Dallas Zoo Trip 2013

We went on our annual zoo trip to the Dallas Zoo this year.  It happened to be Daddy's 31st Birthday weekend, so it was a perfect way to celebrate!  We started the trip off with a camel ride.  Luke was a little scared at first, but thought it was sooo cool once he was on.

 

I loved watching Luke get so into the animals.

My favorite part about this zoo, is that you are able to feed the giraffes.  Luke was way into it, and Audrey was a little scared.  I think one tried to lick her!

We were able to take in and elephant demonstration.

I was taking pictures of Audrey, and she looked at me and said, "No cheese".  I guess she wasn't in a picture taking mood.  What a little diva! ;)

We were a little disappointed, because the gorillas were all hiding.  Just when we were about to leave, this guy shows his face!  He walked right out into the open, and went straight for the window where Luke was.  It was awesome!

This pic is hard to see, but the kids were soooo close to him. 

The monorail is always a must at the zoo!

The monorail just wore Audrey out!

Crazy baboon guy right by the window.  Very Lion King!

Taking a break with Daddy.

 

Tiger watching with Grandpa.

 

 

The weather was perfect, and we had such a wonderful time! 

Muffins With Moms

Thursday was Muffins with Moms at school and it was too cute.   Luke was so excited to have me in his classroom.  We got to sit down, enjoy some delicious muffins and he showed me all the fun things he made me.  Here I am with the two who made me a mom.  I am blessed! 

 

Luke showing off the flower he planted for me.

A little performance with songs about moms. 

Sweet gifts from my boy.

Love this! 

My portrait.  :)  I love my Luke!

School Fun!

School is wrapping up for the year, and there have been no shortages of fun events. It seems like every week there is some fun new thing at Sunshine Kids. We absolutely love Luke's school and so does he!

 

First up was Cowboy Day.  You know this boy loves a good dress up, so this was right up his alley. 

 

 

 

Luke and his buddies from class. (all the boys)

 

They got to have a camp out in a tent and everything!

Enjoying some smores with his class.

I just love this precious picture that his teacher took!

Another fun event, was Bible Times Market Place.  The school set up a market that would be similar to one when Jesus was alive.  They sang songs, went fishing, made clay pots, and had fish sticks, cheese and olive.  I was told my son spit out the olives... in his defense, he told me he thought it was a grape.  :)  Luke loved this day, and has told me repeatedly that what he learned that day was that "God is the potter, and we are the clay".  Melt my heart!

Last week was a fundraiser to get new turf on the playground.  It was a fun run, where Luke asked some very nice people (Tula, Nonnie, Aunt Ali and Aunt Tracy) to sponsor him in this "race".  Audrey and I went out to support our little runner.  Here they are at the starting line.

 

Luke took it VERY seriously!

A little collision didn't stop him!

Sweet boy at the finish and then below after receiving his medal.



 

 

Believe it or not, but more fun events are in store.  Muffins with Moms and Beach are up next.  Stay tuned!

Little Fishy

Audrey started swim lessons at Emler in January.  She has never been scared of the water and was a little fish from the beginning.  She is fearless and loves being underwater.  We have been going weekly since mid-January and she is up to 10 seconds under water swimming a distance of almost 10 feet.  It is awesome!  At our very first class they had a photographer in the pool for their website, and I just got emailed these pics.  Soooo cute!

 

Our Little Helper

A few weekends ago was a community service project all over the city.  We signed up through our church, and thought that this year Luke would be old enough to go along.  Luke loves doing anything that Daddy is doing, so he was very excited to help.  He went with Daddy, Uncle Will, and even the class monkey, Marvin, to go help a family in need.  Here is Luke and Marvin getting ready to head out.

 

Brian said Luke did quite well, especially for a 3 year old, and was right there in the middle of it all.  He was quite the little painter.

This was his favorite assignment, filling dirt in the holes. 

Overall, it was a great day, and I loved seeing my little guy helping others.  Hopefully, we can do this annually, and we definitely want to find other things throughout the year to instill a giving and grateful heart in this boy!

Carnival Time

A few weeks ago we went with Nonnie to the Glen Oaks Carnival.  Nonnie is a 1st grade teacher there, and as it turns out, our new house is zoned so that is our elementary school as well.  Even more crazy, is that I went to 5th grade at this school!  Talk about full circle!  We had a great time and will most likely make this an annual event.  Here is Audrey getting a tattoo.

 

Luke was very into all the games and even won some prizes!



 

Audrey and Daddy were impressed with his bowling skills.

There was a pitching booth.  It recorded the speed at which you threw the ball.  It was mainly big kids, but Luke was convinced he could do it.  Not too bad!

They had a leader board for the fastest speeds, and actually had to make a new category for Luke, as he was the youngest participant so far.  Hey... he was in first place! ;)

After a ton of games, we wrapped it up with some bounce house fun!  

 

Thanks Nonnie!  We will be back next year!

Ultrasound Update

Just wanted to include an update from the ultrasound we had on Monday.  I went to the doctor today to get the full report, and she informed us that they did note a choroid plexus cyst on the brain.  At first I was very taken aback, because, for one I had no idea what this was, and also because so far I have been extremely blessed and have never had any complications or anything come up with any of my pregnancies.  The doctor is not concerned at all.  She states that this is extremely common and in 16 years she has always seen them just go away at the next ultrasound.  Sooo... I will see a Maternal Fetal Medicine (MFM) doctor in about three weeks for a super high tech ultrasound.

I left the office a bit nervous today, and of course hit google the minute I walked in the door.  What I learned is the scary part in all this is that a cyst like this is weakly linked to Down Syndrome and Trisomy 18.  Yikes!  The good news is, that since I am under 35, and there were no other abnormalities noted on the ultrasound, the likelihood of this meaning anything is extremely low.  In addition, I had an early screening scan (NT) at 13 weeks that did not show any increased risk for these conditions.  I also read countless threads of women who had this cyst on ultrasound and went back in for the next one and the cyst was completely gone and they all had healthy babies. 

Overall, this is a bit scary, but we know it is all in God's control  We have been praying, and will continue to pray to Him for clear results at the next ultrasound.  Brian and I feel at peace with it, and know God will be with us regardless of what happens, although we are very optimistic that everything will be fine.  Extra prayers on our behalf are always appreciated!  We will keep everyone updated as soon as we have the next ultrasound.  God is good!