Confetti reveal

Monday, February 23rd was our 20 week Ultrasound.  We had to reschedule our appointment due to Dan's work and some sort of miscommunication on the hospitals end, but we finally made a day and time work.  I was anxious to find out what we were having. 

 Initially I was on the fence about finding out the gender.  But at my 17 week appointment my doctor had trouble listening to the baby's heart beat, due to my heart beat taking over, so he did an ultrasound to get the heartbeat and he randomly asked me if I wanted to know the gender if he could find out.  I blurted out, "Yes!"  (Apparently my self control is not as good as I thought.)  But as it turned out, the umbilical cord was in the way and he couldn't tell.  That was probably a good thing because Dan wasn't with me and I am sure he would have been a bit disappointed.  In fact, I know he would have been.  I teased him and told him that I had found out the gender.  And he couldn't believe that I knew and he didn't. He was dying to know.  I drew it out as long as I could (which wasn't long at all because I can't keep things from him), but then confessed to him that I was just kidding.  He was such a good sport.  

After that experience, I couldn't NOT find out.  I was so close, and still didn't know.  Dan was relieved since he wanted to find out the whole time.  So, the morning of the 23rd we found out.  Dan and I were able to go to the appointment alone.  Alayna was in school and my visiting teacher offered to watch Brylen.  As for guesses whether it was a boy or girl, our family was divided.  Half thought girl (Alayna and Dan) and half thought boy (Brylen and me).

We agreed to wait until Alayna got out of school to tell the girls.  I decided to put confetti in balloons in coordinating colors of the gender.  I first blew up some empty balloons and had them practice popping them with pins, so they knew what to expect.  My girls don't like loud noises, especially Alayna, so I figured a practice round would be in our favor.  Then I told them the real balloons would have confetti in them.  It would be pink and purple if the baby was a girl or blue and green if it was a boy.  

Here they are ready to go.  They were so excited to find out!

They had strict instructions to pop them at the same time, but a certain two year old just couldn't help herself and popped her balloon first.  

So, I told Alayna to hurry and pop hers!

Aaaannnnd.....

IT'S A BOY!!!!!

We still can't believe it, but it was evident SEVERAL times during the ultrasound that he is indeed a BOY!  About 30 seconds into the ultrasound, the tech confirmed that we were having a boy and I think ever since then, we have been a bit in shock.  Boys are foreign to us.  We are curious to see who he will look like and how he fits into our family, but we are super excited!  The girls are thrilled to have a baby brother.  They love talking about him and can't wait until summer time.

The color blue, trucks, cars, airplanes, trains, cowboys, bowties, buzz cuts, and boy names have been occupying my mind.  I can't wait to start my little baby boy projects (I already have one done.)!

And speaking of names. It's been harder than I thought.  We're still in search for the name we LOVE, but we have several that we like a lot.  If you remember, we have to see our babies before we can settle on a name, so we usually take a list of three to four names with us to the hospital.  

Here's to little baby BOYS and all their cuteness!!!!  

Kids certainly pick up on things

Can you guess what Alayna has picked up on?

Someone else in this house looks like this, and it's not from a basketball under their shirt.

That's right!  Baby #3 is on the way!!!

Due July 10, 2015 (I will be 23 weeks on Friday).

We couldn't be more thrilled to add another person to our family!

Stay tuned for the gender reveal.  

When your dreams are becoming a reality

Over the course of this last year, I have found myself reflecting on my desires in life, my dreams and what I want to achieve most in this life.

And as I have truly taken a closer look at myself, I have been able to shape my goals around those things that matter most to me.  

Along the way, I enlisted Dan in this journey because, well, he is my other half.  There is not much that I do or want to do without him.  He makes me want to be better and much of the time he is the reason why I set out to achieve my dreams in the first place.

I have come to recognize several dreams for me personally.  Some may take the course of my lifetime, others a shorter amount of time.  And while we each set out to make those personal goals, we made a some goals as a couple as well.  

One of those goals revolved around Dan's job.  While Dan absolutely loves his job, we also knew that he hadn't reached his "dream job" goals.  And in order to do that, he needed to move up within his company.  We made a list of things he/we needed to do, as well as specific things he wanted to achieve.  And in June of last year, he was told about a potential position within his company that they were interested in giving to him.  

Not only did his company seek him out to fill this position.  They actually CREATED this position for him, and only him!  

Within four months Dan's dreams were realized and our family was moving to Star Valley, Wyoming to start a whole new journey.

And Heavenly Father truly blessed us along the way.  Pretty much every request we gave his company in order for us to move, they met.  In fact, they gave more than we expected! 

Now, Dan is currently the remote Diesel Technician for Cummins Rocky Mountain servicing much of southwest Wyoming and parts of Idaho.  He is loving this new adventure and the possibilities it has given him in his career and how it will help him achieve even more of his career dreams.  And we are excited to see what other dreams will become a reality!