More of Jaiden, the Second Grader

Just a few pictures of Jaiden in her classroom and with her second-grade teacher!

Yeah... we had birthdays, too!

Oops! I am just now getting around to some photos that were on my mom's camera and figured, hey -- better late than never, right?!

At any rate, I just wanted to post a few pics from my birthday (which was in June) and Sean's birthday (which was in July) before we got around to September, Christmas, the new baby or even next year's birthday events! Ha-ha!

For my birthday, my family and I ended up going to Ragtime Cafe for lunch.

And it was so delicious! I had a huge grilled chicken salad, and Jaiden and I even munched on crab claws -- and we BOTH liked them! Sean also surprised me with flowers, delivered to our house. (In fact, he had to come up with some excuses to stall going to lunch because the flowers hadn't arrived... I was pretty hungry, unaware that beautiful flowers were on their way, and wondering why in the world we were just waiting around so long to go eat!)


For Sean's birthday, I once again cooked up a little surprise. On a Sunday, 3 days before his actual birthday, I convinced him that I was craving Chinese food. So we went out to eat at one of our favorite places, Mandarin House, only to "discover" a few tables full of family and friends waiting for our arrival!




My friend, Season, made the lawnmower cake based on a silly idea I found online. It turned out AWESOME! (Yes, that is a cake! The red lawnmower body and the "grass" cupcakes (complete with gummy worms) are all edible, of course! But we used a "real" toy lawnmower for the wheels and for the handle and "motor."



And Sean opened some silly "joke" presents that I labeled "things every lawn professional needs to be successful." For example, in this picture, Sean has a hat and some safety glasses (for protection, of course) as well as a box of band-aids, rainbow colored, for any major injuries that might occur on the job.

To name a few other items, he also got a "lawnmower repair kit" (AKA super glue) for those quick fixes and some "heavy-duty sponges" (AKA Brillo pads) for getting all the dirt off after a hard day!

Both birthdays were super fun and deserved a little recognition, no matter how late!

Welcome to 2nd Grade!

It's official. My baby is now in second grade!
"All grown up" with her new haircut, Jaiden excitedly made her way to her new classroom, found her desk and showed me around, assuring me that she knew what to do and that school this year would be fun.


"Fun for whom?" I wondered... every mom knows the bitter-sweet tug on the heartstrings as you cheer for your child as she gets bigger, learns more, accomplishes things and grows into the person she is... while at the same time you're reminiscing about fuzzy footie pajamas and cuddle time and missing the little person she was. *sigh
Ah, yes; it's a dilemma, but I swallow a tear, blow a kiss and wish her a very good first day of second grade. And I silently watch my daughter melt into her surroundings... embracing the words, the letters, the colors, the kids, the conversations, the laughter and the whirlwind of school... and of life... and of growing up.

Shrinky Dinks ... for Sean

Sean's birthday was last month, and while shopping for birthday gifts, Jaiden spied something she KNEW he would love: Shrinky Dinks! She picked out a package of space/alien-themed Shrinky Dinks and presented them to Sean for his special day.

Needless to say, Sean (who played with these crafty litle things as a kid) loved them and proceeded to make them with the whole family!

Neither Jaiden nor I had ever experienced the fun that is a Shrinky Dink, so we were thrilled to share the excitement and wonder as you color, cut, bake and shrink the plasticy doo-dads -- right before your eyes!


I colored the robot dog. Jaiden worked on the spaceman and the planet. Sean did the rest! (This is a pre-shrunk photo, BTW. I was using my iPhone and didn't capture a good shot after they baked in the oven!)

And the verdict is...?!?!?!?!

The votes are in... and if I could count all the people who voiced their opinions (family, friends and strangers... in addition to those who were brave enough to comment here!), it ended up being the following count:
BOY -- 10
GIRL -- 29

Well, after a very exciting (and emotional) ultrasound (that showed a very healthy and growing baby, by the way), we are 99.99% sure that

It's a...





BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've saved you from the actual photo "proof," but I assure you: he is very much a baby boy. :) And we could not be more thrilled!
And I love this ultrasound picture... look at that round belly, sweet little profile and his hand up to the chin! What is he contemplating at so young an age?!?!

Now we just have to wait for the actual arrival (which, according to the ultrasound technician is December 26. Hmmm... moving the date up, are we? It will definitely be an interesting Christmas holiday, to say the least!) In the meantime, I've already hit the stores for some cute baby boy stuff! How FUN!

The Baby Gender Vote

We find out this Thursday, August 6, whether we're having a baby boy or a baby girl.
So.... what do YOU think!?!? Let me know your vote, and we'll see who has the intuition -- or just the luck -- to predict baby gender!
Oh, and if any of this helps you make your guess, here are some details about the pregnancy so far... feel free to ask questions if there's something important you think I've left out! ;)
DUE DATE: December 28
CRAVINGS: salty foods mostly; and marshmallows and ice cream, of late
MORNING SICKNESS: just about every hour for the first 4 months (felt better by eating crackers all day!)... now, it's just about gone!
CARRYING: high (but I'm very high waisted... so, where else would I put the baby!?!) and out front (like a basketball)
SKIN & HAIR: not looking so great...
NAILS: growing fast

I'll be sure to let y'all know if we'll have PINK or BLUE on the brains from here on out!