Wacky Weather

You know, it is hard to prepare for Christmas when our temps have been in the upper 70s and the ice cream man is still in business!!! The kids were thrilled to see that Daddy made it home just in time to buy ice cream!
The kids keep asking if it is going to snow for Christmas and something is telling me there isn't much of a possibility!

In other news, we experienced a minor earthquake today. It registered as a 3.6 which isn't huge, but was definitely noticeable. We don't have any damage, just a crazy story to tell.

Let me just go on record saying that I could use a day (or even a week) of good old fashioned snow for the winter time!

Cheerleading update

Isabelle wanted to make sure that her pictures of cheerleading made it on the blog...so here we go!

Isabelle is working hard on her liberty,
and on transitioning to an arabesque.

She has mastered the 1/2!

And is making a very good base!

She hangs upside down,

And got to play on the high bar!

I think it is pretty clear that she is having a lot of fun!

Rain Boots

It has been pretty rainy around here lately, so Isabelle decided to make the most of it! She put on her rain jacket and rain boots and found all the puddles she could!

She didn't hesitate to jump right in!

Rain has never been so much fun!

Holiday Fun

This past weekend, Daddy worked on a gingerbread house with the kiddos. They had a lot of fun together!
They each designed their own side of the house and Daddy worked on the front.
Ian was the quality control inspector...or at least that is what it looks like!

The finished product is beautiful!

A Thanksgiving Visitor

Grandpa was able to come out and spend a week with us over Thanksgiving. We didn't do too much besides eat and shop while he was here, which might explain why this is the only real picture I have from while he was here. But it is a good one!

Thanks for coming out, Dad! I am glad you enjoyed it!

Pinewood Derby Champion!!!

Ian recently participated in his very first Pinewood derby race with Cub Scouts! He had a blast! He worked very hard with David to design, sand, paint and weight his Spiderman skateboard car.

Here is Ian and his buddy KC telling the officials that they are ready to race!
Ian's car is the one on the left.

I didn't get a good picture of the end of the races, but Ian's car won EVERY race!!!

He received a medal for first place! What a way to start out in scouts!

We are proud of you buddy!

A Fun Day Out

Last month David surprised us with tickets to go see Disney on Ice. This year's show was Mickey and Minnie's Magical Adventure. It took us through Africa (The Lion King), Hawaii (Lilo and Stitch), Under the Sea (The Little Mermaid) and to London (Peter Pan). Isabelle enjoyed seeing Tinkerbell skate around.
Daddy gave in to purchasing the insanely expensive bag of cotton candy! Good thing is came with a "FREE" hat!

Isabelle was proud to wear it during the show!

Peter Pan was the final part of the show. It was actually pretty good!

But during the show I looked over at David and found this:

A complete sugar crash!

What a good Daddy though! Thanks for taking us all out!

Belly Pic

Okay...I must love you all to even think about putting this picture up for the world to see. The truth is that I have been reprimanded for my lack of posting lately so I am trying to avoid getting in any more trouble! It is far from my most flattering picture, but it will do for now. At this point I am 21 weeks along and growing quickly. The little man is very active and doing exactly what he is supposed to be doing. My energy level has been up a bit and I am thankful for that!!! When the little people heard that we needed to snap a picture, they were eager to be involved. They are both getting pretty excited about this new addition to the family! We are more than half way there! Hooray!!!

I will be back this week with updates from the last several weeks since I am so behind!

Have a great weekend!

The Big Day!

Meet the newest Westlake!!! Complete with LITTLE BOY parts!!!
Today we got to go see our newest little critter on the ultrasound machine. Truthfully, I am SHOCKED that it is a boy, but we are all thrilled! The kids got to go with us to see the baby and they enjoyed it for the most part.

Thankfully, they were both really okay no matter what the sex of the baby was. Isabelle even offered to share her room even though it was a boy. When we left the office and went to check out, one of the nurses asked what the results were and asked the kids if they were excited.

Isabelle smiled and said, "yes."

Ian shrugged his shoulders and said, "Not much."

I asked him if he would have been more excited if it had been a girl. He replied, "Not really."

Daddy quickly chimed in and said, "It would have been much more exciting if it had been a Star Wars Clone Trooper!"

Ian's face lit up as if someone was finally speaking his language. He said, "YEAH!!! Or a droid or something."

I am so thankful for my crazy boys and for the fact that David is able to relate to Ian in this way that I struggle with!!! He is such a good daddy! Needless to say, he is over the moon with the idea of having another little boy in the house! It is going to be great fun!

As for the little man, he looks healthy and is very active. He is due to join our family in mid April! We are half way there! It is hard to believe, but I know this time with fly by so quickly!

We hope that you all enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday!

We will be back with more pictures soon!

What is your guess?

I have gotten a few questions about how my pregnancy is going. The answer is, "Great!" I am feeling wonderful and growing as expected. I am grateful to have a pretty easy time with pregnancy!

I recently switched to a different doctor, so we are a little bit behind on a few things. I may not get to have my ultrasound for a few more weeks, so we are going crazy as we wait to find out what we are having!!!

So, I thought I would get you all involved. Take a minute to vote and leave a comment (if you want) below letting me know why you voted the way you did. Hopefully it won't be too long till I can tell you if you were right or not! Have fun!

Are we going to have another boy or girl???
	BOY
	GIRL
pollcode.com free polls

Backyard Campout

The kids have been asking to go camping for months. We have just never gotten around to it...until now. We have had some great fall weather lately. When David and I were trying to think of something fun to do with the kids this weekend I suggested a camp out. David jumped all over that idea. He set the tent up in the backyard and we borrowed the neighbors' fire pit. The kids were so excited about the whole idea!

Can you tell?

The kids were thrilled with the campfire.

And made the most of it by roasting marshmallows.
The boys discussed how fire works.

And the kids did a little jumping in the dark (it really was dark! You just can't tell because of my flash!)

When all the fun was over, Daddy prepared their sleeping bags.

And I said goodnight and tucked myself in upstairs in my warm, cozy bed!

To be completely honest, I never thought they would make it through the night out there! I prepared things inside for when they came in in the middle of the night. This way they didn't all end up in bed with me!

But I was quite wrong. The boys came in for a quick potty stop in the middle of the night, but made their way back out to the tent and everyone slept through the night! They all came in this morning excited about their experience and the kids want to sleep out there again tonight...

Maybe next weekend!

Little voters

Both of the kids seemed to be pretty interested in the whole voting process. They were excited to go with us to the polls. I am not so sure they would have been so excited had they known that we were going to be waiting in line for nearly FOUR HOURS! But they were troopers!

They colored, read books, played DS and ran around in the grass. When it started to rain, they were just excited to get to use their umbrella! What awesome kids!


Each of the kids went with us when it was our turn to vote. They wore their "I voted" stickers very proudly for the rest of the day. In fact, Ian hasn't taken his stickers off of his jacket yet! He is excited that he will get to vote for himself in 12 more years!

Little Mommy

Ever since finding out that she was going to be a big sister, Isabelle has been VERY interested in her baby dolls! She feeds them, burps them, puts them down for naps and takes them for rides in her little stroller. She is going to be a great big sister!

Halloween

I know I am late on this (thanks for all the reminders Bean!!!) But better late than never, right?

The kids were both looking forward to trick-or-treating with their neighborhood friends.

Isabelle had plans to be a ladybug, but at the last minute changed her mind to Cinderella. She had all the pieces she needed in her dress up bucket and so we changed. She was complete with tiara and glass slippers. She refused to wear a sweater even when it started to get a little chilly because she was concerned that nobody would know that she was dressed as Cinderella! She also refused to take off her glass slippers even when you could tell that it was killing her feet to walk in them! She insisted on keeping them on...oh, the sacrifices made for beauty!

The funny part is that with all this effort to make sure that it was clear that she was dressed as Cinderella, she started giving a disclaimer at each and every door. When someone would comment on her being Cinderella or a beautiful princess she would say to them, " I am just PRETENDING to be Cinderella. I am really Isabelle. And this is my brother Ian, he isn't really Anakin!" It was pretty funny that she felt that she had to educate the neighborhood!
And here is my little Anakin Skywalker. Star Wars is Ian's newest obsession, so there was no question as to what type of costume he would like. Plus it gave him the opportunity to get the light saber he has been wanting for so long!

The kiddos had a great time getting candy and spending time with their friends. After everyone was done getting all of their loot, we gathered at a neighbors house for a campfire complete with smores and pumpkin pie! At the end of the night, Isabelle asked me how many days until the next Halloween. She seemed a little bit shocked when I told her 364!

Tagged

Last week I was tagged by Brie.

I went to high school with Brie years ago and have enjoyed reading her blog recently!

So, here is the deal:

Now to come up with seven random and/or weird things about myself...

1. I have always been a "pile-er." I make piles of things all over my house. I long to be more organized and most people think I AM organized. It has gotten better over the years (you can ask my mom, my whole bedroom used to be a big pile!) but I still have a long way to go. I usually can keep my piles limited to my desk and one on the kitchen counter. The good news is that I usually know where everything is and can locate it quickly, but it drives my hubby nuts!

2. I have lived in eleven states throughout my life! In no particular order...Kansas, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Nebraska, Missouri, Florida, Virginia, South Carolina, and my favorite, Colorado!

3. I LOVE Mexican food. And I am not picky. Sometimes I can go for Taco Bell and sometimes I need something more authentic...either way, I LOVE IT!

4. I met my husband the very first day that I lived in South Carolina! I had just completed Navy boot camp and reported for Nuclear Power School. I had dinner with him the first night and the rest is history! Now we have been married for over seven years and we are expecting our third baby in April!

5. I love to create. I have an entire room in my house dedicated to my sewing, scrapbooking, stamping and whatever creative ventures may come.

6. I love books. I try to read regularly, but it usually doesn't happen unless it is reading a story to my kids. Somehow, I can't find the time to read "big people books." I am notorious for buying a new book for myself and being determined to read it, but it usually doesn't happen. Someday when I have more time to myself, I will get to enjoy this collection that I have started!

7. I am addicted to email. It all started when my husband was deployed and I developed the habit of checking my email several times a day in order to see if he had written. However, even though he has been home from deployment for nearly 3 years, I can't break my habit! If I am walking past the computer, I have to check email. It has gotten a little bit better since we moved into our new house. David converted the smaller of the two master closets into our computer room and I can close the door to it. Sometime the out of sight, out of mind theory actually works...

Now, I tag Kim, Heather, Corrie, Andrea, Dabney, Kari, and Monica... Have fun!

Sweet Friends

On Sunday, before we got on the road to go home, we got to have lunch with some of my very bestest girlfriends. All of these gals are people I met through the family readiness group with the ship! They are the best of the best! I am so glad I got to spend a little time with them while I was there!

Me, Parys, Kathy, Andrea, Amy and Brittany.

Miss Andrea made sure to get her seat next to Ian.
And Isabelle had a special seat next to Ally. I am not sure who enjoyed that more! (I can't wait till you are here to play with the kids next spring, Ally!)

Here is my crazy girl, Brittany!

And the ever adorable, Parys. (too bad you can't see the rockin shoes she had on!)

And a picture of the two preggos! Amy is about 10 weeks ahead of me on this one! She will be having another precious little girl in February!

The triplets.

When Andrea and Ally were visiting here last, we got to go out shopping one day. The poor man at Banana Republic was shocked. He thought we were triplets. I could only be so lucky! So we made sure to get a picture of all of us together this time!

The kids were great all through the lunch. Ian enjoyed his time with Alex while we all chatted away!

It was so wonderful to have this short time with all of you! Hopefully we will see you all in a couple more months!