River James

Today I had my 20 week ultrasound, and, yes, it's a boy!

At a 13 week ultrasound my doctor thought he was a girl, and so did I. But then at 17 weeks we saw that he was most certainly a boy after all. Today was the official verdict. He's still a boy.

When I thought we were having a girl, it was fun to think of things like bloomers and dresses, but as soon as we found out he is a boy, I felt a huge amount of relief. I know what to do with a boy. We have all the boy stuff. And we have the perfect boy name: River James.

So, at today's scan, we discovered that he likes to use the placenta as a pillow. And he even measured exactly acording to his due date: April 27.

It's fun to think of Liam with a brother, and also a little overwhelming. They'll be quite the handful.

hallelujah

Today, Liam took his first afternoon nap in the last week.

I think I needed his nap more than he did.

this one's for you, Tia Molly

After I got off the phone with my sister yesterday, I told Liam I had been talking with his Tia Molly. He then surprised me by parroting back "Tia Molly," and then chanting it while he went back to playing with his Lego's.

Of course, I had to coax it out of him for a video, but here it is :-)

jingle all the way

Iowa

Last Thursday, we went up to the farm in Iowa. We usually go for Thanksgiving weekend, but pushed the trip back a week this year to spend the holiday with my mom and sister. The one week's difference sure made a big difference in terms of the weather.

We didn't see a single snowflake until we turned onto Highway 20, about 45 minutes from the farm. The snow wasn't accumulating until we took the Aplington exit. We didn't have any problems with slipping and sliding until the stop sign on their corner. The travel conditions really couldn't have been any better all things considered.

This is what we were greeted with:
They were bummed to have such an early snow, but it was a welcome surprise to us.

It's always fun to see the calves with their winter coats. I would have never thought that cows could look so cute and fluffy.

This one was born the day before. He got a special wool coat to keep him warm.

We brought winter gear for Liam, too. He had a hard time maneuvering in it all.

Gabe worked on the East side of the barn with Jim, digging holes and setting rail road ties for some new stalls. Liam helped, too.

Playing in the dirt just isn't so much fun when it isn't even 20 degrees outside...

This lasted about 5 minutes.

One day Liam and I went in to Aplington to check out their little thrift store. Liam loved this ramp. He went up and down over and over, shrieking "whee" every time.

Then we went into the library to meet Santa. Liam wasn't too sure about him until Santa gave him a huge Hershey's bar.

He decided that Santa wasn't so bad after all, although he is definitely better at a safe distance.

I'm not sure which Liam said more over the weekend, cow or cold. Both topics were equally important to him.

So this where milk comes from.

On Saturday, Jared, Allison, and Makenna came up for a visit. Makenna is 8 months younger than Liam, and all she wanted to do was grab him: his face, his hands, his clothes. He wasn't so sure about that.

They just seem bewildered that we would bundle them up to stand outside in the freezing cold.

For the drive on Thursday, we had left at 2 am to get as much driving done as we could before Liam woke up. We only had to stop for gas (and bathroom breaks for me...). For the return trip, we drove through the middle of the day. Liam traveled like an old pro.He took awesome naps, ate his snacks, listened to music, and waved bye bye at the passing cars.

Ever since we got home, he has been telling his farm story:

Cows

Cold

Dog

Cold

Cats

Cold

Outside

Cold

It was a good trip.

Now, if I could just convince him that naps are stil necessary, we'd be doing great.

Some evening exercise

to whet the appetite

I came down one morning to find Liam licking clean a bowl of chocolate. Thanks, Gabriel.