It's A...

We finally had an appointment to have an ultrasound! I'm almost 24 weeks pregnant and the suspense has been killing me!! I've been thinking we would have another boy, but have been stumped on exactly what names to choose. I could only think of girl names - kinda like when we had Coleman I only liked boy names. We did finally come up with a few of each. :)

We've really been looking forward to seeing our baby, so we were both really excited today! When we had our first ultrasound with Coleman Tyler and I both went and we watched for 45 min - 1 hr while the tech measured him and took many many pictures! We both got to watch and she explained everything she was looking at. By the end we were able to recognize all of him and I felt like I knew what he looked like. It was a really neat experience! I was able to show people afterwards his arms and legs, hands, head, etc. in the funny pictures they gave us. Today, however, we had a less than fabulous experience at Pomona Valley Hospital here. They made Tyler wait outside in the hall while they measured the baby and took pictures of everything. The tech kept the monitor just out of my sight - explaining the whole annoying scenario with some weird policy stating that ultrasound is a "highly sophisticated, technically demanding procedure." I'm not sure what that has to do with the parents not seeing the baby... Looking doesn't mess anything up. We were both really disappointed!

Anyway, the U gets a 10+ and PVH gets a 2 in my book. Finally, at the end, Tyler was allowed to come in and the tech tilted the monitor so I could see. He showed us the baby's cute arms and legs, heart and head. We got to see for just a minute or two and it's kindof all a blurr - something I'd been anticipating for months took only a couple minutes and it was over! After he finished we asked a few questions and asked to find out the gender. He obliged. And now for the part you've all been waiting for... It's a...

GIRL!

Tyler and I are both a little shocked, but really excited. This is one active little girl! She is very busy, and nocturnal (just like Cole was). She plays all night! It was fun to see her and laugh at her space-man like little face. She is chubbier than Coleman was, but she's also 4 weeks older than he was in his ultrasound pictures. The estimated her weight at 1.9 lbs. and her due date is still May 22.

Coleman is excited for a baby. He loves to see pictures of babies and he loves to watch other little kids and play with his friends. He constantly asks to watch the Baby Einstein movie we have because there is a baby in it. He's going to be a great big brother! It will be neat for them to grow up together. :) We're all excited to become a family of 4!

This is a picture of her face - it really is a cute face - this picture doesn't do her justice. :)

We don't know what this is a picture of... Sad, but true. The tech gave it to us and didn't tell us what it is... Any ideas? - we'd love some imput from anyone who can tell. :)

Joshua Tree Again

After a long fun day at Joshua Tree I have bumps and bruises and cactus spines in my hand, but I got to play in the dirt and hang out with my mom and dad!

Coleman absoluteley LOVES Joshua Tree and anything like it. All week he's been asking to play in the dirt. He carries his little bucket and shovel around everywhere. I finally broke down and dumped a bag of black beans out on the floor so he could dig without getting so dirty all the time (the problem with the diut by our apartment is that it's dirty -occasional cigarette butts, water bottles, wrappers, etc.) Plus, there are puddles around the diut and Cole LOVES puddles (almost as much as the dirt)!

Anyway - - -

Tyler had the day off today and after studying hard all weekend, we thought he needed a break. We took off this morning with our friend, Joe, looking forward to another great day of diut and playing with the shovel. Tyler was looking forward to the climbing too, but that was secondary to the excitement about diut!!!

Tyler and Joe climed a couple 5.7 and a 5.6 cracks. They looked bruital! I decided to just enjoy the outside rather than scrape myself along an 80 ft cheese grater. :) The guys did great. It was fun for Cole and me to watch them climb. Cole narrated the adventures:"Dad, Joe, up up up!" He enjoyed pointing out Dad and Joe on the rocks. The climbs were pretty tough and it took a long time, but we had the day. The last climb they did was right next to a 20 ft cliff. Cole was soooo curious that I finally took him down the trail to play where it was "safe."

I guess the great outdoors is anything but safe and we all learned lessons about that today. Thanks Cole for reminding us! Cole learned these important words, among others: cactus, no touch. I guess it's a phrase really. I stopped the wrong hand and he successfully grabbed a fist full of cactus spines with the other. Thankfully they were little and didn't hurt too much. He was very patient as I pulled them out. The best part was hearing him tell Tyler about it afterward. I was telling the story and Cole busted in with CACTUS CACTUS CACTUS! NO TOUCH! OUCH! I don't remember the exact order or number of times he repeated the words, but he got his point across. :) We have a very smart little guy!

Tyler's favorite part of the day (other than the climbing) was a proud dad moment. Cole was getting tired during the last route and Dad finally broke down and let Cole play with his (Dad's) "toys." Cole loves the rope and the rack. Tyler put his rack down on the rock in front of Cole to entertain him for the last few minutes. In response to my asking what it was, Cole responded in no uncertain terms - cam! (We don't do plurals yet.) He also learned het (hex) and nut to complete the rack. He can even tell the difference between the types of trad gear. He's so interested in everything, especially things he sees us do. It's a little intimidating sometimes to realize that we've been entrusted with such a special little guy. I hope we don't mess him up. We're doing our best to teach him what is right and he's learning so fast! We're so thankful to have him in our lives. We love you Cole!
...

More Words

I didn't want this to be another post without a picture, so here are a couple that illustrate a few of Cole's new favorite words. :) He's learning faster and faster and it's hard to remember everything he says and to write it down. These are the ones we can remember. The more he talks, the more it cracks me up. He's learning new words all the time and applying old ones in new ways. What a funny little guy!! We love your personality, Cole! Thanks to all the family for teaching him new stuff over Christmas! I guess we need to get out more so he can keep learning more words. Here are some of his latest:

(This picture was taken last weekend at Joshua Tree. By the end of the day Cole could actually get sand from the ground to the shovel to the bucket.)

shovel

bucket

(Coleman is such a good helper! He loves to help me cook in the kitchen - especially when he can taste what we're making. We had friends over for dinner and made Hawaiian haystacks. Cole loved the olives, pineapple and chinese noodles!)

olive

sock

teeth

fish

soft

house

stop

plug

rain

stick (refering to anything long - pencils, pens, mops/brooms, mallets, straws - you name it)

orange

mana (banana)

heavy

sit

out

sad

snow

bubble

tank you

back

'side (outside)

oops

broccoli

copter (helicopter)

Tigger

truck

bus

circle

snack

juice

Hannah

Tevo (Trevor)

Tent (Trent)

Ozzie

Santa

toot toot (train)

sticky (Thanks Uncle Trevor and Dad for letting me play with the extra pieces while you set up your skis, skins and treckers!)

broom

cracker

chick/chicken (the food and the animal)

coat

boots

present (he learned this one AFTER Christmas... go figure!)

blanket

sound (mostly with reference to the sound a cricket makes)

boon (balloon)

blocks

shoes

saur (dinosaur)

brush (meaning tooth brush and hair brush)

horse

couch

hello (while talking on the phone)

buckle (booster seat and car seat buckles)

kick

shirt

pants

ick (music)

Chex

Cheerio

Cole has also suprised us over the last few days by finally deciding to make some animal sounds. Before he has just laughed at us when we make the sounds (I can't blame him) :)

So far he makes the sounds for elephant, duck, monkey, cow, sheep & owl.

Joshua Tree

We found some friends who like to rock climb and went out to Joshua Tree Saturday. Last time we tried to go there with just our family and it was really hard because we couldn't explore with Cole and climb at the same time. Cole would want to go somewhere else and we'd be stuck in the same spot because one of us was belaying and the other climbing. We ended up spending the whole day at Trashcan rock and climbing 3 routes, a 5.4, a 5.6, and a 5.0. That's right a 5.0. When I saw it in the guide book I had to climb it just to say I'd climbed a 5.0. We all had a great time and plan to go back again.

The Trough 5.0. In Utah this kind of climb is left unrated and nameless.

The beauty of the desert. The moon coming up as we were leaving Josh

Christmas Quote

I know that all words and no pictures on a blog is a bit boring. I'm working on it! I just had to post this because I can't get it out of my head. Some friends of ours gave us this quote in a Christmas card. (Thanks Paula and Jeff!!) I love it! I hope I can think of charity this way and become more charitable. (Tha'ts as far as I got with New Year's resolutions, but for me it's a tall order :))

"We often equate charity with visiting the sick, taking in casseroles to those in need, or sharing our excess with those who are less fortunate. But really, true charity is much, much more.

Real charity is not something you give away, it is something that you acquire and make a part of yourself. And when the virtue of charity becomes implanted in your heart, you are never the same again...

Prehaps the greatest charity comes when we are kind to each other, when we don't judge or categorize someone else, when we simply give each other the benefit of the doubt or remain quiet. Charity is accepting someone's differences, weaknesses, and shortcomings; having patience with someone who has let us down; or resisting the impulse to become offended.

Charity is refusing to take advantage of another's weakness and being willing to forgive someone who has hurt us.

Charity is expecting the best of each other." Elder Marvin J. Ashton (April Conference, 1992)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We got to go home to Utah for Christmas! We've been looking forward to it since we moved here. We all miss the weather and the outdoors and the seasons. I was so excited for Cole to see snow for the first time!

After Tyler's last test, we loaded up the car and the family and drove to St. George. We got there late, but my grandparents were waiting up for us. It was fun to spend some time with them before we made the rest of our trip. Cole made himself right at home. My sweet grandma remembered that I wanted pecan pie at Thanksgiving and we didn't have room to make it or eat it. She greeted us at 11:30pm with pie! Trust Grandma to make everything special! She and Grandpa made us a yummy breakfast in the morning (we even had sausage) and then we were off to beat the storm.

Coleman did really well in the car and we miraculously missed the crazy onslaught of snow we were supposed to hit. When we finally did get snow, it was really exciting! Tyler seemed to have a good time driving in it!

We had lots of fun while we were in town. Cole LOVED spending time with his grandmas and grandpas, aunts and uncles and Annie (his cousin - her real name is Addie, but 'ya know). He remembered where everything was at both his grandparents' houses and made himself right at home. He LOVED the Christmas decorations - especially Grandma's musical soldiers and music boxes and Grandma Marilee's snow globe with the train. Grandpa Terry was home during the day a lot, so Cole had a full-time buddy.

Cole (and his parents) also loved the time they were able to spend with all the family. It was so nice to be home. I loved chatting with my mom and Tyler’s mom. It was fun to see our grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins too. The time seemed so short! We didn’t get to spend as much time anywhere as we would have liked. I think I almost miss everyone more now after just a little taste of hanging out than I did before we made it up for Christmas! I guess we’ll just have to plan another trip soon and for now enjoy the fact that we have so many people who we love and who love us.

Cole had so much fun being together with everyone and playing with everything in sight! He learned so many new words while we were there that I can't even begin to write them all down. MY favorites were when he stopped saying ssssndirt and started saying sno. He also loved saying SANTA! He says it with such enthusiasm!! He also was really excited about Uncle Trent’s toot toot (train).

We got to hang out with friends who were home from all over! I wish we had more pictures, but it felt like home to be with them and just hang out. We really miss you guys!!! Cole loved being with Byce (I’m not purposely misspelling it, that’s how Cole says it) and Hannah. He was really excited to meet Will. So excited, in fact, that he tackled him. We’re glad you’re ok, Will! :)

Our trip home was a breeze as well. We stayed with my grandparents again and enjoyed being with them. Once again, the time was way too short! We had to say goodbye when it felt like we’d just arrived. The drive through Vegas in the morning proved to be a much better option than our experience over Thanksgiving. (We drove 7 hours Sunday and ended up back at my grandparents’ house in St. George). We made it through in a little under 6 hours.

Well, I could go on and on (and I guess I already have). We had a wonderful Christmas. We hope all of you did as well! Thanks for making it great! We love you! We are truly blessed to have such wonderful friends and family!

Merry Christmas 2008