What is it???

I am so confused!! The entire first half of this pregnancy, I thought I was for sure having another little boy. Now, however, my feelings have switched and I feel like it could be a girl. Yes, Erick and I chose not to find out what we're having...we want the surprise since we know it's our last. I was actually so convinced I was having another boy, that I was going to buy some "blue" stuff and stash it away. I guess I'll have to wait until October now!

Why I think it might be a boy:
-face broke out real bad at first like it did with Will
-had little to none morning sickness like I did with Will (I was "sick as a dog" with Natalie)
-craved some of the same things I did with Will
-the way I was carrying (straight out in front) the first 20 wks. was like I did with Will
-lots of back pain like I had during Will's pregnancy
-lots of kicking going on in there...just like it did with Will

Why I think it might be a girl:
-I have started carrying this baby like I did Nat (more rounded...not straight out)
-I have started retaining fluid and gaining weight quicker like I did with Natalie
-At my appt. on Tuesday, my OB looked back at my charts and said this pregnancy seems to be
resembling Natalie's more than Will's
-The heart-rate has been consistently high (usually a girl...it was that way with Nat)
-Chinese Lunar Calendar: In 2001 it said Nat would be a boy...WRONG! In 2004, it said Will
would be a girl...WRONG! Now, for 2007, it says this one will be a boy...will it be WRONG
again?!?
-Having killer heartburn like I had with Natalie!

So your guess is as good as mine! If you would like to take a guess, please feel free to comment at the end of this post! I am curious as to other's opinions on this. Who knows? Maybe we'll all pool our money and make a bet out of this!! Ha!

Fathers Day 2007

Happy Fathers Day 2007!

We had a great day yesterday going to my parents' church in Dallas and then we all headed to Pappadeaux's for lunch.

Below is the #1 daddy at our house. The kiddos love and adore him (as do I)! For his special gift, we gave him a winemaking kit in order to make some Italian Sangiovese wine (it makes about 30 bottles). I can't wait to try the wine (although it will be a while)!

This was picture #1 that I took of the 3 of them yesterday morning...

This is picture #5 I took of them yesterday morning...I gave up on getting the perfect shot! They sure look cute, though!

Here is the whole gang at Pappadeaux's for lunch yesterday. Starting with Will in the center-front and going clockwise around...my dad, my brother, my mom, Natalie (leaning back), my mother-in-law, my father-in-law (just peeking out) and Erick. We had a good time and some great food! I hope all the "Fathers" had a great day!

Potty Party

Will got to participate in a "Mida Family Tradition" this past Thursday evening. We went to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate his "potty successes" of the last two weeks. Will seems to have FINALLY got the potty-thing down...we have been having lots of rewards and treats! Thursday was an super-excellent day for him, so we decided to head to Chuck E. Cheese for dinner (just like we did with Nat when she was going through this 3 1/2 years ago). Chuck E. Cheese is always the Mida's ultimate reward for a fabulous day of going to the potty!

Of course, we had some pizza and salad first. Although, Will was jumping up and down in his seat begging to go play games and ride rides!

Will had a blast playing games! He loved getting the tickets and saving them up (he's my little hoarder). And, he didn't have any accidents while we were out...yea!!!! We are so proud of you Will!

My Little Fishies

The kiddos finished a two week course of swim lessons this past week. Natalie needed some serious refreshing and basic skills help and this was Will's first experience with swim lessons. They both did awesome and grew so much more comfortable in the water during the two weeks. They took their lessons at an indoor facility in Plano...Emler Swim School. I would HIGHLY recommend it to anyone! They are huge believers in positive reinforcement...lots of praise and rewards. Natalie was in a class with two other girls. She was "chatty-patty" the whole time! She started wearing goggles because one of the other girls did...now, when we go to the pool, she has to have them.

Below is a picture of Natalie and her instructor, Mr. Devon. She started out with Ms. Tracey, but she left after one week due to illness. They were both wonderful and Natalie seemed to really respond to both! By the end of her two weeks, Natalie could swim (head under) one length of the pool, float on her back, and do the doggie paddle one length of the pool. This is fabulous progress considering she really didn't like to put her face in at the start of the two weeks!

This is Will with his instructor, Mr. John. Will cried the whole first week. He would go to class and participate, but he whined the whole time and didn't seem to be enjoying himself. Then, the next Monday we went in, he started to do great...he seemed to be having fun and he was anxious to go and get in the water! Mr John said Will probably realized that he wasn't going to let anything bad happen to him (trust factor) and then he was able to relax and enjoy himself.

By the end of the two weeks, will could go about 8 or so seconds under the water holding his breath, he could get up and down out of the pool by himself (crucial), and he could do a 5-second "rough" swim under the water (with the instructor guiding his head).

"WE DID IT!" This is a picture of the kiddos celebrating their last day. They were so excited because they got a t-shirt and a ribbon for completing their class! Will asked if we could celebrate with lunch at "Taco Bana"...that would be Taco Cabana. Mommy and Daddy never say no to Taco Cabana...so off we went!

Half Baked

I am 21 weeks pregnant today. My little one is just a tad bit over "half baked!"

I am really starting to stick out...it's hard for the baby to have anywhere else to go but out when you are only 5' 2" tall. I am already getting the comments of "You must be due any day now" and "Wow! You look big to have so far to go." Lovely, isn't it?!

I thought I would bravely share a belly shot (clothed, of course).

Last Days of School (belated)

Natalie has been out of school two weeks now and Will has been out for three weeks. I thought I'd go ahead and post some pictures from each of their last days of school (better late than never). Both of them missed the majority of their last weeks due to illness. Will made it back for his last day and Nat made it back for the last day and a half. Here are the pictures starting with Will.

Will's last day was Friday, May 18th. He has attended his Mother's Day Out program for the past two years. His wonderful teachers pictured below taught his 1 year old class and his 2 year old class this year. They are so special to us...we love you Mrs. Monica and Mrs. Alice! We are really going to miss them next year when Will joins Natalie at LCA.

To celebrate Will's last day, we headed to the snow cone stand after we picked his sister up from school. Luckily, the crowds weren't too big (this place is ALWAYS hoppin' during the warm weather) and we were able to get our cool treats!

This is Will enjoying his "White Hawaiian" snow cone...coconut and cream! YUMMY!

Here is Natalie on her last day...May 25th. I cannot believe she will be in kindergarten this coming fall. She had a fabulous year in PK5 thanks to Mrs. Redden (seen in picture below). What a great woman...an excellent teacher, encourager, and Christian example for my little girl! We will miss her sooo much next year when she heads to another school in the area to teach kindergarten. We wish her the best!

Natalie received two awards the last day of school. One from the librarian for "excellent library behavior" and one from Mrs. Redden for being the "best hug giver." Natalie was so thrilled to get this special recognition!

The theme for Nat's class party on the last day was a "Pancake Party." And guess who the world's best pancake flipper is?!? Erick got nominated to cook all the pancakes for the kiddos and he did a wonderful job. Look at that griddle...8 flapjacks at a time...those kiddos were scarfin' them down!

To celebrate Nat's last day of school, we headed out to a baseball game that evening (we have a local minor league team). We had no sooner picked up our hot dogs and cokes, then it started to rain (see next picture).

Luckily, we had prepared for the rain with umbrellas and ponchos. We waited for about an hour and then they called the game. The kiddos seemed a bit dissappointed, but playing in the rain was fun too! We are going to go to another game tomorrow night...we are praying there will be no rain to keep us from the fun, food and festivities!

Sista got a new shirt!

I found this shirt for Natalie
this past weekend at Canton.
For those of you who know Nat,
you KNOW how appropriate
this shirt is!!!

Sono Pictures

This past Tuesday (5/29) we had our 20 week sono. Everything looked fabulous! The heartbeat was strong, the organs looked great and the baby measured right on track for a mid-October birth! We held out and did not find out the sex...I know everyone thought I would cave at the last minute and find out...but, I resisted. This pregnancy is going by so fast, we will meet our little bubba or sissy so very soon! I am going to share a few of the best pictures from the sono below (with some helpful commentary for those of you who are not used to looking at sono pics).

This first one is of the baby looking right at you. The head is on the left side of the picture and the abdomen is on the right side. The two dark spots at the top of the head are the eyes and you can somewhat make out it's nose and mouth below. This is a side-view of the baby. You can see one of it's arms right in front of it's face. You can see the other hand sticking out right above the head.

This is a fabulous shot of the baby's ribs and spine! You can see the tail-end of the spine on the right side of the picture.

I think this last picture is so neat! The baby extended it's leg fully and the sonographer got a great shot! The foot is on the left side of the screen...the leg extends all the way up to it's bottom on the right side of the picture. My baby's already getting cramped in there and needed to do a little stretching!