After the rain....

We had our usual afternoon thunderstorm today. Once it let up, we went out to get in the car and found the most beautiful rainbow we've ever seen. It lit up the sky it was so bright. The rainbow stretched from one end of the sky to the other, making a perfect arch.

Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial

On the way home from KC, we stopped in Oklahoma City to see the OKC Murrah Building bombing. We are pretty sure we may never be in the area again, so we decided to take the detour and go. It was beautiful, humbling, sacred, and an educational experience. We've seen the pictures. We've seen the video on T.V. Nothing could prepare you for this experience. Jason and I were so glad we were able to see this piece of history.

Here's a slideshow of a few pics I took while there.

Until next time....

Our Kansas City Vacation

We left last Thursday to drive to Kansas City. My bestest friends in this whole wide world and their families met us there. I've known Erin and Cari since we were 12, that's TWENTY years!! 16 of those years, Cari has lived in Iowa. Now THAT'S a friendship. Cari, Jon, and Avery drove in from Des Moines and Erin, Felix, and Stewart drove in from Rome, Georgia. We stayed in a really nice, really fun, really kid-friendly hotel - Great Wolf Lodge. The kids had a great time together and we enjoyed being with good friends. On Saturday, Cari and Erin and families headed to the zoo while we went to the Deanna Rose Farmstead. It was a neat place, as you see in pictures, there were TONS of things to do there.

Enjoy the slideshow....

Until next time....

Way to go, Tigers!!!

So we lost the first game against UNC. Onto the 2nd game - against Rice. Where is Rice? In HOUSTON!!!!!
In true Tiger fashion, we were losing 5-0 in the seventh inning of the second game. Then it was 5-2. Picture it, bottom of the ninth, one out. Jared Mitchell gets on base with an E-6. Bases loaded for Blake Dean. Dean hits a THREE RUN double to WIN THE GAME!!!!! There was much excitement in Babinland. It's great to be a Tiger in Houston today :)

Oh and we are back from Kansas City - we had LOTS of fun. I have pictures to share once I get them loaded onto the computer. We are so tired and there is laundry to do.

Until next time.....

Our Tigers are headed to Omaha!!!

There was much excitement in the Babin house last night. We got to watch part of the LSU game on TV. (Side Note: We live in Texas. Land of Longhorns, Owls, and Aggies (blech). We don't get much LSU baseball here on TV, but we do follow it through The Advocate website and LSU messageboards.) Sam was so excited when LSU hit three homeruns in the first inning. It was too cute. We had "ballpark" themed food for dinner - Tiger dogs and chips! Our Tigers laid on a shellacing of UC-Irvine with a final score of 21-7. Way to go, Tigers. We'll be watching you from a Kansas City hotel room on Sunday night. All the best!

Until next time....

Went to the OB dr. today....

Went to see the OB today for a regular visit. Weight and BP were fine. Nurse listened to the heartbeat, which was a strong 144 bpm. Dr. came in and let me know that the NT u/s looked fine. She also let me know that they've changed my due date by 4 days earlier. It is now December 2nd. It doesn't really matter as I know I'll be scheduled earlier than that. My ideal date would be November 20th, but she said we'll talk more about that later. All in all, a good visit. I go June 25th back to the High-Risk dr. for another u/s, to look around, check the placenta again, look between the legs again, etc. I go back to the OB on July 11th. The kids are getting so excited. Caroline asked me today if we could buy something for "our baby" when we were at the mall. So sweet. We'll see how long it last once Baby gets here!

Until next time.....

First grade is merely a memory....Second grade, here she comes!

She did it! She really did it!!!

Our daughter did the most selfless thing today. She got her haircut. It wasn't just any ordinary cut. She got 10.5 inches cut off!!! All to donate to Locks of Love. Caroline came home from school about 3 months ago asking if she could cut her hair off b/c the children at St. Jude needed her hair to make wigs. Her school participates in the St. Jude Math-a-Thon and I think they discussed Locks of Love during this time. I started researching the Locks of Love Organization(http://www.locksoflove/) and found out that you have to have a minimum of 10 inches to cut off before you can donate. Caroline started asking then to have her hair measured at least once a week after bathtime. She hit the 10 inches mark about a week ago. This was all Caroline's idea. She's had in her head since she first heard about it. We all went tonight to Meagan, our hairstylist, and she did the honors. I teared up watching her cut her beautiful curls off, but also crying tears of joy at what a wonderful little girl we have. It was touching and I've never been so in love with my baby girl as I was tonight. Locks of Love will receive her hair and then send us an acknowledgement letting us know how many wigs her hair helped make.

Here are some pics:

BEFORE

DURING

AFTER

Caroline and Meagan

Until next time......

There's an 80% chance...

We went to a High-risk OB yesterday. Because of the PIH and placental abruption with the previous kids, Dr. N wanted us to have an early Level II u/s to check things out. We also had a screening for chromosomal abnormalities. Everything looks good. Baby 3 has a strong heartbeat and things seem to be progressing well.

Here are a few u/s pictures. I was amazed at the quality and clarity of an ultrasound this early. Amazing that this baby, at 11w3d is only 4 cm (about 1.5 inches) long!

Lastly - the doctor was able to make a guess as to the gender. He says there is an 80% chance that a little BOY will be joining us at the end of November. We'll have another ultrasound in June to confirm it, so -NOTE TO GRANDPARENTS - Do not go out buying boy stuff just yet. You just never know!!

The kids are very much excited about our new addition and it's going to be a l-o-n-g time until November!!

Until next time................

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day, my wonderful little sister had the kids decorate two terra cotta pots. It was a wonderful surprise to come home to......

Jason also had the kids pick out cards and a new Precious Moments piece, which they gave me last night. I'm one lucky Mommie!

Until next time.....

We are home....

Jason and I went to Mexico to attend Kelli and Tom's wedding. The kids stayed back with Nana and K.K. We missed them immensely and four days away from them was long enough for me! I was never so glad to enjoy a COLD glass of milk, orange juice, or any liquid! Here are a few pictures from our travels. Poppa took some other pictures at the wedding and I'll post those when I get them.

The view from our balcony at our hotel.

We went to Xcaret and this is the view of the Caribbean Sea from a revolving tower.

Sea Turtles (los tortugas)

Mr. & Mrs. Tom Schneider

Until next time.....

Sam the Comedian

We were looking around on our Dropshots account tonight and found this old video of Sam. He was around 2.5 when we shot this. How cute he was......hard to believe we'll have another little one by the end of the year! For those needing translation:
Sam: Knock, knock, Mom
Me: Who's There?
Sam:Boo!
Me: Boo who?
Sam: Don't cry!

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