Happy birthday Jill!

Today is my younger sister's 28th birthday. It has been a tough, heart-breaking year for her, and I am immensely proud of the woman that she is, and the strength with which she has faced her circumstances. Jill, I love you. You should be proud of yourself and your family.

Seriously, only one

We really did have an ultrasound today. Honestly.

We told Daniel on the way to the doctor's that she was going to check the baby. He was pretty happy, and when we got there, he said "oh mom, I'm so excited about the baby!" Something about how he said it made me wonder, so I told him the baby wasn't coming out today. He was disappointed, so we talked about how the doctor would 'check' the baby without actually seeing it. I don't think he believed me until he saw it on the screen. And then he immediately decided it was a boy. Definitely. I'm only 14 weeks, so we didn't find out (and won't until birth), but after weeks and weeks of Daniel saying "We don't get to pick!", whenever someone asked whether he wants a brother or sister, he has decided it's a boy. So we'll see!!

Growing up

This picture holds much joy for me as I face years of airport travel! She is a much much happier traveler with her own suitcase! Who would've known... Thank you cousin Erica for the perfect Christmas present!

Hello, why wouldn't the baby want to see out the airplane window?!

Melt-worthy

A nicely arranged bunch of flowers neatly wrapped with a ribbon: $20.

A perfectly scrunched handful of 'flowers' offered by the boy: priceless...

(notice my matching shoes - not bad, hey?!)

Oh dear...

Lately, Daniel and Laura have been role-playing various parent-child scenarios, with each of them taking their turn at being the parent. Here's Daniel's turn:

"Laura, what did you do? [Laura murmurs something] I'm going to give you a little smack for that. Give me your hand. [tiny pat on her hand] Now don't do that. Now you have to cry - a big cry! [repeated a few times with a surprisingly willing Laura]"

The short list...

I hear you asking, "What else has there been?" Well, I don't have pictures of all my pregnancy mishaps, but suffice it to say that the combo of me, the stove/oven and pregnancy doesn't go well:

* eggs boiled dry after an hour and a half (all the while wondering what the neighbors were cooking!)

* multiple burnt bread disasters under the grill/broiler (but that's not a prego thing actually)

* and with the below picture attached for your further amusement, a pot of pumpkin soup that blurped all over the stove and countertops while I completely forgot about it...

Just adding to the list...

...of the silly things I've done when pregnant...Maybe it's just from being in a hurry, but I've never done this before...I was out for an hour last night before noticing, at which point my friends had noticed and not said anything!

* and thanks Jenn for your word of encouragement (in the comments), thinking that I had to get kids out the door with me too... i wish i could blame it on that, but no, it was just me, only me, just one pair of shoes...

Quotable Quotes

So much of what they're learning comes back at us in other situations... D: "Why did you tell that car what to do?" M: "I was just letting him know that I knew he was there, and he could go, so we didn't run into each other." D: "But you're not in charge of him..." M: "True, but sometimes it's polite.... [further explanation follows]" --- D: [to a friend who kept repeating a question] "I already told you that, why are you asking again?" --- D: "Laura, I'm just a little bit sad because Mommy forgot the custard [from the store]. Can you cheer me up? Just make funny faces at me..." - and Laura has her own too: L: [while I'm singing her a song] "I no like that song. Sing Clifford." "Now sing tickle tar [twinkle twinkle little star]." * Ahh, people tell me her strength of character means she'll be a leader. Let's hope so!

Lapping up the student lifestyle

A student husband = lots of vacations! We spent 8 days away from home and mostly at the beach... here's the photo album:

Easter with family friends. Daniel loved his baseball slippers (and two cute older girls to play with), and Laura just loved the chocolate!

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On the beach with the 4-wheel drive (only about 2 mph, but she LOVED it!) Thanks Darrell for your sand dune driving prowess!

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Really, what beats this?

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Eagle jumps on the dunes - what fun!

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And coloring can sometimes satisfy a 2 or 3 year old just as much as the sand - thanks for visiting Elise!

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Pirate treasures from Julie and Nir - do they know what 3 year old boys like, or what?! Sorry about the earring photo Nir, but you were such a superb pirate!

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Baseball with a cricket bat - what a confused American-Aussie Daniel will be!

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And then campfires, complete with dragon stories, hot chocolate and jiffy pop popcorn!

Seeing double

Just had an ultrasound this morning - happened to get into a doctor with little notice, which was surprising - and saw two little heartbeats where we had only seen one at the 6 week ultrasound... um, we're just taking big breaths and trying to see straight... * 11.30pm 1st April: Okay, the tally reached 10 (that I know of), and included my own parents, which I didn't expect (and a bonus freaked out sister who called me the next day without reading this addition to the post)!! Happy April Fools Day...