Trying to catch up

I really hate it when I get so behind that it's overwhelming thinking about posting anything! Life has been good, but very busy, thus the lack of posts! So, here are the main events that I'm needing to post about...our Big Sky trip, Brian's, Austin's and Paige's birthdays, the results of our ultrasound...is that it? Probably not, but at least it's a starting point! :0)

Brian's birthday was on the 24th of Feb. and he is now 31!! I was actually going to write a lovey, dovey tribute to Brian for his birthday on here, but as you can see, that didn't happen. I'm sure he's happy that I didn't embarrass him on the WorldWide Web!! :0) The kids loved giving him his presents and singing Happy Birthday to him. We didn't give him a big party because we decided to celebrate his b-day with our Big Sky trip. We were able to meet up with 5 other Optometry couples from Ohio State and it was like we just left Ohio recently instead of almost 2 years ago. We just picked up right where we left off. It was so fun meeting Daryn (John's wonderful wife) for the first time!! She fits right in with the group!! :0) The only thing that would have made this trip even better was if I was able to go snowboarding with everyone else!! It was very nice, though, just being able to relax without any kids and no set schedule! Thanks to Brian's parents for watching the kids for us!!

Here's 4 of the 6 couples. The Hardy's and Brian went skiing/snowboarding, while the Passeys, Heningers and I went out to lunch!

Here are the Girls!! Tricia, me, Holly, Krissy, Erin and Daryn. It was so fun seeing these girls again and meeting Daryn! I'm just happy that we all live in the West and we can get together at least once a year at more CE conferences!! Hopefully we'll have more of our Opt girls with us the next time!!

Austin had his birthday on the 8th and Paige had hers on the 19th. I can't believe that Austin is 2 and Paige is 4 now. They're so big! Paige is very imaginative and loves to play games and pretend with Austin. And he's following right in Paige's footsteps. We just love Austin's facial expressions and little sayings. For instance, we went for a little drive this morning to see one of the local campgrounds and the road was a little bumpy to say the least. Austin and Paige had big smiles the whole time and Austin kept saying that the car was so big and bouncy. If anything is a little scary to Austin, he says that it's too big. Crazy boy!! :0) Paige is fascinated by our little baby. She keeps asking how the baby is growing and when and how it will come out. She takes out one of our pregnancy books and turns to the pages that show pictures of the baby and the umbilical cord and informs us how the umbilical cord feeds the baby from the mommy. She never ceases to amaze and entertain us! ;0) Anyway, we decided to celebrate their birthdays together this year. We were hoping to do it on the 14th, but we had to move it to the 21st. It was better that way anyway, because the weather was great and we had G'ma and G'pa N., Aunt Bekah, Uncle Lance, Aunt Kandra, Uncle Brandon, Sydnee and the dogs, Yogi and Ace there to help us celebrate! I have to include the dogs because they are one of Paige and Austin's favorite part of our family's visits! :0) Austin's favorite presents were his Cars umbrella and his Superman/Batman cape. Paige's favorite presents were her Belle dress and her Princess umbrella. She also got a Supergirl/Princess cape that she wears, but the Belle dress takes the cake. If you know Paige, you shouldn't be surprised at all by that!! :0) Speaking of cake, the kids wanted a Dalmation cake this year and I tried my best to make it look at least a little like a dog! Definitely NOT one of my talents, but it's fun to try! :0)

Here are the 3 Pregos (Paige couldn't resist being in the pic!) on the N side of the family! Kandra is due Aug. 2nd, I'm due Aug. 14th (they moved my due date back a week, Ugh!!), and Bekah's due Sept. 2nd. We're gonna keep my mom busy!! :0)

These are the butterfuly cupcakes we made for Paige's birthday snack at preschool. They were a hit!

Another big event for our family this month is that we bought a new vehicle! With the new addition in our family, we needed a bigger car that would actually have enough room for our soon-to-be family of 5. Brian's parents were selling their wonderful and beautiful Tahoe and it was just too good to pass up!! Can I tell you...WE LOVE IT!! :0) The kids do too, but Austin, especially, is having a hard time realizing that it's our car and not Gramma and Popop's car anymore!! ;0) (Pictures will be coming when I think to take a picture of the Tahoe!) :0)

OK, the last major thing that has happened this month is finding out the sex of our baby! There were many family members and friends that said boy, but a few that said girl. My side of the family suspected we would have a girl because of our "every other" tradition. (So far all 12 of the grandkids have been girl, boy, girl, boy, etc. CRAZY!!) Well, the tradition holds out!! We are having a girl. We are very excited and are anxious to see if this girl will be dramatic like Paige and a little more laid-back like Austin. From the ultrasound, I think she has a little bit of an attitude and will be like her big sis, but we'll wait and see! :0) She definitely didn't want us to know what she was since she kept wiggling and crossing her legs. The tech kept saying that Baby Girl was making her work for her money! :0) Does that sound like Paige to you?!? :0) At least Baby Girl gave in a little and finally let us have a peek. (Very much UNLIKE Paige, if you remember!) ;0)

Is that a good enough review of the past month? Hopefully I'll be able to fill in these big events with some "every day" events soon.