Thank you so much to Lynn for throwing my baby shower, Angela for the fun games and everyone else for the wonderful gifts and for taking the time to celebrate the coming of our newest family member! Here are a few pictures from the shower!

We planned Dylan's birthday party really early in the month so we could avoid the potential of canceling it just in case Baby decided to come that particular day. It was a bit of a bummer because it was BEAUTIFUL all week, rained the day of his party and then was sunny and beautiful again the next day. So instead of putting up all his tents and tunnels in the backyard, we pulled out his train table and let the kids go crazy. Emily made cupcakes instead of birthday cake for Dylan and covered them with orange frosting and gummy worms. All in all, it was a great day. The gift of the afternoon was the sand and water table the Jacky got for Dylan. You can see it in the pictures below since Dylan and Ava decided to climb in it and nap when they came down off their sugar highs.

So we don't have many pictures of the animals since Dylan and Ava weren't all that into the animals but here are some really cute pictures of the kids holding hands, Dylan being scared of the deer (or antelope or whatever it was) in the petting zoo, and Dylan and Daddy.

I set up my drums for the first time in two years and Dylan decided he wanted to have a go as well. Surprisingly good for a two year old. Here are the pics and vids from our performance.

- Colin

(Colin is making a funny face but it's still a cute picture!)

In the past few days, Dylan has learned a few new games. The first one was pretty amazing to me: he started to pretend! Two days ago, he was running around the house saying, "Car, Mommy! Vroom!" When I asked him if he was a car, he nodded. Ever since then, he runs around periodically throughout the day pretending he's a car. He even has crashes and says, "Boom!" Obviously, that was learned from Daddy's video games! :) The other new game we've been playing is Follow the Leader. Actually, it's more like Simon Says but I don't think he would get the rules of Simon Says. So we sit together and say "Clap your hands!" and everyone claps. Or whatever else we think of: cover your eyes, wiggle your ears, touch your toes, etc. Dylan enjoys being the leader, too! He loves doing something and having Mommy and Daddy copy him. His other favorite game is a long standing one: running. There's something about running that this kid loves. When we are outside, he'll run back and forth and say, "Running, Mommy! Running!"

We've also been working on learning the sounds that letters make. I haven't been necessarily teaching the ABCs in order but he'll bring me a magnet letter from the fridge and show it to me so I can tell him what it is. It goes something like this:
Dylan: "MOMMY!" and opens his hand
Mommy: "That's a P. P says pah, pah"
Dylan: "Pah, pah."
Then he goes and gets all the other P's off the fridge and tells me that they all say pah.

Dylan has also been telling me that he's running away to Grandma's house because she has a truck. It goes like this:
Dylan: "Bye, bye Mommy," while carrying his snuggle shirt, my purse, his favorite toy, etc.
Mommy: "Where are you going, Dylan?"
Dylan: "Gamma (translation: Grandma)... truck... bye, bye"
Mommy: "You're running away to Grandma's because she has a truck?"
Dylan: "Uh huh! Bye, bye. Truck!"
That's right, Mommy has been demoted because Grandma has a truck!

We've changed Dylan's crib to a toddler bed. It's been going pretty well. It's actually been a lot easier than I was expecting. He lays down pretty easily but will cry for a few minutes. It's getting better though. Hopefully, he'll be in his big boy bed by the end of the month. :) My baby's getting so big!!

Well, that's all I can think of for now.

We went to the midwife today for my gestational diabetes test and she told me that we only have 10 more weeks until the baby is due! It seemed like we had so much longer before the baby comes. We have so much to do, like putting together the swing and other baby stuff, buying batteries, getting a new dresser, getting Dylan into his big boy bed, getting my diaper stash and the few things we need, washing all the baby clothes.... I could go on and on but I'll stop now before I go into a nesting panic. But I'm so excited that we are going to meet the baby soon!

On a similar but slightly different note, last night Dylan and I were playing in the living room, with him sitting on my lap. The baby started kicking Dylan and he got this look on his face that was something like amazement mixed with annoyance. He pulled my shirt up on my belly; put both hands on my belly, rubbing them back and forth; and said,"Brother!" Well, it sounded more like "bratha." So cute!

Ok so we FINALLY got a new camera! The old one has been acting up for a long time now. Here are a few pictures from the new camera!


This is the face Dylan makes at me all day.



Aw!!! That's my baby! He's just about the cutest kid in the whole world!



Colin is soooo tired! He looks so cute!



28 weeks pregnant! 12 weeks left!

Caylin sent me some pictures she had of our wedding. I'm so glad to finally have decent pictures! Here are a few of them.