A little celebration dance

E. had his last soccer game this past weekend. He has been wanting a hat trick for a few weeks and this week he actually did it. Tyler took about twenty videos during the game and captured two of his goals. Note the "celebration dance" after his third goal. We were cracking up.





This was his first season playing soccer and he had so much fun that he doesn't want to try any of the other sports. So, right now, the plan is to sign him up for fall soccer. (Pending Baby Sparks arrival, of course. Not sure how up I will be for all of the practices and games with a newborn in tow!) Here is a picture of E.'s team after the game, ending with a record of 5-1-2.


Down on the farm
Earlier in the week, the kids and I went to a place called Suson Farm. (Basically, a small farm with farm animals. Very important for the city folk, who don't know what things like sheep are!) While we were there, the oddest thing happened. At the far end of the farm they have a bull, somewhat near the pasture for the horses, donkey, and mule. The bull almost scared us because he just carried on the whole time we were there ... stomping, snorting, etc. Well, a group of high school girls walked up to see the horses and immediately the horses, the donkey, and the mule all ran over to them. Very odd when there were 5-10 people already at the fence--including us--who didn't peak their interest at all for the prior 10 minutes. But the really peculiar thing was that one of the high school girls shrieked, "Oh, a cow!" and went prancing and mooing--literally!--over toward the bull. One of her friends laughed and said, "She really likes cows. She has a special connection with them." Yeah, special connection or not, that was one angry bull! The next thing I know, I don't hear the bull making a sound. I turned around, fully expecting to see him try and charge her, but he is up at the fence letting this mooing girl pet him! It was like he became a little puppy dog. So bizarre. If a cable network is ever looking for a cow whisperer, she would be just the person!

Packing it on

I received some bad news. I went to the doctor and found out that I gained 10 lbs this past month! (Let's not break that down to how much I was packing on each week.) I suspected that my "fat feeling" wasn't just a feeling! I do normally have at least one double digit weigh-in with each pregnancy; I was just really hoping to avoid it this time around. The really stinky part is that this 10 lbs probably isn't fluid and a significant portion isn't baby, so these pounds will be hanging around for quite awhile after delivery. Maybe I should start planning my post-pregnancy workout schedule now. [Thinking long and hard ...] Nah!

Trip to Ohio
The kids and I spent Memorial Day weekend with my family. We haven't seen them since Christmas, so the long weekend and my nephew's 8th birthday party gave us a good excuse to make the trip. Unfortunately my fanatical weather-checking obsession didn't rear its ugly head and I packed for 70 degree weather while upper-80/90 degree weather was dished out. Regardless of the heat and the plethora of capri pants on hand, the kids had a great time playing outside, cooling off on a Slip-n-Slide, and having sleepovers with their cousins. And until our very long drive home, I had a great time too.

One humorous note was that once we got off of the interstate on our trip in, we saw quite a few farmers out working the fields. S. was so intrigued by the tractors. I hadn't thought about the fact that she probably didn't remember ever seeing tractors before. So I told her that maybe she would get to ride on Papa's tractor. To the joy of the kids, Papa had saved mowing his side field until we were in town.


There was a pinata at the birthday party and P. was chosen to be the first to take some swings. She could have hit that thing all day without making a dent, but she sure had fun trying!



On our last morning there, we got E. up and going on a bicycle. We bought him a new bike a few months back but don't have any flat land around us for practicing. So one of my big goals for the weekend was to get him on his cousin's bike and get him going. After a handful of bailouts in the grass, he was doing great. Next feat: teach him how to turn and, most importantly, stop!

Off to see the wizard

Tyler came home with a stethoscope from the hospital this week. He listened to our heartbeats and then the kids took a turn. Today, while trying to listen to my own heartbeat, one of my fears was confirmed--I apparently have no heart. Sadly, this explains quite a lot.

Gender revealed!

Baby Sparks "cooperated" today at our 20-week ultrasound. We took the kids with us so that we could all see the baby on the monitor. It was fun to see the baby and surprising how much the ultrasound shots of the face resembled E.'s ultrasound pics. (Hopefully that doesn't mean that E.'s allergy, asthma, eczema, and eye problems will also be present!)

For all of you moms, isn't it interesting that they make you wait until the end of the ultrasound before they reveal the baby's gender? Granted, we aren't there to just find out if we are having a boy or a girl--we know that is just a perk of the visit--but wouldn't it be nice if they told us right away so that we didn't have to wait eagerly for 30 minutes? I could have stopped straining my eyes at every bottom shot and enjoyed seeing the baby's bottom! But at least the shots we got of the bottom were conclusive--we are having a girl!

Everyone was excited except for one little guy that was really hoping for a brother. He didn't exactly cry, but he wasn't jumping for joy either. Maybe a male turtle or fish would suffice. ;)

And due to popular demand (yes, all TWO of you!), here is my preggo profile pic. Unfortunately, those pants probably won't fit me in two weeks. A bummer; they sure are comfy. (And if anyone is concerned about how we are going to keep a baby alive when our plants in the background are practically dead, don't worry, I am repotting them tomorrow. Hopefully they bounce back--they are the only plants we have been able to keep alive since we have been married!)

To post or not to post

We have our 20-week ultrasound on Wednesday. While we are interested to know how the baby is developing, we are mainly eager to find out the gender of our newest addition. With this milestone, I have been debating whether or not I should take a "preggo picture" to post on this blog. I mean, one pregnancy profile picture wouldn't kill me, right? At the same time, I have no interest in looking at myself getting bigger any more than I have to, so why would anyone else? It is already hard enough to bend over and walk up the steps, so should I have to injure my ego too?

So what do y'all think? To post or not to post? That is the question. Let me know what you think!

Chocolate fix fixed

I found myself eating straight out of a bag of chocolate chips last night, so I decided to make something with the chocolate in an attempt to eat less of it. After a quick cookbook scan, I chose Puppy Chow. I don't think I have made the stuff since Tyler and I have been married! The kids thoroughly enjoyed it and P. proceeded to liquefy her portion. What does liquefied Puppy Chow look like? Glad you asked. Glad you asked.


This picture hardly does it justice. Perhaps I should have taken a full-body shot. She somehow managed to suck all of the sweet coating off of the Chex and then deposited the soggy Chex onto her legs. As I was cleaning her up, most of the Chex fell onto the floor where the dog was eagerly awaiting a treat. He turned up his nose at it. What a picky dog! (I will have to add soggy Chex to the list of foods he doesn't eat, including Cheerios--perhaps he has a distaste for cereal?--any fruit, jello, and green vegetables.) So there I was, wiping down the floor of soggy Chex as P. gleefully ran from the room on her newly acquired sugar high. Perhaps eating straight from the chocolate chip bag is the better late-night option.

My spontaneous moment

I am not a spontaneous person. Scheduling something two days in advance is spontaneous to me. But when I saw the great forecast on Tuesday morning and knew that my husband needed to sleep all day to recover from his back-to-back midnight shifts, I decided to get out of the house with the kids. And, thankfully, it was a good decision. So much so that I might even try being spontaneous again, but not any time soon!

With numerous options open, we decided to go to a local attraction called Grant's Farm. S. absolutely loved it and just kept saying, "I love this, Mom!" We have been there numerous times since moving here, but E. was the only one who remembered visiting. We rode the tram, watched the elephant show, brushed the goats, and saw some really cool animals. (Grandpa, we even saw a 5 week old mustang!)

I tried a few times for a group photo. P. was more interested in finding her water bottle though!

At the elephant show.
In the goat pen. There are easily over 100 young goats in there! I try not to think about where the goats go when they outgrow this area ... because there are no other goats located on the farm. Goat cheese ... goat meat ... glue ... maybe a secret ingredient in Budweiser ... ewww.
A free-roaming peacock that met us out on the road as soon as we arrived on the tram. It was stunning!
After gathering up his courage, a video of E. feeding a camel. S. wouldn't even think of it--she was certain he would bite!


At the zoo
While Grant's Farm is pretty cool, we also like visiting the zoo. We went one day back in March when the temperature reached 70 degrees. We were there with thousands of other people ... on a Wednesday morning at that! But going early on a spring morning yielded a lot of active animal encounters. One of our favorite parts was the penguins. We had just watched Happy Feet the week before and the penguins were very chatty during their breakfast. Again, S. was amazed. It is like she is discovering the world and everything is really coming to life for her.

With the penguins.


On the carousel. Can you catch a glimpse of Ty and the kids?







P. speaks
P. is becoming quite the little talker. She will come into the room, walk up to me, and proceed to tell me a story about ... well, something! Just this week she said S.'s full name for the first time. She can also say the dog's full name and is now choosing what she would like to eat and wear by pointing at her choice and saying, "that one." It is really cute. She also follows the dog around the house telling him, "no, no, no." Chester doesn't think that is so cute. It is amazing how fast she is growing up and how her personality is really emerging.