Our Babymoon!

Months went into the planning and it finally came, our Babymoon! A Babymoon is a vacation you take with your husband/wife before your new baby is born. We learned about this while planning our trip for Hawaii while I was growing B in me. So for Brod we went to Hawaii with Aubrie we went to Arkansas (the 2 just don’t sound comparable at all!!)  I kept going back and forth on going away as it meant leaving B. I’ve left him before but it was only overnight this trip was going to be for 3 nights! But we did it and am I ever so glad that Mike and I made the effort, saved the money and did it! After 16 months of living on a schedule every day it was great to just be on Mike and me time and to be so incredible selfish with that time.

 After kissing our sweet boy good bye we headed 4 hours away to a hidden gem of a place called Mt. Magazine State Park. The conclusion we came to is that Arkansas is beautiful (at least the part we were at). We stayed at a perfect lodge at the highest point in the state. This place was an hour from anything which made it great for planning....we didn't at all! The lodge had its own restaurant, we brought snacks and so we

were set to not have to leave the lodge at all :)

 Our days were spent trying to sleep in (the boy has ruined us from truly sleeping in with resetting out internal clock), short hikes, eating, reading our Bibles together, playing games and watching TV (because we don't have cable it's always a treat going somewhere that does).

 The views were gorgeous, everywhere we looked!

 My great husband had so much patience with me and my slow, slow, slow new hiking pace these days, I was always the leader.

 We stopped often for "sightseeing" breaks aka me catching my breath breaks.

 We made sandwiches and had a picnics for lunch. Butterflies were everywhere. We had never seen so many in one place before, it was great!

We had an absolute blast just us two for 3 days! We've taken several vacations together, however, this vacation was the first one that truly felt like it had purpose. Mike and I talked lots about this last year, set new goals for our family and for ourselves in the coming year, prayed lots together, laughed together and just continued to fall more and more in love with each other! We have made a commitment now to do this every year with each other because of how much purpose we found it to have. We missed B so, so, SO much and it really was tons of fun to come home to him and watch him run into our arms :)

Easter

 These pics are way out of order, but oh well. We all headed home to Iowa for the Easter weekend. What fun we had getting see family. When we got to Iowa B had never been on an Easter Egg Hunt before, when we left he had been on 3! The pic above is at our second egg hunt. A long time family friend of mine invited us over to her parents home to search out 850 eggs! It was great!

 This pic was taken just minutes after leaving the Easter festivities at my aunts house. Brod was over on his nap time by about 1 1/2 hours, but he held on so strong with all the commotion (and food) that was going on!

 Brod's Easter attire!

 Ha! I had to include this one. This is his first egg hunt. He really did enjoy looking at the Easter Bunny, but in the safety of my arms. Don't worry, we snatched him up very quickly!

 B quickly got over the trauma of the bunny when on the egg hunt he saw lots of different farm animals. He loved the goats as they would suck on his finger :)

 Back at my friends home searching for eggs. Truly Brod was very content with just a couple eggs. He cared more about the grass, sticks, rocks and.......

.... the basketball court! As soon as his little eyes noticed this full size court with hoops and balls he was done with the piddly eggs!

 there were hoops to be shot and dunks to take place. His daddy didn't mind one bit :) Little to say we now have a basketball hoop on our patio ;)

Our first "disaster" with the boy happened today. We were all driving home together from the doctor this am. B was winning (probably because he saw me go into our favorite bakery and grab some cookies and he recognized the bag!!!) anyway, I handed him a highlighter. They have strong caps on them...right? A couple minutes go by and I realize the highlighter did the trick at keeping him happy. I didn't dare turn around and make eye contact with him though to risk him becoming whinny again. When we got close to home I turned my head back and noticed the little painter in action! Cap long gone with both legs, socks and shoes covered in neon yellow! He really did stay in the lines well as no part of the car seat was colored :) So it was bath time for the 3rd day in a row now! It wasn't long into the bath that I hear Mike yell out "EEEWWWW!!!" Our sweet boy had pooped what Mike measured out to be 4 inches in the tub that he was fishing out, hehehehehehe! I love this stage in B's life. He truly does keep Mike and I on our feet and laughing all the time.

Quick little update on baby girl. We saw our specialist Friday and she looks great! She's weighing in at 2lbs 11 oz which places her in the 18th%. Nothing looks out of the ordinary yet! Thank you Jesus! She's moving and kicking away but definitely not as stubborn as what Brod was like in my belly. My legs have been having lots of discomfort from my varicose veins, so as of yesterday my support socks have been on all day. This should make for an interesting summer :)

Sesame Street

I won tickets to Sesame Street Live and the day finally came yesterday to attend the show! We act as if Brod was excited, Mike and I were excited for him. In all reality he has never seen Sesame Street, but oh boy did he have fun getting to know them.

 Getting more excited with every step closer to the show!

 B loved the show! He loved the lights, the music, the other kids surrounding us, everything. For maybe the whole first half his face was glued to the stage with one hand constantly in the pop corn.

 At intermission we got to meet the characters and run around.

 Who wouldn't be drawn to the cookie monster with all those yummy looking cookies!

 What a fun day we had! Now I need to figure out when Sesame Street is on TV so B can see his new friends again :)

The baby bump at 25 weeks. Baby girl stays very busy doing flips and circles in by belly. I know the belly still has lots of growing to do, but as confused I was when pregnant with B, I just have no clue where this girl is going to grow! And yes, you may be thinking why in the world am I in a sleeveless top and shorts the first of April? Well it's 90 degrees here in the 'ville today! The AC was dreadfully turned on last night as it feels like the middle of summer here. The only problem is that the pools aren't open yet!