18 weeks

Here are a few random pictures from the last week or so. Big Brother Sawyer and I at 18 weeks pregnant. I had midwife appointment last week and all was good. The heartbeat was 132. Sounds like a boy to me!

Charlie and Sawyer are happiest when they are mowing the yard with Ben.

Charlie looking very official.

Sawyer patiently waiting his turn on the mower.

S'Mores Anyone?

Here is a little picture montage of the boys enjoying some smores with their

Nana Tonagel while camping.

The Great Outdoors

Last weekend we went camping with the boys in my parents motorhome. We had an absolute blast! I am already begging for a pop-up camper from Ben. The boys did wonderful! Here are a few of our favorite pictures from the weekend.

Exhausted after a bike ride. Imagine how poor Ben felt hauling them around. I think Baby #3 got me off the hook with not having to tote Charlie around on my bike. Thanks baby!

Here is Ben being really helpful to me while we were stuck in the motorhome during a rainstorm Friday night and Saturday morning.

Charlie said he was ready to go bike riding. He did a little dance for us to show how excited he was.

In my family we went camping twice a year with our horses to Potato Creek. The trail riding and food ruled the weekend. I intended to take pictures of all of our meals but forgot. Here were a few highlights of the buffet we sampled all weekend. Yum!!! (I gained 2 pounds from all the food. Apparently the 16 miles of bike riding we did didn't seem to make a difference.)

Biscuits and Gravy for breakfast and hamburgers for dinner...

Sawyer and Charlie loved the "top bunk" in the motorhome. Charlie slept great up there. Sawyer slept on the "table bed" and did really well. He only fell out once during the night! We count that as a success! Don't worry he has a hard head.

We can't wait to go camping again this summer.

peace out, a

p.s. Thanks for all the comments/emails/phone calls on the last post. Still deciding but definitely leaning towards not finding out!

What do you think?

Here is a picture of me this past weekend while camping. I am now 17 weeks along and feeling like I still pretty much just look chunky but am starting to resemble a pregnant woman.

We still haven't decided for sure if I am going to find out what we are having (boy, girl, pony, monkey, etc... who knows!) As of right now our crazy plan is to have Ben find out and I am not. He loves the idea of torturing me and the rest of our family and friends with the idea of him knowing and leading them on but not actually telling anyone the truth. So... in other words if Ben tells you what it is, DON'T believe him! He already has a plan to fool people and say for example, "Mom, I am only telling you because you are my mom. Don't tell anyone but it is a ..." How cruel!

So here is my dilemma... Do I find out or not? We didn't know what we were having with either of the boys and I loved that. This one is driving me crazy though. I desperately want to know but I also remember how much it motivated me through labor and delivery not knowing what the end result would be. We know that we are done having kids after Baby #3 so that also plays a part in my mind.

What do you think I should do? Honestly!!! Do you think it is a good idea for parents to find out? What is more fun from a friend/family point of view? Leave a comment and give me your advice. I really can't decide and go back and forth on a daily basis.

Thanks! a

ps. Don't forget to vote on the side for the "Boy/Girl" poll. We may close it early if we decide to find out. :)

We're NOT twins!

So I know the matching outfits don't help anything but it has gotten so funny for us to see how the boys look more and more alike every day.

Sawyer's new haircut seemed to have aged him by about a year and they look even more alike now to strangers.

Everytime we go somewhere we have at least 1 person ask me if they are twins. Charlie has now started saying as soon as someone walks up to us, "We're NOT twins!"

The boys can wear basically the same size in clothes now and I think Sawyer's feet are actually a little longer than Charlie's.

They are the best of buddies and I am so thankful for that. Sawyer's first words almost every morning are "Where Charlie? Charlie sleeping?" and if Charlie get's up first he says, "Can I go get Sawyer?"

I love my boys!

A little mud on the SUV tires

If you know Ben at all you know that his nickname is "The Car Nazi." (Remember "The Soup Nazi" from Seinfeld?)

So when I saw the chance to hit a few mud puddles REALLY hard with my beloved SUV I took the opportunity! For anyone else this may not seem like much but it had the potential to put Ben into a cardiac arrest.

Luckily for us he survived. He just ended up washing my car twice that week instead of only once.

Here are the boys and their best buddy Luke discovering some sort of squirmy creature.

Jess took us out to their new property that they plan to build on someday.

While there Sawyer made the mistake of stepping in a tiny little mud puddle. Oops. It's not that bad, is it?

Yes, yes it is! Guess I will be doing laundry when we get home.

He kind of resembles a Sasquatch here. I love him though. :)

Flying High

Last week Jessica let us tag along and go see the Biomet airplanes at her work. The kids all loved checking out the planes and getting some candy from a worker.

Best buddies- Charlie and Luke. Trying to get 4 kids under the age of 4 to pose is hard work!

Ahhh... the magic candy drawer!!!

Do they look like high class executives?

Captain Sawyer- (This was taken before the locks got cut off.)

Luke flying high.

Not sure I would want this munchkin flying my plane. Hmmm....

The captain and his co-pilot.

Now that is a cute little flight attendant!

Modern Day Samson???

I had been wondering about something for quite some time. Is Sawyer a "Modern Day Samson?" If all his hair was cut off would he loose his incredible strength, booming voice, and sometimes animal like characteristics? Would we loose our "Junk Yard Dog?"
I felt a little like Delilah (me) delivering him to the Philistines (Ryan Bricker, AKA "Village Barber") to see what would happen.

After many people telling me "Honey, the poor boy needs a haircut!" and Ben's line, "He looks like one of those little boys that come to Kindergarten Round Up and you jot his name down to call CPS later to make sure he is not living out of a car." Oh... my poor baby.

I made the impromptu decision to trust Ryan with our baby's hair and surprise Ben with a haircut for Sawyer.

Sawyer was pumped about the whole thing because Mr. Ryan promised him a sucker after the cut.

Here is the finished product. I am proud to say that I didn't shed any tears and I actually liked the style on him. He and Charlie look even more like twins now and I keep getting them mixed up. I do miss his shaggy little mop but it turned out pretty good in the end. His girlfriend Josi even liked it. She smiled at him when she saw how it turned out.

When we got home the boys were asleep in the car so I just left them and came in the house. I didn't say anything to Ben and he went to get them a few minutes later. He came in the house and said, "Um... Amanda did you know Ryan cut Sawyer's hair? Is Ryan still alive?" He was quite worried. I assured him that I knew and actually asked him to do it as a surprise. He loves the new do and Ryan now approves of Sawyer marrying Josi some day. :)

All is well. Sawyer has proved that he is still the "Junk Yard Dog" without all his long flowing locks. No Samson here.

peace out, a