Half Way Baby!

***This is an old post I never got up-- we have since learned we are having a  BOY!!!***

Since we are officially half way through baking this bundle of goodness, I thought I'd post a pic so I can remember.

I'm sitting here listening to Imagine Dragon's "I'm on Top of the World" with the kids dancing behind me.  It's the second night of dance parties because Glenn has had to work late and we need something to pass the time.  I really love happy music.

Today I began morning walks.  Felt good.

Yesterday I discovered the most amazing Crumb Cake (yes, it deserves capitalization) I've ever had.  Crumb Cake makes me think of my mom.  The last time I saw her, she had driven down to my house with a crumb cake she had over-night shipped in from some state back east for Valentine's day (a pricey feat!)  as a treat for us.  I kept the bag and last piece of that cake for a long time after she passed.

My stomach grows exponentially.  But it is kind of cool.  I can't wait to see this babe via ultrasound TOMORROW!  Wohoo!  We are all immensely excited over here.  The kids pick out names pretty regularly.  Here are some samples if it is a boy (we all think it is, but Jonas wants a girl).  Ali's picks: Scooby, A (that's right, simply the letter A), Bubblepuff.  Jonas: Dundee Wondee, Gundy (Ali says that's a good one), Maddie (yes, still on the boy list here), Bubblebump,  Whungy Whangy, Conol, and Gungee Boingee.  Max: Daniel and Michael.


I say it is cool that my stomach is growing, but let's be honest-- for weeks I have taken to scrolling back over old videos and pictures to remind myself I have not always looked like this and will looks feminine again one day (although, isn't a pregnant belly the most feminine it gets?).

It seems the pregnancy has even crept into the kids' play.  I watched Jonas and Ali on the tramp the other day.  She had a basketball under her stomach and Jonas said "Give me a baby woman!" and hit (not hurting) her back to make the basketball come out. It was pretty hilarious.

I feel the baby move now.  It is odd to think this will be the last time I feel that.  But truthfully, I really love the thought of our family moving forward into this next stage of life together.  Out of the baby stage and into the "We can all go to Disneyland and ride the rides together" stage.   Mercy.  Maybe I romanticize that stage too much, but I have to say that I am beyond thrilled for it!

The kids are amazing. Last night for family home evening, Ali picked the song (the ABC's) and sat down to the piano to accompany us.  We played " I caught_____ being good" and they glowed under every word of praise. The dance party was adorable.  I love that Ali still wants to dance with me.  One day she will be embarrassed by me, but for now- she loves it.

My boys are slightly obsessed with video games. Which is ironic because we don't have video games (we do have apps on the ipad they earn time for).  Skylanders seems to be a BIG hit and I know we'll eventually get one for them.  For now though, I want them to live real life.  Coloring the paper airplanes, making notes to each other, playing with the new archery set we bought (it rocks!), jumping on the tramp with all the plastic balls on it...  I'm just not ready to share them with a video game.  Still, Jonas spends a good deal of the day telling me about this level or that on a game he played here or there.

I really love family.  I have picked up ancestry.com for a hobby and I love seeing the names, the people.  I love seeing little details from the census that tell their story.  This one is a dress maker, that one is a railroad baggage man, another is the post master.  Seeing women's list of how many children they have had, and how many are still living. That always pulls at my heart.   Seeing the new countries begin to pop up in the line-- Sweden, Germany, Ireland...  I especially love the Swedish.  I look like a Swede, not to mention my stubborn streak :).

Family just intrigues me.  I do really love it.

I think that's enough rambling for today!

*Here are a few shots Glenn and I have taken for a friend's photo contest blog.  She lists 8 words each month, then you take pictures of anything that represents those words to you.  It is really fun!

Glenn... Earth (he also won this month with this photo!  Wohoo!)

Glenn... I can't remember the word for this one.

Glenn... Play

Glenn... Vision (we LOVE our archery set!)

Earth... yea, it was a bit of a stretch for the word.

Orange

Vision

Easter Fun

We were so lucky this year to have Ty and Kim in from Vegas for Easter (plus a couple awesome birthdays!).  We had a great time with a Dreamworks tour, cousins on the trampoline, dying Easter eggs, birthday cakes, Easter egg and basket hunting and a trip to Portos.  It was such a blessing to have them--  they have one cute crew!

Love Max's face int his one.  You can tell how he feels about his basket being hid high in a tree.
"Just to remind you, I can't climb trees you know!"

He Rocked It!

After months of diligent training-- hills, 12 mile runs, electrolyte drinks-- Glenn rocked his Agoura Hills Half Marathon this past Sat.  He kept a great pace and we were beyond proud of him.  He pushed through some pain and even bruised feet to come in with a time that paced him about a 10 minute mile---  which is AMAZING, especially considering the hills that man had to run.  As we drove back to his car, I just kept saying "you ran these hills???"

It was really cool to watch someone I already loved and admired make and keep a hard goal like this.

It was pretty hard to be there on race day having not participated.  After our two 10 K's this year, it really would have been sweet to run this one together.  We're hoping to do that another day ("Once I forget the pain" Glenn says.  He's probably already forgotten knowing the eternal optimist he is!).

We were SO lucky to catch Glenn on this part-- we had been told the race started a half hour later than it did, so we had predicted a totally different time for him to arrive! We had only been there two minutes when this handsome guy came running up the hill.

His cute cheering squad!

Again, we were blessed!  We got to this corner RIGHT as Glenn came running by to cross the finish line.  Ten seconds  later and we would have missed his big moment!

Checking out Max's darling poster... he even included hidden pictures with a clue key on it :).

Ta-Da! He was AMAZING!

He might have been a little tired afterwards....

My Girl

Ali went through a stage where she wanted to play a tossing game a lot.  Every time,  before we were allowed to begin, we had to put those hats on.  I love that look on her face! 

Ali has become a full-fledged girl.  

Playing dollies, princess tea parties, dress-up, restaurant,  talking about getting married, painting nails, on and on.  This may seem like no big deal, but this is a change.  She was pretty much our little tom-boy tagging along with the boys until about 6 months ago. For some reason the boys and she made a bit of a split during their playtime.  When the boys went out, I was their replacement.  Funny thing, I find it a lot more fun to play the girl games than I did the boy ones :).  It's a pretty fun time to be her buddy.  I suppose a little of the tom-boy remains, she now prefers blue over pink because it was Jonas' favorite color...

 

It's About Time....

Dear Heidi.

You inspired me to finally post something.  Here are a million pictures- in anything but chronological order...  

A home-improvement project... putting shelves in our storage room . Glenn rocked it.
 I LOVE having shelving in there now!

Jonas' new favorite buddy-- his Dreamlite.
He asked me to take this picture of the two of them.  I love how ecstatic he can get about little things :).

Glenn's birthday!   Yeah, it was a little lame... I had gotten horribly sick that week so the best I could do was decorate, make a couple special meals, and have some gifts ready.  Usually we have an experience together (and I was planning a party for him), but that just wasn't possible this year.... sigh.  This picture makes me feel guilty.  We sure love this guy. Maybe we'll throw a happy half-birthday...

Oh, he is growing so fast.  And so handsome.  Sometimes I can't believe it happens this quickly.

Annual Gingerbread House making.  Yes, we go with the pre-fab kits.  I love those things. 

My birthday morning.  Nothing so perfect as having your favorite people around.

Max made me a Lego house for my birthday.  It was fun to sit in the morning light and play together.

For my birthday I was spoiled!  Glenn decorated so well and our amazing friends the Roans made  me a surprise dinner that was fantastic.  It was lovely!

CHRISTMAS!
*It was just our small family this year for Christmas morning, while getting to enjoy Michael and his family for Christmas Eve in their hotel room in San Diego.  IT WAS SO PERFECT. Family talent show followed by reading Luke 2.  We loved it all.  Well, minus the food poisoning we got from Marie Calendar's...

We got to have Micheal and Danielle's family stay with us a few days after Christmas.  HOW WE LOVE THEM!  

Editing our funny voice-over movie from the train station :)

Ali's 3!  She wanted a My Little Ponies cake.  She has already assigned us to do the same thing next year, but this time with a full bodied horse... :)  We adore this little girl-- her spunk and charm, intelligence, cuddles, and helpful ways.  She is independent and oh-so-perfect.  I am so glad she is ours!

Just because he cracks me up!  What would life be without this boy?  A lot less fun, I'm sure of that :).

Ali painted my nails!  She picked blue nail polish... her new favorite color. She was so proud. This was one of those sweet moments getting to be girly with my daughter. 

Oh, isn't she darling?!  My Aunt Kathy made this dress and we LOVE it.  I've been trying it on for half a year to see when it would fit.  Ali felt like a queen in a full length skirt.   

We were so lucky to have Grandma and Grandpa Harmon with us for Thanksgiving!  Seriously, isn't that love?  They came to see us despite the vast majority of their kids being in Utah for the holiday.  We felt utterly spoiled.  They came with their bags packed with fun-- puzzles to make, Chocolate Turkey Cupcakes to make, books and books to read, and fun games to play.  They are fantastic!  We could always keep them for a week longer-- or a year!  They made the holiday such a joy.

Such a cool Grandma!

Scott and Shawna came to visit!!!!  We felt so spoiled to get them for a couple days of their Cali trip.
We love these people!!!

                                 

                                                 I love this one.