The Big THREE!

I swear I was just writing about his first birthday! And now he's 3...

Potty trained, sleeping in a big boy bed/room, can dress himself, say please and thank you, sing songs, tell me stories... Oh he's not my baby anymore : (

The LAST little thing I hold onto is my ability to pick him up still, which is close to not being possible. Somehow 6 months pregnant in a dress and heels I still can manage to carry him into to school each morning. Chris thinks I'm insane, but how can I stop holding my baby?? Yes he's a 30+lb baby, that's half my height, but he's MY baby! I'm gonna pick him up until I can't anymore. Of course, I won't put me or our baby girl in danger, but I'll decide when it's too much for me.

Well onto the big birthday, this one was the best so far. Each year Xander gets a better understanding of what his birthday is, and this year he totally got it! For weeks we used the, "If you don't do _______, you can't have a birthday party!", now what am I going to use now? haha He woke up the morning of cheering, "Yay! It's my birthday party today!" then we cuddled and he let me rock him for 15 minutes straight, while I softly sang him Happy Birthday over and over and over. It breaks my heart to think I can barely rock him like that anymore. He's going to be a big boy just like his daddy.

Of course I kept with my yearly tradition and made him a cake. This year he got to request what kind of cake he wanted for the first time, and surprise surprise, he wanted a Cars cake.

I think I did a pretty good job on this one. It was definitely my favorite. My first time working with fondant, and I LOVED it. I look forward to making more complicated cakes with it in the future.

Xander loved the cake too. He was VERY concerned that the cars were getting cold in the fridge while waiting for the party and kept sneaking peaks to check on them. He did actually eat some cake this time, although only one bite, then mommy made him take 3 more before presents. Is it bad that I have to beg my kid to eat a peice of cake? haha I really am SO thankful for having a little man that enjoys eating healthy.

As far as gifts go, we knew that Xander would get everything he wanted and more, so we thought long and hard about what Mom and Dad should get for him. We finally decided our present to him would be a "Big Boy" room. Since we moved in April we haven't really spent time on his room yet. He still had alot of "baby" stuff hanging around. So we got him new sheets, blankets, decorative pillows, lamp, toy organizer, rug, even super cute wall stickers, ALL Cars themed! I don't have any pictures yet, cuz the sheets didn't fit, BUT I will post them when the room is totally done, probably next week. We even set up his tv and dvd player, though we are not bending on the "no t.v. in bed" rule anytime soon.

Onto the pictures...

Waiting, ummm, "patiently" to have cake

Singing Happy Birthday

Getting embarrassed when everyone starts singing (he made me blow out the candle again this year, I begged him, but he kept saying, "you do it mom" finally with the wind, I gave in...


Happy to FINALLY get what he wanted, no not the cake, the cars off the cake!

Opening presents!

This is the ONLY time in his life I think he'll be this excited about receiving underwear for his birthday!

No more presents : (

Back home enjoying the good life...


I'd say it was a pretty good 3rd birthday for the little man.

The Miracle of Modern Technology

Last week when I went for my 20 weeks anatomy scan I was lucky enough to also take home a few great 3D photos of our baby girl. It's amazing what you can see. I also posted Xander's 30 weeks 3D photo to show as comparision.

We never got a great shot of her face, but as you notice in the first picture you can see eyes and her sucking on her little thumb:

In this second picture you can see her face almost perfectly! See that nose? It's the same as Xander's! It's amazing that she already looks so perfect!

A new chapter...

Our family is about to begin a new chapter, and after a long break I think it's time I started posting weekly again. Our lives change so quickly it is so easy to let it pass us by. We are blessed to be adding to our family this year and I want to make sure I don't miss a moment of this very exciting, yet very busy time in our lives!
Our little one is due December 1st, 2011. I am 20 weeks pregnant today, and yesterday we were overjoyed to find out that we will be having a baby GIRL! We are all thrilled about this addition to our family.

Xander is excited about the idea. He knows there is a baby in mommy's tummy, but he does occasionally ask if he has a baby in his tummy too. At first he was VERY concerned that it would be much too dark for the baby in my stomach and that they baby would be scared. After he attempted to convince me to swallow a flashlight for the baby, we had a long talk about how the baby likes the dark right now. He has made a couple attempts to look in my mouth for the baby as well, shinging a flashlight in my mouth hoping he could see something! It's pretty cute. Now he's come to the realization that the baby is in there and he can't see it, and as my belly grows each day he talks to the baby more . He says good morning and good night baby every day. He is mostly excited about getting to be a big brother. I'm not sure he knows exactly what a big brother is but he knows that his daddy is a big brother too so that really helped get him excited about it.

As far as the pregnancy goes, I'm doing great. The first few months were filled with endless days of morning sickness, but as I entered the 2nd trimester things finally calmed down. I've got some energy back and am hoping to take advantage of it while I can and try to get the baby's room ready. We moved in March so we have an empty room just waiting for our little one to arrive. I am probably most excited because I get to decorate and be girly for once, I think the amount of testrone in the house was getting to me! haha I'm thrilled to think pink!

Other exciting upcoming events include: Xander turning 3 next weekend! We are planning a "Cars" party, complete with a Lightning MacQueen cake (if mommy can pull it off that is). He is VERY excited about this birthday. I think he finally understands what a birthday is. He can show you and tell you he is turning 3, which is adorable of course.

We are also planning our annual trip to Michgian. Xander has been asking since last year when we will go back to Michigan. I think he really loves it there, as much as his mommy and daddy do. This year all three of us are going and very excited about it. It's been a couple years since Chris has been able to go with us so this year is extra special. I am a bit nervous about flying, but I will be around 27 weeks and the doctor assures me I will be fine. It will be our last trip as a family of 3!

Well I will share more next week, hope everyone is having a wonderful week and is as blessed as we are!

- Crystal