Adding one more, one last time!

Yes, we are expecting again! This will complete the family, as much control we have over it...any more will be a total surprise and 'joke's on you' from God!

We found out on New Year's Eve, the day we were packing to leave for Iowa. It was still a bit surprising and so we were processing it in the midst of packing, traveling, being with the Thompson family at a beautiful, and blistering cold, wedding weekend! It was still so early, we were still cautious whether or not it was real, whether or not it would last (the miscarriages still leave their mark), and just still not sure what to think, so we kept it to ourselves for a bit. To be completely open and honest, we were open to it for quite some time, but the window was quickly closing for us, to the point I think in our heads, we thought we were done, and starting to plan things out as a family of 4...but God had other plans!

Once I was able to get an OB appointment, we felt comfortable telling the boys...and they were SO excited! A truly sweet moment! Drew was thrilled and immediately said he hoped it would be a sister. Noah just went along with whatever Drew was doing and was super happy too! Drew immediately wanted to talk to Mommy's belly and pat it, which then of course Noah had to do as well! So sweet!

That weekend, we let the boys tell the grandparents...Glienke's over Skype and they of course were very excited to hear Drew tell them he was going to have a baby brother or sister! We went over to the Palmers, to find Papa out picking up dinner, so we warned Drew not to say anything, so of course Noah immediately tells Grandma "Have a baby?!" which confused her, but to look over at Drew beaming, there was no hiding it, so we told her and then told Papa when he got home a few minutes later! Everyone of course is very happy!

We sent out an email with this picture to tell family and then after another OB appointment, posted on FB the same pic with the sonogram picture.

Drew has had a blast telling people. He got it confused a few times, saying "I'm going to have a baby or a sister", but after a few sweet little mishaps, he got it down. He was so excited to tell his teachers at school, and all his friends. But it was also fun to have "our family secret" for a little while too!

Noah only kind of gets it...old enough to grasp part of the concept, but certainly not entirely. On the way home from telling the Palmers, Noah asked in the car "Mommy, we going home?", to which I replied yes. He then says, "No! I miss the baby", Me: "Noah, the baby is still in Mommy's belly." Noah: "No! Baby NOT in Mommy's belly!" So funny! I think he's starting to get it as Drew talks more and more about when different events will happen in relation to the baby coming, and the constant reminder to not jump all over Mommy to keep the baby safe. A larger belly will certainly help too, all in time!

One more sweet story about Drew...after the 2nd OB appointment, I picked the boys up from school and apologized for being gone so long. (Was there for about 2 1/2 hours vs ~1 hour I had planned on b/c OB running behind). Drew asked if I got a prize from the doctor for him. Well, no, I didn't, but I DID get a picture of the baby! Drew: "WHAT?! That is the BEST prize EVER! We are going to have to celebrate...we have to put up decorations and celebrate for the baby coming!" Absolutely precious! The boys loved seeing the picture and thought it was quite amusing how small the baby was...

So, the due date is September 6. Both boys went up right to the end, or past, so I imagine we'll be doing the same again, but I guess you never really know. All the family was super excited to hear, but a favorite response was from Kevin...who was genuinely excited for us, and then quick to point out "You get pregnant on basically the same day every time!" Well, not quite that close this time, but yes, it appears there's a month window for us...we'll have 4 of our 5 family birthdays within 6 weeks...I guess we like to celebrate in the summer! Oh, and I'm pretty sure at least 90% of people are hoping we get a red-headed girl this time...time will tell! :)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We had a wonderful Christmas and New Year...it was all very busy and went by so quickly...it took several weeks to recover!

We enjoyed our Benbrook Light Village with Christmas tree on the night of the boys Christmas program, our local neighborhood lights on a ride around in the car the night before we left for Houston. The boys truly enjoyed it all, loving the lights everywhere, and all the characters that people have now in their yards. There was one house we found as we were finishing our little tour that was truly decked out in Griswald fashion, but done very nicely! It was awesome. Daddy then made a comment, "You think their neighbors just say, 'Why even bother?!'"...funny, but even more funny that the boys thought is was HILARIOUS! Drew absolutely CRACKED UP laughing, and Noah followed suit, both repeating the phrase "Why bother?!" over and over all the way home...it was greatness!

We drove down to Houston Monday morning, getting there in time for lunch...we were so happy to see Grandpa, Nana and Uncle Kevin! The reunion was great! That night the grandparents took us to the Houston Zoo, that puts up millions of lights all over...the boys really enjoyed that as well...didn't really see any animals, but great light exhibits!

The next morning we were up early for Breakfast with Santa at the Aquarium...where we even saw Santa and his Elf swim with the fish! They had a great time...Drew still talks about it! :)

The boys had a blast playing with Gpa, Nana and Unc Kevin, and Mommy and Daddy enjoyed a break from the usual...even getting in a nap once or twice while we were there! They had fun with all the toys of course, but also with the remote control cars, helicopter, oh, and jumping off the shed in the backyard! Noah had no fear AT ALL and was ready to leap over and over again, as far as he could while Drew was a bit more hesitant, though definitely wanting to keep the game going!

We went to church on Christmas Eve and then home for dinner and presents! The boys did a great job taking turns and enjoyed helping pass gifts out as well. There were too many, and it got late, so we left some for the next day. Drew was up early, but we had to wake Noah up at 8! We went to church again and then back for more...needless to say, we were overwhelmed with generosity and the boys had a huge haul of toys to bring back! It was fun to share in the newness of the toys with those that picked them out, and they also had fun fighting bad guys off in the neighborhood! BOYS!

Nana had some fun crafts to do with the boys on Thursday before we went home, so that was a treat for all. The boys took a decent nap on the way home, and we made it back in time for stockings from Santa, dinner, and then Christmas from Daddy and Mommy! Poor Noah was so tired and a bit burnt out he took some coaxing to participate in it all again, but we had a great time again!

The boys had fun playing with all their new toys on Friday, home with Daddy while Mommy went to work. Then Saturday we went over to the Palmers for our Christmas with them! Another great gathering and time with family! The boys enjoyed playing with their cousins and all the fun that Grandma's house brings for sure! We were pretty tired though after another full day and so 3 Christmases later, we were done...whew!

The boys were so exhausted, they both took crazy long naps on Sunday...we finally had a full day at home! They had a great time with all their toys and then actually went back to Grandma's for Mommy and Daddy to have a dinner date! They had a great time and apparently Drew had quite a few funny things to say like "I eat vegetable because God tells me to eat them!" - it's so funny to see how they process all the things we say to them!

Then it was time to get ready and packed up to head to Iowa for cousin Emily's wedding! We were able to be home the day they shot the gunite for the pool, so the boys enjoyed that, and we were up late once again, packing for our trip!

So New Year's Day we had a decent drive to just North of Kansas City the first day and the drop in temperatures was quite dramatic. It actually started snowing as we got to Kansas City, and Drew asked if we were in the North Pole...for us, it might as well have been! It was SO COLD! We were glad we had planned to stop for the night and after a bit of coaxing and threatening, we were all able to sleep that night. We woke up to a VERY COLD world, and huddled into the car after breakfast, making it to Newhall early afternoon. The boys were so sweet and played really well with Great Grandpa and Grandma Thompson. I'm glad we had that time together, just the 5 of us! Drew was SO talkative, it was quite impressive. A big group came over that night for game night, including Grandpa, Nana and Uncle Kevin arriving. The boys had a great time with all the cousins, enjoying Scott's kids' company dearly! Oh the giggles and good times!

We spent the day at Grandma's (the snow was beautiful, but the wind just didn't stop and it was bitterly cold, so sadly, we didn't get to play!) and then over to Scott's for dinner and more fun playing...they have the BEST toys! Of course they discovered the dart guns quickly and LOVED that, but had a fun time just being with kids that are so kind and loved playing with them all. After dinner we headed to the hotel in Iowa City as the Thompson family converged upon the premises, taking over the bar quickly! :) It was great to see everyone!

The next morning after breakfast, the boys had fun swimming in the indoor pool and then walked to a close restaurant for lunch, playing in the snow on the way there and back (that was all we could handle, it really was WAY TOO COLD!) And before we knew it, it was time to get ready for the wedding. We ended up in the back of the church with us being one of the last families to enter for seating, but that worked out just perfect! Noah just hammed it up the whole time, so it was better we were in the back! We actually ended up in the row in front of the Paul's very good family friends/neighbors growing up, so it was quite enjoyable! Noah put on quite the show for them...not really sure what happened during the ceremony, but Emily and Matt got married, hooray! The reception back at the hotel was incredible and we had a blast. The boys had fun running around on the dance floor before the dancing started, Noah wanted to get on the party bus he saw back at the church, I couldn't get Drew to dance at all, Noah played along for a little bit, Noah LOVED the photo booth, but it was soon time for bed! The party went on and it was fun to chat with the family, though too many to catch up with everyone...it's hard to talk to 64 people all in one night! :)

We rounded out the trip with a nice brunch at the Paul house, for one more stop with the family and then back on the road. The wind was HORRIBLE! Oh, it was SO cold again! The boys did GREAT in the car...they were perfectly content with movie after movie (which was not the case on the drive up) and we were totally ok with that! Matthew was amazing and drove almost the whole way, eating in the car mostly except for a nice stop for dinner and we made it home 1:30 Monday morning...the draw of our own beds and not unpacking/packing up for another night was too much...we made it HOME!

We really had a wonderful time this season, it went by really fast, we were busy for 2 weeks straight it felt like, and happy to be home and getting back to normal...no doubt it will take a few weeks to fully feel recovered!