Tiebreaker

As I sit here and type this, it seems very odd that I am just now writing this post.  It has been such a long time coming that I almost forgot I hadn't done it.  What is "it" you may ask.  Well, we have officially announced to the world that our family will be welcoming another little one into the world.  Because we have one boy and one girl, we're calling this one the tiebreaker.  Here is the video we put together to make the big announcement about whether Team Girl or Team Boy would take the victory.

I am officially due on April 14, but we all know how accurate due dates are.  I am just a few days away from being 20 weeks, which is officially halfway through the pregnancy.  Thus, it has become part of my day to day, so it is easy to forget that not everyone knows.  I have known since about a week before my brother's wedding...that's right, I was struggling with nausea as I watched my baby bro get hitched, and no one figured it out! 

This pregnancy has been surprisingly different from the others.  The nausea was present but wasn't as bad.  I have had a lot more indigestion though.  Spicy foods are my favorite.  If I can find an excuse to put jalapeños on something, I do.  I am now past the extreme exhaustion, but I am still trying in bed by 9 pm every night. 

The kids have known since about 8 weeks that we would be welcoming a baby to the family.  We waited until after my first ultrasound to tell them, just to be sure.  We thought about waiting longer, but we knew Audrey would figure out something was up as soon as we told anyone else, and neither Billy nor I could wait any longer to tell people.  I am impressed we made it as long as we did!  Initially, Audrey prayed every night that it would be a girl.  Now that we know it's a boy, she prays that this brother will be nice like her friend Sophie's brothers and not mean like Barrett.  Oh, sibling love.  I know her relationship with this baby will be very different though; I have a feeling we're going to have to watch her closely to make sure she understands that he isn't a doll and this isn't playing house. 

We are so excited about our little tiebreaker and can't wait to welcome the newest Nance to our household!

Halloween Fun

A few months ago, as my brother and Laurenn were preparing for their wedding, my mom dug out a bunch of photos from when we were kids for them to choose photos from for their wedding slideshow.  As we flipped through old photos, I was struck by all of the Halloween pictures there were.  Moreover, we were kids, we had a tradition where certain friends came over to go trick or treating with us and eat pizza for dinner.  So, each year, there are photos of all 4 of us kids together.  It is fun to see the evolution of our costumes and our general appearances. 

Now that we have kids of our own, we are starting our own traditions and helping our kids make their own Halloween memories. Here are just a few of the fun activities we did this year. We've been so blessed this year with so many fun opportunities and happy memories!

Pumpkins:  Every year since we moved out of downtown, we've decorated pumpkins.  The kids really enjoy carving pumpkins, so that is what we did again this year.  The way it works is, we clean out the pumpkins together, and then each child decides what "type" of face they want (happy, scary, etc.).  Then, Billy carves the pumpkins for us.  I am not complaining, because I am not the most skilled pumpkin carver.  It is amusing to see him in his creative zone though.

Trunk or Treat: For the first time this year, we took the kids to a trunk-or-treat.  I learned about decorating the back of your car.  The kids really enjoyed running from car to car to get candy, and boy did they get a ton.  The highlight of the event, however, was the fire truck that stopped by for the kids to explore.  Both kids had so much fun.  If we'd done that before Barrett picked his costume, I am pretty sure he would have chosen to be a fireman instead of Batman.

Dressing up the Dogs:  I remember the days when we didn't have kids, so we would dress up our dogs for Halloween.  I think our dogs are happy to share that those days are behind us...well, for the most part.  Yesterday morning, I was working on laundry, and Billy found a pair of pajama pants that I'd left in our bedroom.  So, he threw the pants toward the door of our room so he'd remember to carry them downstairs.  Much to his surprise, the pants landed on top of Jackson, who then proceeded to walk downstairs with the pants still affixed to his back.  The kids, naturally, thought this was the funniest thing they'd ever seen.  So, to no one's surprise, they chased Jack around the house laughing hysterically.  The entire time, Jack's tail was wagging and he couldn't have cared less that he had a pair of pajama pants hanging from his back. 

Trick or Treating: The pat 2 years, we've tried staying at home and trick or treating in our neighborhood.  There are two challenges with that.  The first is that we really have to drive to get to the part of the neighborhood where there are a decent number of houses with lights on.  The second is that we get only a handful of trick or treaters at our house.  So, this year, we opted to go hang out with friends.  The best part was getting to see all of our children together having fun.  And yes, in case you were wondering, Barrett is the only boy sitting on that couch.