Cold

B: Can I have a Popsicle before lunch?
H: No. You may have one after lunch.
B: Come on. Is there no love in your heart? I thought there was some love in there, but I guess not.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Happy snow day! We're all settling in for some nasty winter weather. We got out today before the snow really hit and plan to spend tomorrow watching movies, playing Wii Fit, and making cookies....and snuggling on the couch with a furry friend.

Bob? Boberina?

We're 10 days away from knowing if the bins and bins of baby boy clothes I saved are staying or going. Ben is still convinced that my ever growing belly is full of a girl baby. We decided that Ben will join us at my ultrasound next Friday morning so that he can't "blame" us if it turns out to be a brother.

I'm starting to notice frequent kicks and jabs from Bob. After a rather forceful bump to the belly, I realized that it's just beginning to sink in that we're having another baby. I know that sounds crazy...hello....one look at my body and it should be obvious...but the first 12 weeks of this pregnancy were like a long, crummy flu. Now that I feel better, I'm ready to settle in and enjoy the next few months until we become a family of four.

Ben continues to ask hilarious questions and make funny observations. Having a 5-year-old share the experience has been such fun. Here are some highlights:

*Mom? I don't want Bob to touch my stuff. She'll bite the heads off all my "guys." (Because, in his head, evidently I am giving birth to a piranha or Cujo.)

* When Bob is born, will you still be the same tall as you are now because Daddy said you will shrink? (Just the belly and the boobs shrink, the height will stay the same...I hope)

* Woah, Mom. Your belly looks HUGE. What did you and Bob eat??

* I don't think I can go to school next year because you're going to need me to stay home and help with Bob.

* When Bob is born, I'm gonna teach her how to do karate. And Kung Fu. Oh, and to like pickles.

What a good big brother. And we think Ben is going to need therapy when he grows up. Are there therapists that begin working with children BEFORE they're born? Bob might need it.

Christmas/Remodeling

What's better than getting a new Rip Rider 360 from Santa? Having all the carpet ripped out of the family room for a sweet indoor bike path.

Bob

Now that my expanding belly is making it difficult to keep a secret from anyone who sees me (and now that it's the P.C. time to share), we are happy to announce that Mayfield Baby #2 will be making his/her arrival sometime in late-May or early-June. As excited as we were to find out about my pregnancy, we were equally excited to tell Ben so that he could begin sharing his ideas about having a brother or a sister.

Several weeks ago, I had my first ultrasound. I have to be honest, it didn't look like much. But, it was something tangible, so we showed Ben the pictures.

H: Ben. I want to show you something. See this? Right there (pointing to the ultrasound picture) is a baby. Our baby. We're going to have a new baby and you are going to be a big brother.
B: (staring skeptically at photo) Hmmmm. Where? Here? Soooooooooo, babies just start as dots?
H: Well, yeah.
B: Was I a dot in your belly?
H: Yep.
D: What do you think, buddy?
B: This is great! I really want a brother but I don't want him to eat my toys. Can we build him a new room? (gets very quiet and totally distracted by a Transformer)

A few minutes later....
B: Uh, guys? (looks at the ultrasound picture again)
H&D: What?
B: Our baby kinda looks like Bob. (from Monsters vs. Aliens: See below)
Thus, Poor Baby, you are "Bob". If you're a girl, you'll be "Bob the Girl".

Halloween Party

Here are a few pictures from Ben's Halloween party at school. The boys in his class are Star Wars obsessed, even though most of them haven't ever seen Star Wars. It's pretty funny. This year, Ben is Jango Fett (and that is about all I know about Jango Fett). His party included a parade, a craft (mummies), cupcakes, treats, and goodie bags. He had a great time!

Apples (but most importantly...doughnuts)

It has been busy month since I last posted to the blog! Kindergarten, a trip to Papa and Grandma's 60th wedding anniversary party, more Kindergarten, and a couple of days off.

Today was a teacher in-service day, so we headed to Louisburg to the cider mill. I remembered that you used to be able to pick apples there, but not anymore. The boys had a great time watching a semi-truck full of apples turn into cider. The also really enjoyed the cider doughnuts and playing on the huge bales of hay.


We came home with some cider, kettle corn, caramel apple candy corn, and cider doughnuts. Ben came home with hives all over his legs from playing on the hay. That is the gift that will keep on giving all week. Poor guy.




The funniest part of the day was listening to the two apple experts (Ben and Riley) explain to me just how many apples were in that truck and the process by which all those BILLIONS of HUNDREDS of apples was going to turn into cider. It was something about ninja swords and lots of chopping. Oh, and then crushing and squeezing (complete with physically squeezing demo) to get the cider. There was also quite the debate about the difference between cider and juice. Riley was sure that "juice" meant "full of lots of sugar." (Jill--- what kind of juice are you feeding that kid? You know, Hawaiian Punch is NOT a juice.)