Our Little Man

We went in for one more ultrasound this past week so they could check a few more measurements on our little guy.  I was so happy at the end when they gave us a couple 3-D pictures as well.  It's amazing to already be able to see what this kiddo looks like.

Families Can Be Together Forever

My big brother got married this last weekend.  At the luncheon the older nieces and nephew sang "Families Can Be Together Forever."  Too cute.  Enjoy!

Big Changes

I guess our future has finally solidified enough to announce all of the big changes coming up in our family.  Really big changes.

A few weeks back the law firm Michael was working at announced some big financial strains and decided to lay off all of the salaried associates.  Michael was included in the group.  It was crazy, scary, and humbling, all at the same time.  We have been so incredibly overwhelmed by the love, support, and generosity of friends and family.  I hope all of our friends who took time out of their schedule to help us in the job search know how extremely grateful we are to them.  Because of one of these great friends who was happy to pass on a resume and a recommendation, our unemployment period lasted all of 1 1/2 weeks.  Whew!

Michael has been offered a position with a law firm based out of American Fork.  They only do work in federal courts, so luckily we won't have to take another Bar exam (something we had been seriously considering).  He'll train for about 6 weeks there in Utah, while staying in the basement apartment of an old mission buddy (again, we have SUCH amazing friends).  I'll be holding up the fort here in Idaho while we try and sell our house.  This is one of the few big stresses remaining - trying to sell in this market.  We're optimistic, but who knows.

After his 6 weeks are up it's off to ORLANDO, FL where we'll be long-term (whatever that means in "Hales time").  We are SO excited about this fun new adventure!  Warm and sunny will be a big change for us compared to the 9 months of winter we've been dealing with lately. :)

So that's our excitement.  Despite the way it all came about, we're SO excited for this new chapter in our lives.  And we will absolutely be taking any visitors that want to come play in our (soon to be) new hometown!

It's a...

BOY!!!

First off, I was 100% sure this little man was going to be a girl - like no doubt whatsoever.  This really threw me for a loop.  It's not as though I'm at all disappointed, I just have to completely rearrange my perception of what this little one would be.  But we are THRILLED!  Well, three of us are thrilled.  Jessica literally almost started crying when we told her.  Poor thing.  So far everything is looking great and we can't wait to meet this little guy in person!

 

He was sucking on his fingers the entire time.  Too funny.

Don't you just love the teeny little feet?

Boy or Girl?

The ultrasound is scheduled for a week from Saturday (March 5th)!  So now you have lots of time to vote in our lovely poll to the right.  Here's some info so you can make a nice educated guess:

~ I was much sicker this time around than I was with Chandler, but much less sick than I was with Jessica.

~ I was super tired all of the time for the first few months this time around.  I was that way with Chan, not with Jessica.

~ Jessica wants a girl, Chandler wants a boy.

~ I stopped being sick about 16 weeks along.  Jessica took just a little longer.  With Chandler I was doing a lot better closer to 12 weeks.  Now Michael will deny this and tell you that I was actually really sick with Chandler a lot more than I remember.  :)

So there you go!  Boy or girl?  We'll find out on March 5th.  And here I am at 19 weeks.  Yes, that's The Jimmer van behind me. :)  Seriously, is there anyone that likes these pictures of themselves?  Didn't think so.

The Jimmer

We've gone about a year with one car, but with another kid on the way it was time to get something a little bigger. Michael jokes that he's a true romantic because he got me a minivan for Valentine's, but I love it. My favorite part is the built-in DVD player, except it isn't a DVD player...it's a VHS player. It feels so retro that it's kind of cool. And keeping with tradition, we named the car. And out of respect for the Great One, we named it The Jimmer. Here he is.

We were going to get more pictures, but it's been snowing like crazy, so those will have to wait.

2

My little Bubs turned two yesterday.  As I lay next to him at bedtime, he told me that it had been a super fun day.  Here's the run-down.

We started off with a pre-breakfast cookie, that luckily he didn't each much of.  After dropping Jessica off at preschool, Chandler and I headed over to the library to look at their fish pond for like 45 minutes.  He spent another 15 minutes stuffing every remotely interesting looking book into my bag.  I think we came home with well over 15 kids' books.   His favorite so far is The Little Engine That Could.  Trains, of course.

After leftover chicken soup and rolls for lunch (again, his choice), he went down for his last nap with a binky.  Here he is snuggling with Monkey. Yes, that's the monkey's name, and yes, Chandler named him all by himself.

Keeping up with the obsession with trains, Chandler asked for a Thomas the Train cake.  I am not a cake decorator.  I have no cake-shaped pan.  I found some random tutorials online about shaping a cake and decorating it, but it just didn't seem like my skill level.  Then I discovered Wal-Mart had cheap-o mini cakes that included, you guessed it, Thomas.  Usually I think store-bought cakes are a waste of money, but it was WAY less than if I had had to go and buy a bunch of frosting tips/bags or something.  So this is the year of the store cakes.

We let Chandler pick the dinner menu - hot dogs.  OK, I can appreciate a good hot dog, but only under certain circumstances.  Campouts, BBQed, that kind of thing.  It's like 0 degrees outside people.  But Michael braved the cold for his little man and dragged the grill out.

Chandler loved every bite.  He ate two hot dogs, one bun, and a HUGE orange.  This boy can eat when he wants to.

Michael was quite impressed with Chandler's eating skills. 

Next it was present time!  When Jessica turned two, she got a bag of lolly pops for her birthday and she was THRILLED! It's amazing what a couple of years can do.  Chandler did quite well this year. He still only got a couple of presents from us, but they were a little nicer than lolly pops.  :)

Cake time!  Chandler was there when we picked up the cake and it took all of his will-power not to grab it and try to pry off the plastic cover.  He was glad when the moment came.

The frosting was VERY blue and we had lots of blue fingers and faces afterward.

 Yeah, the blue teeth are HOT!

And Chandler did amazingly well without a pacifier last night.  I stayed with him while he fell asleep and he slept until Michael woke up around 6.  No crying and screaming in the middle of the night.

I love my Chandler!

New Haircut

Chandler's New Haircut:

I just love his goofy smile.