Santa train and gingerbread house

We are definitely in the Christmas mood here in Missoula, as I am writing this, Christmas music is playing, and snow is falling outside. We have been busy getting ready for the holiday, and trying to get Addison used to the idea of Santa so we can start a tradition of Santa pictures. No luck yet.
Last weekend we visited the Santa Train, Addison loved every part of it, except the Santa part. As soon as he caught a glimpse of the big red man, he buried his face in my neck, and wouldn't look up until we were out of that car.




That evening we went downtown to the tree lighting celebration. Many of the children's activities were free, and Addison experienced his first S'more. Amazingly, he only had about 3 bites, then gave the rest to dad.

Here is Addison decorating his gingerbread house.


He adorned it with gummy bears, worms and fish, in addition to other candy.
I had another doctor's apt. this past week, and everything is going great. The heart beat is strong, and I am measuring exactly where I should be, despite everyone telling me I look small. She is moving more everyday, although she does calm down at night and let me sleep. Here I am at 28 weeks, less then three months to go.

It is so different the second time around, I don't feel I have as much time to enjoy being pregnant, or as much time to think about the little girl growing inside me. But my love for her and anticipation of her arrival continues to increase. It is amazing how much love you can have for one child, and then when you thought you couldn't love anything more, the same love erupts from somewhere within for this new life. I can't wait for her to realize and experience the deep love Bart and I have for her.

Thanksgiving

November has been a busy month, and it has been a while since our last post. Since then, we have traveled to Seattle, had the first snow of the year, and celebrated a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends.
Our trip to Seattle was packed from start to finish, a long weekend that seemed to fly by like it was a day. Bart participated in a worship conference at Overlake church with several other members of the workship band. It was a great time of learning and worship. While Bart was at the conference, I got some much needed time with my family. We were able to get 5 of the 7 second cousins together, and the other two joined in by web cam.


Addison was able to also see all his cousins from Barts family at his cousin Sean's Birthday party.
On that Sunday, we were honored to attend the wedding of Bart's close friend Daryl to his beautiful bride Brenda. We wish them the best.
This past Sunday, while Bart and Addison were playing at the indoor water park, it started to snow. This is not uncommon in Missoula at this time of year, however was was uncommon was that we woke up to 8 in. of wet, heavy snow Monday morning. This was the greatest one time accumulation we have had in Missoula in 8 years. Addison was so excited to get out and play in it, as you can see, he had a blast.


My family (parent's and brother) were able to come celebrate Thanksgiving with us this year. They drove over Wed., and we had a wonderful Dinner shared with friends of mine on Thur. My parents left Sat. morning, and Katie and Ryan arrived from visiting his folks up in Great Falls. Addison and Sean got some quality time together. Here are some pics from the weekend.


Addison also had gymnastics this weekend, which he is still loving, and learning more then I thought he would.



After all that, I am still pregnant, and still feeling good. I am now in my third trimester, less then three months to go. I am getting bigger, and a little more uncomfortable, but overall I am really enjoying this pregnancy, and expectation of having a daughter soon. I should be having another ultrasound in about 5 weeks, right after Christmas.
I realized this weekend how much we have to be thankful for this year. It is really amazing to see how much God has blessed us, and brought us to the point we are at today.

My Little Dragon

We headed up to our church last night for a Harvest Party. I was unsure if Addison would be into the games and other events of the evening, but I had nothing to worry about. As you can see, he had a blast, and was by far the cutest kid there. He had so much fun just collecting the candy, and putting it in his pumpkin, he never tried to open any and eat it. He did, however greatly enjoy his first cotton candy experience.






Today was also a doctor appointment for me, and everything is looking good. Our little girl is growing and moving more every day. I am now at 24 weeks, which puts me just two weeks from entering the home stretch of the third trimester. With all the holidays, birthday and anniversary coming in the next three months, I know the end of my pregnancy will be here before I know it. We can't wait to meet her.

Big Boy Bed

Well the day has finally arrived and tonight is Addison's first night in his new Big Boy Bed!!! He is pretty excited about it and told us tonight after prayers, "Mommy, Daddy, OUT!" Even as I write this he has already tried to escape, let's hope he doesn't continue this all night!

Autumn is Here

The signs of fall are all around us. From the hills around Missoula, you have an amazing view of yellow, orange and red carpeting the city. We have been blessed with three beautiful days this weekend, which has allowed us to truely enjoy the fall colors. Here are some pics from this past week, Addisons first experience with jumping in leaves, and the pumpkin picking and carving. He was not as excited to get his hands into the pumpkin as we thought he would be.








Each month brings us closer to the arrival of our daughter (name still to be determined). I am feeling her move more and more, which is making this pregnancy more real to me, and to Bart. We are trying to prepare Addison for the pending arrival, he knows there is a baby in mommys tummy, but the whole concept of a little sister, and that the baby will one day soon be more then just a bump is a little beyond his grasp. Here is the first belly shot. Actually, not the first we have taken, but the first that actually looks like there is a baby somewhere.

The Big Announcement

The day has finally arrived for us to find out if we will be welcoming another little boy or a girl into this world.
Apart from having to wait for almost an hour to see my doctor, our visit was wonderful. Everything is developing normally, and perfectly, and my apprehension was totally unmerited. It was a little ironic because I told my doctor I had not been feeling the baby move much, at least not as much as I remember feeling Addison move at this point. He said this baby may just be less active, but once the ultrasound was focused in on the little one, it was evident this was not the case. The baby was moving so much that it was hard to get a good picture of the face, and even more difficult trying to determine the sex. Yes I will get to the announcement. But see if you can tell by the pictures.




The correct answer is .....It's a Girl!!! 90% sure of it. But, like I said, she was moving around so much she didn't really give us a clear view for more then a second or two. Her favorite move was putting her feet up by her face, our doctor kept saying she must be very flexible. The following picture is not a 4D, but what looks like an arm up by her chin in actually her knee.



Addison came to the appointment with us, and enjoyed looking at the pictures of the baby on the screen. He is getting very good at saying baby sister, but I don't think he really has any idea what this really means. He also got to hear the heart beat again, which he thought was very fun, he still does a great fetal heart beat imitation.
Thanks again for all you prayers, we can now start praying for our little girl instead of the baby, a name is in the works, and will be announced when we decide.

The end of September is already here, and it is definitely fall here in Montana. Today was Homecoming at the University, and the whole town turned out for the Homecoming parade. It was the first time Addison was into the parade, and with the help of his friends Ridger and Titus, learned all about looking cute and saying please, please to get candy from the various floats and cars. I think Addison had more candy today then he has his whole life! But he was having fun, so oh well.
We appreciate all the prayers for this new baby to come. Hopefully we will be able to post the big boy/girl announcement on Monday. I have been feeling more anxious about this ultrasound then I did with Addison. I just remember being excited to find out the sex with Addison, I don't think I was considering the possibility of something not being right. This time I am still excited, but will be relieved when we see everything is ok.
It has been fun as I have started to feel the baby kick and move. This one is much less active then Addison was, I hope that is an indication of things to come, or as all my friends say, maybe it's a girl.
Here are some pics from the past few weeks. As you can tell we have quite the artist on our hands.




Addison is also becoming very nurturing, and has taken an interest in his "baby" This is him snuggling with baby on the couch.


Look for our big announcement on Monday evening. Addison thinks he is going to have a baby sister, but that might be from a little coaching on behalf of Laura and Emily Trosen.
Have a great weekend everyone.