It's a....

GIRL!!




We had our ultrasound two days ago, after much modesty she finally showed us the goods. Mady and Jim went with me to my appointment. During the ultrasound the technician let Mady run the machine over my belly. She was talking to her and saying "Hi Sissy!" and everytime she would say "Hi Sissy" she would punch her little arm out. Mady was so excited, we all were actually, it was quite a moment being all together. I cried when it was over because I wanted a sister for my sweet little girl so much. I love my sister so much and couldn't imagine my life without her and really wanted Mady to have theat bond. Jim didn't cry but he was disappointed a little but was happy that I was so happy and said that that made up for any feelings he was having. There is a 5% chance it is a boy with girls they never like to say 100%. So he might still be holding out hope. Thanks to everyone who has been praying for me over the past few months. We are looking forward to August and meeting our new little girl!

ps this is not picture of her just a utero picture of baby at 22 weeks.

Wild Animal Park

One of the great things about living in San Diego besides the weather is all of the things to do in southern california. One of which is the Wild Animal Park in Escondido. This place is about a 15 20 minute drive from my house. The park is 1,300 acres. It's so cool, you take a tram around the park and the animals are just out chilling in a a semi- normal habitat. The animals that don't get along are separated and there are different habitats for different animals to explore. The lion exhibit was by far my favorite, the two momma's in the pride just had seven cubs between them. They were asleep when we first walked up and then the BIG poppa lion woke up scratched his face and just stared at me, here is the picture, it was amazing. He didn't take his eyes off me for a couple of minutes. The elephant exhibt was also great, i love how the people are behind the fences and not the other way around. Here is Aslan and i with the elephants. I didn't get any of them in the deer petting zoo but Aslan was so cute he kept squating down to look at the deers in their eyes like he was trying to talk to them:) Lastly the kids rode the animal carosel( Aslan's first time). It was a great last day with Nana and Pop Pop, they left today. We'll miss you guys. So for any visitors to San Diego I would highly recommend a trip to the Wild Animal Park it is worth it to see some maginificant animals in their semi- natural habitat( are there palm trees in Africa?)

Catching Up-Sledding in Idywild

Yes don't fall down I am finally posting. Sorry it's been so long... Jim's parents actually flew out here to help take care of the kids and manage the house so I could get some rest. They have been a huge blessing and i am resting more and getting much better as a result.
These pictures are of us taking the kids up to a cabin in Idywild, CA and both of my kids saw snow for the first time. We went up with two couples from our church and had a great time. Mady was not too thrilled about wearing ski pants for the first time, inside getting dressed she kept saying how hot she was, i explained they would keep her dry and warm in the snow. When we took them out sledding for the day she was sledding on her bottom for the first half and exclaimed, "I love these sliding pants". We eventually got her and Aslan on a sled. Aslan was a little frightened so we found we just had get on the sled with him and take off immediatley. I couldn't get any pictures of his face going down but he was excited and didn't want to get off after he was done. Mady had so much fun going down with Drew and Daddy. And she of course wanted to do things by herself so there are some shots of her and her friend Lauren going down together on a mini hill. I love their faces, Mady wants to figure it out and Lauren is just laughing and having fun. We all had a great time and even though our bottoms were a little sore it was well worth it for the adventure.
" Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart" Ps 37:4 Thank you Lord for this day and this weekend, what a treasure it was to delight in all of your creation and all that you have done in our family, and what a joy it was to get to share these moments with my family and friends. I owe it all to you, and to your son, for laying his life down for me.

Our First Nutcracker

Today I took Madeline to the Prado Theater in Balboa Park to see our first Nutcracker ballet. We went with one of my friends, Jackie, and her two girls. Since Mady started ballet this year I wanted her to see what real ballerinas look like and to see a live ballet performance. I actually had never seen the Nutcracker myself, growing up overseas I had missed that experience, so it was a treat for the both of us. Mady really wanted to wear her ballet shoes so I let her, they didn't really match her outfit but I am actually glad she wore them, it added to our whole experience. We explained to Mady before it started that there was no talking in the ballet, just music and dancing. To which she promptly replied "I know my teacher says no talking too so I know to be quiet, but sometimes I like to talk anyway:)" We took our seats and settled in to watch the show. I loved watching Mady's face as the curtain rose, she was excited and trying to figure out what she was seeing all at the same time. I think Mady might have been a little scared when she first saw the Nutcracker but she said she really liked the pretend toys. There was of course Clara, the main part, played by an adorable girl around fourteen. The snowflake dance at the end of the first act was glorious, with snow falling down and the dancers all in white flowing this way and that, it looked like a shaken snow globe and jewelery box all in one. After the first act Mady thought it was over but we told her there was one more act to go. Then she spotted Clara who had come out into the audience during intermission. It might as well have been one of the Disney princesses, she was enthralled. I love how bold Mady is, she just walked over to her and hugged her and asked if she could take her picture with her. Then after admiring her some more she asked if she could go over and tell her that her dress was beautiful. Let's see after that there was the orchestra area down front that some of the little girls were practicing being ballerina's. Mady went down and twirled and practiced her moves and told me when she was done that she was going to be in the Nutcracker next year and that when she grew up she is going to be Clara. The second act was dazzling, the Sugar Plum Fairy radiant and all of the dancers in their toe shoes made my feet ache just watching them. I keep saying to Mady, that is really hard to do as they went up and down on their toes and spun around in circles. She seemed pretty confident that she could do the same when she was big. She didn't even laugh when the Sugar Plum Prince came out in his "tights"/ muscle leotard that when directly up his crack. She must be too young to understand modesty, I and the older girls giggled a little watching him prance around. All was seemingly going well until Mady got tired. She announced very loudly towards the middle of the second act, "Mom I am ready for this to be over now I am tired" I held in the laughter as we happened to be sitting next to Clara's grandmother. It was a great performance and I hope to add it to one of the traditions that we can do every year. Here are some photos of Mady dancing down front and of her and Clara and one of us. Thank you Lord for such a wonderful day with my sweet daughter, she is such a joy to be with.

Ballet Time

Mady started a ballet/tap class this fall. She loves her teacher Miss Lisa and I love watching her in her class. This school is affiliated with the royal academy of ballet in London so they really creative methods of teaching the little ones proper form. The waiting area is small and it is especially fun keeping the little man contained, one day I 'll take a picture of what the lobby looks like when he is done.
We have been keeping busy lately, Mady keeps telling me that she wants to do home school. She can write her name and most of the alphabet. She is smart as a whip, I have to explain everything in detail. We will see about the home school, we live in one of the best public school districts in the state. We'll see what God will do when the time comes.

Mady's First Haircut

Well I finally broke down and cut Madeline's hair. It was getting pretty long and stragly in the back. I just did a trim and did not do bangs or anything like that. But it has been almost 4 years. Funny to think the hairs from when she first came out of my tummy were still on her little head. She did great and was very excited as you can see from the pictures.