Oh, Baby!

Yesterday morning, we headed to the doctor for the "big sonogram".  To be honest, we have had a pretty good idea (90% chance) of what we were having since March 5 when my parents were here.  My wonderful OB had us come in for a quick office sonogram so my parents could get a peek at the baby.  I wasn't planning on telling anyone other than my family, but the cat kinda got out of the bag.  Thankfully it didn't get out too far.  I just knew I'd be in the minority of having to go back and say, "Oops...well, that 90% chance of having a ... was wrong." Ha.  So I've been patiently waiting before sharing the news...and it turns out, our doctor was right with his "guess"! :o)

We are THRILLED to share that we are expecting a sweet baby GIRL! :o)  I am so excited that my mind can continue to think pink!

After the appointment, I stopped by Target and got a few things so I could share the news with my co-workers.  They've been eagerly awaiting the gender of Mountainview Baby #5 for the year! :o)  So far it was 3 boys and 1 girl.  Now the girls are catching up. :o)

Today I also shared with my little first graders that I'm expecting.  I cannot believe none of them have asked yet!  To share the news, I put one of the sonogram pictures on the "big screen" and asked if anyone knew what it was.  A few hands shot up and answered "a baby" in great excitement. :o)  Then I asked them if they knew whose baby it is...most of them answered "Mrs. Castillo" (our Spanish teacher who is due in June).  I said, "no......." and one of my girls yelled, "YOUR BABY!!!" and the whole class erupted in their guesses of what I'm going to have.  lol.  I passed out some Easter eggs with the reveal and did a quick survey to see what they thought I'm having.  Most of them guessed boy (especially the boys), but a few guessed girl.  They all opened their Easter egg at the same time and saw a pink "baby girl" butter mint.  There were lots of "awwww" and a few "man, I was wrong".  lol.  Then as I dismissed them, they were all buzzing with excitement, telling their friends and parents.  So cute! :o)  I'm glad the cat is finally out of the bag with them.  I waited as long as I could b/c I anticipate a lot of "is the baby here yet" from them. :o)

We don't have a name for Baby Girl yet...there are a few we're mulling over.  But as soon as we know, I'll share that (with all three of you).  :o)

 Sharing the news with my co-workers...

Hallie didn't go with us to the sonogram, so I showed her the pictures as soon as I picked her up from school.  She was SO excited to see the pictures and quickly picked out Baby Girl's arms, nose, lips and legs.  So sweet! :o)  

Cute conversation with Hallie yesterday...

Hal:  Mommy...can I do chores with the baby?

Me:  Um, what do you mean?

Hal:  Like, can I feed her and tell her when she has a stinky diaper?

Me:  I bet you can!

Hal:  Yay, yay, yay!

LOL--I wonder how long that will last. :o)

Baby Girl!

Spring Break via iPhone.

I'm excited to have a Blogger app on my phone. Maybe I'll post more often. There are a few things I don't love about the app, but oh well.

Spring Break pictures...

Pop teaching Hallie how to play Solitaire

We picked Abby up from school early one day and took the girls to have lunch and manicures. :o)

Our last night in Alabama, we went to visit Granny Dell.  Hallie had a blast.  By the looks of it, they both did! :o)  We love Granny Dell!

On our flight home.  We were on a flight that was overbooked.  When we got our seat assignment at the counter, they said First Class.  I'm sure everyone who purposely paid for First Class appreciated having a five year old in their "safe haven".  lol.  Thankfully she was very sweet (most of the flight).

Hamburgers in the Rain Forest?

Granny Dell and Nonna took Hallie and me to the airport Sunday morning (March 19).  We really didn't have that much time to dilly dally before our flight left.  When we got to the American Airlines ticket counter, my bag was five pounds overweight.  So I had to rearrange and remove some things from the bag.  It ended up being 51 pounds, and they had to tag it "HEAVY".  Had it been 50 pounds, they wouldn't have tagged it.  So funny to me.  After checking in and paying my $25 for my checked bag, we said our teary good-byes and headed to our gate.  Oh, I didn't mention that they didn't have assigned seats for us and that we'd have to get them at the gate.  Yes...the flight was overbooked.  Imagine that.  Sigh.  So expecting the worst, I walked up to the counter for our assignments.  The guy handed me our tickets and it said "Priority Boarding".  I know some airlines still allow parents with little kids to board early.  So I asked about this...and to my surprise, the guy said, "Oh, well, you don't have to worry about that...you're in First Class...you can board now."  At first I was a little excited about that. Then I realized that the people in First Class might not appreciate a rather rambunctious five year old in their "safe haven".  Luckily, we were in the very first seats, so no one in front of us to kick and disturb.  After getting settled in, Hallie started coloring and I began thinking of the yummy snacks we'd have being in First Class (I have only one other time been in First Class, and that was flying home from Wyoming after meeting Jonathan).  However, much to my surprise (again, but not in a good way) the stewardess began explaining that there would be no snacks on this flight due to unforeseen circumstances in catering services, but that drinks would be limited to some sodas, water, and coffee.  Great.  I didn't have the first snack for Hallie in my bag besides some chocolate candy Granny Dell sent with us.  After take-off, the stewardess came up to me, bent down and in a whisper said this:  There was a murder this morning at DFW.  I gasped and asked, "And we're heading there?"!  She continued:  Well, it wasn't really at the airport.  When we were at DFW this morning before heading here, we couldn't get any food from catering services because they were all dirty...there had been a murder in the catering department and the catering services was blocked off as a crime scene!  I was speechless.  Oh my word!  Needless to say, I didn't really want any snacks after that.

We landed at DFW around 12:30 pm.  Daddy picked us up and we headed to Grapevine Mills.  I had never been there before...WOW!  What a mall.  I must go back there soon! :o)  We had planned to have lunch at Rainforest Cafe for an "end of Spring Break treat" for Hallie.  Thanks to the Hubs for calling and making the reservations (I hate talking on the phone to people I don't know...that's right, I don't even like ordering pizza!).  I am SO glad we had reservations...word of advice:  If you plan on going, make reservations.  There were people who just walked up and put their name on the list.  Their wait was over an hour.  I guess if you don't mind just milling around the mall, it wouldn't be a huge deal.  But that wasn't our plan.  Of course, after we ate lunch, we did walk around all the "neighborhoods" to see what stores there were.  But honestly, I was just ready to get home after a while.  All the carrying of bags and keeping up with Hallie at the airport just about did me in.  Like I said, I'd like to go back sometime b/c it was definitely a neat mall.  They have an aquarium there and LegoLand (Hallie would LOVE this!).

I think we had a great end to our Spring Break!  Glad to be back home with Daddy!

Camp Abby

Welcome to Camp Abby...an evening filled with giggles and fun by some pretty cute little girls!  

Friday evening (March 17), 12 little girls gathered at Camp Abby for an evening of fun.  They had a movie, crafts, food, cake, and presents.  Not to mention a whole lot of room to just run around and be crazy girls!

Making a door hanger and a necklace.

The birthday girl and her daddy.  Love my brother!

Sweet girl with her bottlecap necklace.

Hallie & Pop

Cute Little Campers!

Abby--The Birthday Girl!

Hallie in her chair with her cute nametag. :o)

Cute Campers

More Cute Campers

The "Behind the Scenes" Gals

Mrs. Edie and Nonna

Pop and Kelly cutting sticks for roasting marshmallows. :o)

After I took this picture, my brother said, "Really?"

The cake.

Making a wish!

 Ready to roast marshmallows!

HG, Kelly, & Abby

Hallie and Mrs. Edie

The next day...pinata time!

Hattie Grace giving it a shot

Hallie whacking the pinata...I told Jonathan she might need to play t-ball.  lol.

And the good-bye...Nonna, Hallie, and I headed to Birmingham and Pop stayed behind.

I realized that I didn't take very many pictures over Spring Break.  Honestly, we didn't do that much.  I got some sweet time with my momma and daddy.  Hallie got to play a lot with her cousins.  And I got to have lunch with my sweet cousin, Rachael, and hear all about her fiance and her wedding plans.  I am so happy for her that she has found an amazing guy!  I ate lunch with my sweet BFF, Mandi, at a new place (can't remember the place) that had the most delicious calzones and FRIED PEPPERONI CHIPS!  Oh my!  And to top it off, I got to meet my lovely cousins/BFF, Stephanie, at Zaxby's (my third time that week--ha!).  At all, there was lots of good conversation and laughter!  Overall, it was a good Spring Break.  Wish it had been longer...wish Abby had been out of school so we could have done more.  But again, it was a good, restful week that even allowed me to sit by my parents' covered pool and get a little sunshine on my pasty white skin. :o)

Alabama Bound

We headed to Alabama in the yucky rain early Saturday morning (March 11).  I don't know why I always forget that half the battle of getting to Alabama is actually getting OUT of Texas.  We trudged on...and a little after lunch time, we hit Louisiana.  We took a little break at the rest stop and let Hallie get some wiggles out (and let's be honest...Nonna and I needed a stretch break, too!).

After getting through Louisiana (which didn't take nearly as long as getting to LA), we trucked it on through to Mississippi.  We got there just at sunset, and it was beautiful!  Hallie wanted to stop at the river, and so we obliged--plus we needed another stretch/potty break.  By this time, Hallie was absolutely wild.  I mean WILD!  She hadn't napped at this point at all.  

Hallie and I walked up to the little walk-across bridge to look out on the Mississippi.  This picture was taken just before I nearly had a heart attack.  Hallie said, "I'm going to slide down this hill."  Remember how I said she was wild?  Yeah...I all but had to grab her arm b/c well, if you've been here, you know that this spot isn't actually a hill...it's more like a drop off to a little concrete driveway.  Good grief, that child! :o)

I do love this sweet face. :o)

Running across the walk-across bridge...probably hoping to not get back into the car!

We carried on with minimal stops all the way to Heflin, Alabama.  We stopped at the Alabama rest area to change drivers, but since Hallie was asleep and it was dark/late, we didn't snap a picture.  We thankfully pulled into my parents' driveway at 11:30 pm.  Whew.  What a long ride.