New Name of the Week

Yeah, so Rohann was working out pretty nicely (once I remembered to stop saying Boo) but this morning Chris found daycare was welcoming a new baby to Infant A... Rowan. Yeah, if it was a new 2 year old starting, we'd probably still keep it on the list. But really, I don't care how it's spelled having two Rohann/Rowan babies within 6 months of each other is just cause for pulling the name. So, good bye Rohann...

Our new name of the week is Charleigh. We're thinking it'll be Charleigh Anne so that her middle name is still very feminine, just like with Emersyn Dorothy. So, no more Rohann. Boo is now Charleigh! Let us know what you think about the new name of the week. Remember, the test drives only work if we get some feedback... so please, please, PLEASE tell us what you think. You can comment here or email one of us or post it on our shutterfly site or text us... just tell us something. :)

Videos Galore

Yeah, sometimes we take a butt ton of videos and then I get totally behind in up loading them... This is one of those times. Here's a few videos that I just got uploaded. I still have 2 videos to go and I'm sure I'll at least have pictures from later today since it's so nice outside, but for now I'm sure these will keep you busy. :)





As always, these videos and all the others are at www.theswaderfarmily.shutterfly.com along with tons of pictures! If you can't access our page, let me know so I can make sure the right email address is on the list of approved viewers. Happy viewing. :)

Little Artist and Name of the Week

Yesterday when we all got home, before dinner, Emersyn got to do some finger painting... well, she was going to paint one way or the other so I decided it best to help out and set her up at the table. I guess it's time to really get everything organized and put away. ;)

Anyways, here's our little Artiste at work... On another note, we're officially starting to test drive names for Boo. We have a long list, but this week we'll be using Rohann. So, as hard as it's already been, we aren't saying Boo or "the baby" anymore - it's Rohann this week. Let us know what you think!!

As always, there's more pictures and videos at www.theswaderfarmily.shutterfly.com so check it out! :)

Poop on the Potty

Only a mom could proudly post a poop story, but only a mom could appreciate it so... if you're not a parent you probably won't find the excitement in this post. ;)

This morning I was finishing up getting ready when Emersyn finished breakfast and Chris brought her back upstairs so we could get her dressed. It's one of the many small variations of our morning routine and it's nothing out of the ordinary for Emersyn to come stand in the bathroom and watch you brush your teeth or wash your face... This morning though, she went right to the potty, pulling at her sleeper and signning potty. I stripped her down, took off the old diaper that was wet from overnight and put Emersyn on her little seat.

I wasn't expecting anything... until I heard the little plunk of something hitting the water. Something not liquid. Without even thinking, I asked if she was pooping on the potty and I didn't use either sign. Emersyn looked at me for a second, head cocked to the side as if trying to figure out what language I'm speaking, and then nodded yes before signning poop and potty! After a few minutes, Emersyn put her arms out to me and nodded - she was done and ready to get up off the potty.

Can I just ask where the hell my little baby girl is?!?! I mean, who is this big girl?!?! LOL! I'm so proud and we've given daycare the okay to do the potty too. Not the full out training of being put on the potty every hour, but they'll put Emersyn on the potty a few times throughout the day. Looks like we're totally off Mommy and Daddy's plan of starting to potty train at 2, but who can complain when things happen like this morning?!?! :)

Boo's 3D Sonogram

Today Emersyn got some extra time with Maw Maw while we went to do a 3D Sonogram of Boo!

It's amazing how different a girls are already... While Boo was much more developed for the normal sonogram than Emersyn was (what a difference 2 weeks makes), Emersyn definitely looked less alien than Boo for the 3D. The tech was telling us that Boo is long but tiny, and that means less fat so she looks less developed in the 3D than a baby who was short and fat... Not that Emersyn was short and fat, but she was far from long. This tech also told us that her experience has been that if the baby is measuring more than a week off, the doctors will change the due date. We still have a few weeks - 17 March - until we know for sure, but that's not the most encouraging news when we're trying to plan for out-of-town-family visits. Still, the tech said that when she measures, Boo's body is a little bit over 20 weeks in length while her head is just over 18 weeks. Looks like another teeny little girl... as long as she's healthy, I don't care if Boo comes out at 5 lbs or 50 lbs... well, you know what I mean! LOL!

So here's our gorgeous girl... of course, there's more pictures from this sonogram with all our pictures from the month at www.theswaderfarmily.shutterfly.com so check it out. :)

Delayed Holiday

Yesterday was techinically a holiday - President's Day - but Chris and I both worked to make up some time... in an odd twist of fate, we ended up getting off today because of the snow. So, we got the delayed holiday for a bonus day with Emersyn...

Mostly, we got to just lay around and play with Bird, but we also got a couple things taken care of that we've been putting off... installing the new gate at the top of the stairs being the main one. Chris was heavily occupied with this mission while I tried everything in my power to entertain Emersyn despite her only wanting Daddy and to "help". We finally settled on watching from the bottom of the stairs, until Emersyn found more entertainment in jogging circles around the first floor with both dogs...

I'll admit it took me a few seconds of sheer quietness to realize that my daughter was no longer lapping the dogs in her version of nascar since Chris and I were talking... I went to see what Emersyn was doing and literally had to just walk back to the steps and gather myself before even grabbing the camera. See... Yeah, she did this all by herself. I mean, Emersyn got the chair from the table, preceded to drag it over to the cabinets, get her little butt on the chair and start riffling through the drawer. Luckily she was only interested in "her" drawer. Seriously, it wasn't that she did it so much that had me laughing to myself - it was that she did it so nicely and was so content to "sit like a big girl". As soon as I took the first picture, naturally Emersyn realized I was there. Look at how proud she is at what all she found though :: Just playing in her drawer and showing off all the goodies inside - the Buckeyes can opener (which is only in her drawer because it's super dull and plays the Ohio State fight song that she likes to dance too) and a sippy-grip... Thanks Aunt Chelsea, Uncle Jimmy and Audrey for the super cute shirt. The pants are still a bit big, but Emersyn picked the shirt herself this morning! This was the closest thing to a smile that I was getting though. ;) There's more from today and the whole month, of course, on our shutterfly page... www.theswaderfarmily.shutterfly.com ~ Don't forget to let one of us know if you don't have access. I think we got everyone, but I'm working with Pregnancy Brain so I could be totally wrong! :)

Boo Needs a Name

Let the suggestions begin!!!

We are officially looking for names for Boo. This week we're going to "search" for names that we like to test drive... So bring on the ideas!

We'll be starting to test drive names this weekend, so keep watch for those... and definitely let us know what you think about those. We want your opinion!

Ideally, we'd love to use Frances for Boo's middle name. Emersyn's middle name is in honor of one of the greatest women that I've ever had the pleasure and blessing of knowing - Nanny; my grandmother, Godmother, Confirmation sponsor and another parent figure; Dorothy Viola. In that same aspect, it would mean the world to me to use the feminine form of my grandfather's name, a name that has been carried on throughout his family for more generations that I can count, and a name that still holds so much magic and love to me. It would be beyond incredible for my babies to have that little blessing from their angels...

So, it would be great to come up with some names that work well, not only with Frances - or a variant, we're open to suggestions there too - but that will also compliment Boo's sister name, Emersyn. Remember, there's a slim to none chance that we'd have a shortened version of a name too... but we are open to hearing your ideas so bring 'em on!! :)

Field Trip

My mom watched Emersyn today so that Chris and I could make a run down to Buy Buy Baby to play with the new baby stuff for Boo... Quick moment of advertising - seriously that store has EVERYTHING and there's tons of room to really play with it all; the staff always seems to know what they're talking about and the prices are really equal to any other baby store that we've found. Anyways, we made record time down and through the store. We decided on everything and hit Noodles and Company to bring a late lunch back home...

Then we hit the fire. Yeah, 95 totally shut down. Every road was blocked. It took us as long to get home as it did to go through the entire store comparing cribs, dressers, high chairs, car seats and strollers AND hitting Noodles. Forever. When we were finally able to get around it, we were on Rt. 1 and the ash/smoke was so bad it coated the inside of the car with the vents totally closed as soon as we saw the smoke. Luckily I always carry my Marine with me and he quickly grabbed one of Emersyn's sleep cloths, moistened it and instructed me to put it over my nose and mouth so I didn't get any chance of breathing that mess in. Chris on the other hand was still blowing ash out of his nose when we got home.

Anyways, Emersyn had a blast with Maw Maw and continued the fun with us after my mom finally got relieved of her babysitting duties... And, it was a successful day for Boo as well. We know that she's getting the Cypress Point collection by Westwood Designs for her bedroom, we're getting the Graco Contempo highchair in Rittenhouse, the Britax Boulevard 70 car seat in Cowmooflage (one for Boo and one for Bird), and that the girls are getting the Graco Quattro Tour Duo stroller... Yay! So happy viewing!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHELSEA!!!

We love you and hope your day is absolutely fabulous... just like you!
XOXOXO's

Going on the Potty

Whether we like it or not, Emersyn is dead set on getting potty trained... Last week, she intiated the whole thing and last weekend we got a seat to put on the potty for her. She's only tried it a couple times and still wasn't "going" but we were happy to humor her about the whole thing.

Then, today Bird decided she was going to use the potty at daycare. Only, we hadn't warned her teachers and she just quickly did the sign for potty before running off. The poor teachers had no idea until one saw her go into their little bathroom... she was too late though. Emersyn had lifted the lid and sat on the potty all by herself. It wouldn't have been a big deal since the potty in their bathroom is baby sized, except that Emersyn lifted both the lid and the seat... and was fully clothed... Although there's obviously no way to tell if Emersyn needed a new diaper before her swim in the potty, she was totally dry at the last diaper change/check about a hour earlier so the teacher thinks she really either was about to go or had just went in her diaper. The teachers now know the sign for potty and are totally aware that Emersyn's allowed to use it if she wants, but that there's no need to put her on it all the time just yet.

I got tied up at work and didn't make it home tonight until Emersyn was going down for the night but, that just left Chris to help Emersyn go potty when she demanded it... Let me say first that her diaper was bone dry and Chris said she did the little hop-dance at the bathroom door while banging on it. Chris hurried up to get her "potty ready" since she was starting to get a little wild and... full pee on the potty!!! As Chris put it - there was a full stream!!

After dinner they went up to get pajama's on and relax before bed... Emersyn was down to her undershirt when she shimmied off the bed and went to the bathroom again. Chris asked, she nodded and (kind of) did the potty sign, and... another full stream!! Chris said he just about died over it this time. A totally dry diaper, a request to go potty, and a real pee on the potty!!

It does appear that we have no choice - Emersyn is potty training herself!! When did she get so big?!?! Seriously, where's my baby and who is this big girl... and, more importantly, when can I start buying the cute little undies?!?! :)

Appointment 3 - Emersyn's Checkup

Naturally, Emersyn is fabulous and perfect... Clinically speaking, she's great too. LOL!

We didn't have to worry about any vaccinations this time, which was wonderful, but we had a ton of questions. First, let me give the basics update ::

weight :: 21.10 lbs ~ 5%
height :: 32 ins ~ 45%
head :: 46.5 cm ~ 20%

In short - Emersyn's a tiny little thing! LOL! We're pretty sure the weight is off by a little since she was clinging to Daddy for dear life and pulling herself off of the scale. Plus, Emersyn was playing with our scale at home and that said she weighed 24 lbs, so I don't imagine that either scale can be off by that much. Either way, Dr. Hill was still happy with the measurements. She says that it's really typical for active children to be a little "underweight" because they're always moving but that Emersyn looks and feels like she's healthy so no worries.

We also have nothing to worry about with Emersyn's speech. Because of the degree of the ear infections, the quanity and frequency and the timing of them all, Emersyn isn't really behind in that development. Now, if we get to 2 years and she's not using "real words" then we'll have to reassess. Emersyn is also well above the comprehension level that would be expected at this age and is borderline above average for a 24 month old. Dr. Hill loves that Bird can sign "so much" and do the signs "so well" too. The fact that Emersyn has such a huge vocabulary of understanding as well as being able to understand multiple tasks/instructions and "complex commands" was also impressive according to our incredible doctor! ;)

As for our "concerns" - Emersyn's slight pigeon-toe-ness is actually normal for kids, but even if she doesn't grow out of it we have no reason to suspect it will be damaging or anything. Also, using the signs won't stunt her vocal vocab growth so we're good to keep using and teaching her new signs. We have to okay for Emersyn to try nuts, seafood and honey as long as we really watch for any slight reaction and keep it all within a reasonable amount of moderation with each. We're also free to start potty training whenever Emersyn shows an interest in the toilet (already) and can go at any pace we feel fit - be it the full blown on the potty every hour and wearing pull ups or just letting her decide when she wants to try it.

I think that about sums it all up. :)

Gender Day Appointment #2

Emersyn's officially going to have a... beautiful... healthy... little... baby...
GIRL!!

Yup, we officially proved every single old wives' tale wrong... as well as every person that's seen me this pregnancy! LOL! :)

Boo is a girl - we got the very defined "3 lines" proving that! She (how funny does that sound since we're not talking about Emersyn?!?!) looks fabulous and healthy... she was in perfect position for the whole sonogram, but not exactly the best for finding the gender. Still, we were able to get the angle to see those 3 lines.

According to the sonogram's measurements, Boo is measuring at 18 weeks and not 20. We aren't sure what that means for our due date or if we're just going to have another teeny little girl... but Emersyn measured exactly where she was supposed to, so who knows. We'll find out in March - the 17th I think - when we go back for our next checkup. Right now, we're just stoked to know that we're having a Boo Girl!! :)

We're going to set up the 3D Ultrasound (hopefully for really soon) but here's some of the sonogram pictures... And yes, we'll be testing names but we're not sure when we're going to start or which one we'll start with. Stay tuned for that part...

And, now we're off to appointment number 3 for the day :: Emersyn's 18 month checkup! I'll post her update later tonight. :)

It's G-Day!!!!

Here's some 20 week belly pictures to get you started on G-Day! :)

Appointment Number 1 --- 20 Week Checkup

My belly is measuring exactly at 20, so yay... I managed to gain 6 whole pounds this time too! It almost evens out where I "should" be so that's a relief. Boo's heartbeat sounds strong and wonderful - still at the rate for a boy according the the old wives' tales, so we'll see in a couple hours. Everything looks/sounds/seems good.

So that's one down and 2 more appointments to go today... Stay tuned! :)

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

(I have absolutely no idea what's on her face! LOL! It was just a good breakfast with Daddy apparently!)

Weekend

Just like expected, of course I had more pictures from this weekend...

Saturday, we went to the mall and picked up a couple things for Emersyn to wear to gymnastics... well, to wear once it gets a little warmer. We also got her a pair of Crocs since they're just soooo easy. They'll be perfect for weekends when she's running around but doesn't need to have the whole shebang of socks and shoes on; they'll also be really great for going to gymnastics and, eventually swimming lessons and the pool at my parents'. Since Bird was such a good girl - trying on shoes nicely in the Crocs store and everything - we let her pick one of the balloons from a stand after (a really amazingly good) lunch.

Emersyn posing with her balloon when we got home.Showing her new shoes ;)This is how we play with a balloon...Sunday morning we all went to do our taxes. It was actually less painful with Emersyn there than we expected, but it was still not the ideal situation since she was very interested in everything but the million toys I brought along. Afterwords, we hung out at our house for a bit since Cameron had a birthday party so my parents weren't home...

Emersyn loves her Dobie... this is her giving Big Bird a pony ride on Dobie's back. It actually went on for a quite a while.Playing in the blinds just like Dobie.Yeah, we made a mess during lunch and had to change our shirt; on the way up the steps, Emersyn found her Santa hat and insisted on wearing it... like wouldn't let me take it off to change her shirt and kept slapping my hand when I moved the hat. So, this hat was our compromise - she could wear a hat but it had to be one of the other ones she had that wasn't so "themed". She picked this one.And this is our favorite thing at Maw Maw and Pop's house - the Wii Fit board. Notice how Emersyn even holds the remote and focuses on the game. That's our girl.There's tons more pictures on our shutterfly page :: www.theswaderfarmily.shutterfly.com :) And don't forget - only 2 days until G-Day!! Yay!

Visual Catch Up

Happy Saturday! :)

Ok, so I've been slacking but now I'm officially caught up on pictures and am one video closer to being caught up there too... of course, we're going to my parents' tomorrow which means I'll probably have more pictures to upload again, but at least for this moment I'm close!

7 Feb --- Our big helper
Emersyn cleans She offers help (that's almost the sign for help - she's getting better already at keeping one hand open and one closed though) Bird helps cook She even tells us when something is "haahh" (hot) Most of all, Emersyn helps keep us entertained and laughing

8 Feb --- It's super blurry, but Chris made a very quick catch with this picture. That morning while Chris was getting her coat and hat out of the closet, Emersyn quickly opened the pantry and began getting in it. Yeah, you can see her backing herself into one of the shelves. There's no explaination, just a silly girl that we adore. 11Feb --- We're kind of starting the potty... not by our choice, but by Emersyn's demand. I'm not kidding when I say that this was totally her idea. Friday we got home from daycare, had some taco's (Boo's favorite food apparently) for dinner and Chris had to run downstairs for something real quick. It's nothing for Emersyn to come potty with Mommy since she almost always insists, so in we went. Emersyn started freaking out and holding 'herself' and pointing to the potty and hitting me; she was getting upset and I kept trying to calm her down as best I could considering my position. So I finish and go to let us out of the bathroom, when Emersyn starts to climb on the toilet and every time she'd slide off, she would grab herself again. So, genius that I am, I ask if she wants to go potty. Emersyn nodded so hard I wouldn't have been surprised if her little head popped right off. I started getting her pants down and her undershirt undone, yelled for Chris to bring a diaper, wipes and the camera... and Emersyn started her potty training. This morning she insisted on doing it again while we were getting ready for gymnastics. Chris was getting ready in our bathroom while I was getting dressed and getting Emersyn's clothes together, and she lifted the toliet lid and started grabbing at her diaper through the sleeper. Chris asked, Emersyn said yes and she was on the potty again. Now she didn't actually do anything while she was on the potty on either occasion, but today are going by Babies R Us to get a seat to put on top of the real potty since Emersyn's interested. We aren't going to go full out potty-training yet, but we also want to make sure that we're prepared so that we can encourage Emersyn to use the potty when she wants/needs too. We'll see how that goes. Happy viewing!! :)
www.theswaderfarmily.shutterfly.com

Friendship Party

Today was Emersyn's "Friendship Party" at daycare... apparently there are some Jehovah Wtnesses at daycare so the center isn't allowed to celebrate anything that could be religious (St. Valentine's Day) so this is their Valentine's Day party. Parents were invited so Chris and I headed over to see Emersyn and her friends...

It wasn't anything extraordinary, just some extra special goodies for afternoon snack, but the kids definitely enjoyed it. Being the shy creature that she is, Bird was all kinds of showing off for Mommy and Daddy! It was adorable. She was most interested in the fruit as opposed to the cookies or cupcakes, but she did at least try the other goodies. And without being told, Emersyn even signed "please" and "thank you" to everyone.

Her "thank you" is becoming more consistantly open handed and her "please" is almost always just one handed now. We're going to be introducing more signs this weekend since Emersyn picks them up so quickly too. Stay tuned for all that! :)

Here's some pictures from the Friendship Party... Like I said, it wasn't much just some special treats. We did get like two video clips too but I haven't had a chance to upload them. I actually have a few more pictures from the week and a video to upload, so hopefully this weekend I can get those posted. Happy viewing... www.theswaderfarmily.shutterfly.com

Little Things

It's funny how much you change when you have a baby... It's not your body or your lifestyle. It's not even what you now consider fun or a great night. It's the little things that make you want to cry and scream because you're so lucky. It's the things that make you stop and think "now this is what life is really all about". It's the things that people without kids would find silly but that mean the world to you.

I was almost home today when Chris called. He just simply asked where I was at... When I asked why, he informed that Emersyn parked herself in the dinning room window (it's literally up against the driveway) and wouldn't even let him leave the room. She kept signing "more" and saying "mah" and pointing out the window. Emersyn even kept pushing the dogs away so that she had the prime spot to see when my truck pulled in. It's been a couple days now that she's been waiting in the window when I pull in. Emersyn gets so excited she starts banging on the window and waving with the biggest smile ever. As soon as I get out she now even points to the door and runs over to it as soon as I start walking in that direction. Today though, it wasn't Daddy initiated it was all Emersyn. And that teeny change in the waiting joy made the biggest difference. Emersyn was waiting for me to get to her.

After I got settled, Chris ran out the store real quick and Emersyn and I got to work on the goody bags for daycare's "Friendship Party" tomorrow. Long story short, it's not PC to have a Valentine's Party anymore because the day is linked to Saint Valentine so it's now a "Friendship Party". Anyways, this is the first party that Emersyn's been able to have/attend at daycare since she's now in a toddler room. Since the kids are obviously too young to get the whole Valentine card thing, we decided to do little goody bags for each of her friends and teachers. We have the heart baggies, Hershey hugs & kisses, heart shaped lollipops that are actually approved for 6 months and up, the Disney Cars box of Valentine's that Emersyn picked out and the "I Love You" sign lanugage ducks (surprised?!?!). I had planned on doing the bags quickly by myself after Emersyn went to bed, but figured it wouldn't hurt to try and let her help. I'm so glad I did!

Not only was I totally blown away with my waiting reception when I got home, I was again suprised with Emersyn as she helped do the bags. I gave her one bag and a handful of the hugs/kisses and told her simply to put them in the bag real nice. One by one, very carefully and thoughtfully, Emersyn put each one in the bag while I did the others. The it was on the lollipops. I'll admit I expected them to be broken up after being used as drum sticks by my little musician, but as soon as Emersyn picked one up I explained that those lollipops go in the bags for our friends. Instantly, she pointed to a bag and signed "please". So our assembly "line" began. I'd open a bag and hold it out to her, Emersyn would drop in a lollipop and gently pick up one more. With this success, I thought maybe I'd risk the attachment to the ducks... As soon as she saw the bag Emersyn signed "please" and again I explained that these go in the bags. She nodded and we started our little process again. Emersyn was so excited to be helping that I couldn't even keep up with her. Bird just kept signing "more please" and showing me the duck in her hand waiting to be put into it's bag while I slowly sealed each bag that was finished and attached one of the little cards. Of course, we made a bag for Emersyn so she'll get one with her friends tomorrow at the party too. She doesn't know that though. She proudly made all the bags for her friends and didn't even fuss the littlest bit when I said we were all done. Emersyn gave some of the ducks hugs, but she didn't even try to keep one of them. It was just another handful of little things that made me feel like the luckiest person in the world because I got to see that, I got to help her, I got to be a part of that little event with Emersyn.

I was sure that dinner was going to be a huge mess after all that "good". Emersyn actually said "more" - well, it came out "muah-ar" - when she signed for more and didn't even stop doing it when I made a big deal about it. Yeah, I know I shouldn't but I can't help it; she just surprises me when she busts out with an actual word for the first (or 27th time since my chest still puffs out a little when I hear "taaank-xx"!) and I can't help but tell how good that was. Emersyn said please and thank you without being reminded, she only made small accidental messes instead of actually throwing her plate to tell us she's done... and after all was said and done, Emersyn used her new sign to tell us she wanted to go to bed. We've only started using that sign last night and both only did it once, so it was quite a shock to see Emersyn do the sign so easily this quick.

Again I say it's funny how much changes when you have a child. A really great Thursday night used to be when I won my match at Pool League. It used to going to bed next to Chris after a night at Michael's Pub with our friends. Now, it's seeing your 17 month old daughter waiting in the window for your truck to pull up and how she jumps around, smiling and waving when you step out of the truck. Now, it's the surprise of your baby girl understanding the whole act of putting goody bags together and not even trying to eat or take any of the goodies. Now, it's hearing this squeaky little voice starting to make words and doing them correctly. Now, a really great Thursday night is seeing your child do something way sooner than you could have hoped or expected her too. Not only is the meaning of "a great night" changed, the reality of it is that now your "great night" is better and more meaningful and magical than any night you ever had; it's even greater than you could have imagined. :)

Two Things

1. Emersyn went to the doctors this morning and definitely has a double ear infection. The good news is that we caught it early and we were able to start treating it before the doctors' office even opened. The other good news is that we're "lucky", says the doctor, because sometimes with tubes the fluid still doesn't totally drain properly and creates a barrier, blocking the drops from actually getting to the infection. Emersyn's tubes did exactly what they were supposed to do and the drops definitely have been working. We have to give her drops until Thursday night, but everything already looks like it's clearing up wonderfully. So, yay good news with the bad.

2. I think I'm clinically insane. Seriously. That's the only thing that could possibly explain why I would voluntarily wait to find out Boo's gender until 20 weeks. Seriously. And yeah, I know that we only have one week left. I know that this time next week we'll know and be able to argue over what name to test drive first or what color(s) to paint the bedroom. I know that come this time next week I'll have been able to get at least one or two outfits in gender specific cuteness for Boo. Yeah, I know. It's only a week. Except that we've been able to find out for a week already. We could have already test drove a name! We might even already know how the bedroom is going to be done or what crib we're getting. We could have been accomplishing Boo related things for 7 days already... And, with Emersyn we had already found out at this point. Think of all the Boo related things that could have been accomplished or at least started by now... think of how delayed everything is going to be because I was crazy enough to wait longer. Who does that?!?! Who waits on purpose for this sonogram?!?! Not sane women. Definitely not sane women. See - clinically insane.

Yyyeeahhhh-hhaaahhhh

Green Bay wins! Green Bay wins! Green Bay beats the stupid Steelers! Green Bay wins! Green Bay wins! Green Bay wins! Green Bay wins!

PS - Only 8 more days 'til G-Day! :)

Tons of "New" Today

Today has just been all new... and not all in a good way.

Emersyn had a new teacher this morning for gymnasitics. She was good for the sub, but the whole routine was new so it threw all the kids off a bit. My mom came up to see Emersyn in action though so that was really cool.

After gymnastics, my mom stayed at our house with Emersyn (who crashed out on the way home) so that Chris and I could run over to the VW dealership and size up some cars. Chris' Golf just isn't cutting it size wise; it's a great car, but we really need one that I can ride in with him and Emersyn, much less adding Boo to the car. So we were off to see how the carseat(s) compared in each model before beginning to officially shop for a new (new-to-us) car. We were really surprised with the new the Jetta and Tiguan, but there wasn't as much space for me in the front seat as we would like... so we checked out the new trade in they had - an 09 Passat.

Long story short, we bought a new car. The Passat is crazy nice and we got such a great deal. You know it's gotta be good for Chris to agree to buy it when he was adament about not getting a car today. So yeah, we got a new car. Ebony2 will be missed, but her time is with another younger owner and not a growing family.

While we were starting the buying process though, my mom called with news about Emersyn. She wasn't acting like her normal self and basically told my mom to call us. We got home to find that Emersyn has a new ear infection in her left ear. Another new thing - the drainage that happens when a kid with tubes gets an ear infection. It was nasty. But, it was very obviously an ear infection. We put the drops in, gave her some tylenol and all three of us were back to the dealership to finish the process on our new car.

You know what's not fun? Take a 17 month to a car dealership, add in an ear infection, mix it up with a really rainy and chilly day, and then top it off with a slow printer and finance department... you pretty much sum up the definition of "not fun". Emersyn was as good as you could hope for, but it was just too much for her. I got a great workout chasing her and it gave all the salesmen some entertainment. Chris got a workout cleaning out the Golf and moving a bizillion tons of randomness into the Passat since we really weren't planning on getting a car today.

Yeah, new all around folks. Once it's not icky outside, I'll take a picture of our new toy just to show off... LOL! And once I know more about Emersyn's ears (oh yeah, I forgot to say that when we were putting drops in her left ear at bedtime we noticed a little bit of drainage in the right ear too - a double infection) I'll post an update. We can't call until Monday morning, so for now just keep your fingers crossed that her new ear infections clear up with the old drops and quickly...

Happy Birthday Gianna!

We wish you the best 5th birthday a girl can have... May your day be filled with all the cooking, make up, girly fun that you can handle! You are such an amazing and beautiful girl, we're lucky to have you as a niece. Happy 5th Birthday!

Happy Birthday Jeff!!!

Hopefully the snow doesn't stop you from having a wonderful birthday... and get some extra kisses from the girls since we can't send any up from Maryland. Happy birthday old man. :)

Excitment Rules the House

We are officially 18 weeks today which means that technically we could find out Boo's gender today... of course I still have to wait, but now I'm actually really anxious. With Emersyn, we found out at exactly 18 weeks so I'm totally impatient now.

I'm not the only one who's acting excited though... although, Emersyn's excitment is really because of her McDonald's happy meal and chocolate cookie that she had tonight. Still, excitment is running rampid in our house and it's just the most wonderful thing! These and more pictures are already posted in the February album on www.theswaderfarmily.shutterfly.com so check it out! :)

2 Weeks!! :)

Two weeks 'til G-Day!! Woo hoo!!! :)

Oh - and I guess I should say "happy February" and all of last month's pictures and videos are on our shutterfly site - www.theswaderfarmily.shutterfly.com - so happy viewing...

But let's face it, the real story is that this time 2 weeks from now we'll now if we're having Boo Girl or Boo Boy, if Emersyn is getting a baby brother or a baby sister, if Cameron will get "another girl" or a "cool boy" cousin, if Regina will get her first grandson or her 6th granddaughter... Yeah, just 2 weeks!