The Latest

It's a girl! We found out on Friday that the new baby is going to be a girl. I think we were all surprised. I know I totally expected a third boy. Skylar was so excited! She doesn't mind that she will be almost ten years older than this baby. The point is that she will at long last have a sister. She will be outnumbered no longer. She will have a partner in crime in tormenting the boys. Bart was a little disappointed, but not too much, as he already has a little brother. George and the two older children came with me for my ultrasound. We got plenty of ultrasound pictures, including two each for both Skylar and Bart to keep all for themselves. The ultrasound tech even typed "Hi, Bart" and "Hi, Skylar" on their pictures, to make it extra special for them. I'll have to scan the pictures later and post them. The estimated due date is still August 26, and at the moment, the baby is around 12 ounces. Now comes the hard part - deciding on a name. At least we know that the middle name will be Elizabeth, after my sister, but we still have to come up with the first name. I like Ava, Gemma, and Scarlet, but I don't think George likes any of those names. So begins the great debate.
Today, I took the children downtown to their favorite toy store, Snapdragon, to spend their hard-earned and even harder-saved allowance. Bart bought two Thomas trains, Whiff and Billy. Skylar bought an interesting diary that has invisible ink and a special light to reveal it. We walked through Bear Plaza at Middle Street to Mitchell's hardware on Craven Street. On the way, I snapped pictures of the clock tower and the downtown area. It is quite scenic.
Skylar bought a stone mortar and pestle at Mitchell's Hardware, which is such a fascinating store to go into.
On Thursday evening, George and I took the children downtown. We ate dinner at the Cow Cafe, which is probably the neatest little restaurant for kids. They've got good, simple food (hot dogs, quesadillas, sandwiches, pie) and yummy ice cream. In the back, there is a play area that looks like a barn with a little white picket fence. In the front of the store is a gift shop and an electric train that runs the perimeter of the room. After eating, we went to a kids' bedtime program at the library about outer space. The library staff really outdoes itself with their children's programs. They're always chock full of songs and skits. Plus, there is a little snack at the end.
Friday after finding out the baby's gender, we had dinner with our friends, the Nicolaysens. On Saturday, I attended the Kinston Stake Women's Conference at church, which was really nice. There was a lot of work and thought put into the classes and the program, as well as the lunch we were served. Afterward, I picked up Skylar and Bart's friends, Kory and Chris, who came to play until dinnertime. The children stayed outside all afternoon, catching caterpillars and even a bee with a broken wing. Kory came in yelling, with a bee sting on his thumb. For some reason, the kids thought that since the bee's wing was broken, he couldn't still sting them, so Kory had picked it up. Hmmm...injured bee equals angrier than usual bee...At any rate, they had a ball, until a sudden, violent rainstorm drove them inside. Tom and Renee came over to visit for a few hours and shared dinner with us.
Sunday, after church, George, Drake, and I napped while Skylar read and Bart watched "Thomas and the Magic Railroad", which he is only allowed to watch when his father is not around because George loathes it. Actually, it really is a badly-made movie, but Bart loves it. We spent the later half of the afternoon outside, as it was very nice. I uncovered a baby snake in the flower bed right by the back deck. Unfortunately, I killed it because I was afraid it might be poisonous. I tried to do it quickly and as painlessly as possible, striking off the head with the garden hoe. Both children were understandably freaked out when the poor snake's head and tail kept moving afterward. I felt really bad, but I would have felt much worse if I had a poisonous snake lurking around where my children play. For dinner, we grilled beef ribs, which George declares he hates, but which I love. As a child, my parents always grilled beef ribs in the summer, and I actually like them much more than pork ribs. George did a good job grilling them, and I was reminded of our family dinners when I was a child. After dinner, the boys got a bath to wash all the dirt and rib grease off them. They splashed an inordinate amount of water onto the bathroom floor, but I tried not to mind too much. I can remember Elsie and I making a much bigger mess when we took our baths, so I guess I should be thankful.
Over the weekend, Drake added a few more words to his vocabulary: "cheese" (due to me taking a bunch of photos of him), "uh oh", "choo choo", and "George". He's been saying "George" an awful lot, and it's really cute.
Well, that's it for now. It's pretty late and I'm really tired. I just wanted to catch up on our weekend and deliver the good news about Skylar's long-awaited little sister.