Wilder Ranch

We took advantage of the sunshine today and got out for a nice hike in Wilder Ranch. The views were incredible, and the kids did pretty good, except for on our way back when Livi tripped and fell in some mud. As much as she likes hiking, she was pretty miserable the rest of the way to the car. Carson had fun climbing trees and flinging mud and hiding in the big dry ravines created by the rain alongside the trail. And on our way down, we saw a bobcat! He was catching something, looked like a small rabbit or a mole or some other small critter. He was pretty close to us, and looked right at us several times. It was kind of creepy, but also fun to see in the wild! I'm just so glad we didn't come upon any mountain lions.

24 weeks!

It's a....

BOY!!!

We had our ultrasound last week and saw some great glimpses of our little boy!!! Praise God that everything looks to be growing wonderfully, and we are thrilled to be having another boy. Carson was happy when the technician announced that it was a boy, Livi was a little dissappointed...she was really hoping to have a little sister. But I know she'll love this little boy so much. And we love that we'll have a Livi sandwich...boy/girl/boy.
We got some great pictures from the ultrasound, but we don't have a scanner, so these are pictures of the pictures, which turned out very blury.
This whole pregnancy thing is just such an amazing time and I feel SO blessed to be carrying another little Hughsie.

21 weeks

The "Salon"

Livi has been wanting to get her hair cut at the "salon" for a while now, so last week when Jason was off work, we had a little girls afternoon and went to Supercuts for her first real hair cut (I'd cut it a couple times before, but it wasn't quite the same experience w/o the fun chair and the apron, etc.) She was so happy and sat so still and was really enjoying it. We just had her take off a couple inches and frame her face a little bit. It turned out pretty cute, although I was wishing I'd told her to subtly layer the back because it ended up looking a little too straight and bluntly cut, but oh well. It was fun. Afterward we went out for a little icecream treat.

This has provided hours of entertainment...

Christmas 2009

We had a nice, quiet, relaxing Christmas this year. As much as I was so sad that we were not in Colorado this year, we did enjoy our time at home just with each other. We got our tree at Johnson's Farm the week after Thanksgiving, which is always a fun thing to do. I just love the feel of it up there, and the kids love trying to find just the right tree to cut down.

Christmas Eve

The thing Livi was most hoping to get for Christmas was new footie jammies....they are her favorite thing in the world, so she was very pleased to get a new set from Grandma and Bumpa. Now, hopefully, there will be no more tantrums when her other pair is in the wash. :-)

We got Carson a set of clamps, springs, some rope, carabiners and some pullies, and boy has he had fun rigging up all kinds of things. Great idea daddy. He knows his son well. :-)

Livi really wanted bacon for breakfast. :-) (She didn't eat all that)
And please don't even look at those so-called cinnamon rolls there on that blue plate....cooking while pregnant has not treated me well, neither for Thanksgiving nor for Christmas. It's hard to cook (or do most things) with half a brain. Usually those are the highlight of our morning breakfast, but this year...not so much. I hope some of my brain comes back after this baby is born!! Please don't tell me I'm going to be like this forever! I barely even got any decent pictures of Christmas this year, but hopefully it was one the kids will just remember in their hearts. :-)
I love the Christmas season, all the lights and treats and traditions and excitement, but especially the pondering of what it really means, Emmanuel, God With Us!!

Thanksgiving 2009

My parents and brother came out for Thanksgiving again this year, and we had such a nice week together. They spoiled me rotten with all the help they gave....cleaning the kitchen after every meal, doing our laundry, playing with the kids, dad refinishing our dining room table and front door, giving me foot rubs and just being here....they are such servants and so fun to be with!

Uncle Matt with Buzz

At lunch down in Pacific Grove

My beautiful mom

My sweet, handsome dad

By the end of this trip, my boy was on his belly swimming in the water like a seal just in his jeans

The Thanksgiving meal with my Aunt Ruth

A rousing game of Uno! Even Gracie was part of the action. :-)

The Belly

So here are a couple belly shots that I had Carson take. The first one is from week 13. I tried to take this one and get it on the blog before my parents got here to spend Thanksgiving week with us, but I didn't get it up, so they got to see the real deal first instead. :-)

The second one is week 15, earlier this week. I can't believe how much bigger I seem this time around. I think it's seriously from all the food I've had to eat to keep the nausea away, and I haven't been throwing it up (much!) or exercising it off....so it's just popping right out. :-) It's okay, I've finally (this week) given myself over to losing my body for this pregnancy....for some reason it's been harder this time around. It's so worth it though. I just love knowing there is a little life deep in there (actually it's almost the size of an avocado!!)....it's such a mystery and so absolutely AMAZING to me, and I feel SO blessed to be given this gift of another baby!

Marker Fun

This is what happens when a little girl gets a hold of a marker and takes it to the other room where her mommy can't see what she's doing!...

Oh Livi, at least it wasn't a Sharpie. :-)

Carson's 6th Birthday

One month ago today, Carson turned 6!

He really, really, really wanted footie jammies. Carson's always loved snuggly things, stuffed animals, soft blankets, snuggling in general. When he was 2&3 years old he didn't like the footie part of the jammies so we'd cut them off at the ankles. So after a few years of wearing other jammies, he decided he wanted a new pair of footie jammies, and he was thrilled that I found some at Target that were big enough.....they look so funny and huge when they're not on!

They look pretty cute! And definitely snuggly.

We had a little birthday party with some of Carson's friends at our house. We played "Pin the sponge on Spongebob", where we took a page out of a giant coloring book Carson got last year for his birthday and cut up some sponges for each person and they had to tape them on Spongebob's nose, as close as they could, blindfolded and dizzy. :-) It was quite a hit!
And then we walked down the street to the grass where we did a three-legged race and some other goofy games. Carson had a great time.

At least 4 months ago, I got a magazine in the mail that had a picture of a Boston Creme Pie on the cover and when Carson saw it, (he's our little foodie), he declared that he wanted that for his birthday. He didn't forget it, so that's what we made. It was pretty and delicious! And I had found this sparkler #6 candle at a shop here in town, and it turned out to be really cool!!! The picture below only shows it at the end, but it was quite spectacular....the boys loved it!

A fun birthday celebration of a wonderful boy. We love you Carson!!

Halloween 2009

PUMPKIN CARVING!!

I didn't get a final picture yet!

TRICK-OR-TREAT!!

Our pink poodle and Buzz Lightyear

The crew of friends we have trick-or-treated with every year.

Right Now I Am...

making pumpkin pancakes at 8:30 at night because I'm PREGNANT!!!! and they sounded really good!

Yes....the third Hughes child is due May 24, 2010!!

We are so excited that God gave us this little surprise blessing, and his mercies have so been over me this pregnancy...I've been feeling really quite good, in comparison to how I felt with Carson and Olivia....it's amazing. I haven't thrown up even once yet! Not to say I haven't had my fair share of gagging (my nose is my very worst enemy right now!)

I'm at 10 weeks today, and I feel like I look closer to 20! This belly is just popping right out! Is this what happens with the third one, or am I just really out of shape, or is it because I'm not throwing up all the food I'm eating (every 2 hours at the very most, I must eat)...so that's probably not helping the belly situation. :-)

The kids are really excited. Livi especially is thrilled and she talks to the baby every day. She daydreams out loud of all the things she's going to do for the baby (hold her, feed him, buy "newborn baby diapers", etc.) She really wants a baby sister. Carson really wants a baby brother. He was so excited that after we told them at dinner a couple weeks ago, he wanted to run outside and tell all the neighbors.

So anyways, just wanted to post that. I've been such a blog slacker....I'm going to bed so early any more, that I've lost all my blog posting time (I've still been reading blogs because that doesn't take as much brain power/thought), but I hope to get some pictures up soon of what's been going on in our family over the past few months.

Check back soon!

Questions

These are just a sampling of the variety of questions I've been asked in recent weeks by my kids. Their curious minds are so wonderful. :-)

What's the sky made out of?

Where's heaven?

What are drugs?

Can Guinnea pigs barf?

How do stars and moons float around out there?

Why don't boys wear bras?

Why doesn't Curious George have a mom?