Pumpkin patches and parties

We had a little Halloween party with some of Megan and Gabby's friends this morning and they had so much fun! The kids played, made crafts, ate cupcakes and lots of snacks! The mom's had lots of snacks too. The kids all came dressed up in their costumes and they all looked so cute. Megan was so excited to be able to wear her costume today...and can't wait for Friday.We have gone to two more pumpkin patches since my last post!! Jeff said we are going to be pumpkin patch experts:) My mom and I took the girls to a little pumpkin patch and corn maze here in town last week. Gabby would not sit still long enough to take pictures, but they loved the corn maze and ran around in there for awhile.Then last Saturday, we went with some friends to a pumpkin patch about an hour away at Davison Orchards. Mom and I went there in the summer and it was a great place. I heard that it's lots of fun to go there around halloween. We went on a tractor ride through the pumpkin patch. The kids liked to look at all the animals in the petting zoo and, of course, the playground was a big hit! They were making homemade donuts there and we could not resist them!!
On Sunday, I went out to run some errands in the afternoon by myself...and it was so nice to do things without the kids. I can't believe how fast it is to just run into a store, because with the girls it's getting them both unbuckled from their seats and carrying one and holding one hand...
Anyways, when I got home Jeff and the girls were outside playing, so we ended up raking some leaves because it was such nice weather! Megan was such a big helper and loved to put the leaves in the bag...Gabby helped too!!Last night, we went to Derek and Colleen's for dinner and to carve pumpkins! The dinner was great and the guys had fun carving pumpkins, while the mom's watched the kids. Megan wanted daddy to carve Mickey Mouse this year...he did Dora last year!! He is so creative and does such a good job.I am going to take the girls to the mall for some trick or treating on Friday afternoon and then in the evening Jeff and I will take them around our cul-de-sac. It should be fun!! The girls just looks so adorable in their costumes:) I will put pictures of them in their costumes after Friday.

Oh, and one last thing...I got a funny phone call this afternoon. I entered a contest on GlobalTV last week for a "unique eye contest". They wanted photos of unique eyes and if you were one of the top ten you won a prize for $1000 to Iris Optical. I have this neat picture of mine and my brother's eye and so I thought "what the heck" I'll send it in. And today a lady from GlobalTV called and said I was one of the top 10!!!! Now we get a shopping spree on glasses?!?!?! I think we will get some nice sunglasses. Anyways, I was pretty excited to have won a contest. Oh, and here's the winning photo...

Loving Fall...

The leaves have started to fall off the trees in our backyard now and it's really starting to feel like Fall. I can't believe that it's almost the end of October now! The girls have been having so much fun playing outside and jumping around in the leaves.Gabby is now 18 months old and we had her check up last week. She is just a little thing...23 lbs fully clothed!!! She is 25% for weight and 75% for height. So tall and skinny like her daddy!! The doctor was very impressed with how still she sat for the check up. I could not believe that this was my little, always moving, always busy Gabby sitting so nicely:)I had my check up for the baby as well. I'm never thrilled when I have to step on the scale at the doctor's office:( Our baby boy is getting very active now and I love feeling him move! I am 23 weeks pregnant now and it seems to be going by very quickly.

We had a relaxing Thanksgiving weekend. We had a dinner at Jeff's parents place on Sunday and dinner with my parents on Monday. But, sadly, we didn't have any turkey...Jeff's mom did a ham and I did chicken cordon bleu for our dinner on Monday. I guess we will have to wait until Christmas for turkey!! Speaking of Christmas, I can't believe it's only 2 months away now. My sister and her family have moved to Saskatchewan now and so they won't be coming home for Christmas this year:( We are looking forward to the rest of our families coming home!!
We took the girls to the pumpkin patch on the weekend and they loved it. We went on a hayride around the farm and then took some pictures and of course bought a pumpkin to carve! I don't know what Jeff is going to carve this year, since he did such an amazing job last year. They had a maze made of hay bales at the pumpkin patch and the kids loved getting "lost" and running around in there. Megan was a little unsure at the beginning and Gabby, who has no fear, was loving it:) Jeff and I continue to comment on how different the girls personalities are...it's so neat watching them develop into these little people.Yesterday we took the girls to the pool with some friends of ours and their little boy. The girls had a blast splashing around and playing in the water. It has been a while since we have gone to the pool. Gabby went under the water a few times and just popped right back up...she seriously has NO fear!! It's kind of scary. Then our friends came over for dinner and we had a nice visit!

Tonight, I have a meeting for the children's ministry at church. Jeff and I have volunteered to help out and teach children's church about once a month. It will be fun to see Megan in her class with all her friends!

Seattle

We had a great long weekend in Seattle. It was so nice to get away for a few days and spend time with family. Loren and Alicia are incredible hosts and Alicia made us delicious dinners every night. Thanks so much guys for having us!We arrived in Seattle around 5pm on Saturday. A little later than we had anticipated because we ended up waiting at the border for over an hour. The roads were really good and the girls traveled pretty good. Megan had been up for hours the night before we left with diarrhea:( So she had a nap on the trip as well as Gabby. We had dinner with Loren and Alicia that night and waited for Eric and Traci to arrive! We just hung out that evening and visited.Sunday morning we headed out to Pike Place Market. That was such a neat place! Megan was a little scared of the fish displays. We had some awesome mini donuts and some of the best Macaroni and Cheese ever(although a bit expensive)!! Then we walked up a few blocks to a huge Old Navy that I was very excited about. It was 3 stories high. I got some cute things for the kids...mostly for our new baby boy!! And a great halloween custome for Meggie. Then we headed home for nap time and the boys watched football...except my husband, who had a nap!! In the evening we had a great dinner and then once the kids were in bed, the adults played some poker. Fun times!On Monday, Loren had to work and we missed him:( The rest of us went to the Seattle Science Center and we got there and it was closed on Mondays!! Anyways, the Children's museum was close by and we went there...the kids had a blast. It was a bit overwhelming because there were SO many kids there and they were everywhere! It was really cute, they had a mini grocery store and mini fast food restaurant and theatre and lots more...
Eric and Traci had to head home on Monday afternoon. It was so great to see them again and we really appreciated that you guys made the trip up to see us..and Loren and Alicia! On Monday afternoon Jeff, Gabby and I headed to see the Ballard Boat Locks. It was a very rainy afternoon, but we enjoyed it. It was neat to see all the boats in the harbor. Then we had dinner and just had a relaxing evening!!
Then we headed home yesterday morning and stopped at the Seattle Premium Outlets for a little shopping. Jeff got lots of great things for cheap!! I found a few things for the kids and would have looked more, but the kids were getting tired and bored. The girls were getting a little antsy on the way home. I think they were tired of being in their carseats for so long!! But, it was SO awesome having the van with all the space for traveling. We love it!! We got home around dinner time last night and cleaned up. It always nice to go away and always nice to come home:)

We had a great visit and can't wait to do it again...although next time we will have another kid!!!

The Ultrasound

So we had our ultrasound appointment yesterday and it was great! It's always so exciting to see the baby again. It was funny because the technician doing our ultrasound was a lady I used to work with about 10 years ago. She was so great and we just chatted the whole time! I was still a little worried about the 5th disease affecting the baby and she said everything looked great. She said if the baby had the virus that the heart would be swollen and there would be fluid and things wouldn't look good. I was so relieved after having this done! And.....we are having a boy!!!! We are SO excited. I think I am still kind of in shock because I was just expecting another girl. The technician said "what do you have now" and I said "2 girls" and she said "guess what" (kind of sarcastically) and I said "another girl?" and she said "nope!". I think Jeff and I were just in shock. We both wanted a boy, but we didn't think it would happen. We are SO blessed and can't wait to meet our little man!!!

About a month ago, Megan said to her Grandma that God told her that mommy had a brother in her tummy. I asked Megan about that conversation and she said she asked God for a brother and he said yes!!! How cute is that?!?!? Anyways, I think she knew. Ever since then she kisses and hugs my tummy and says hi brother and I love you brother. I talked to her earlier this week just to let her know that it could be another sister, but she was right!!! Now, that hardest part for Jeff and I is going to be deciding on a name...we have a lot of difficulty with that.

Anyways, just wanted to update everyone on our appointment!! Have a great day.