Rejoicing Always. . .: July 2007

It is crazy to me that I am in my 20th week of pregnancy already!! I have my sonogram this Friday and we are still NOT planning on finding out what it is. (Sorry mom and Tara and whoever else is totally erked that we're doing this) : ) I think it will be lots of fun on the birth day to be extra giddy about seeing who has been growing inside of me all this time! Not to mention everyone else just DYING to know in the waiting room or by the phones or wherever you are.

We've had a rough week around here---last Thursday night Hayley woke up w/ a YUCKY stomach bug that lasted a couple of days. We all were thinking we might be home free until Monday morning when I woke up SICKER than I feel like I've ever been. All I could think was, "How did Christine do this for almost 9 whole months?????????" You're super-woman, girl! I felt better by yesterday late morning, and poor Tra is taking his turn today. I just want to fumigate this house! Please pray that Jack somehow manages to escape this terrible bug! My apologies to anyone we might have passed it on to. : (

Other than that mess, things are going great over here! We're gearing up for a trip to San Diego in the near future. (I'll leave out dates for possible psychos who stalk my blog---you never know these days.) Hayley kept on saying, "We're going to go to California to see Dora!" I could not figure out why she was thinking we would see Dora there until she said one day, "We're going to see Diego and Dora!" She was hearing "See Diego" instead of "San Diego!" Ha ha ha! Poor thing is going to be so bummed when we leave and no sign of Dora (or Diego). We're planning on going to Sea World one day, Legoland another day, and beach it the rest (most likely---unless we get crazy and throw in a Zoo day or something). My parents are going to be at my grandparent's house while we're there (about 10 minutes from where we're staying) and my sister Angie and her husband Adam are coming part of the time we're there too!! I'm SOOO excited to see them. We haven't seen each other since our Joyce Meyer trip in April and I haven't seen Adam since Christmas! It will be a fun trip. My grandmother and her husband have lived in La Jolla (pronounced 'La Hoya') since I was 15ish and we (my sisters and I) went every summer and took a friend and I drove us all around in a minivan rental. Hilarious---and honestly not too safe when you really think about it. But lots of fun. I would always watch the kids running around and playing in the sand and think, "I can't wait until I can bring my own kids out here someday!" And here we are! Frances and Rex (grandparents) are members of a beach/tennis club so we get to stay on the private part of the beach w/ comfy chairs/umbrellas and swim in the pool/kiddie pool whenever we want to as well. So it's a great set up for a vacation w/ toddlers. I'm very excited to get to go on a trip w/ our family and to have my family there at the same time! Of course, Abigail---you will be MISSED!!

One last Hayley story before I go. . . she has a scary sense of direction. She'll be 3 next month and she'll say things like, "Oh, we pass the zoo on the way to Chuck E Cheese." I thought you were singing and reading books back there---not mapquesting every move we make! I won't go into WHY we were going to the Chuck E Cheese off of Hulen, but as I was driving down 35 and crossed over I-30 she made that comment. Then she points that direction and says matter of factly, "See, the zoo is over there." And she'll always ask, "Where's our house now, mommy?" I'm not sure if she's asking b/c she doesn't know or if it's a test for mommy? Hmmmmm. At least I can rest secure in the fact that she will most likely always be able to find her way home. : ) Or help me get home if I ever get lost. : ) I love that girl!

Speaking of the zoo, I took these at the zoo a couple of weeks ago. We went spur of the moment on a rainy Friday afternoon. Nice big "CHEESE" from Hayley. Jack was ready to get the show on the road.

Last Monday, Hayley, Jack and I went to pick up our sweet friend Jack Pinson and we headed to Frisco to the Wiggles Play Center! It is a REALLY neat place and I'd totally make the 50 minute drive back over there again. They have a toddler area for the little ones, a bounce house and a huge slide/activity gym thing for the bigger kids. The Wiggles music is playing non-stop, there are Big Red Cars all over the place for the kids to drive around in, there are big screens and little screens everywhere w/ Wiggles. It was my kid's DREAMLAND! They both love the Wiggles. The food wasn't anything to rave about, so I might bring lunches next time but all in all it was FUN for everyone! We met Aly and Adalyn and Tara and Scout (my sisters-in-law and their kids) out there and it was a lot of fun. We were there from a little before 11 until 1:30ish and the kids were NOT ready to go home. Needless to say, they realized on the way home that they were WORN OUT! If anyone decides you want to go check it out, let us know and we'll go with you!