2 teeth this past weekend. You can see it if you look closely. It was a pretty dramatic event. Thank goodness one adult tooth is poking through a little so sweet James isn't as worried.

One week old

Pictures from our first week as a family of five.

Introducing Mary Ellen

Introducing our beautiful daughter Mary Ellen.

Mary Ellen Turner
March 26
8 pounds, 10 ounces
21 inches long
Pure sweetness!

Happy Due Date

Well today is baby girl's due date. It is becoming increasingly hard to be patient and wait, we are all so excited to see her! So, we are doing our best to keep busy and not just sit around staring at my belly. My boys are keeping me company, and Grammy is helping keep them busy when I need a nap. Win win!

Daddy even got us out for a walk in the snow. Snowballs were flying everywhere as we enjoyed our last (hopefully) snowfall of the year.

Thanks for all the calls and emails! When baby girl arrives we will be sure to let you know!

The scream heard round Giant

Picture this, you are calmly walking through the grocery store. The kids are home with Daddy and you are walking down the shampoo aisle, thankful you actually get to pick out shampoo rather then the usual grab and go that is necessary with helpers in tow.

Suddenly you hear a very loud scream from the young lady next to you. Worried you turn her way to make sure she is alright, only to find out it is your torpedo belly that has caused her distress.

"I am so sorry," she blurts out, " I didn't realize you were pregnant until you turned sideways." In her defense, my belly is hidden by the cart pretty well.

My response, "don't worry about it, it happens all the time." And it does. Although this is the first time anyone has screamed at me in a grocery store. Too funny!

Snow!

The boys were so excited for a snow day on Wednesday! It was pretty slushy and very windy, so they didn't last long. But they did get to go sledding and throw a few snowballs.

Pictures include them being a cookie monster and angry bird, looking cute and waiting for daddy.

Last day in February!

Today James realized that it was the last day in February and gleefully announced "tomorrow I get to play with my baby sister!"

Uh oh, guess we should have been more specific. Anyone care to guess when baby girl will arrive?

Due date: March 26
James' guess: March 1
Luke's guess: March 2
Addendum: both boys agree that sister should arrive on March 7th next week.  That gives them enough time to draw pictures for her room. Sweet brothers.

What to wear...

We got home from our weekly "Slime Time" class and the boys were covered in flour and whatever else they mixed together today. So I asked them to both go change their clothes, and gave them total freedom to pick out anything. It is a rainy day, we aren't planning to go anywhere else.

This is how they chose to dress themselves. Let's just say they each take after one of their parents so much it is astounding. I would post a picture of myself to illustrate further, but lets face it, I'm in my yoga pants.

Luke, I love that you picked out your pleated church pants and a sports shirt as your "casual" outfit. I am actually a little surprised you didn't pick out a collared shirt, but yellow is currently your favorite color.

Happy Valentine's Day: No Girls Allowed!

The boys loved decorating the house this year for Valentine's day. We have paper chains of pink and red around the house....not to mention all the homemade valentines they made and stashed in our envelopes. Really fun!

This is my favorite paper chain, hanging in the dinning room.

James and Luke already dug into their envelopes of goodies this morning at breakfast. Daddy and I are waiting until dinnertime.

Luke showing off Mary's room decorations. Baby sister's need some love at Valentines too! Original pose was his idea.

Starting to work on being a little less like a heard of elephants when we move around the house. Perhaps wishful thinking on my part, but it wouldn't hurt right?

The "No Girls Allowed" fence. Designed to keep out the peskiest girl. I asked them if their friends from church and school would be allowed....like Lizzie or Harper or Hailey. And they responded, "Oh, they would be allowed." Then I asked about baby sister and mommy...."Yeah, you can come in too." Not sure exactly who they are trying to keep out!

Another backlit photo of our window decorations. Luke is hysterical with the strong man pose!

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

Great Wolf Lodge

Two boys at a waterpark for the weekend with a handful of their friends equals a great weekend! Our first family retreat with our church was so much fun. We splashed in the wave pool, rode some slides (all except Mommy) and even got to bowl and play in the arcade. The boys are already asking to go back. Here are some pictures we snapped the last day once I realized we had not taken any. Too busy having fun!

Luke and Daddy at the "kid slides". This is the first place they wanted to go to warm up.

James working on an ropes course. What a big boy!

My guys getting ambushed by the massive waterfall...they didn't even see it coming. But I did.

All wet after the waterfall, but according to James a big thumbs up!

A picture in front of the mascots of the lodge. This "came to life" twice a day to sing songs. The boys were kinda terrified of it the first night, so I didn't make a point to make it the second night. Then James was almost in tears when he found out we missed it. Total mommy fail!

Some fun at the arcade...which for some reason Luke kept calling a museum. No idea on that one. So now when he asks to go to a museum, we have to clarify what exactly he is asking to do.

Luke enjoyed the driving games, but those didn't give you tickets. And to Luke, trading in his hard earned tickets for tootsie rolls was HUGE.

Luke is so strong! James could not stop talking about how he would defend us agains a wolf or a bear. His best idea was to cut their feet off with a knife, seriously, I can't make this kind of stuff up.

And a token picture of me and my kiddos....James is always hugging my belly. Mostly really sweet, but sometimes it is a big much.

Great Wolf Lodge, we will see you again next year!