in recent years, we’ve gone on our tree hunting expedition at some point during thanksgiving weekend.  the actual day we get it done however, largely depends on whichever day phil is off work.  we like to get it early so we can get it decorated and get a bit of a headstart on enjoying it (read: get our money’s worth out of it) for the five weeks until new year’s day.  or the week after.  cuz it takes about that long for me to feel any sort of distance between pulling the ornaments and decorations out and putting everything away again.  ok, maybe that makes sense only to me. in…

we are completely and utterly stumped for a name.  so much so that we’ve even resorted to asking the kids for their input.  and it went something like this: me:  allie, what shall we name your new baby brother? allie [very decisively]:  mario. me:  …huh?  what? allie:  mario. me:  mario.  interesting.  why do you like the name mario? allie:  because i like that driving game, so let’s name him mario, ok? me [surprised because we haven’t played that game in months]:  well, we’ll take your suggestion into consideration, ok? me:  mikey, what shall we name your new baby brother? mikey:  how about justin? me:  why justin? phil [to me]:  does…

this year’s thanksgiving ended up being a pretty simple affair for us.  we originally thought maybe we’d head up north to visit phil’s mom as we haven’t seen her in over a year.  but as is usually the case, phil ended up not getting the entire weekend off and so we stayed home and gave thanks with just the five of us.  i think we’ve stayed home nearly every thanksgiving and so it was nice in a way to continue that tradition. that’s not to say there wasn’t a lot of eating involved, though. it started the week before thanksgiving, with both allie and mikey’s school celebrations. lauren and i…

last saturday, we had a rainy day.  not to be confused with a snowy day.  rain days just can’t quite compare to snow days.  but if i never experience a snow day again as long as i live, i think i would seriously be okay with that.  more than okay.  just don’t tell my kids that since mikey’s still been asking when it’s gonna snow here.  never, i think to myself with an inward smile.  outwardly, i try to let him down gently saying it just doesn’t snow in southern california. so while we have no snow days to look forward to, we do have rainy days.  which are still…

so this morning i had my 20-week ultrasound.  and no, i cannot believe i’m already halfway through this pregnancy.  yikes! without further ado, i’ll just go ahead and spill the beans so as not to keep you in suspense any longer. but… not without a few pictures first!  🙂  ok, ok, if you MUST KNOW NOW, go ahead and scroll down to see then come back.  i’ll wait. ready? i scheduled this ultrasound a month in advance to be on phil’s post-call day to make sure he’d be able to come too.  only, it also happened to fall on a day when both girls would be at home (allie goes…