Summer Recap-Oregon Trip-The Beach

Here we are at the Beach in Oregon on Dan's Birthday. We went to the Tillamook Cheese Factory first, of course, because it's everyone's favorite stop, and then went to this fun little beach with lots of wildlife.

Here is the real reason I go to Oregon. To see this beautiful girl and her wonderful family! Oh my, I'm missing them like crazy right now!!!

My cute Mason and Ethan, enjoying the water.

The whole crew, even Kade and Sara were there!! The first time Kade has been to Oregon since we moved 13 years ago!

My cute adventurous husband, loved searching for this little guy in all the rocks. Isn't he adorable?

Quick Announcement......

I should post the ultrasound pictures along with this, but I'm in a rush today, so I'll get to it later. We are having a..............................................................................................................................................

BOY!!!

Heehee, four boys! Is that craziness or what? I was actually about 100% positive already that it would be a boy, even though pretty much no one agreed with me. I think it's official, Dan isn't capable of making girls! Oh well, these boys really are fantastic, so I can't complain one bit. And even more important, he is a very healthy looking little boy, and that was the main highlight for me! Dan of course, is the proudest Daddy in the whole world. He told me after the ultrasound, well Babe, I guess now we know, there is NOTHING girl about me. I should be mad at that, but it cracked me up!

Oregon Trip-Part 1

In June, quite unexpectedly, we went on a trip to Oregon. My best friend's brother was getting married, but I didn't think we would be able to go, because Dan's work was so busy. But, he surprised me and we decided to go ahead and go anyway!

Look at the boys, this is how they looked during the entire 14 hour drive! Glued to the XBox. I never thought I would say this, but THANK HEAVENS FOR XBOX!!!

About an hour from my hometown of Forest Grove, we passed by Multnomah Falls. It is so gorgeous, but even though I've passed it hundreds of times, this was the first time I can ever remember stopping to actually see it up close.

Isn't it gorgeous? Dan took these fun pictures of Mason (they were the only ones willing to hike up where it gets you pretty wet)

You can see our camera lens just kept getting wetter and wetter.

Thanksgiving Point

For the last day of school, I decided that we should celebrate, so I took the boys to the Children's Garden at Thanksgiving Point. Dan was out of town that day and the last thing I wanted to do was go sit at home. I'm so glad that we went, I never would have realized that they had such a fun place for kids to play.

They have this awesome water park/play area. The kids absolutely LOVED it.

They also had a bunch of fun little adventure places to explore, like this Lighthouse, which we could climb up inside of.

The water park was the main highlight. Most people had their kids in swimsuits, but I hadn't been planning to go play in the water, so my kids just started shedding their clothes as the day went on.

Ethan apparently got hit by a fountain and felt a little picked on.

Mason would have stayed there all day if he could have. As it was, we were there for about 6 hours.

They had some fun building block things too.

We left, and picked up Wendy's, and then came back. Once you pay, you can leave and come back all you want, it was so nice!

I don't know what they are doing here.

They explored the bear cave.

And the bear tunnels.

It was such a fun day, we will definitely be going back soon.

Mason's Kindergarten Graduation

Here is Mason with his Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Jenkins. She was such an awesome teacher, we both loved her!

Here are my three little monkeys.

What a showoff!!

Here is Mason performing his "Singin in the Rain" dance with Sydney from his class. He was so cute, but as you can see, his teacher didn't remember to pin his pants, so he had to hold onto them so they didn't fall off, poor kid! He still did a great job though!

Ethan's Preschool Graduation

Ethan had so much fun at preschool this year and we had so much fun watching his cute little program at the end of the year. Ethan loves to sing, so it was awesome to watch him sing his little heart out at graduation.

Mason's First Soccer Game

Mason played his first season of soccer this spring. He was so cute and so into it. He was a great runner, he's pretty fast. He was also great at kicking the ball towards his goal, but he would always get a little overwhelmed when he got close to the goal, and then he would lose the ball.

We also noticed that he has a tendency to fall down a lot (on purpose). Anytime he got jostled the tiniest bit, he would just flop on the ground.

Kindergarten soccer was hilarious to watch. Every single game we had kids trying to score a goal in the opposing team's net. Dan and I laughed so hard.

Here he is, gearing up for action! I love how intense he looks here.

Good Cop?

One day I was sitting at my computer, and Aidan came up behind me and when I turned around, this is what I saw..........

.........and this is what he said. "You unner arress!"

Baby #4

So, here is the scoop on Baby #4. I know in a few years I will have forgotten all of the little details surrounding this pregnancy, so I want to write it down and make sure I have it saved. Beware, this could get really long and boring!!! So, Dan and I started "trying" for number 4 last spring. Much to our surprise, we had absolutely no luck until January of this year. I got pregnant sometime around the end of December and found out around the beginning of January. We were so excited. I made it to my eighth week (or right around there), and then went in for an ultrasound to find out when my exact due date was, only to find that the amniotic sac looked empty. The Ultrasound tech assured me that it was probably just too early to see anything and that I would just come back next week. Needless, to say, I didn't sleep at all that night and by morning, I was a total wreck. I knew that the baby should have been big enough by that time to see, so I was pretty sure I knew what it meant. I spent the next week totally freaking out and then had my second ultrasound and blood tests which confirmed it, I had miscarried. At that point, I had pretty much no hope anyway, because my sickness had rapidly started to disappear within the last 24 hours. I was so upset. Almost a year of trying, three weeks of being sick, and now I had to start all over again! The Dr. gave me my options, and I chose the D&C, because I knew my emotions couldn't take waiting for it to pass on it's own. I needed to have it done with and behind me. So, I went in for a D&C the next morning, which was actually quite wonderful. I woke up from the best sleep of my life and barely had any spotting when it was over, just some mild cramping. The Dr's recommended that we wait 3 months before trying again, and I was happy with that because I felt like I needed some "me" time. I started running a few weeks later, and was really enjoying it again. Then, about 4 weeks after my D&C I started feeling so tired that I could hardly get out of bed in the morning. Running at 6am was out of the question, I was just too exhausted. I didn't think too much of it. Well, about two weeks after that, I started having some of my classic early pregnancy symptoms (sore breasts, lots of fatigue, sensitive smell and gag reflex). I took a test and was amazed to see it turn positive. When I told Dan we were both pretty subdued, but still happy and excited. We were both scared it would end the same way the first one had. So, I waited a few weeks, and the nausea came (yippee skippee) and then waited a few weeks more to make my Dr's appointment to find out my due date. I obviously didn't have a period between my miscarriage and this pregnancy, so I didn't have any solid ideas on a due date. So, I went in for my ultrasound, absolutely terrified. To make things even worse, Dan was supposed to come with me, but couldn't. I was already tearing up on the way up in the elevator. I didn't want to have to face it alone, and all my recent memories of my Dr's office were not happy. But, I went in and laid on the little table and as soon as the ultrasound started, I could see that beautiful little baby, with it's heart going like crazy. She turned on the sound, and I started to cry, it was the best sound I have ever heard. I can't even begin to describe how relieved and overjoyed I felt! What an awesome blessing! Since then, everything has been going great. I'm 13 weeks now, and the nausea is starting to fade, and I'm starting to get some good energy back. I still have moments where I feel sick, but they are mostly at night, when I am tired. My house is finally starting to feel clean again and my bed has been made every day this week (a true miracle!!!). I had a Dr's appointment a week and half ago and everything was looking great. Now, with all of this that's happened, can you blame me that I honestly don't care one bit whether it's a boy or a girl? A girl would be fun, because obviously we don't have one, but I will honestly be just as happy about a boy. A healthy baby, that is all that matters!!!

How loyal of a follower are you???

I have to wonder how many people loyally follow my blog, especially when it goes through months of no updates. Well, I am about to find out just who is the most loyal, even when I am way lame. So, here is my excuse for being  a terrible friend, horrible blogger and just plain lazy and useless lately......

9 weeks 5 days

due December 16th 2009

Let the comments begin!!!!

p.s. I know I'm biased, but I think this is the most beautiful ultrasound picture I've ever seen. I can't stop looking at it!!!