Baby News!!!

We had our "big" ultrasound today and the verdict was very clear..... (drum roll please)

It's A BOY!

Yes! We're having a baby boy...and I'm so excited and still slightly in shock.

Below is a sampling from the 10 ultrasound photos we were given.

Here's a great view from under the baby looking up. Legs spread apart (see chubby thighs). You'll see the umbilical chord up high, and then a very obvious (to me at least!) "boy part" right there in the middle where it belongs. Clearly a boy. We were lucky to get so many great shots of his manly parts. =)

Here's another similar view/angle with his left leg (on your right) bent. Still a very clear and obvious boy part right there...plain as can see (well, once the doctor showed us!) What a cute little bum!


These are 2 "head shot" photos where the baby is lying on his side. Head is on the right and you can see where his eyes and chin are. In this one it looks like his head is floating above his body, but our doctor assured us that he has a very healthy, intact spinal chord.

She kept saying what a "cute little boy" he is. Well, that made mommy and daddy feel great...especially when to us it looked a bit like Skelator from the face shots. But all is well. He's healthy and developing perfectly. And we're all THRILLED for this new adventure. I'm in my 19th week, so almost halfway thru this pregnancy already. I can't believe it. Thank you Jesus for another miracle!

Mother's Day Moments

It was such a special Mother's Day for me. Just watching Madelyn grow and change has been so amazing, and I think just knowing that I have another baby on-the-way made it an extra special day. After church we met my family out for lunch at The Ocean Club (fancy and fun!) and amidst the down pouring rain, we still could sit out on the dry, covered terrace overlooking Easton. We all had a great time. I loved this moment actually caught on camera where Madelyn is asking so nicely for mommy's bag of lip sticks.

Maddy's saying "Please!" in sign language.

Thanks Nana! Burt's Bees is the best stuff!

Nana and her girls. As you can see, Madelyn was disappointed that we took away the lip gloss for the photo!

Maddy and Nana having a grand old time in Starbucks with the tornado sirens blaring outside. What an adventurous day!

Madelyn and her cute daddy in the parking garage after lunch and coffee (she was giving him a special hair-do) Thank goodness for covered parking on days like this!

After long Sunday naps for all of us, we met Gary's family out at Olive Garden for dinner. Here's Grandma Sammons (she'd kill me if she saw this online) with her little Maddy and Maci.

Maddy: 19 months & Maci: 20 months

After dinner we finally came home and I received my special gifts from Madelyn (some beautiful framed photos of the 2 of us together). Here's Maddy is showing off the special card she made and colored for me.

The best gift of all: a super snuggle from my baby girl.

4th Anniversary Date

We just celebrated our 4th Anniversary and had such a fun date nite. The day started out great too when Gary surprised me by leaving 4 beautiful roses on the kitchen table for me (next to the funny sign I wrote for him in the middle of the night!)

I actually had fun planning the date this year, and surprising him with our plans. I picked out a quaint little Italian restaurant in Victorian Villiage (Basi Italia) that you would never know about unless someone told you. It was an old, refurbished home that was turned into a sweet little restaurante. We had a relaxing dinner and then went to the old-timey Drexel Theatre in Bexley to see a foreign film called "Counterfeiters". We highly recommend it. Another interesting thing to note about the night was that it was Madelyn's first full night away from her mommy. Yup, Nana and Papa Vaas watched her for the whole evening. It was kind-of a "test run" for the big Italy trip we have coming up...where we'll be away from her for 10 whole days and nights. Whew. Thankfully, Gary and I had a wonderful date AND Madelyn had a wonderful time too (and slept thru the night!!!) What a milestone for all of us.

I love you Gary Scott. It's been an amazing 4 years, and I can't wait to spend the rest of my years with you. All my love. oxoxoxox

Spring Daze

Last Saturday we spent the morning down at Goodale Park (Short North, Columbus) and volunteered with a group from our church to pass out free bottles of water to strangers walking, running and playing in the park that morning. It was part of the larger effort called "Serve Columbus" our church put on...doing "random acts of kindness" all over the city that morning. About 1500 people participated. Madelyn had lots of fun riding in her Red Flyer wagon and passing out water to all the runners, and petting the doggies. But amidst all that, I thought the real "Kodak Moment" came when Madelyn wanted to explore thru the park and play with the gorgeous flowering trees. Nevermind the fact that these beautiful blossoms (namely their pollen) make me feel miserable right now -- how can you not want to play under these trees? I thought you would enjoy these sweet photos too.

Yup, another fun day in the park.

The Cutest Pigtails Ever!

On Friday morning (April 11th) I got a crazy idea and thought we'd try pigtails in Madelyn's hair for the first time. Well...wouldn't you know it was the cutest hair-do ever! Watching her was half the fun, because after I got the ribbons tied in, she kept going over to the mirror and admiring herself. So darn cute to see a little toddler smiling at her pigtails in the mirror! Needless to say, I took about 50 photos of her that morning (how could I resist?) and as usual, she was a little ham, and loved posing for the camera. I thought you all would enjoy these sweet pics!

The neighborhood landscapers were out front putting mulch around our flower beds, so she was ultra-intrigued by all the action outside. In fact, she so enjoyed watching them that she decided to pull up her rocking chair to the window for a "front row" view!

Our Amazing Madelyn

Baby Number Two is Making an Appearance!

Tonight as we were getting ready for bed, I thought...you know it's about time to document this growing baby in my tummy. We've been a little delinquent this time around and realized no one has seen any photos of "baby two" yet (specifically our out-of-town friends that don't see us regularly)! So, we quickly grabbed the camera for a little photo shoot, and Madelyn came running over to me, motioning that she wanted to be in the pictures too (I'm sure this will be a future trend!) Well, it goes without saying that the photos turned out WAY cuter than I could have imagined because of Madelyn's candid fascination with my growing belly (and bellybutton). See for yourself!

Sweet Kisses for the baby.

I'm almost 15 weeks pregnant. Both me and the baby are growing at a steady pace. I'm feeling pretty good these days, and enjoying this journey the second time around. And I think I felt the baby move for the first time last night. Aaaaaaahhhhh. So sweet.

Easter Festivities

Saturday Morning (the day before Easter) Madelyn and Maci had a great time at the indoor Easter Egg Hunt. What cute cousins!


After the egg hunt (and mommy tried to hide or eat all the candy from the plastic eggs), we colored eggs. Maddy had a great time (making a fun mess), and loved eating the eggs too. True!

Madelyn's favorite gift from the Easter Bunny was her new yellow purse which was the first thing she was desperately trying to remove from her basket (above).

"Who's ready for a snack? That Easter service made me hungry!"

We were so glad to have Natalie with us on Sunday morning at church.

After church we drove up to Madelyn's great-grandparents home in Upper Sandusky (the Rhodes side) for lunch and visiting. And of course...more photos!!!

At this point, Madelyn was tired of photo-taking and ready to eat! In fact, she was using her fist as a meal substitute. Time to change into something a bit more cozy and eat and play!

What a special weekend for all of us. We missed having the rest of my family around (my parents left for Argentina the day before Easter to see Jonathan!) But it was still a specil time for all of us. Madelyn still carries her new yellow purse around everywhere we go!!