Having fun despite the weather

     This past week we had at least four straight days of HEAVY rain so needless to say, Marcus and I got a little antsy.  On Wednesday (Mark's day off), we took Marcus swimming in the indoor pool at our gym.  He's been asking to go for WEEKS now so I waited until a day when Mark could go with us and we jumped in the warmed water together.  It was a salt-water pool, so it was actually nice to be in, considering chlorine can sting our eyes. 
     On Thursday, a fellow mommy of young kids and I took our children to a place called, "Mountain Play Lodge."  It's a super fun warehouse sized place where children can run wild with imagination.  There's a large castle with fun mirrors and slides, a "barber shop," fire house, police station, "burning house" and a horse stable where kids can play dress up and enjoy small toys to play with.  Nothing has or needs batteries, so it's nice to see the children just explore and come up with fun things on their own.  Not only that, but there are multiple inflatables where the kids can climb, jump, slide, and all our go nuts.  It's super safe and they wear themselves out.  For the smaller ones, they have a gated in area with train tables, puzzles, a small cottage with stove, fridge, etc, and soft plastic toys they can climb on without getting hurt.  Everything is EXTREMELY clean and all the staff are so nice.  We really enjoyed our time.  Whitney, the other mom, and I took the kids to Chick-Fil-A for lunch and the kids were treated to free ice cream and balloons when they were done with lunch.  Seriously, it was a fun day.
     Finally, the forecast called for a TON of snow here on Thursday evening and Friday morning.  There was a 100% chance of snow.  We got ZERO!  Not one snow flake fell here at our house.  We had a few hours of sleet, but that was it.  Although thankful, Marcus was a little disappointed that he couldn't use his new snow shovel.  His disappointment was short lived as his friends came over at 10:30 for our monthly Mama's Prayer group.  The other mamas and I pray while a sitter keeps the children occupied in the basement.  Marcus enjoys playing with all his friends, ages 6 months to 5 years old.  The kids all really do get along great.
     The funniest part of the day was when we were right in the middle of prayer.  I was praying, in fact, when Marcus walked into the room with only his shirt on.  The sitter said, "he won't keep his pants on," and he literally had NOTHING on his bottom.  So I didn't know what else to do but laugh, put him in my lap, and keep on praying.  Funny boy!
     Finally, Marcus had a Daddy-Son day yesterday as I traveled to and from Mt. Airy for my cousin Ashley's baby shower.  She's due in March and looks incredible.  We're so excited for her and her husband, Mario.  We can't wait to get our hands on that sweet little boy!
     But speaking of babies, we go tomorrow at 3pm for our BIG ultrasound.  We get to see our sweet baby's face, body, limbs, etc and if we WERE going to find out the gender of the baby, it'd be tomorrow, but we're choosing to let this one be a surprise, too, just like Marcus was.  We're still excited, nonetheless, and look forward to seeing how big he/she is and hearing that precious heartbeat once more.  But I have started feeling movement this week and it's just the most amazing thing (again)!

Playing in the sink on his tiptoes

Learning to paint with water colors with Daddy

Sweet baby Dagen (10 months old)

Marcus, Holden, and Dagen at the train tables

Jumping into the bounce house

Standing up in the canoe

Climbing up the BIG inflated slide

Coming down the slide on his belly

Dressing up as firemen

Smiling with the big bear

There's a reason we own rain boots

so he can splash in the puddles!

Can you see how high the creek was at the bottom of the hill? 

He wanted to hold his own card tonight

19 Weeks
-Finally felt baby move this week!
-Starting to crave sweet stuff (uh oh!)
-Having strong aversions to certain scents
-Our BIG ultrasound is tomorrow! (pics to follow)