My baby's growing up!!

So, tonight I went to orientation at Jackson's preschool. My baby is growing up so quickly!! I can't believe that he is already three (at the end of the month). I teared up a bit as his teachers were talking about what they were going to be doing in the classroom this year--maybe it's pregnancy hormones and being emotional, but whatever it is, it hit me--my baby is growing up!! Jackson is a fabulous little boy and I love him so much!! (That's true of all my boys). I'm just a bit emotional tonight--I'm not ready to let my baby grow up, but I know it's just a part of life! A little story...this afternoon at naptime (the boys share a room) Joshua was having a rough time settling down and going to sleep. From the loft I could hear Jackson singing to him and telling his little brother that it was okay! It was such a sweet moment!! He was singing "Jesus loves the little children" and putting Joshua's name into the song!! (I put the boys' names into the song sometimes--he's been paying attention!!) Okay, I'm rambling! Summer is almost over, I have to return to work, the boys have to go back to daycare--I'm not ready for any of it!!

Happy Anniversary...to us!

Seven years ago today I married my best friend! It's still the best decision I have made my whole life. I can't believe that we are already celebrating seven years of marriage--it doesn't seem real. You know what they say, time flies when you're having fun!! In these seven years, we have laughed, cried, argued, made up, and learned so much about each other and ourselves in the process. We are so blessed that these seven years have brought us our two beautiful boys, with another boy on the way!!

I looked across the breakfast table this morning and this is what I saw!! My two beautiful boys who fill my days with laughter, fun, and non-stop activity!!

Our love fern (YAY, if you know what movie that's from!)....er, orchid! Allen Wade got me this orchid for our last anniversary and it is still absolutely beautiful!

It's a...

BOY!!! Yep, we are expecting our third boy, and we could not be more thrilled!! We have our own mini soccer team or baseball team or whatever sport the boys may want to play!! The ultrasound technician this morning said she was 100% sure and that we didn't have to do any shopping for pink stuff! We are so excited! We are going out to dinner tonight to celebrate and to tell Jackson and Joshua that they are getting a little brother--so cute! We had asked Jackson several times what he thinks is in mommy's tummy and lately he kept answering, "Another Josh!" He's right!

Such cuties!!

Are we blessed or what!?!? Jackson and Joshua are the best two boys any mom could ever ask for!! (Sorry, but it's true!) We went to a new park on Sunday afternoon and we had such a great time. I love the way these pictures turned out!

Until Friday...

Today I had another doctor's appointment for Baby Avery #3. The boys came along and did okay--Joshua is scared by our doctor and our nurse, so he cries whenever we go there! Poor guy, it doesn't help that he's been sick since Sunday with a fever that won't break. I absolutely hate it when my kids are sick---you feel so helpless, except for giving them some meds that will hopefully make them better! I'd much rather be the one who is sick. Anyway, so everything with Baby looks good--strong heartbeat, between 150 and 160 beats per minute! She gave us the orders to come back on Friday for our ultrasound--we'll know on Friday if it's a boy or a girl!! We're so excited to know!!! Check back on Friday, hopefully Baby will cooperate!

UPDATE: Joshua's fever finally broke Wednesday morning and he's slowly getting back to being the boy we all know and love! He took a three-hour nap to try and catch up from the lack of sleep the past few nights. Tomorrow should be a much better day!!

The week in review

Poor Joshua!! He's had the worst diaper rash this week. He couldn't stand diaper wipes, so we switched to washcloths and quick baths in the bathroom sink. He loved being in the sink!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last weekend Gammy and Grandpa Avery took all the grandkids and AW and myself to the circus. AW and I had never been to a circus, but we had a great time, and the kids loved it!! It was a family business, one-top circus with jugglers, dog acts, horses, clowns, trapeze artists, and more! It was a fun time!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Funny pictures of Joshua enjoying his food!

Josh loves pickles--so did his mom when she was pregnant with him!!

Joshua discovered Oreo cookies for the first time this month--you can tell he really likes them!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jackson is doing great with potty training. I think he had maybe two accidents all week. We could not be more proud of him!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jackson and Joshua have sweet moments when they play so well together! Here they are coloring together. So cute!!

Keeping cool!

Ninety degree weather, a pregnant mama, and two boys itching to go and play outside---what are we to do?? Bring out the kiddie pool and have fun, of course! We spent an hour in the pool, splashing, laughing, and having fun!! Today Jackson was all about splashing and Joshua just wanted to lounge around and soak in some sun! We are loving being home for the summer!! Enjoy some fun pictures!

Adventures in Potty Training!

We officially started potty training Jackson on Monday, about two months shy of his third birthday. I wanted him trained by his third birthday, but especially trained before baby #3 shows up in December---can you imagine three kids in diapers?? Plus, we wanted there to be enough time with Jackson being trained so that he couldn't regress when the baby arrives. So, we were set with big boy undies, stickers, M&Ms, and a whole lot of hope! He did pretty well, only three accidents on day one. Tuesday there were two accidents, and Wednesday as well. I decided not to use pull-ups for naptime and just see what would happen. Jackson amazed me, as he stayed dry for the three days that he napped this week!! Thursday was a great day, since that was the first day for poops in the potty!!! Woo-hoo!! (I know, for those of you without kids or without kids in the potty training stage yet, this isn't that exciting, but it is for us!!) Jackson was completely dry all day on Friday--great news!! The best news of the week came on Saturday morning. When we went to change Jackson out of his jammies and night-time pull-up, we realized that his pull-up was DRY!! We were shocked, but totally excited! We know that it may be a fluke, but still pretty exciting!! We went out to breakfast to celebrate this morning!! We are all so proud of Jackson!! Way to go, J-man Jackson!! We love you!!

Just a super cute picture of Jackson, as he is walking down the hill backwards.

Fourth of July and Motorcycles!

Happy Fourth of July!!

This year we decided to try and attend a fireworks show. We had the boys take later afternoon naps, so that they wouldn't be too grumpy and it actually worked out pretty well!! We camped out in the bed of Allen-Wade's pick-up truck and the boys had a great time. When the fireworks started, Joshua just stared and was amazed, while Jackson was so excited and narrated all the "pops" as they happened, as well as the colors and shapes! It was really fun for us to just watch them be so excited. We're definitely going to have this become a tradition!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jackson and Joshua have a love for trucks, cars, trains, anything with wheels! When our friends Brian and Hannah came over for dinner this week and Mr. Brian rode his motorcycle, we just had to get a close up look and "ride" it!! My boys, all THREE of them, loved the motorcycle!

Already July!?

Happy July!! Can you believe it's already July?! What happened to June?? We got back from our (short) vacation last Friday and have needed a few days to unpack and put away all our stuff! It's amazing how much stuff you have to take with you when you go somewhere with small children--several changes of clothes per day, all the night-time stuff, favorite books and toys to comfort them, snacks and sippies, and binkies, blankets and pillows...and there's more, of course! We had a great time with AW's side of the family. It was so nice to visit and catch up with relatives we haven't seen in several years. Our boys loved the pool--Joshua threw a fit every time it was time to go! The only thing I didn't care for was the car ride back. Five hours is a long time to be in a car, without naps!! Neither of the boys slept very well (or very long) in the car. I was always reaching for something they dropped, or handing them a sippy or snacks, or whatever else they wanted. I think AW had the easy part--all he had to do was drive! =)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This morning we had another appointment for Baby #3. Our doctor was finally able to find a heartbeat on this little guy, or girl. At 15 1/2 weeks, the baby sounded strong, which was such a relief!! We heard him kick and then he got the hiccups, so super cute!! It was wonderful!! At the next appointment (in four weeks) she will send me to the hospital for the half-way point ultrasound, and at that time we will find out what we are having!! Lately, I've been thinking it's a girl, but Jackson has been saying that he wants "another Josh." We'll see what God will bless us with!! Stay tuned!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Some of my favorite pictures from our trip last week!!

Allen-Wade and the boys at a park near the hotel! The boys loved the swinging bench!!

Jackson and Joshua would have spent the whole day in the pool, if we would have let them. AW did a great job swimming with both boys. I only got in the pool once--nobody really wants to see a prego in the pool!! =)

A family picture (in black and white, my favorite)!!

Jackson being a ham before bedtime! He liked sleeping in the big beds!!

Joshua playing peek-a-boo in the pack-and-play before bedtime our last night at the hotel!