Visitors from Colorado

Yay! Nana came out to visit and spent her whole spring break with us. The kids were so excited! We had a great week. Patrick and I got to have a just the two of us overnight excursion, and I got to leave the house on my own a few times - what a treat! Nana and the kids loved every minute of just reading, playing and spending time together. Mom and I also got a lot of fabric shopping and quilt design done for my new little niece, who John and Linde are expecting in April.

Some of the fun things we did during the week:

finger paints - always a favorite

A recent hobby - Legos! The kids are starting to get the idea of creative building. I love seeing them spread out all over the table - it reminds me of being a kid and building with my brothers on our huge basement table. =)

On Thursday evening Dad arrived, to spend a day with us before both he and Mom headed down to Alexandria for a quick weekend of quality time with Cameron & Amanda (we all have to get in as much as we can now, before they leave the country for a while). We all went out to dinner at the Olive Garden - Grandpa and Elijah totally agree on the greatness of the Olive Garden - and had a wonderful time.

sharing animal cracker "appetizers"

Both kids ordered - what else? - fettuccine alfredo ("noodles and white sauce"), and requested that they add red peppers. We had a very helpful and understanding server. =)

Reading with Grandpa

The kids really enjoyed having a day with Grandpa (Molly's favorite "silly guy," who she is now calling "Gramps," since she has to have a nickname for everyone she loves - her other grandparents are "Nan," "Bob" and "Pops"). We had a lazy morning with lots of reading with Grandpa, took Nana & Grandpa to Patrick's office to see the campus, and stopped to look at the house we're currently in process with. We had a great week with Nana, and a great day with Grandpa, and we're so glad that they could come out to Pennsylvania. We can't wait to see them again soon!

Who needs sleep?

As per normal, E was not going to sleep once he was in his bed. I went up to encourage him to shut his eyes. When asked what he was doing, he responded, "But Daddy, I don't like to sleep. I wanna stay up and play around all night."

Excellent.

:)

First day of spring!

Sunday was the first official day of spring, which means (around here, anyway) free Rita's! We went out and met Danny, Lorrie, and the kids to celebrate the new season and share our fun treat. We all had a great time despite the long line, and enjoyed our ices despite the chilly weather. It was a sunny day, and warm enough for the kids inside the van, and we loved getting a little spur of the moment cousin time.

Elijah chose the birthday cake flavor (um, yuk), and Molly had chocolate.

I think the rest of us mostly were smart enough to get fruit flavors. Danny tried the iced coffee flavor and liked it.

Evan's was cotton candy flavor. (Again, yuk. But they're four. What do you expect?)

Yay for a fun (free!) spring treat!

IT'S A BOY!

Patrick and I got to go to my 20-week ultrasound yesterday morning.

The big question was answered right away - we're having another boy! We are thrilled (Patrick actually yelled when we found out) and excited to be able to start thinking of names and designing a quilt. I always feel so much more connected to the little one I'm carrying around once I can feel them kicking and know whether to call them "him" or "her." (I just can't stand calling a baby "it.")

It was amazing to see our baby in all his tiny perfectness - great views of the four chambers of his heart beating and pumping blood, and resting (for a moment - he sure is an active little guy!) with his arms above his head - just like big brother Elijah does when he sleeps. We are so thankful that he is healthy and all is well.

We were a little nervous to tell Molly - she has been quite sure that the baby would be a girl - but she accepted the news without any signs of being upset, and seems to be adjusting to the idea of having a baby brother. Knowing the gender also seems to be helping the kids imagine what having a baby is going to be like, and they both seem much more inclined to love him now. My belly has been rubbed much more often now, and more tenderly, to say hi to little brother.

Kiss me, I'm Irish!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

from our wee leprechauns ...

Elijah's favorite part of the day was calling out, "Kiss me, I'm Irish!" And, of course, fun food.

Green, shamrock pancakes (not the best shaped pancakes ever) ...

and green bagels.

Confessions from a week on our own

Well, not quite a week, although five days has felt more like two weeks ...

Patrick has been at a conference. He's gone for a night or two fairly regularly (not super fun), but these longer trips (once or twice a year) are hard for all of us. I did feed the kids mac & cheese twice in less than a week, and let them watch a lot more TV than normal, and missed a few baths, but we also had some good times. Art projects are always a big hit and we spent one whole morning painting with finger paints and then water colors. One night we got a movie from the library and ate popcorn for dinner in our PJs. And we all survived. But we are so glad that Patrick is coming home this afternoon!

Some pictures

Sorry about the lack of posting and pictures lately. Nothing very exciting has been going on, the kids were sick and we've just been busy with everyday things. But here are a few of the random here-and-there pictures we've taken since our last random photo post:

This one was actually taken last October when we stopped to visit Cameron & Amanda. Amanda took this very cute picture of me and my boy. (Can you tell that we had been at the beach? Holy freckles, Batman!)

Valentine's Day lunch - heart-shaped PB&J

This is Molly's almost daily uniform - her tutu and her beloved pink hat. With her favorite rain boots, she's a super hero. Without, she's a ballerina. Here she was dancing for Daddy.

Two little dancers, showing off their twirling skills.

Playing - she loves her Jessie backpack, too.

They both just love to do puzzles.

College

Elijah: "Dear God, Thank you that Mama and Daddy were good today. And please help the baby to grow up big and strong so it can go to college."

I'm not silly

I was getting Molly ready for bed the other day and having a good time while doing so. She was being funny and I asked, "Are you silly?"

Her response was simple, "I'm not silly, I'm just crazy."