Here SHE is!!!

Today we found out that a GIRL is coming home with us this summer. We are so excited, especially Alan. We left the Dr's office and went to Babies R Us. Alan found the pinkest, girliest bedding they sold and immediately bought it. He is so much fun when we have a baby coming! He loves being a dad (5 minutes of watching him with Matthew proves that) and is thrilled to have a son and a daughter. He is truly an amazing man and that's most obvious with the one who calls him daddy.

Now to Helen Margaret............

This is a 3-D sonogram...people either fine them amazing

or just creepy. I won't be offended either way.

Profile pic

One big stretch...

In complete contrast to her big brother, she is measuring very small (although still healthy and normal). Due date is still the first week in July. Come on summer!!

Here is a video of her in action. It's pretty tough to tell what's going on, but I knew my mom would love it! It starts by showing her legs, then she flips around. Her head is to the right with her hands above. Good luck! (Don't you love it, mom?)

Pink or Blue?

Only 3 more days until we find out if a "he" or "she" has joined our family! What do you think?

10 weeks along

14 weeks

18 weeks

So, there you have it - all our precious pictures. And, now, our names:

Girl - Helen Margaret Nauman (after both our moms, a great-grandmother and great-aunt)

Boy - Christopher James Nauman (after my dad, grand and great-grandfather, and Alan's grandfather)

Oh, Matthew...

When Matthew learned to talk early, we were thrilled. He was just so cute! Now, however, there are times when we wonder if it is wise to teach children to speak. Preschoolers are honest to a fault and ours is no exception! Truly, though, he has us laughing all the time and we love it. He is beginning to learn to tell jokes (most of which make no sense, but completely crack him and his same-age friends up) and tease. Then there are times where he's downright hilarious and doesn't even mean to be. Here are a few of our latest favorites:

1. Mom: Mattthew, where did you learn to do that?

Matthew: "In the army"

2. Sometimes he wants a brother, sometimes a sister. Mostly, he wants to be an only child.

3. Mom: Matthew, I sure would love a hug.

Matthew: "We don't always get what we want, do we Jen?"

4. Often heard yelled from another room:

"Emergency"

"I have a disaster in here..."

"Mom, I have some bad news to tell you..."

5. Matthew: "My dad is really awesome. I'm still thinking about my mom"

6. Matthew: "This is a man job. Me and dad will handle it"

7. Matthew: "You're my buddy, mom. Buddies are super good friends"

8. My favorite word mix-ups:

"helfy" =healthy

"pecause" = because

"filey face" = smiley face

"I'm sorry to annoy you" =interrupt you

Snow Day!

We got snow! This is a rare treat (as in, maybe once every 7-8 years), so we took full advantage. The guys had me up at 6:30 to start outside! It was so much fun, especially with Matthew. He kept saying "it snowed a whole, whole bunch. Big time, mom". I'm sure our Chicago friends would disagree with the "whole bunch" part, but it was still fun.

My favorite picture - he is such a sweetie.

Dad and Matthew
I'm not sure how he feels about sledding...

Snow is clean, right?

Mom and Matthew

Ready...

Aim...

Fire!

Snow storm

Our favorite snowman

Family picture - you get a real sense of

Matthew's joy at being asked to take

this photo. I will use this against him in

later years....

A cold kiss

Lots of outside pictures...

Fieldtrip!

One of our best fieldtrips is to see our local Mazzio's Pizza. They invite the kids to tour the kitchen and help create a class pizza. The kids love it! It had just started to snow that morning, and everyone was so excited.

Preschoolers, a crowded parking lot and snow....

not my favorite combination!

In the restaurant kitchen

Matthew and Dad

We LOVE the flexibility of Alan's job. He

gets to visit nearly every fieldtrip.

Matthew and his friend. This was the first

time Matthew caught a snowflake on his tongue.

He was super excited!

Big Boy Room!

Matthew has officially moved out of the nursery and into his big boy room! This was all Alan's idea, and I have to admit I did not think it was a good one. There were a hosts of reasons, but one of the greatest being that managing this pregnancy doesn't leave room for much of anything else! But we forged on, and Alan did most (OK, almost all) of the work. The end result was one organized room and, much more importantly, one very happy little boy.

I found this plague and had to have it. This is the cry

of my little boy's heart! Whether he's conquering giants,

rebuilding a Lego space station or sailing the seven seas

as a Pirate captain, he has his adventures just for the sake of

having them. It's a reminder that sometimes just

enjoying life is more than enough.....

My favorite part of the room - Alan built

this to display his art work and pictures of his

grand and great-grand parents.

(MAN - his initials)

Here's one half......



Here's the other! Matthew has been
in charge of making his own bed - he's
very proud!