Its a GIRL!

Holy cow! I can not believe it! We are having a girl! So shocked, but very excited. We completed our Thanksgiving weekend with our 3rd doctor's appointment and 3rd ultrasound. Not only were we told we were having a girl, but a very healthy one and we are so thankful. She already weighs in at half a pound and everything is looking good. The doctor was able to point out her heart, kidneys, bladder, stomach, spine, cerebellum, nose and ear. It was so great to see all that at only 18 weeks. So, now the fun begins.....thinking of girl names, looking for room decor, getting used to "her" not "him". We told Dalton that night that he was having a sister and at first he was excited and instantly had a smile on his face. But then, I let it slip that he was not having a brother, but a sister, and then the tears came. "But I wanted a brother!" I told him that he would be the brother and he got okay with that. I was asking him tonight what we should name his sister and he said we should just name her, "Her". He is so funny! Here I am at 18 weeks:

Thanksgiving Week

Oh my...What a week! We started the Thanksgiving celebration last Thursday at his school with a Thanksgiving Feast. The menu included the wonderful K3 Thanksgiving food: chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, mashed pototoes, green beans, corn, fruit, and juice boxes. His class wore their turkey handprint shirts, turkey hats, and ate on their turkey handprint placemats. The feathers on his hat had things written on them that Dalton said he was thankful for....his jeep, the color red, and mom and dad were some of the things he said.

My little turkey

Dalton was so excited to get to be out of school for a whole week and he woke up Monday morning to this....PINK EYE!

Thankfully, this was our first round of antibiotics ever! He was not a huge fan of the eye drops that we had to give 3 times/day for the entire week, either! Poor guy!

He was able, however, to go to the grocery store with mom and dad on Wednesday to get our food for our Thanksgiving lunch.

We went up to Grandma Stacy's on Wednesday so that Dad could go hunting with Uncle Jeff. Before Dad left, he took Dalton on a 4-wheeler ride.


He loves going to Grandma Stacy's house because he gets to see the horses, Bo and Lucky. They were so good to come up to the fence so that he could pet them.

Dalton, Austin and Autumn waiting for the horses.

Stairsteps......Abby (11), Autumn (9), Dalton (3), and Austin (2).

Getting some love from older cousin, Abby. This was taken right before our last bit of excitement during the Thanksgiving week. Dalton ran through the rose bushes and hit the railing by the mailbox. He broke the fall with his face! He got up with a huge knot on his forhead, a scratch right under his eye, and a gash on his cheek. We were so thankful it missed his eye!

Playing with magnets with Dad

My attempt at creative photography :)

The finished product...Ta Da!

If you look close, you can see the battle wounds on Dalton.

We left Grandma Stacy's that afternoon and went to my sister's house for Thanksgiving supper with my family. Despite some of the "setbacks" throughout the week, I know we have so much to be thankful for. Last Sunday at church we sang this song called "Because of Your Love" by Paul Baloche. The words are so fitting for not only Thanksgiving, but everyday of the year.

"As we come into your presence, we remember every blessing that You've poured out so freely from above. Lifting gratitude and praises, with compassion so amazing. Lord, we've come to give you thanks for all You've done.Because of your love, we're forgiven. Because of Your love, our hearts are clean. We lift you up with songs of freedom. Forever we're changed....Because of Your love."

I'm All BOY!

Here is the latest addition to the new big boy room. I love every line in this, especially the "giving mom hugs". That is part of our nightly routine before bed. I lay down beside him in the bed, sing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and then before I get up he gives me several kisses on the "wips" and several hugs around the neck. The thought frequently crosses my mind as I lay there with him that one day this will end and I need not try to rush through this routine but really, really, really SOAK IT UP! I love the other lines in this too, like digging in dirt. I sat outside with him this afternoon on his swing set and the whole time we were out there he was digging in the dirt. We came in and had to literally scrub the dirt out from under his fingernails. These are good times! I love this BOY!

I think this is proof that John is teaching Dalton his OCD habits!

Like father, like son!

Dalton said it was "forty cents tall."

Seranading Mom....mini John

Big boy room

I had Thursday and Friday off this week and John and I decided it was time to update Dalton into a "big boy" room. When he got out of the baby bed last year, we decorated his room in cars and trucks. We have seen this year that cars and trucks just aren't his thing. What is his thing? Anything outside.....from bikes to dirt to shovels and fishing. He loves his swing and slide, balls, fishing poles, digging in dirt, riding his bike, climbing trees, etc.... He rarely, if ever, plays with cars and trucks. So we decided to make his room into things he likes. My brilliant husband had the great idea of painting sillouettes on the wall of things he likes. We found pictures of sillouettes online, put them on transparencies, and projected them on the wall. I mostly watched and gave moral support. So thankful for John's creativity and craftiness, because I have NONE! We were able to send Dalton to school both days and surprise him Friday afternoon with a new room when he got home. He walked in and said, "This is awesome!" Several times this weekend, he said, "I love my new room." and "Thanks for my new room!" John and I agree, it was TOTALLY worth it for all that! I have a wall vinyl that has not come in yet that will be on one wall that says, "I'm all boy!" with things that boys do in the background like, "digging in the dirt, jumping puddles, giving mom hugs, wrestling with friends, etc...." ( I will post a picture of it when it comes in.)

God Gave Me You!

I heard this song on the radio for the first time the other day and I LOVED IT! It's "God Gave Me You" by Dave Barnes. (It's the first song on my playlist.) We were being silly the other night after supper and I got out the camera and took pictures of my 2 favorite people in the whole world. I love these guys! So glad that God gave me these 2 to spend my life with. I love you, John and Dalton!

Halloween Fun

We celebrated Halloween all week long this year. On Tuesday night, we went to Family Fun Night at the Maumelle Library. They read Halloween stories, made Halloween crafts, and ate spooky snacks. On Friday night, we went to the annual Halloween party at the Mickan's house. It was, as usual, so much fun to see friends dressed up in full costume for Halloween. On Sunday night, our church did a Trunk-or-Treat at Lake Willastein in Maumelle and Mills Park in Bryant. It was a huge success! The one in Maumelle had around 500 kids come through the Trunk-or-Treat, with the last "trunk" being a presentation of the Gospel. Three kids prayed that night to accept Christ! It was awesome to be a part of. Another neat thing was to get Dalton involved by helping me at my trunk pass out candy to the other kids. He went through the line of trunks first with Cindy and Saigel and then came and helped me. I had bought candy to pass out, but when Dalton got there, he started passing out his candy out of his Halloween bag! Although he was being very picky about what candy he gave out of his bag, it was still pretty sweet! After Trunk-or-Treat, we took him out Trick-or-Treating to friends and neighbors. While riding in the car to the next house, he says to John and me, "This is a great night for Trick-or-Treating!" Not sure who had more fun, though, Dalton or me!

My trunk was decorated with the "Cat in the Hat" theme, "One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish."
(thanks for the suggestion, Brandy! :) The kids that came by my trunk, picked a red or blue fish that had a number 1,2, or 3 written on the bottom. Those numbers were how many pieces of candy they won. I actually ran out of candy 3 times during the 2 hour period! It was great!

Cat in the Hat and Princess Gracie

Love this boy! He has already decided that next year he wants to be a pirate for Halloween. Sounds good to me!

Fievel (Saigel) and Cat in the Hat

Cindy(the bottle of ketchup) took Dalton and Saigel through the line of trunks while I was busy at my trunk.

There was a reward for the best looking trunk. I would think that everyone would agree that this trunk won, hands down!

Trick-or-treating at John and Becky's house.

"Trick-or-treat, Addison and Riley!"

Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf

(a.k.a Dustin and Amy Dennie)

Who knew Thing 1 could play the guitar?

Doug was French's Mustard, Cindy was Hunt's Ketchup, and Sennett was a hotdog. Too cute!

The Marlboro Man

(a.k.a Todd West)

John and I had a great time dressing up this year as Thing 1 and Thing 2. I can't wait until next year....I have already thought about what I am going to be!

I am not sure what Dalton what more excited about....him being Cat in the Hat or us being Thing 1 and Thing 2. When people would ask him what he was going to be, he would tell them Cat in the Hat and then immediately say, "And Dad is going to be Thing 1 and Mom is going to be Thing 2!"

RiLadybug Riley West

Bumblebee Addison West

Saigel as Fievel

Dad and Dalton making a wand at the library Tuesday night.

Dalton and I, listening intently to the Halloween stories.