Side by side

Ok, I am not really of fan of photographing my ever growing belly, but this was fun....

Nicole & Joe are visiting all week and they came for dinner last night. Nicole is due 2 weeks before me and we thought it would be fun to take some belly shots, side by side.

Who's bigger?

When we took off our sweaters off to get a good belly shot Kevin wanted to take his shirt off too and stick out his belly!

Stone Family Christmas

On Sunday afternoon we went to Ames to celebrate Christmas with Nate's family. It was wonderful to see everyone!

I love this picture! Kevin with his Great Grandparents and cousin James (6 months)

Dan was showing Kevin & James the big tractors that were plowing the snow. James is too busy studying Kevin.

More fun in the snow

Our house looks very pretty in the snow

This is the first winter in which Kevin is actually playing in the snow. Saturday afternoon he helped to build a giant snowman in our yard.

A very, very White Christmas: Part Two

Christmas Morning, Kevin wasn't quite sure if Santa came.

...but, he did come! See for yourself...

A very, very White Christmas: Part One

Christmas Eve

Setting out the milk & cookies for Santa:

So much snow!

Last week we were hit with a blizzard! Growing up in the midwest, we thought we had seen all sorts of bad snow storms, but Nate and I were both in awe of this storm. Luckily, the town shut down for a few days and we were able to stay home from work.

It got a little warmer this weekend so Nate took Kevin to play in the snow. They had the most fun building a slide of snow on our deck. My job was to help dress Kevin for the snow (wow - it's nearly an Olympic sport!) and to make the hot cocoa :)

BamBam!

YES, we are thrilled to announce we are expecting another baby due this May! My due date is May 7th. You might remember that Kevin was nicknamed "Pebbles" (as in a tiny Stone), so naturally, we are calling this baby BamBam.

I am feeling great, the second trimester is soooo much easier than the first. We had an ultrasound this week, everything looks great. Sorry to disappoint those of you who hate surprises, but we did not learn if we are having a boy or a girl. (If you ask Kevin, we are having a boy and he will be named Thomas. He has named everything Thomas, all his lovies are named Thomas). We like the name Thomas, but now think it would be too weird to use since it's the name of all Kevin's stuffed animals. Of course, I think BamBam is a boy because I can't fathom the idea of having a girl. Wait and see.... May will be here before we know it!

We have told Kevin that we are having another baby. How much he really understands, I don't know. This week he said that the new baby can have all the red binkys, because he loves the blue ones :) We have the crib setup from when Kevin slept in the nursery, and we got out the mobile and bedding to decide how to paint the room.

This pregnancy is going much faster than it did the first time! (I know I will regret these words when we get to months 8 & 9!)

Santa re-do

This year's visit with Santa went so much better than last year. Kevin gave Santa a high-five and climbed right into his lap. When asked what he would like for Christmas, he replied "big things, I like big things". Not too specific, but Santa will know what to bring.

We were busy decorating our tree this weekend. Kevin thought it was really fun when Nate tied it to the top of the car. It's not everyday there is a tree on the top of our car, he was laughing the entire ride home.

Our scary helper

We are working on repainting the island in our kitchen. Well, as soon as Nate gets out the toolbox, Kevin wants to help. He is wearing his scary mask so he doesn't breathe in the dust while sanding. Safety first!

Man in the Moon

Today, while driving home, Kevin said "I see the man in the moon, Mommy. Where is his neck"?

How do I respond to that?

Lunch with ladies

We were in Chicago for Thanksgiving and had a great time with Grandmom, Grandpop & Uncle Brian.

On Friday we met my friends for lunch. It's been months since they have seen Kevin and all the girls had fun asking Kevin about his favorite things (what he does and school, what he'd like for Christmas).

Kevin & Ben

Before our drive home yesterday we stopped to visit the Dewart's. Kevin loved playing with Ben's toys. Thanks for sharing so well Ben!

Karen's Wedding

Kevin had a terrific weekend, and so did we! We were in Chicago for my college roommate's wedding. Kevin spent half the weekend with Grandmom & Grandpop and the other half with Nicole & Joe. We all had so much, we're a bit sad the weekend excitement is over.

Friday night at the rehearsal dinner:

Pretty bridesmaids: The roommates, with Nate (he was our honorary college roommate for several years).

Jumping in the leaves!

Such a treat... the weather here was warm and sunny all weekend. We did a lot of yard work today, including raking a big pile of leaves. Kevin had so much fun jumping in the pile of leaves.

Nicole & Joe came for lunch today. Kevin made sure to invite Uncle Joe to jump in the leaves with him!

Trick-or-Treat

We weren't sure how much of Halloween Kevin would understand this year. Well, he understood that Halloween = candy! Our little Fireman had fun trick-or-treating in our neighborhood.

It was a chilly night, so we had to bundle up. Luckily Kevin's raincoat is also a fireman coat, so it matched his costume.

Kevin was not shy. His candy strategy was to take only candy wrapped in blue wrappers. Blue is his favorite color! At first, I wasn't sure if he was more excited to ring the doorbell at each house or to collect the candy. In the end, it was the CANDY!

Grandpop had the important job of passing out candy at our house while me, Nate, and Grandmom took Kevin trick-or-treating. Grandpop & Daddy were also in charge of "inspecting" the candy when we got home. That must be a dad job.

Kevin loves is scary mask from school. He yells "BOO" really loud!

Hide & Seek

Kevin loves to hide in the cabinet of our 1990's prom-bathroom!

(ps - we're taking suggestions on the new paint color. any ideas?)

A fun fall day

Cold. But we had fun anyway.

Last weekend we went to a nearby apple orchard/pumpkin farm. They had great activities for kids (hayrack ride, barnyard, mini tractors, train ride, pumpkin roll). Kevin's favorite part was the apple donut we ate in the Country Store to warm up. We'll try to go back one more time before Halloween to pick more apples.

Kevin really like "swimming" in the corn pool. Is this an Iowa thing, or what!

He knows our tricks

I've been honest about Kevin's love for his binky. For about the last year or so Kevin knows that he only gets his binky at naptime and at bedtime. This has worked great for all of us.

Kevin: For what it's worth, I love your binky too. It's like a baby sedative. Every time you get it into your mouth you instantly calm down, quiet down and fall asleep. It's magical, why would I take it away? Well, you will thank me when your not carrying it to sleepovers someday.

Several months ago we got Kevin a bike, with the idea of giving it to him in exchange for him giving up his binky. We had the bike in the basement. Well, stupid Mom & Dad... On Monday the furnace repair man came over while Nate was home. Kevin was excited to go to the basement to watch the repair man. In a matter of seconds, I hear from the kitchen, "a bike, look Daddy, there's a bike". We told Kevin he could have the bike if he gave his binkies away. We marched up to the kitchen, gathered them up and Nate tossed them out (not really, they are in the glove compartment of his car)! Kevin was so excited for his new bike.

The true test came at bedtime... he is doing okay so far. Kind of restless, but eventually falling asleep. He needs a few nights of detox.

Halloween flashback

He thinks it's funny to wear last year's costume:

Kevin, Halloween 2008. What a cute little guy:

Football Sunday with the Skinner's

The Skinner family came over yesterday to watch the Bronco's game with us. McKenna & Kevin kept very busy in their big tower (which collapsed about 50 times during the game).

They brought along their Bumbo seat to feed Zachary (6 months old) and both toddlers wanted to sit in it, so I found our Bumbo in the basement. Both kids thought it was very funny to sit in the baby seat (it was more like a thrown).

We rarely get a photo of all 3 of us and I was hoping maybe we could use it for our Christmas card. Too bad Kevin insisted on wearing his pajamas all day yesterday. Sometimes it's not worth the argument...

Happy fall, stay warm!