Zoo Much Fun

Tuesday afternoon we hooked onto the camper and went to Midway to camp with Blake's brother Zac and his wife and daughter J. J and Brooke are only a few months apart and get along so great. We started Wednesday happy and ready to hit the zoo. Our family hadn't been in several years and hadn't seen all the fun new additions they've made. It was a busy, long, hot day, but a successful and the kids had a blast!

 Brooke got her own camera for Christmas and loved being able to take pictures of the animals.

 Porter loves, loves animals and to make animal sounds. He'd only ever seen them in books. Our kids freak out when they see a dog or a cat (in a good way...we don't have any pets) so seeing some exotic animals was really exciting for them.

 We got a fun surprise when the polar bear swan right by us. Porter was so exciting and it was a highlight of our day.

 Definitely a huge hit for the kids was riding the train. Porter also loves trains and kept talking about the train for the rest of the day.

 I love that these 2 girls get along so great. They talked the whole day and you could tell they were in their own world.

 The splash park area is another fun addition. It's so hot that being able to get wet really makes a difference! Blake lifted Porter up to catch a jumping stream of water.

 We ended our day by going to the seal show. They did tricks and the kids loved seeing them swim around.

A Hiking We Will Go

On the mountain there is a trail that is special to our family. It's the hike to "Paul's Tree". In 2001 Blake and his brother Paul were hunting and it was really slow. Bored, Paul carved his name into the base of a tree he was sitting by. Paul later passed away in 2007, so this is a special place we can go and remember him.

 Brooke picked flowers all along the way

 Pouty Porter...he didn't want to go any further.

 We got a new addition to our summer backyard splash park.

Third

Baby bump at 18/19 weeks

I recently read Ender's Game and sometimes in my mind I call this baby "Third" or "Ender" (If you're familiar with the story, Ender got his nickname because in their society you had to ask special permission to have a 3rd child). Since I know that this is my last baby, I have been weirdly private about sharing details. I'm strange, I know...and selfish :) I want to enjoy my last time being pregnant and feeling all the twists and turns and hiccups. I love thinking about what this child will look like and what kind of personality it will have. I love thinking of all different combinations of names until I find one that feels right.  I get nervous thinking about how having a 3rd child will change the dynamic of our family and how crazy I will be for a while until we get into a routine. But I am so, so excited to hold this little infant and know that it came straight from Heaven and into my arms. I already love this baby so much and know that it is meant to be part of our family.

So, I'm not going to do a huge facebook gender announcement because I'm selfish and I don't think that 100+ people I'm "friends"with really care if I'm having a boy or girl (or perhaps even that I'm expecting again). But If you care enough to read my blog, I'll share my secret with you :).

We went at the beginning of June for our big ultrasound. I always love seeing the baby on a screen.

Profile & hand:

scary skeleton face (sorry baby, but it's true)

 another profile

 arm/hand

 and finally....drumroll....

and hopefully the utrasound technitian is right because I've been getting rid of my girl stuff like crazy! I got back in in August for another ultrasound and while we're there, we're going to double check the gender. If for some reason it turns out to be a girl, we'll have a couple months to buy everything again :)

Pregnancy Update:
I feel pretty good most of the time. I am starting to lose the mid-trimester energy burst and feel more tired and have to rest more often after doing chores. And since my other 2 kids were born in the middle of winter, I have never been this pregnant in the summer before. I'll do my last trimester in the hottest part too. I am definitely starting to feel the uncomfortableness that comes with the heat and I think I'm going to get a lot more swollen in my hands, feet, and face than I did with the others because of retaining water and the heat (oh the joys). But I'll survive.

Oh, Porter!

Oh how I love this boy of mine! He is so busy, but also so sweet. I have been using "sweet" to describe Porter since he was born, and he still is. He still loves to snuggle with mom and his soft blanket. He gives kisses and has learned to say "sorry". He goes to time out when he's told. And so far hasn't thrown any fits like his sister used to (I shudder as I think about the fits Brooke used to throw). When he's mad, Porter will just stand still and hang his head and be quiet for a few minutes. If we leave him alone he'll get over it in a few minutes. I hope this continues and is just part of his personality, because these kinds of "fits" I can handle!

But like I said, he's also very busy! I am constantly telling Porter to sit down in the bathtub. Of course he didn't listen and slipped and hit his chin on the edge of the tub. It was bleeding and the cut was pretty wide so I took him down to urgent care. By the time the Dr. came in, Porter wasn't crying and was running around the office. The Dr. said, "this kid is way too happy to be needing stitches!" Luckily the doctor was able to glue his cut shut. A few days later, Porter fell outside and scraped his chin on the deck--it reopened the cut but not too bad and we were able to hold it closed with some butterly bandages. I have a feeling this is the first of many trips down for stitches and bandages with this kid!

One morning I was upset with Porter because I had just gotten him dressed and he went outside and immediately got wet and dirty. I was changing his clothes and said to him "Porter! Why did you get all wet and dirty." He replied to me with a big smile on his face, "'cause...I me!" (Because, I'm me).

He also loves to help. When he sees me watering flowers or pulling weeds or sweeping, Porter is immediately by my side saying "help, help" (most of the time I don't actually want his help). When Blake was working on putting in a new gate for our fence, Porter didn't hesitate to help carry the fence planks and put them in a pile.