Compton Corners: June 2013

Sorry for those who may not have heard til now, but we are expecting baby #4 in September. This was our little "jellybean" back in April.

This was our little boy a month ago. --Yes! We are having another boy. Michael was so excited when we told the kids. He had been praying for a brother, and promptly named the baby "Jack." Sadly, Sadie's prayers for a sister were left unanswered. (For some reason, she just doesn't want to accept the fact that Adelaide is her sister.) But she was quickly comforted by the fact that she will still get to help take care of the baby and that it will be Very Cute, even if it is not a girl. . . . She named the baby "Candy Cane." Adelaide doesn't really have clue about what's going to happen, but she can point to my belly and say "baby."

Here I am as of today with three more months to go. I feel unusually large with this pregnancy, and the summer heat doesn't help, but overall, I'm doing really well and looking forward to our addition.

So . . . I've been really bad about updating our blog this year. Here are a few highlights:

Starting off the year right, with sparklers, of course.

Adelaide LOVES horses. Poppie (my dad) put her on one of their horses and led it around a bit. She was in heaven! I think we're going to have to sign her up for riding lessons in a few years.

Can't a girl eat in peace?

In early February, Matt had a conference in Washington, D.C., so we turned it into a little couple-plus-baby get-away. We got to tour the Capital,

visit lots of museums,

and walk through the Library of Congress (my personal favorite). I discovered that traveling with a toddler is . . . (what's the right word?) . . . arduous. Adelaide really enjoyed all the mom-time and was remarkable well-behaved considering she was having lots of new experiences and was totally off her normal schedule. She broke down a few times in the middle of the Smithsonians. (What 18 month-old enjoys looking at murals depicting the history of the War of 1812?) And I discovered the important thing is to keep moving! But all things considered, she handled everything remarkably well.

Ada's favorite was the Museum of Natural History, because it had lots of animals. A close second was the Post Office Museum because it had a huge statue of the Pony Express.

Really, the highlight for me was getting to visit my dear friend Sarah Mueller and her family. We hadn't seen each other since she came down for our wedding six years ago, so it was a special treat. Just wish we could have stayed longer!

I love this picture! Michael and Ada have always had a special bond.

For Michael's 5th birthday, he had definite ideas about what he wanted for a birthday cake. It was supposed to be green and gray and have no definite theme, that I could tell. When I tried to create some kind of space alien design on the top, Michael took things into his own hands.

This was his creation. He called it his rainbow cake.

We had a few friends over and had lots of fun.

Adelaide and Sadie are dress-up queens

. . . or princesses, to be more exact.

Enjoying a nice picnic at Grandma's house.

In March, Grandma and I took the kids to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

It was so fun! They had lots of exhibits for the kids,

including a real hatchery where we got to see a little chick hatching out of it's egg!

Michael LOVES animals, so petting zoos are a BIG hit with him. I always feel kind of bad for the animals, though. They have to be the most patient animals in the world, because they get a whole lot of lovin' all day, everyday from lots of little kids!

A princess in the petting zoo!

For our Easter trip to Nana's, we included a little camp out in the front yard. So fun! --for the kids.

Since my parent's were in the process of selling their house (more on that later), we knew it would probably be one of the last times we'd get to be there, so we made the most of it.