20 Weeks with Baby #3

Here I am at 20 weeks. The photo was snapped right before the boys' bedtime. I look extremely tired in this photo, but I was actually feeling quite refreshed and relaxed after spending five days in Tampa with Curt. I must have been worn out from the day's travels. Flights, no matter how short, always wear me out.


Next week, we plan to find out whether we're adding a boy or girl to our family. Can't wait!

Caden's 6th Birthday

On Caden's actual birthday, Caden celebrated with his friends at Jump-n-Play. After school, Caden, six of his friends, and a few younger siblings enjoyed a couple hours of pizza, cupcakes, presents, and plenty of bouncing. It is not easy to snap good photos in a place full of inflatables--too much fast movement--but I tried.

The first of many, many trips up one of the slides...

Caden and Drew

Cole with his friend, Brock behind him

Caden and Drew again

Taking a break for pizza and juice

So thirsty!

"Happy birthday to you..."

Drew, Caden, and Joel inhaling cupcakes, so they can get back to the fun

Cole and Brock wrestling down the slide

Caden with Matthew and Lauren

The very worn out and sweaty birthday crew--Caleb, Drew, Joel, Cole, CADEN, Jack, Lauren, Brock, and Matthew--If you're wondering why EVERYONE has stripes on...It was stripes day at school for National Lutheran Schools Week.

Present time before heading home

Caden and Mom--Six years flew by in a flash! I love my big guy!

Caden's Early Birthday Celebration

Over the weekend, we celebrated Caden's 6th birthday early with Nana, Papa, and Grammy. After Caden's basketball game, we treated Caden to a birthday lunch at Red Robin (one of his favorite restaurants). He was surprised by a birthday song and sundae. He was too tired from his basketball game to eat much of his lunch, but he managed to find a little energy to eat some of his birthday sundae.

After lunch, Caden opened presents from Nana & Papa, Grammy & Grandpa, Aunt Shannon, Aunt Mariah, and Uncle Jason.

Caden received 16 (!!!) Lego sets from his family and friends. He will be happily building for quite some time.

Cole was just as excited as Caden about the presents.

Caden with his Mario & Luigi cake made by Grammy

The boys have a very talented Grammy!

6 candles!

Making a wish

And the Lego building begins...

On Sunday, Caden opened presents from us. Curt was on call on Caden's actual birthday, so he opened early in case Curt didn't make it home before bedtime.

Caden and Cole shared a bedroom over the weekend. It turns out that Caden got Cole to spill the beans about which Lego sets he was getting from us. According to Cole, Caden was supposed to forget. Now Cole knows that Caden forgets nothing! Guess I can no longer birthday shop for Caden with Cole.

Opening the first full-length Lego movie on DVD. It was released while we were at Legoland in February.

Grammy and the boys

Papa, Nana, and the boys

A very fun early birthday celebration for Caden!

Caden's First Basketball Game

On Saturday, Caden played in his first basketball game. He is #1 on the yellow team. He seems to really enjoy the game. Caden played very hard, running up and down the court for most of the 24-minute game.
Caden has his hands up and is ready for a pass.



The man wearing the yellow shirt is Caden's great coach.

Caden's fans enjoyed watching the game. He was worn out, but not tired enough to skip opening presents.

Our soon-to-be home

Last weekend, Curt and I went house hunting in Springfield. We viewed 12 houses on Saturday, and then returned to our three favorite on Sunday. It was a fun, exhausting, and successful weekend!

Here is a picture of the front of our soon-to-be home.

We cannot wait for June!

San Diego Day 4

We spent our final full day before traveling home at Sea World.

After two full days of rides at Legoland, the boys were ready to ride more. We convinced them to see a few animals before heading to the Sesame Street Bay of Play. The guys fed small fish to some hungry bat rays. They were not so sure about the experience. It was a little frightening and gross to have bat rays sucking fish out of their fingers.


The boys LOVED the Bay of Play! Here they are bouncing away.

Riding Abby's Sea Star Spin

Riding Oscar's Rockin' Eels in the rain. Fortunately, it was just a brief shower before the sun came out again.

Waiting in line for the Sky Tower and deciding where to go next...Sesame Street Bay of Play was their vote.

A view of the Sesame Street Bay of Play from the Sky Tower...The water areas were not open, but the boys loved the huge jungle gym of climbing nets, bridges, and slides. They could have stayed there ALL day. In fact, Cole tried to, but Curt caught him.

Riding Elmo's Flying Fish

Cole on Elmo's Flying Fish...Once upon a time, Elmo meant the world to Cole.

We didn't spend the whole day at the Bay of Play. Here are some animal photos from our day at Sea World.

Cole and Kelly watched the sea otters while Curt and Caden rode Journey to Atlantis (a water rollercoaster). We could have watched them swim, snooze, and play with ice for quite some time.

The boys showed no interest in waiting in line to interact with the dolphins, but we watched them swim around for a while.

Here are a few photos from the entertaining Shamu show.


We chose to stay far away from the very large splash zone.

After enjoying an absolutely delicious fudge brownie funnel cake (YUM!), we went to the Pets Rule show that featured trained dogs, cats (!), pigs, and birds. In this photo, the black dog set up a romantic dinner for the white dog. Too funny!

A cat walking on a tightrope...I cannot begin to imagine training our Mia! Pets Rule was such a fun show.

Yet another FUN day in San Diego! The last day of our vacation was spent traveling home. We had such a wonderful vacation! Great idea, Curt!