Texas Bluebonnets

We went down to the Ennis Bluebonnet Festival last weekend.  They had pretty much the same stuff as last year.  Mia wanted to ride the train again.  I didn't think that would be an issue because she rode it just fine last year.  However, right about the time the train was getting ready to take off, she started shrieking.  What's a momma to do?  If you said squeeze your pregnant self onto a little kiddie train to sit with your baby girl, you would be correct.  Haha!  After that, we had to do the pony ride, the petting zoo, and play a duck game where Mia won a gigantic, inflatable princess hammer.  I don't know what we're supposed to do with that, but she's enjoyed beating stuff around the house with it.

Then, we left the festival and went out in search of a good location to take bluebonnet pictures.  Last year, we luckily came across a property where the owners were kind enough to allow many of us out-of-towners to trample through their fields of bluebonnets to take pictures of our kiddos.  I guess I just assumed it would be that easy again this time.  No such luck.  Everywhere we drove on the bluebonnet routes, we saw field of bluebonnets surrounded by fences with signs proclaiming "Private Property!" and "No Trespassing!"  I can understand this to some extent, but we couldn't find anyone that seemed to be allowing passersby to take pictures (unless they were standing on the other side of the fence in the ditch).  I was really disappointed that none of the locals (as far as I could tell) were allowing anyone to take pictures on their property.  I'm sure they have their reasons and get tired of being bothered, but it made me sad to have driven so far only to look at the flowers from a distance.  We finally found one roadside patch of bluebonnets.  The grass was extremely tall, and I was slightly freaked out about stepping on snakes and other critters.  However, Mia was a good sport and allowed me to take a few pictures.  They turned out well, but I might try to do my homework next year to find a better spot for bluebonnets.

Mia enjoyed the animals and petted several of them.

 Adorable little piglets.  They're always my favorite!

This one made friends with a bunny.

Mia thought this pony with the pink mane was pretty rad.

Bluebonnets

Halfway There

Today marks the halfway point of this pregnancy, 20 weeks!  One old wives tale that has been true for me being pregnant with a boy is a craving for salty/sour food.  I've always loved salty food, so I can't point at Quinn for that one.  However, I've been drinking lemonade pretty much daily for most of this pregnancy.  For example, right now I have an entire roll of SweetTarts in my purse.  Those will be gone soon. :)

 

This sweet girl had spring pictures this week at school

Before my ultrasound with Quinn a couple of weeks ago, I wasn't sure if what I was feeling was movement from him or not.  It wasn't so much a definite movement as it was a shift in pressure low in my abdomen or sometimes a bubbly feeling in one certain spot.  I thought it could've been gas, possibly.  Haha!  It turns out that it was him.  After the ultrasound tech did her scans where she was pressing down a lot on my stomach to get good pictures, this boy woke up and did somersaults the rest of the day.  I no longer had any doubt that he was doing water aerobics in there.  Over the last couple of weeks, his movements have been somewhat sporadic, but they are increasing in frequency.  The other day when Wes got home from work, he started talking to me.  As soon as he opened his mouth and started speaking, Quinn started wiggling.  Then, I would talk and Q would be still.  Wes would start talking again, and Quinn would resume his kicks.  I had read in one of my books that the baby can hear voices at this point, but it surprised me that he would react so much to one particular person.  That might mean he's gonna be a Daddy's boy because he sure likes the sound of his daddy's voice.  I can't wait until Wes will be able to feel those kicks, too, but for now I kind of like having our boy to myself.  ;)

For some reason, she wanted to dress up like a giraffe, though...

Funny Mia moment today: This morning Wes was talking to me in the hallway, and Mia was in the living room.  Wes sneezed, and I guess it startled Mia.  When he walked into the living room, she said, "You sneezed, and it scared my ears!"  I laughed about that all day!

Such a precious face

  

Easter 2012

Better late than never, right?  Mia and I went to Heavener for Easter.  Unfortunately, Wes had to work that weekend.  She and Zoey hunted for Easter eggs out at Papaw and Nana Bev's.  There was a pretty big turnout for Easter lunch, and I loved getting to see everyone.  I think Mia's favorite part was getting to pet Papaw's horses.  After we left, she and I went to see my Mamaw.  We found her at my aunt's house with more family watching old home movies.  All I can say is...wow.  Haha!  I was about four years old in the videos I watched with them.  Mia couldn't seem to wrap her head around the fact that the little girl on the screen was me.  Those were precious memories, and I'm really glad that someone documented them.

IT'S A...............

I'll let Mia do the honors to reveal the baby's gender.  To throw a festive Easter spin on it, I decided to put either pink or blue jelly beans in a golden prize egg.  Mia opened it to find out if she's getting a brother or sister.  She tries to say the baby's name in the first video, but she stumbles on it a bit.  To hear the name correctly, watch the second video.

Drum roll please......................................................

Mia had to try one more time to say the name.

 We are having a baby boy!  We are so excited!  Mia really wanted a sister, but she's getting excited at the idea of a brother.  It's just taking her a little getting used to.  Haha!  Mia gets her "big girl furniture" this weekend, and she's excited about her new room.  She'll be moving into what is currently our guest bedroom, and we'll be setting up her old room as little brother's new nursery.  It made sense because all of the baby furniture (crib, etc.) is already in there.  Our little boy's name is Quinn Marcus McGee.  Quinn is a name that we really like, and Marcus is (of course) Wesley's brother's name.  I'm so happy to be having a boy!  We've had "girl" on the brain for over three years now, so I guess some part of me just assumed this child would be a girl, too.  I love, love, love having my girl, but what a happy surprise!  We'll soon be entering a new chapter of our lives with another sweet blessing, a son!

Ice Skates and Princesses

Last night we went to Disney on Ice: Dare to Dream at the American Airlines Center. None of the three of us had ever been to a Disney on Ice performance before.  It was all about Disney princesses and highlighted the stories of Tiana, Cinderella, and Rapunzel.  Mia and I went through her dress up clothes that afternoon, and she decided to wear her Snow White dress.  It was a lot of fun to get her all decked out in her princess dress, crown, and jewelry.  She even insisted on taking her Snow White purse with additional jewelry inside.

We had great seats.  They were perfect for a three year old because nobody was behind us. That's good for a little girl who likes to get up and down fifty times.  The show was incredible.  There were bright costumes, lots of singing, and Mickey Mouse and the rest of the gang showed up a few times, too.  She chowed down on popcorn and M&Ms and thoroughly enjoyed herself.  She was worn out by the end of the evening, though.  Within five minutes of getting home, she was in her pajamas and in bed.

All dressed up and ready to go!

Eagerly waiting for the show to start

 Mickey and his pals

 Princess Tiana

 Cinderella

 Rapunzel

 She was mesmerized

This picture was actually taken this morning.  As soon as she finished her breakfast, she wanted to put her Snow White dress back on.  She's holding the horse she got last night.  She said it looks like Maximus from Tangled.

Baby #2

We are fast approaching our next prenatal appointment.  Next week we will (hopefully) get to find out the gender of baby #2.  It will be nice to say "him" or "her" instead of just a generalized "baby".  I don't like to say "it", so most of the time I call the baby "#2" for now.  I love the excitement and anticipation of these few days before receiving that knowledge.  I can't wait to find out how our family dynamic will change with the addition of a new little girl or little boy.  Mia is still insisting that it's a sister.  That would be so much fun.  However, having a boy would be a great adventure, too.  Just for fun, I did some online gender prediction tests to see what they would say.  The general consensus was "girl".  I also read up on some old wives tales.  According to the Chinese lunar calendar, it says we'll have a girl.  The wedding ring test (where you hold your ring above your belly with a string) showed "girl" as well.  Based on my cravings of salty and sour foods, though, the old wives tale suggests that we'll have a boy.  As usual when basing a prediction on gender myths, I got mixed results.  Whichever one it is, we'll be really happy.  I haven't been able to really buy anything yet without knowing the gender, but I had to buy this onesie.  It's the very first thing I've bought for this baby.  Boy or girl, the baby is sure to be a little Sooner fan...even though we live deep in Longhorn territory.

We all love books around here, so I've also bought a few books for the baby.

 Mia wanted to read the baby's books.  Like I said, we're all book lovers.