Jackson's 4th birthday: Dec. 17, 2009

Jackson turned 4 years old last Thursday. We had a few of his daycare friends at our house that day; they helped us celebrate his special day!

Jackson was able to open a present from mom and dad right away in the morning (before Jason left for work). And Jessie got to help him unwrap it...


It's a dumptruck and garbage truck set...right up Jackson's alley!


After naps, the big kids (Gwen, Dawson, and Jackson) got to decorate (and sample) christmas cookies...


"Yummy!"


Even Jessica got in on the fun a little bit...



We also celebrated Jackson's big day with a dinosaur egg hunt. I hid the eggs while the kids were eating their morning snacks, and they each got to find four dinosaur eggs--which came loaded with m&m's. The game was such a big hit we had to play it over and over and over again! I think I re-hid those eggs at least 6 times that day:)
Jackson and the kids had a great day --which makes me happy.

It's a Girl!

Ultrasound says it's a girl! Everything is healthy and well with our little girl #2 She has a strong heartbeat in the 140s, and is weighing in at about 10 oz.
We are all very excited, including Jackson, who was correct in his guess on the baby's gender all along;)
Before Jason and I headed out to enjoy a nice dinner at the Freighthouse we decided to open the envelope here at our home. We actually both were pleasantly surprised once we saw the results; due to the baby's heart rate being in the 140s (which is where Jackson's always measured too; Jessica's was consistently in the 160s), we were thinking it was going to be a boy. Since Jessica and baby girl #2 will only be about 25 months apart, we are hopeful the girls will be able to foster a deep sibling relationship. Either that, or they may just fight like cats and dogs:)...who knows!

Pregnancy: week 19

I am now about 19 weeks pregnant. Our ultrasound is scheduled for this Friday, December 18th. We are planning on finding out the gender of this baby. Rather than having the ultrasound technician tell us while we are in the exam room, we have decided to request a piece of paper with the baby's gender written on it be placed in an envelope for us to open at our own location and time. Jason and I will be going on a "date night" later that evening and will be taking the envelope with us to open when the time is right.
The results of baby Mahlum #3's gender (along with some updated belly shots) will be posted on the blog this weekend.

Pink or Blue?? Stay tuned to find out!

Play-Doh and Fort building never get old!

Since it has been too cold to take the kids outside, we have been keeping busy playing with some of the 'old reliable' fun activities --guaranteed to always be a fun time!

First Snow Day of the year, 12/9/09

It was a snow day today at our house. Jason had off from school and I did not have any daycare children (they are all teachers kids).
We had two very excited children this morning when they woke up and saw that it was blizzard conditions outside. La Crosse was reporting 11 inches already, and that was at 7:30 a.m.!






All set to go play in the snow


Watching Dad and the neighborhood Dads shovel and plow the snow.


Thankfully, two of our very nice neighbors came over and graciously offered their snowplowing services to my poor husband who was attempting to clear our entire driveway and sidewalks with a shovel!! I think we may have to break down one of these years, and buy ourselves a nice snowplow.

When we came back in from outside, the kids had some hot cocoa and cookies. Then it was fort-building time!


The kids should really take some good naps today :)

Grandpa Terry as Santa Claus.

The other night, while at Grandma Barb and Grandpa Terry's house, we got a special visit from Santa Claus.
Grandpa Terry has a great santa suit complete with boots, belt, and even white gloves. And, with his white beard, he made a pretty good Santa. Terry had to put the suit on in the living room where the kids could witness the transformation (so not to scare Jessica). Then, we attempted to capture a good picture with Grandpa Terry holding all four grandkids on his lap. This didn't really happen, but we got some pictures anyway. And, the kids had a fun time in the process.

Jessie and the boys.

On Mondays, I have four daycare boys come to our house (plus brother, Jackson); that makes five little guys our daughter has for playmates. And, as you can imagine, she LOVES it!
On this particular Monday, December 7, I took Jessie and the boys outside to play in the snow. This was the only picture I was able to capture of them all in one place...