IT'S A...

BABY!!!

Cruel, I know, and not like me to tease. But now you know as much information as we do! Yes, it's true, we will not be finding out the sex of baby #3 until he/she makes his/her arrival in February. It's funny, when I tell people that we aren't finding out the sex of this baby, I get one of two very enthusiastic responses:

1) Oh, that is awesome! I wish I had/I want to do/I did do that with my kid(s)!

or

2) What?! Why?! That's going to drive me crazy!

The second response always makes me laugh because it should drive ME crazy being the mom, right?! Yet it's driving others crazy :) I should've expected this since we kept the boys' names a secret until they were born (which drove family and friends bonkers). And yes, we will keep the tradition running strong with this one! Maybe we have names picked out...and maybe we don't. Ok, I'll throw you a *small* bone, we're fairly certain we have decided on the names (one for a boy and one for a girl), but my lips are sealed...don't hit me!


Here is another pic from yesterday's sono...the little bugger was stubborn & wouldn't give us a good face shot but he/she did give us a high-five!

So, why do we (or mostly I) not want to find out this time when we found out with both the boys? I think there is something special and a bit romantic about waiting nine whole months to have that moment of excitement in the delivery room! And with the boys we were in a different place in our life where we felt we needed to be able to plan ahead. This time, baby #3 was a huge surprise in itself :)


And another pic with a thumbs-up (or the hitchhiker thumb LOL!)!

And to answer a commonly-asked question, I really do not have a preference on what I want it to be...a boy would be great, we think we have the boy-thing down(along with all the boy "stuff") and a girl would be fun because it would be something different! Also, I really have NOT A CLUE as to what we're having...I keep joking that it's a boy but we'll see...the ultrasound tech didn't even bother to look so she nor my doctor knows what we're having! It's gonna be fun!!!

Fiber, it's what's for dinner

Owen Owen Owen (as I shake my head). The boy will pass up mashed potatoes, steak, chicken, mac & cheese, pbj, you name it...kid-favorite or adult-favorite, he'll pass it up at dinner. Then he wants down from the table to promptly go to the bowl of food that he really wants...the dog food. Yes, my son passes up a great meal to eat dog food. Gross! I actually caught him eating it the other night WITH A SPOON! He must've grabbed the spoon from the dishwasher while we were cleaning up. And then one day after lunch, Cole was handing a piece of dog food, one at a time to Owen and to Zoe and feeding them "lunch." Hey, with all that fiber it keeps him regular, right?! And then there is Cole. I can summarize his eating habits into one word...picky. I shouldn't expect any less considering he comes from a family of picky eaters, especially myself! But he loves his milk!

So here's a recipe that we LOVE, even Owen! It's one of my favorites from my Grandma Mayfield and super quick and easy (works best if you prepare it during naptime and that way it can simmer until you're ready to serve dinner):

Hamburger Soup (for my vegetarian friends, you can substitute a couple of things to make it Tofu/Veggie Soup)

Ingredients:
3 Tbsp butter
1-1/2 lbs hamburger meat (or ground turkey for a healtheir option or tofu for even healthier)
3-4 carrots cut diagonally
3 ribs of celery sliced
2 cans beef buillion (or beef stock or vegetable stock)
1 can onion soup (I buy the packet of onion soup & fix it before throwing it into the recipe)
1 small head of cabbage, shredded
1 can tomatoes, including the juice
1 bay leaf
2 cups water

Instructions:
Melt the butter and saute the carrots & celery (I do this in my stock pot)
Meanwhile, brown the meat (or sliced tofu) and drain any excess fat
Throw everything into a large pot and simmer for a couple of hours or until veggies are soft or you're ready to eat. If it starts to lose too much liquid, just add a cup of water.

*Forgive there being no picture. I have a hard enough time getting pictures of my kids!

I serve with French bread & a salad. And believe it or not, Owen scarfed down a bowl of it and especially liked the veggies :)