The funny things kids say

Gabriella is all girl. It is amazing to me how naturally girls grab on to well... girly things. I don't feel like I've necessarily pushed on her to play with dolls and purses. But she LOVES them. And shoes. LOVES them. She is naturally nurturing. Her babies are constantly sad if you ask her. I think that is mostly so that she has an excuse to comfort them. She can be seen daily giving her babies kisses while holding them close and whispering to them "It's ok, Mommy's here..." It is truly fun to watch her personality at work.

Another thing that I am still trying to figure out is her use of the word 'princess.' With having an older brother, most of the movies/shows/books we are exposed to are not about princesses. Some are, especially now that she is a little older, has had a few birthdays/Christmases, and is not playing exclusively with hand-me-downs from brother. But the majority of our play does not involve princesses. Sure we call her 'princess' now and then. But her use of the word 'princess' lately has been cracking us up since it is seemingly out of the blue... she just gravitates toward it naturally.

Matt suggested that I start keeping a list of the phrases she comes up with since they have brought us so much laughter and fun. In these remarks, she often shows that she is under the impression that when she grows up, she will be just like her brother... a "big boy" if you will. She definitely knows her genders in any other situation except where it refers to the person she looks up to most... her big brother. She so obviously wants to be just like him. I think you'll see what I mean. Here are a few of the favorites:

• "When I'm a big girl, I can wear my princess squeakers." (referring to her "squeaker" shoes that she laments daily that she has outgrown. Apparently, her dream is to acquire some more at some point in her life.)
• "When I be a big boy, I can bring my princess lunchbox." (... to preschool in the Fall)
• "When I be a big boy, I can use a princess razor." (Talking about getting a haircut)
• "When I'm a big girl, I'm going to play my princess Charlie Church Mouse" (talking about Charlie the Church Mouse computer game that Oliver often plays.)

And finally, the one that I think had us laughing the hardest...

• "When I be a Daddy, I can floss my princess teeth"
  

Love that little girl!

Our Patriotic Girl

Oliver and Gabriella have been attending Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) with my mother-in-law every Tuesday since the Fall. They absolutely LOVE it! They have a kids program that is wonderful while my mother-in-law is in her Bible Study. I love to hear the things they come home saying. They really are sponges at this age. Oliver loves it so much that he routinely asks me to play "BSF" with him on other days of the week when we're at home where we go through the morning schedule step by step. I love it when he takes charge in directing a game like that.

Apparently, they recite the Pledge of Allegiance there every week because Gabriella came home saying this one day. I can't get enough of it. A sweeter than sweet two year old's voice saying such grown up words just melts my heart. Enjoy!

Ultrasound Day!

Today, Matt met me and "baby in the belly" at the doctor's office for our mid-way ultrasound. I am 19 weeks today! We were very excited to get to see some pictures of our baby moving around. Ultrasounds are so amazing! I could have one every day - love them! Our baby was very active and made the technician chase him/her around the whole morning. Neither of our other kids were quite like that in the ultrasound, so we may have a wild one on our hands. We were sure to specify before we started that we did not want to know if it was a boy or girl. So as she started she kept repeating to herself "they don't want to find out" so she didn't accidentally slip :)

When it came time for her to check the tell-tale area, she cautioned us to look away. That was HARD! It hasn't really been too hard to this point knowing we were going to wait and find out and I'm still feeling good about it right now, but let me tell you... when it is up on the screen in front of your face and you have to turn away (I even ended up closing my eyes so I wouldn't peek) - that is HARD! But I'm super excited to find out on delivery day - maybe even more so now that I've gotten to see them in action a little bit.

The baby kept putting it's hands up by it's face and opening and closing it's mouth. I think it's ready to eat already! They did notice that one of the kidneys is enlarged. Not super enlarged, but still above normal. So I have to go back in a month and get another ultrasound to check up on that. They are hoping it is just not fully developed and will work itself out. If not, there may be a blockage of some sort that we would have to work out after delivery. If that is what they determine at the next ultrasound, they would refer us to a Pediatric Urologist so that we could establish a relationship and prepare to take the baby there after delivery. I am praying that it is resolved, but preparing to have an ongoing issue just in case. Either way, it shouldn't be too severe since we are born with 2 kidneys, but I hope my baby can start life with two fully functioning ones, ya know! So be praying if you would!

Here are a couple pictures of baby's cute face!

Profile/side view - Head on the right, lying down, nose and mouth on the top of the head

More of a body shot - same position. Profile - head on right, face up