Last Saturday we went to an event at a local nature center.

They had a bunch of fun activities planned for the kids.

Adam made a frog mask and planted some marigold seeds.

He took the seed planting very seriously.

Luke had fun going through the tunnel (over and over again)

And checking out the baby quail

I think his favorite part though, was the mud puddles in the parking lot. We’d had a lot of rain the day before and so there were plenty of them for him to play in.

The boys ganged up on Dave earlier.  We’ll see how he manages when the new baby makes it 3 against 1.

Dear Baby,

One of the most common questions people asked me when they found out I was pregnant was if we were “hoping for a girl this time?” The honest to goodness truth is no, we’re not. Your gender was determined weeks before we even knew about your existence. All that was left for us to do was wait to see what God has planned for us. We are praying, the same way we did when I was pregnant with your brothers, for a healthy, happy child. That’s all that we care about.

I will warn you though, if you are a girl you have a name. If you’re not, then you might have to wait a day or two. Currently your daddy and I cannot agree on what to call you if you are a boy. We’ve still got a little time left and we’re not going to name you Elvis like Adam suggested. Worst case scenario my top choice will win (I fill out all the paperwork, when you see your daddy’s handwriting you’ll understand why).

So just keep growing little one. We’ll see you in less than two weeks! And don’t worry, if you are another little boy, eventually we’ll figure out a name.

Love,

Mama

Earlier Adam decided he wanted to pretend to be in the circus. So he grabbed three plastic balls and tried juggling. That didn’t work out so well, and after the second time I got hit by one I suggested he try a different act.

We went with tightrope walking (or in our case painter’s tape walking). He was much more skilled at this than juggling (he only fell once). After he was bored with the not-so-high wire he told me he wanted to be shot out of a canon.

I love this kid’s imagination.

Dave took the boys to playground this afternoon while I went to my doctor’s appointment.

Everything looked good at my appointment. Not much time left until we’re officially a family of five. This past weekend I washed all of our gender neutral newborn clothes and put them away. Dave set up the bassinet last night and then today I washed all the receiving blankets and burp clothes.

The doctor told me she’d had seven births in the last twelve hours and the hospital was pretty full. So this little one best not have any plans of surprising us by arriving early – at least not within the next couple of days.

While cleaning up yesterday I asked Adam to put away his shoes. He replied with, “Leave it to me your majesty.”

I could get used to that.

Luke is normally a really happy, laid-back kid. Days like today where he was a cranky, miserable little demon are (thankfully) very rare. Earlier I considered drawing an evil black mustache on his face with marker – just so no one would confuse him with Good Luke.

But then he goes and does something so adorable that I’m almost able to forget all about our horrible day (I’m still a little miffed at him for that huge fistful of macaroni and cheese he threw on the floor during lunch). I only wish I had taken a video of this, so you could hear him neighing like a horse as he rode.

Luke is not a fan of time-out.In case you’re wondering he was pulling things off of the shelf in my craft/laundry room, and just being a general menace (or Sherman, as Adam still calls him when he’s being naughty). He’s definitely ready for a nap.

It was pretty nice outside Tuesday when Dave got home from work, so he took the boys outside with him to rake and pick up the sticks in the front yard.

I enjoyed the quiet for a few minutes and then went out to join them. Luke ended up in the Redneck Playpen after he tried to run into the road (twice). He wasn’t happy about it.

After the sticks were cleared we went to the backyard so Dave and Adam could refill the bird feeders. I think we’ll have some very happy birds (and squirrels – since they seem to think it’s for them).

Then the boys and I played outside while Dave ran to the store to get some hot dogs and hamburgers to grill.

Adam collected rocks and has about twenty of them in the pocket of his sweatshirt there.

Luke looks so old to me lately. My dad keeps reminding me he’s going to look even bigger once the new baby is here.

He kept bringing me all the big rocks he could find. One of these days he’s going to bring me a snake or something like that and I’m going to lose my mind.

It was starting to get chilly as Dave grilled, but Adam insisted we eat outside. I’m glad he did because it was a lot of fun for all of us. I’m looking forward to a lot more nights like this.

I thought we’d try listening to a kid’s music station this morning.

That was the second song that came on – sorry boys, back to mommy’s music.

In other news, that cutie got his haircut on Monday. He’s pretty adorable.