IT'S A GIRL!

Well, it looks like my intuition is finally correct. I felt like it was going to be a girl pretty much as soon as I found out I was pregnant. And I was sure until about three months along and then I started doubting myself. I've never been right in the past. So either I have learned something or I just got lucky. Doctor says she is developing normally in every way, so that is an added blessing. It was so fun to see her squirming around in there. It really helps to make it all seem real. The due date is still November 17 despite the fact that she was a little on the small side. But that seems to be the norm for my kids so I am not worried. In fact, I am excited to see her in person.

Summer is HERE!

Well, at least I hope it is. We've had a few sunny days and it makes me feel energized and like I can jump back into getting caught up with things. I am way behind on this blog. So here are a few things I missed.
Courtney's class did a musical program full of songs about animals and the theme was, "Going to the Zoo!" Her class were the zebras, as you can tell from the picture. Courtney is right in the middle.
The next week the whole first grade class went to the zoo for a field trip. I was able to go and we had a lot of fun. Here is a picture of her with a few of her friends.
In May the Haycock girls continued the tradition of the sister's weekend. We went to Seaside this year. Although we were a little crammed in the house we rented we still had fun! I still came home sleep deprived and a little sick from too much snacking. I wouldn't miss it.

Here you can see us eating the chocolate covered strawberries that Laura brought. So glad to have her there with us. I didn't get a good shot of her, just her baby. Sorry! Em was also able to make it at the last minute and that was a great surprise. So that way I got this great shot of baby Hannah and baby Hyrum. They were quite curious about each other and it was so much fun to watch.

Last week Courtney had her end of the year ballet performance. I thought the girls made a huge improvement from last year. It is so fun to watch them progress. Whew! I think that gets me caught up. This week I should be posting again to add the results of my ultrasound. We can't wait to find out if we are expecting a girl or a boy!

Oregon Zoo!

On Monday morning Mason called me and Steph and convinced us it was a good day to go to the zoo. I'm not so great about being spontaneous like that so its good we have him around. It was overcast but really not too cold. In fact I decided it was a good day for the animals. I've never seen them so active and awake. I guess I always go when its a hot day in summer. The kids are standing in front of the tiger enclosure here. This was probably the only animal who was asleep so its not a good shot of him. But I thought it was a perfect chance to get most of the cousins in a shot all lined up.

Paige was very excited about the animals that she could see, like the hippo in this picture. She wasn't afraid at all like Courtney was when she was little. However, if the animals had any kind of camouflage she completely missed them. A few times she would be looking right at them and kept saying "I don't see it!" It was pretty funny.

Dylan liked the lion statues better than the animals themselves. I really liked this new exhibit. I don't remember the lions being there the last time I was. We don't go there often enough. I get too intimidated by driving in Portland and all the crowds. Mason was kind enough to drive my car on the way up and really there were no crowds that day. Courtney was in school and so she missed the trip. But I didn't feel too bad because her school is making a trip to the zoo in a couple weeks. I'll be going as a chaperon so I should be posting zoo pictures again soon.

Courtney's big news this week was that she won a drawing contest at her school. She came home on Monday with her prizes, a blue jump rope and two candy bars. She was so excited it was the first thing she said as I picked her up from the bus. It was a real boost for her self-esteem and her obsession with drawing pictures has only been reinforced.

How our garden does grow!

I recently took a trip to the Tulip Festival. I took Dylan and Paige, while Courtney was in school, and my good friend Lindsay came with two of her kids as well. She is an amazing photographer and willingly took some pictures of my kids. I really needed a good 2 year old shot of Paige, but she took some good ones of Dylan as well.
It was really muddy that day and luckily you can't see Dylan's lower half, because he was covered in it. He fell a few times. I kept Paige in the stroller, so she stayed pretty clean.
There was a field of grass nearby and Lindsay felt inspired to use it as a backdrop for pictures too. I really liked how they turned out.

Our garden is growing in more ways than one. My kids certainly do grow faster than ever, but it also looks like we will be growing in numbers as well. Yes, that means I am pregnant, for those of you who don't already know. I went to the doctor today for the first time and heard the heartbeat. That's always the way I feel that what is happening is real. I have been sick but I am getting through it. I am 10 weeks along and my due date is November 17th.

Superman returns!

This weekend was Dylan's superman themed birthday. But as you can tell from the picture he likes all superheros about the same. I really tried to get him excited about a different theme for the party, but he was determined that only a superman cake would do. So I found the idea for this cake online and I ended up having a lot of fun with it.



I looked everywhere for a superman toy that was unbreakable. We don't have a great track record with the action figures. They always end up broken. I found this plush superman online and he loves it already.
The main attraction for Dylan's party was going bowling. He really enjoyed it even though he and the girls all had to use this frame to get the ball going. Mason brought his girls and mom came too. We were all a little rusty. Mason easily had the best score. It was so much fun we all felt like we needed to go again soon.Here's the kids in their outfits that the Easter bunny brought. We wore them a week late because of General conference. It was a crazy morning getting everyone ready. I think they all stayed up too late for Dylan's party. At least the picture turned out.

Cake decorating!

I guess anyone who knows me is now aware that I have become a little obsessed with cakes. I just finished my first cake decorating class and this picture shows my final cake. I have to say that although we were only doing the basics that I had a lot of fun. I don't usually think of myself as a creative person. But making cakes helps me feel like I could be. If I can just get past worrying about messing up. My teacher in the class had to keep encouraging me not to worry about getting it wrong. She would basically tell me not to be afraid of it--its only icing.

Courtney turns 7!

Happy Birthday Courtney! She has been counting down the days to her birthday for weeks. We started things off early by bringing a treat to her class on Friday and her whole class sang to her. Saturday was the official day and we had a great day. First she got to take Leanne and Chantel with her to see "Alice in Wonderland." Grandma Haycock and Great-Grandma Leder were able to join us at the movie as well. The girls all loved the movie. I was a little worried when the Jabberwocky came out that they might get scared, but they had no problem. Then we came back to the house where they got to decorate some paper dolls, while I cooked up some pizza. Then the rest of the family showed up. We had a houseful and it was fun. I let Courtney pick out what cake she wanted and she picked a castle. It was quite an adventure to make and put together, but I gotta say that it was so much fun too! Of course now that I have done it once I know exactly how I would do it better, but oh well. We were so glad that all went smoothly and hope that everyone who came had a great time. Many thanks for all the gifts.