alive & well

Yep, we're all alive & well! As always, staying very, very busy!  I should have posted about ten different times between the last post and this one about all the fun, exciting things we've been up to, as well as all the day-to-day Westinisms that keep us in stitches.  But, alas, here I am and there is no way I will remember it all or have enough time to record all the details!  

March & April are teasers in Colorado!  We have a little of everything-- sunshine & 75, snow & 25 and everything in between... sometimes all in the same day! Kreg & Westin have been out fishing a couple of times already and are really excited about being able to do more of that in the coming months in warmer temperatures. 

 Westin & Daddy reeling one in

 my outside boy

 Wes & his buddy Van

 the crew at Palmer Lake

We were able to make a trip to East Texas the last weekend in March to visit Kreg's sister Kim & her family, including the newest addition, 4-week-old baby Kate! It was a very nice, much-needed weekend with family.  We were also able to see a little bit of Kreg's mom, Carol and her husband Craig, and Kreg's Dad, Steve & his wife Maria.  I was a little swollen and achey after the 14 hour trip, but it was worth it :) I especially enjoyed watching Westin play with his cousins!  They were all so good with him and he obviously thought they were AWESOME. :) I was thankful to get to spend some good Aunt Keleigh & Kate time!  She is sweet as can be and I loved every minute of getting to know her.  

 Pops, Nana & 5 grandkids!

 Wes & Cousin Johnathan

 Darling baby Kate & I

Westin & baby Kate

 Jonas & Westin's duet

 All the cousins in the bluebonnets!

Westin is at such an entertaining stage!  I could literally just sit and watch him all day and be so entertained.  I love that he is talking so much and our conversations are way too much fun.  I've spent the past 22 months wondering what he's thinking and now that I'm getting a glimpse into his little mind, I feel like I know him that much better!  He is very detail-oriented-- He easily notices something out-of-place and likes to correct it.  He can spot a ball or a plane way before I can.  I'm constantly impressed at his memory, especially with people's names (and the Sesame Street characters' names, and the Thomas & Friends' names).  He can recite pieces of his favorite books which also amazes me.  He's becoming very, very social.  I have to watch him very carefully wherever we go because he enjoys finding new people to talk to!  He's always very concerned about little people, especially if they are crying. I'm hopeful that he will be really good with his little brother.  The first baby he's ever really been around is Kate Hodges and he immediately took to her.  He asked right away to "hold this" and LOVED holding her.  He was very gentle and wanted to kiss the top of her head :) 

Tucker is doing great!  At our 26-week appointment, I asked our midwife to do one more ultrasound and print me out some boy parts :) just so I could be SURE.  She was very obliging, of course, and thankfully so was Tucker.  He's definitely a boy and I am getting so excited to meet him and see my boys together!  At our last appointment (29 weeks), my midwife said he's really a very good size... I'm still carrying him practically on my back and thanks to my nice, long torso, I still don't look that big.  I enjoy all of his sweet little kicks and hiccups and thank God daily that it's been such an easy, healthy pregnancy.  I'm hoping to have him in my arms safe and sound in about 2 1/2 months!  It's gone SO fast...

My mom and Westin & I went out to the mining museum down the road and took a few maternity shots!  It was a fun little shoot and we got some great shots :)  I will do another one with Kreg & Westin in a month or so but I'm really glad to have these... while I'm still "comfortable!"

We're planning on getting up to the cabin this weekend and have several home-improvement projects on our list to get done in the next couple of weeks.  I've been making good progress... stay tuned for pictures of Westin's big-boy room, the nursery, the new paint upstairs, and the updated master bathroom! 

Westin Today- 20.5 months

I am staying inside today!  Currently it is -6 degrees at my house! I'm using today as a great opportunity to catch up on all of the things that I have neglected over the past week of sickness at our house! 

As I've been working, I've been thinking of how much I'm enjoying Westin at this stage and how I need to write down all the things he's into and my favorite things he says :) He is so 150% boy and we wouldn't want him any other way!  He keeps me hopping all the time!  He is very into matchbox cars (he loves playing with Kreg's old collection and has a few new ones of his own).  My striped rug in my bathroom has become a perfect little road for his cars and he very much enjoys playing with them at the very bottom of the stairs and driving them up and down the first couple of steps.  (Yes, this is hazardous... he is careful but Kreg & I are always stepping on a stray matchbox car as we come down the stairs) He's also very into mega-blocks and can entertain himself for very long periods of time building towers and such... many times, his towers turn into cars that are driven around the living room with the appropriate sound effects.  He also loves trains, especially Thomas, and "Melmo" (Elmo) from Sesame Street.  When he's not playing with his cars or his blocks or watching Melmo, he loves to fix things with his little tool set.  There's nothing he can't hammer or screw or drill or saw!  And believe it or not, nothing gets him more excited than a great big, loud vacuum!  He is always right there when he hears my vacuum start and is ready to "help."  He also has his own little dirt devil that actually picks up dust here and there.  His very favorite vacuum is my mom (Mimi)'s big Kirby.  

Some of my favorite phrases of his right now are:
okay-- pronounced very drawn out-- "Ohhh-ka-aayyy"
"hand hold" rather than hold hands :)
"Bob On" TV on... reminiscent of when he only wanted to watch Veggie Tales
"Ball Bong" soccer ball
"Uh LU LOO" I love you

He got a haircut this weekend that made him look so much older to me!  I can't believe how much he has changed in the short 20.5 months I have known him :) It's been more of a joy than I could have ever anticipated! He looks so much like his Daddy right now and has so many of his personality traits-- which I love, of course :)  

CORRECTION!

Well, we are shifting gears!! Apparently, the ultrasound picture of girl parts I have on my fridge is lying :) Our most recent ultrasound, according to our midwife, shows definite boy parts! (I should have had her print out a picture for me because I keep looking at the picture on my fridge and thinking of how sure I've been all along that its a girl and I'm still trying to convince myself we're having a boy!) 

Our precious boy's name is Tucker Kreg Kell!  Tucker has been Kreg's favorite boy name for a while now and I wanted him to have his daddy's name as his middle name-- I think he will be proud when he's old enough to understand :) 

I can't even begin to explain the emotions I have felt over the past few days!  I've heard of this happening quite a bit, but never really thought through how it would feel!  I can just imagine God up there "flipping on the boy switch" and laughing at me as I put my faith in modern technology :) I've been bonding with my daughter over the past month, praying for her and dreaming about her and I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that this little boy I love SO much already is actually the same person as the little girl I've been loving the past month... it seems like it should be a much easier transition!

Things I have learned/been reminded of these past few days:
* Plans RARELY work out exactly like we think (God reminds me of this a lot!)
* I bond with my babies in womb more than I ever knew!
* I do want more than 2 kids :) now that I have all this girl stuff, might as well try again :)
* I am SO excited that my boys will be the right age to be playmates and life-long buddies
* I believe God has His hand in planning my family and that this BOY has big things in store!


All that being said, we are all excited all over again!  Two boys is something my family has never done! We are gearing up for all the energy, competition, and EATING that will characterize our family in years to come!  Kreg is super excited and already dreaming of his two hunting/fishing/football buddies! I am praying for the energy to take on raising two boys and that Kreg & I will be able to raise both of our sons to be strong, godly, leaders who respect and treasure women and desire to be pillars in their families, churches, and communities.  OH, AND I'm dreaming about matching church clothes until they're old enough to dislike it... I always liked doing that with my dolls when I was little, haha!

A few pictures for you... 

 the beautiful flowers Kreg brought me when we found out this baby is actually a boy!

the fabric I bought to do his bedding-- it'll be a safari theme!

Thinking Pink

In case any of you have not already heard, we are having a little girl!!!! We are so very excited to add a daughter to our family and so thankful that our awesome God is keeping her safe and healthy! 

Her name will be Emerson Anne Kell.  We chose Anne to honor my mom, Tami LeAnne, my grandmother, Priscilla JoAnne, and my great-grandmother, Doris Ann.  These are three of the strongest, godliest, most beautiful women I know, all of whom have influenced my life in such amazing ways.  I am so excited for my daughter to have such wonderful women from both of our families to learn from and love! 

I knew it had to be a girl because this pregnancy has been SO DIFFERENT from Westin's.  Different symptoms, different feelings, different eating & weight gaining patterns... it HAD to be!  I have not been nearly as sick as I was with Westin, as of today, I am still 2 lbs lighter than my pre-pregnancy weight, & I have NO baby bump at 17 weeks with baby #2! I'm not worried, though-- we saw her on Wednesday and she is growing right on schedule and seems to be doing just great :)  Here are some pictures of she & I so far on this little journey!

 

The Holidays With Westin

Well, it's over... I'm still trying to catch my breath :)  We had SUCH a fantastic holiday season and I'm sorry that I couldn't pry myself away from all the busyness to get on and blog so I could include you all in our holiday fun! It just goes by way too fast every single year.  And then, I'm left with the feeling that it should be time for summer.  A HORRIBLE feeling when you live in Colorado and the biggest snow months are still ahead of us!  Facebook had me trapped yesterday... I was on doing something completely harmless when the photos that popped up on the right-hand side of my screen were from our honeymoon.  Ohhhh, it made it that much worse!  All I could think about was the time we spent in Cancun with all that sunshine~ we were tan, we ate and drank like there was no tomorrow, and we SLEPT.  A LOT.  I realize now that sleep is such a luxury :) 

SO, back to our holiday fun :)  Here's a photo synopsis from the month:

Westin & Daddy sippin' on hot chocolate, ready to go look at Christmas lights!  Westin was so enthusiastic, giving each house a "woww" or "cooool"

The Good Insurance Agency, Inc. Office Party at Biaggi's... 

 Making Christmas Cookies at my mom's house!  The favorite cookie of the day was a Elmo "Melmo" cookie Aunt Taylor made just for Wes!

We hosted our church's College & 20-something's Christmas Party at our house this year!  I'm sorry that I didn't get a group shot of everyone-- we had around 25 people in our little house!  Suffice it to say, here's what the food tables looked like afterwards:

A tour of the main floor main rooms all decorated :)

My little tribute to my FAVORITE night before Christmas ever :) 4 Christmas Eve's ago when Kreg flew in to surprise me & ask me to marry him!

Westin & Daddy making cookies for Santa!  Santa gets no-bake cookies at our house!

Christmas Eve with my family at Biaggi's (AGAIN!)

The surprise waiting for my Dad in the driveway when we got back!

I LOVE getting everyone's Christmas Cards!

Before opening presents at my parents' house Christmas Eve

Westin opening the first gift!  He loved opening gifts :)

This boy has some awesome fine-motor skills!  He got a tool set and amazed us with his building skills...

Playing in the pile of wrapping paper

 My cousins, siblings, Wes, Kreg & I at my grandparents Christmas Day

I hope you all had a very blessed Christmas season as well!  I've enjoyed catching up with many of you and all the fun things you did with your loved ones :) I'm praying God's blessings on you with this new year-- thanks for being a part of my life!