My Three Sons

Haymond baby #4 is a BOY!

We had our ultrasound today and baby boy looks wonderful. I love ultrasound day–seeing that sweet profile and realizing that it’s all real. And now we can start thinking of names and imagining our little boy. My placenta seems to be lying a bit low (if it were to remain there, it can make delivery a little tricky), but it only needs to shift up 1 cm, so we’re not too worried at this point. It’s still early in the pregnancy and as my uterus grows, the placenta will shift. They’ll check again further along to see if it’s moved. But everything else looks great!

Curled up mid-somersault.

My sweet baby.

 

Loving School

Amelie is just loving school. Her little private school meets Monday-Thursday and she’s always bummed when Friday comes and she has to take a break. I think that’s good though. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, right? We couldn’t be more happy with her school situation. The elementary building is separate from the older grades, so her building is very small. I like that she will never feel lost there–it’s homey and comfortable. She is in a combined 1st/2nd grade class with a dozen students in it, so she gets lots of attention and knows all of her classmates well. She is just thriving and loving every minute of it. I am so glad!

I wanted to share this sweet note I got from her teacher yesterday:

“Amelie is such a delightful, smart young lady!!  She learns very quickly and she
remembers it all, which is so fantastic!  She has A’s in every subject, reading, math,
spelling, science, and social studies!  We don’t grade art, p.e., and music.  We want
the children to enjoy and develop a love for those subjects without worrying about a
letter grade!  Her work ethic, study skills, and sense of responsibility are remarkable
as well!  Plus she is a perfect example of kindness, friendship, and helpfulness to all
of her classmates!  Way to go, Amelie!”

As silly as I might think letter grades are at this point, I was so happy to hear how Amelie is thriving in her new little school. And I also just love how much her teacher obviously cares about her students. She is a lovely cheerful woman who has been teaching for almost 30 years and Amelie just adores her.

So, we’re off to a great start!

Halloween 2012

Happy Halloween! This year was pretty low-stress for us. Amelie and Calder both got to wear their costumes to school today and then we went to our ward’s Trunk-or-Treat–so quick and convenient! Here’s this year’s costume round-up:

Easton the Lion. This cutie actually kept his ears/mane on the whole time! And he does a pretty cute roar, too. There's a tail that you can't quite see.

Lion with Daddy. Cheese!

Amelie called herself a Butterfly Fairy Princess--she couldn't decide exactly what she wanted to be. Thank you Grandma Brenda for the dress and Grandma Austin for the cape!

The wings. Which, I think are actually upside down. Oh well...

And now for the winner of this year's prize, our Christmas Present!

Don't tell Amelie, but he really did steal the show. He got lots of comments during the Trunk-or-Treat. Yay for easy and cute costumes!

So, Happy Halloween and welcome November! This is the month we find out if Haymond #4 is a girl or a boy. I’m excited!

Calder is 4!

Wow. 4 years old. There’s something big about going from being 3 to being 4, you know? At 4, Calder is a little bit crazy, a lot a bit fun, and really silly. He is a total goof ball, but also very sweet and tender. Snuggling with me is probably one of his favorite things, next to running around and around and around the house.

In honor of his 4th birthday (which was several days ago–oops!), here are 4 darling pictures (thank you, Marcie!):

So full of joyful energy, this one.

And sometimes pensive. Sometimes.

Is it just me or does he look like he's 4 going on 12 in this one?

My not so little boy.

Excerpts from his birthday interview:

Mommy: What is your favorite color?

Calder: Blue. (This is new for him. It’s been orange as long as I can remember.)

M: What is your favorite T.V. show?

C: Curious George.

M: What do you want to be when you grow up?

C: A daddy magician. (I like how he already plans on balancing home and work life.)

Happy Birthday, Sweet Boy! We love you!

Disneyland Day 2!

Have you recovered from the overload of pictures? Good! Becase here’s some more from our fun Disneyland trip. On Friday, September 14th, we spent the day in the Disneyland Park (Thursday was spent at California Adventure, the Disney park adjacent to Disneyland).

Eager to get going after a good night's sleep. We're so glad we brought these two strollers--they made things so much easier!

Disneyland all decked out for Halloween. There were fun Halloween touches all over the park.

On the Finding Nemo submarine ride. The kids were so enthralled and totally convinced that we were actually submerged deep in the ocean in a submarine. Other favorite rides of the day: Pirates of the Caribbean, Dumbo, Winnie the Pooh, and the Matterhorn (among many others that we all enjoyed).

Three cheers for Dole Whips! At the Enchanted Tiki Room, you can get these absolutely delicious treats called Dole Whips. The version I have is soft-serve pineapple ice cream deliciousness. Bryce opted for the float version--the soft-serve swimming in a sea of fresh pineapple juice. It was really (really!) hot while we were there, so the cold treats plus the wonderful air conditioned Enchanted Tiki Room were much appreciated!

 

The three amigos on Splash Mountain. There were a handful of rides that I had to opt out of this trip because of the pregnancy, so I just watched them as they plummeted down. Bryce has a pretty classic whoop of delight as he goes down this ride. They got to go on this one a couple times. I really like Calder's expression in this picture. Don't ask me about the glowing orb in the back seat...

Meeting Tigger. This character turned out to be a favorite with Amelie and Calder. They just loved him!

And Eeyore. I was impressed that these characters were able to sign Amelie's autograph book, big furry paws and all.

For lunch, we went to Cafe Orleans and had some delicious food. Pomegranate lemonade, these amazing pomme frites (covered in garlic and parmesan cheese!), Monte Cristo sandwiches, oh my! It was all delicious and we only wished our stomachs were big enough to eat it all!

One of our birthday treats, free thanks to our birthday pins. All three of us wearing pins got one of these delicious beignets. Amelie licked hers clean of powdered sugar and then left the naked pastry on her plate, Calder spilled sugar all over the place and devoured the whole thing, and I chose to eat mine like a normal human being. So yummy!

"So I gobbled it up and got sugar everywhere! What are you gonna do about it, huh?" This little guy did so well this trip. I was really so proud of him.

It's a small world after all! We went on this one a couple times, too. Calder was enchanted by it and Amelie loved all the beautiful dolls. I loved the air conditioning!

The Haunted Mansion. We had to stand in line a bit for this one because we happened to be there on the day the ride opened with its special Nightmare Before Christmas overlay. I actually thought it was less creepy with the holiday change. I guess Calder might have been a bit young for this one. His imagination must have conjured up some pretty scary images (far worse than anything on the ride!) because he kept his head buried in my lap the whole time. Bryce and I agreed that we should have called it the Christmas Halloween House or something--then he might not have been so scared. While standing in line, Calder took one look at some scantily clad girls standing behind us and said, "Mom! She is not very modest!" Nothing like having a talk about modesty with your 3 year-old while in line at Disneyland! What a sweetheart.

Tuckered out after a fun fun day! This provides a nice contrast to the first picture in this post. It was sure a wonderful day of fun rides, delicious food, and great family time!

Stay tuned for our final day!