Boy #3!

We had our 20 week ultrasound yesterday and found out we are having a boy! So excited to give Aaron the little brother he was hoping for. And the ultrasound video was so stinkin cute, we know we are all going to love this little guy to pieces. He is also totally healthy and everything seems to be perfectly normal. So glad.

We decided to name him Jacob.

Alex the Hero

After I wrote my last blog post the boys and I went for a little bike ride. I wanted to get used the hand cycle and the boys loved riding along side me. When we were about 1/4 mile from the house my front tire came off. The bike has tubular tires which is where the tire and tube are one unit.

I couldn't even move the bike if I wanted to and I forgot my cell phone at home. As I looked at the tire, started to explain that this was a little emergency, and said "Alex here's what I need you to do..." Then Alex said to me "So I ride my bike home and bring you your wheelchair?"

He knew just what to do and I was a little scared to let him go but I knew we really didn't have another choice. It was 6:30 at night and about 40 degrees so we were anxious to get back home. About 15 minutes after he left I saw him coming in the distance. He was still really far away and he seemed to be struggling. About 15 minutes later, I heard him crying and screaming to himself in frustration. It made me wonder why he was struggling so much. He kept going and after 30 minutes of struggle I saw him about 100 feet away and noticed that the brake was on one of the wheels. He push/dragged my chair the whole way!

I was so thankful to see him. (but so frustrated that I put him through that kind of agony) I could just see of him the whole way thinking "This is so hard! but Mom needs her chair!" He really amazed and humbled me by his attitude and how he refused to give up. I am very thankful for my oldest son. He is a special spirit.

Alex Rides His 2-Wheel Bike

Alex is amazing. While I was in the house after school one day he decided to pick up his two wheeled bike and ride it for the first time. He was screaming MOM at the top of his lungs and I didn't know if he was happy or hurt. I came out, he showed me what he could do, then I got the camera.

Later I found out that five minutes before he tried it, he rode his scooter down to our neighbor's house and saw their little 5 year old girl who just took her training wheels off.

He was inspired. He got on his bike and started riding with NO help. It was so cool.

We are all so excited to ride bikes this summer. Aaron just bumped up from a tricycle to a bike with training wheels, Alex is on a two wheeler, I just borrowed a handcycle from Michigan Sports Unlimited to stay in shape during the pregnancy, and Chris registered to do the DALMAC in September. The DALMAC is a 5 day bicycle camping tour from Lansing to the Mackinac Bridge. We all have bikes on the brain right now.

Letter Sandwiches

...make our day. We have a set of alphabet cookie cutters which have been useful for much more than just cookies. Aaron and Alex are both learning how to read so it was very exciting to eat each letter or take bites of it to make new letters or rearrange the letters or think of new words that start with that letter. So fun.

Chris is Turning 30!

Chris is turning 3o tomorrow but we threw him a surprise party on Saturday to celebrate and to, you know, catch him by surprise. I started out by sending him to get a 30 minute massage. While he was gone, the guests arrived and hung out for a while until he got home from the massage. As he was pulling in the driveway, everyone (as in 16 adults and 10 kids) hid behind couches and got ready for the big surprise. When he got home, I asked him how the massage went and said "Babe, I want to show you something." (which was the key phrase to signal everyone to pop out and yell surprise) We turned the corner from the kitchen to the living room and no one popped out so I said, "I SAID Babe, I want to show you something!" And voila, everyone popped out. It was a great suprise and a very memorable experience for the kids. They have always wanted to do that.

After we had dinner and socialized a bit, we all got in a circle and did a sing along to the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. It was awesome. Pretty much everyone had a solo, Chris played Joseph, and then everyone chimed in on the chorus. I got 11 of the main songs from Joseph in a Karaoke version off itunes, and I gave everyone a copy of the lyrics, so we were set to go. It was fun to see how each person with a solo sang right out and got into character.

The kids loved it and either listened, or danced, or just ran around the house while we were singing. It is something I would fee very comfortable doing again and I hope we can soon. I am thinking Sound of Music would be fun.

Proud Moment...for both of us

Alex received a Lego castle set a couple years ago. He was 3 years old and couldn't put it together by himself. I put 98% of it together.

Lately, he has been wanting to find old lego instruction books and put together sets he received long ago. We put together several Star Wars ships and he was just getting more excited each time. Finally he asks, "Mom, can we put together the Lego castle?" When he asks this I can feel my eyes roll back and let out a big sigh. The thing is huge. Even putting together a small star wars ship took 2 hours because finding every piece that is unique to that exact set is really hard when we own probably around 20 sets. And all the pieces are now mixed together.

At first I say "Okay, we can do one wall." Which of course turned into one wall or tower a day. Which turned into this. After a week of hard labor, we made the whole castle. Actually, he built the whole thing, I just found the pieces for it. After 12 hours of work, with the help of my best friend, the BOX4BLOX, it was finished. The box4blox is a great Lego sorting and storage system.

It was a great memory. Somehow all the pain and frustration is erased when I look a this sweet picture of Alex.