Wally World

So a couple weeks ago we had this plan to go to Legoland and use some discount tickets we had. We have never been there, and it seemed like the perfect place to take the kids. Christian took the day off work and so did my dad. My parents and my sister and nieces went with us. We had been telling the kids about it for days and hyping it up.

So the Wednesday morning finally arrived (many of you now know how this story ends) and we woke up all excited to go to Legoland for the first time ever! Christian had gotten a bee sting the day before and because he has such a bad reaction, he ended up deciding to stay home :(

The rest of us loaded up and headed for Carlsbad....

You remember the movie, Family Vacation, where the family travels across the country to visit their beloved Wally World only to find it closed when they finally arrive? Well, that's pretty much what it looked and felt like to us as we pulled up into an empty parking lot. We had no idea they were closed on Wednesdays! Needless to say, the kids were a little bummed and Sarah started looking for a moose to punch.

The only Legos we got to see

My parents took pity on the carload of disappointed kids and grandkids and decided to take us all to Sea World.

The kids rolled with the change of plans and we all ended up having a really fun day. Thanks, Mom and Dad for coming to the rescue!

Waiting in line for a ride. I couldn't go on anything since I'm pregnant.

Jake was Pa's little buddy

Jake just held the bar and put his head on his hands for this ride. He was a little overwhelmed!

Jake loosened up and had more fun on each ride :)

The kids LOVED the pet show!

Then they got to pet the animals afterwards

Watching a walrus eat lunch

:)

What's in a Name?

I have gotten to the stage of my pregnancy when people keep asking me if we have a name picked out for the baby. We don't keep secrets well, so the answer is yes, and yes, we are telling. :)

We chose the name Lela Joy for this little girl.

Lela is my middle name, my grandma's middle name, and my great-grandma's first name on my mom's side. My mom is the most important and influential lady in my life. By naming the baby after the most important and influential ladies in my mom's life, we are essentially naming her after my mom.

The name means "dark beauty". Based on the heartburn I've been having, I'm thinking this will be fairly accurate.

People will probably mispronounce it her whole life (they always have for me), but that's ok. (It's pronounced lee-luh, not lay-luh in case you were wondering). :)

And can I just say, hearing the boys call her "Baby Lela" is about the cutest thing ever, and it really solidified our decision.

The Joy part came from me just always loving this name. It has always been a sort of "life word" for me, and I even named my very first baby doll Joy :)

Hooray for coming up with a name that Christian and I both agree on! We can't wait to meet you, Miss Lela Joy!!

Past Month (or so)...

 I have been slacking on keeping up with the blog since we moved a little over a month ago, so I thought I'd do a quick rundown of what we've been up to...

Life has been busy getting settled in and unpacked. This is definitely the slowest move I've ever had. The combination of the heat (didn't opt for AC in this place -- really wish we had!) and the boys (you remember the analogy of brushing your teeth while eating an Oreo? It applies to unpacking your house while parenting two boys, too) has made it a slow process. But it's coming along and we are absolutely loving the place!

These are a couple of finished (or partially-finished) projects I've been working on.

The "shed guys" put up this shed in about 4 hours. Every time I went to the window to check them, it looked totally different! This shed is huge and we are loving it -- a place for Christian's tools/equipment, and also storage for me!

Eric has really been enjoying preschool. We are really glad we decided to enroll him this year. One night last week he was crying and told me he didn't want to go any more and he was scared. I asked him what he was scared of and he said chapel. We told me it is dark in there so I talked to his teacher the next day about it so she could sit by him or hold his hand or something. She said he had already mentioned that to her (I was proud of him for that!) and she immediately came up with a few solutions and ended up having him be in charge of turning on all the lights in the sanctuary when they go in. He told her he wasn't scared anymore after that. We are really thankful for his teacher and the school, we've been really impressed so far!

E at preschool

In other news: We've been making lots of Angry Birds.

And we brush our teeth A LOT!

(Jakey likes to wear Bubba's undies on top of his diaper)

We welcomed this beauty into our family last week! 

I'm in love!

Passed my glucose test! :)

These guys wore crazy hats

Jake turned 2!

Here he is having Birthday Sprinkle Waffles

Then he slept through a yummy Birthday lunch.

He and Eden had a party!

Birthday Girl

7 years old!

Birthday Boy

2 years old!

He had his well-child check up and was very healthy and talkative. He's 32 lbs, but we didn't get an accurate height since he couldn't stand flat on his foot because he got a bee sting (on his birthday!).

He said he was "Just like Daddy" with his glasses like this.

I had an OB appointment this morning and got to see the baby. My belly is measuring 30cm at 28 weeks, so she's a bit big. Doctor said he thinks she'll most likely be bigger than Jake (he was 8 lb 5 oz -- so not huge, but big enough, thank you very much!) 

Sweet little girl!