First Baby Shots

Here they are... I know you've been anxiously

awaiting the first baby pictures :) These are from my 12 week ultrasound (I guess 2 weeks ago now... man I'm a slack blogger!). My original due date was January 18th, but this little nugget was measuring a little big so maybe now around Jan 15th... which is getting closer and closer to the 9th (really, how weird would that be to have 3 kids born on January 9th!). I am trying to make out boy/girl parts but I can't see anything. Any guesses? All I know right now is I am squeezing into my jeans for probably the very last day... the button is leaving this awful red indention in my stomach and my thighs are literally pulling the fabric in ways I thought unimaginable. I know I keep saying it... I just need to give in and buy a pair of maternity jeans :(

Farewell Jonah

Jonah Patsch

August 2007 - July 2009

Our faithful fish Jonah passed away a couple of days ago. One morning he was swimming happily in his bowl, and by the afternoon he was no longer with us. We will miss you. This isn't even a real picture of Jonah, just one of a Betta fish that looks a little bit like him. I don't think we ever took his picture... super sad I know. I tell you what, I'm not going to miss feeding him or cleaning his bowl which made me throw up just about ever time from stink. Fish are always fun for a little while when the kid are into it, but really, after a week or so, no one ever thinks about the fish (except for mom of course, who is in charge of taking care of all things). Anyhow, we said a little farewell to Jonah and put him into the stream near our house. Hudson was a little bummed out and went out yesterday to see if he could still find him (no luck). Larkin was 20 questions as usual... but seems to be handling it okay. I don't think we'll be getting another fish for awhile, at least not until someone else can be in charge of cleaning that bowl!

Why is cookie dough SO much better than the baked cookies?? It just doesn't make sense.
I want a cookie dough cookie... but that's bad for you right...

Favorite Thing #16: Pizza Cutter

Favorite Thing #16: A Pizza Cutter

I know this sounds silly, but the pizza cutter is seriously one of my favorite things! I use this thing at least once a day for cutting up Brooke's food, the kids' sandwiches, or whatever. In my opinion this is far superior to a knife in the world of mommyhood. When I had Hudson, I saw this mom of three whip out a pizza cutter from her purse at a restaurant one day (not a pizza place I may add), and I really didn't get it... couldn't she just use a knife?? The pizza cutter is quick and easy, and now I get it. LOVE IT!

Happy 18 Months Brooke

Happy 18 Months Brooke!!

I can't believe my little baby is a year and a half already. Brooke is weighing in at 23 pounds and 32 inches, a little over the 50% in height and around 35-40% in weight. This last month has been a big one for Brooke. She finally learned to walk, which quickly turned into running and climbing. She says all kinds of words now, but mostly resorts to her high pitched scream when she wants something. She finally got to turn around in her car seat, and she just feels like a big girl in every way. She loves the pool and tries to jump into the deep end with a running start (not so fun for mom). She really developing quite the personality (which is surprisingly similar to Hudson's... must be a January 9th thing). This is a tough age though. She wants to do everything by herself (including eating yogurt, which I just can't watch), tries to communicate but I don't always get it which makes her frustrated, and really just want to be a big girl and do everything Hud and Larkin do. She doesn't understand discipline yet and just doesn't understand why she can't always have what she wants. She's an animal lover (which none of the other kids have been) and adores her animal books, farm, and all the neighborhood pets. She is especially fond of Gracie, which is truly adorable.

In other news...

I'm feeling better these days... still unbelievably tired (I actually took my first nap in years the other day... which was Great!), but not as nauseous. I can't believe how much my belly is sticking out for 13.5 weeks!! I seriously have a door-bell belly-button already. My jeans no longer fit and I'm struggling to find shirts that don't look funky over my changing body. I'm in that awkward not quite maternity but not my "normal" clothes either... I need to suck it up and by a pair of maternity jeans.

Water Slide

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Hudson conquered his fear of the water slide at the pool! He can now go down the big slide and swim across the pool... Yay hud!! He's also going off the diving board and working on his "strokes"... Love it!! He's getting so grown up!

4th Videos

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

4th of July fun in Hilton Head

The family had a fantastic 4th of July in Hilton Head! The kids had all sorts of great experiences. Hudson and Larkin loved going out on Mikie's boat. They even got to see the famous dolphin Stumpy come right up to the side of the boat. Larkin loved being the captain and Hudson is a born fisherman right down to his fisherman hat. He even caught his first spanish mackerel on their "boy's only" fishing trip. Brooke, on the other hand, was a little more than scared as we pulled away from the dock and went into survivor mode (fake sleeping and clinging on for dear life) for our boat ride. The kids also went paddle boarding, kayaking, surfing (yes, Hud caught his first wave and Gregor was SO proud!), slip 'n sliding, swimming, had a huge water balloon fight (their favorite part of the trip!), got to appear on mom's "girl talk" television show, etc etc etc. Hudson and Larkin also got to stay awake for the first time to see the fireworks, which was great that night, but not so much fun driving home with tired, cranky kids. All-in-all, we had a fantastic trip (minus the 12 hours of screaming Brooke on the ride home). It's always fun to go back to Hilton Head and see the kids do the things I did growing up. They adore debi's house. In fact, when he got home, Hud decided that he wanted to go live there.... but then decided that he would actually miss his mom and dad too much so he would just visit. I wonder if it's the fact that they get to eat cupcakes for breakfast, stay up late every night, and crack their own eggs for breakfast.