July 4th

Originally we were supposed to be in California for the 4th where every year the whole family gets together and cooks breakfast on the beach. Since plans had changed we wanted to try to do something fun this year in Texas. So we decided to have a pool party. Yeah. . . you might be thinking "But you don't have a pool". That's where getting 12 kiddy pools come into good use. :)

As you can see we are officially into our hot Texas summer - the grass is fried and I can't take the kids outside for any long period of time unless we're in a pool and have a bottle of sunscreen on.

I'll make this my "1 month Pregnancy Picture" since I still look normal and can wear a bathing suit.

No such luck at getting a good picture of the boys together that day.

So, I never finished telling how I told Brandon about the pregnancy test. Since I was asleep by the time he got home and I wanted to involve the boys in telling him, I had the boys make up a scavenger hunt for Brandon to go on in the morning. They each made up a clue that led him on a hunt around the house for three papers. Once he found all the papers we laid them out on the floor and watched him open each one. It read,"Ready for 4?"

Let's just say after having a vasectomy he was not very excited but by the end of the day things were looking up. One of the things I wanted to do different this time around was to surprise everyone we told. Brandon has always just called his mom to tell her the news but this time I made him wait. We went over to his parents house that night and gave them a card that said, "We're adding two feet onto our house." It had two baby footprints on the front and inside it had the finish (due) date. They were both surprised and excited (Chase has had a different expession in every picture I take of him lately - he looks surprised too).

For my parents I made them a card that listed the top 10 reasons they should move to Texas:

1.You can live in a new house for less than half the price of your house (and make tons of $ from selling your house).
2.Although it’s a little hot for a month or two, we actually have seasons!
3.The price of gas is lower. (By a whole dollar per gallon right now!)
4.The air is better to breathe.
5.With all the money you make off your house you could buy a boat and have fun on the lake every time you miss the beach
6.People are nicer/friendlier and community is 10 times better. With all the churches Oma could find a job with no problem and Papa there’s a “Soaring League of North Texas”
7.Cole
8.Chase
9.Cy
10.Your NEW grandson/granddaughter that will be here March 3, 2009!!!

(I ended up reading the reasons to them over the phone before they got the card in the mail because I wanted to hear their reaction)

Another thing I want to do different this time is continue to work out through the whole pregnancy. Now when I first found out I was pregnant I was thinking I'll keep running 6-7 miles at a time and I'll continue cycling until I just can't do it anymore. The day after I said that I started reading a new pregnancy book I picked up and read about all the dangers of raising your body temp. and directing all the blood away from your uterus . . . that freaked me out so I didn't work out the rest of the week. Now I already feel like a big, bloated, baluga whale. I typically weigh in around 121 lbs. and now I'm already 126!! Don't get me wrong, I don't mind putting on weight; it's just a little early to put on 5 pounds in a week and a half when you know that's not baby. I'm already so nauseous and eating helps me feel better for a little while - but I am eating healthy :) Looks like I'm going to be doing a lot of walking and light weight lifting for the next 9 months!

By the way, many of you have asked how far along I am -I'm 6 weeks and my first Dr.'s appointment is July 21st (if we don't go to California before that).