So Much to be Thankful For

Rob had a weird work schedule the week of Thanksgiving, including working on the day of, so I rode down to Medford with my mom on Monday after my ultrasound (she came up for it). It was a great chance to see everyone that we have been missing and then Rob joined us for the weekend. We visited my old school and classroom at Hoover, part of me misses teaching so it was a little sad but I wouldn't trade all of the time I get with Breckin for anything. My friend and old teaching partner, Chelsea, has my old position and has the room done up so cute. Breckin jumped right in to being a kindergartener and did one of their Thanksgiving art projects and watched a movie an ate popcorn, he looked like such a big guy! Chelsea is also expecting a baby just a month after me, it was fun to catch up. We also dropped by the Waltz's house, where Breckin used to go while I worked, and played with his friend Tyler.


We visited some with Leanne and Andrea, I babysat Andrea since she was a baby, she is so grown up now and Breckin loves all the attention she gives him!

Then we got to snuggle my sweet nephews, Andrew and Eli, our first time seeing them out of the NICU. Breckin liked holding them for a minute but quickly became bored by them. He loved having time to play with his Nina though!



The rest of the weekend was spent with all of my cousins and grandparents, who gave Breckin so much attention, he sure gets spoiled being the only little one around.



And then we spent some time out at Rob's mom's once he arrived. Whew, busy but fun week!

It's a...

Boy! We were a little surprised to find out that we are having another boy, I don't know why we had both been thinking it was a girl. There is no doubt though, when the ultrasound tech moved the wand in between the legs I instantly said, "Is that looking very boyish or am I seeing the umbilical cord?" The tech confirmed that it was definitely boy parts I was seeing! So after letting it all settle in, we are thrilled to be having another boy and think that it will be great for Breckin to have a brother to play with. Most importantly this little guy is very healthy and ACTIVE! During the scan he kept flipping and kicking the wand. I don't remember Breckin moving this much, anytime I am still he is moving, I appreciate it though because it lets me know he is doing well in there. Here are some pics from the scan (20 weeks) and my most recent belly pic (18 weeks).

OMSI

Oma and Opa came up for a weekend and brought Breckin a tool set that he was so excited about. He has come to expect that whenever anyone comes to visit that they will bring him gifts, which has held true so far. Since living up here we had yet to go to OMSI and so we decided to head that way and take advantage of the fact that the Bodies exhibit was currently there. Poor planning on my part resulted in Breckin only getting about a five minute nap in the car and so he was less than agreeable going through the Bodies so I rushed through more quickly than I would have liked while Rob, Oma and Opa took their time. It really was fascinating to see how our bodies are made up in such a real way, Breckin especially liked the giraffe they had, it was huge! To try and keep Breckin from total meltdown, I took him to the children's area and he perked right up. He LOVED the water area and was thoroughly drenched by the time we left, luckily I had a change of pants with me. He also liked the sand area and the woodland where he could collect acorns.

Fall Festivities

This is the first year that Breckin has been aware of Halloween and he was so excited about it! I just really love fall, by far my favorite season, so it has been a really fun month for us. Here is a little bit of what has made it so fun!

To start with, here is my 16 week belly, baby has been very active and we can't wait to find out if we are having a little boy or girl but we have to wait until Thanksgiving week (way too long)!

Our neighborhood has been so beautiful with changing leaves and Breckin and I love going on crunchy leaf walks. Breckin always comes home with a handful of leaves that he calls "nice ones".



Breckin helping mow the lawn in his monster jammies and dragon boots!

I have been cooking up all sorts of fall goodies including applesauce, soup and these wonderful pumpkin muffins with cream cheese frosting and oreo truffles, yum! We tried to give most of them away!

And then for "Howoween" that Breckin was so stoked for! We love the zoo so much and they hosted a great scavenger hunt over the weekend where the kids could wear their costumes and we had to figure out the answers to little riddles and then go to where that animal was. Once you got to each stop you got a stamp and they had fun activities pertaining to that animal. It was great and we all had fun! At the end you turned in all of your stamps and got a goody bag with mostly healthy treats and cute creatures.





Halloween night we went trick-or-treating and Breckin practiced what he was supposed to say all day. He was giddy with excitement and couldn't wait for it to get dark so he could go out so we did some practice runs at our doorstep while we waited. Then we walked the neighborhood for a while to wait for darkness to fall. We assumed that Breckin would get shy and not want to say anything once he got up to houses but he shocked us and confidently went up to each door and and said "trick-or-treat" carefully put the candy in his pumpkin and then "thank you" and "happy howoween". Everyone thought he was just too cute and couldn't believe he was able to say so much (I think most thought he was much younger since he is such a tiny peanut)! Once we finally convinced him to head in he loved handing out candy at the door, although he thought he got to pick candy to add to his bag each time. Overall it was a very fun evening with a lot of excitement!