20 Weeks and other things...

So. I've been gone from blogging. Again. I really don't like getting behind cuz then I don't know where to start.
I'm officially HALFWAY through this pregnancy!! WOW, how did that happen?!? Of course having 3 older kids and a baby, does help the time to fly by! I had my doctor's appointment/ultrasound this past friday. We found out the sex of the new baby. More on that soon...when I can get the photos scanned in! Sorry to keep you waiting on that ;) Boy or Girl???

Daxton turned 10 months on saturday. Oh how I wish it would slow down...even just a tad would be nice!! This past month he has grown and learned so much!! He learned to sit himself up, pull up on everything to stand, gotten his bottom tooth in, the top eye teeth almost completely in, the second bottom tooth almost completely in, eating regular food nonstop. He's been a busy boy! Today he climbed up the stairs when I had my back to him. I look back and he was standing on the first step smiling away! I was a little surprised!! Then he kept climbing...got up about three or four steps and decided he wanted to go back down. He turned around and slid belly first down. Crazy boy! I had Xavier stay right behind him while I videotaped it.

Took the kids and my neice Chelsey to the Brookfield Zoo yesterday. It was a pretty nice day out, though it rained on us twice. The sun was shining and then the rain poured for a bit then stopped. We hadn't been to that zoo in a few years, so it was a nice change. My favorite part was the monkey/gorilla section. The building they are housed in is great! Really big and lots of room for people. The gorillas were hilarious to watch...they act just like humans. Daxton like the bears the most I think. One was laying and playing in a pool area and Daxton kept staring and watching him. It was fun, but by the time we got home I was drained and my head was pounding. I hate being around that many people, they are always so many idiots and people that don't pay attention to what they or their kids are doing. Really irritates me!!

Well, I gotta go get supper out...Nick's working late, so it's all on me.

Chicago Pics

Family pic @ Navy PierThe kiddos @ Navy Pier
In front of Buckingham Fountain or Buckingham Palace as Nick kept calling it. The spray from the water felt so nice.
Miss Toots in one of the funny mirrors on Navy Pier. Xavier is just to the right looking into another mirror.
As always, you can click on pics to make them bigger. The family one and the fountain one I had to adjust the lighting on since they were kinda dark, so they are grainy.

American Girl and Kindergarten Graduation

Xandria standing in front of the collection of dolls that she picked hers from. She got a Just Like Me doll.
With Daddy outside the store.
Inside the Hershey store, next to the 5lb chocolate bar. Imagine eating all that chocolate!!

Xandria waiting to be called up to recieve her diploma.
Shaking hands with her pastor. Her teacher, Mrs. Ratze is next in line with her diploma and the principal is at the end (not pictured).
Enjoying her graduation treats.
Mom, Dad and the Graduate!

Also, for the family members reading...I will be mailing out her graduation picture when I recieve them in the mail. I still can't believe she is old enough to be done with Kindergarten...just yesterday it was Xavier :( We are so proud of her though. She really loved it and did so well. Her behavior (that I was so worried about!!) was great. I told her next year she will be at school all day and she said "Yay, then I can make more friends!" She really enjoyed meeting new kids and playing with them.

Wiped. Out.

So, I've been gone. For a bit. Lots has been going on. Let's see if I can make a list...

• Xandria's graduation from Kindergarten. May 22. Had a circus program and then did awards and diplomas. She was a horse in the circus. She loves horses and her best friend at school, Olivia, was also a horse. She got an award for attendance and recieved her diploma. When the kids are called up to recieve their diplomas, along with their name being said, they mention what the kids said they want to be when they grow up...Xandria said "vetrinarian". I know I spelled that wrong. Loved watching her up onstage, she smiled the whole night :) After it was over, they had a reception for the kids and families in the gym. There was a long table set up for the graduates to sit at and eat ice cream and some other treat they were given. Guess who sat at the table until ALL her dessert was finished?? Yep, Xandria. The other kids were long gone!
• Xavier's last day of school. May 23. He went for 2 1/2 hours and they recieved their awards, yearbooks, report cards and SAT results. He recieved an award for attendance and for getting a high number of 100's on his bible tests. I will have to check the number. His grades were great and his SAT's were awesome. He scored above average in every catergory and tested in quite higher grade levels than he is in. Especially in the reading and comprehension. He got Post High School scores in those!!
• After Xavier came home from his last day of school, my aunt and uncle came over to watch the boys while Nick and I took Toots to Chicago to go to the American Girl Doll Store! She had the option to either have a graduation party (like Xavier did) or spend the day with just mom and dad going somewhere special. She choose the latter. She was SO EXCITED!! She picked out a red head with blue eyes doll and got a couple outfits, sleeping bag for the doll and a hair care kit. She even bought an outfit with some of the money she recieved for graduating. We also went to the Hershey store...LOVE their huge cupcakes...YUM!! Of course we decided to leave Chicago just before 5pm...on the friday of Memorial Day weekend, to head to a Lonestar to eat that Nick found on the GPS. BAD IDEA!! It was only 15 miles away, but took us close to 2 HOURS!! So, we FINALLY get there only to realize it was CLOSED DOWN!! Nice. So, he looked up an Outback and that wasn't too far away...though it still took a little longer than it should of. We made it home around 10 and I was beat!!
• 4 Month doctor check up. May 30. Gained 5 freaking pounds!! Ugh. Add that to the 12 I hadn't lost from Daxton plus the around 4 pounds I had already gained so far. Bleh!! And I thought I had done so well....yea, wrong! I swear I don't know who's body I have, but it's not mine!! Anyway, measurements are right on :) We listened to the baby's heartbeat and she said it was a "strong heartbeat" and that was great :) That's the important stuff...not how big my butt continues to get ;) I have been feeling the baby move for a little while, so that's always an exciting and amazing thing!! Go back in 3 weeks for the ultrasound...really looking forward to that!! Can not believe how fast this pregnancy continues to go!
• Daxton turned 9 MONTHS on May 21. Had his new pics taken yesterday with Heather.
• This past saturday May 31 we decided to go back to Chicago to spend the day at Navy Pier. Decided it would be a lovely idea to take a bike tour at 7pm. Despite the fact that I hadn't ridden a bike since before Xavier was born...I would have to ride the bike with 20+ pound Daxton a seat behind me. Nick was supposed to get a quad so the other kids and him could all ride together. That didn't work out, so Xavier and Xandria each had a bike to ride, Nick had the one with baby on the back (I couldn't balance with him...mainly because the damn seat was so high and I could't even reach the ground) and I got the little bit lower bike with Drake's 40 pounds in the trailer behind me. Yea. So there were 4-5 other people in our group and the tour guide. Our first stop was Millenium Park from Navy Pier. No one informed me that would entail riding over a bridge. I'm not so good with bridges, being that I'm afraid of heights...but I MADE IT! Of course we were just a bit behind everyone else. Xandria was having an issue, not quite sure what it was. We get to Millenium park and the tour guide decides we need to put Daxton in the trailer with Drake, since he had fallen asleep. I was given a shorter and more comfortable bike, but now Xandria would be riding attached to my bike. So, we were off. Again. Yea...except that when I went to go Xandria started freaking out! I guess her part of the bike would start to tip when I would go, so she was thinking she was going to fall over. So we didn't get very far. Our tour guide must of noticed we were missing and came to look for us. We explained the problem and told him we wouldn't be continuing the tour. Wow, was my head pounding by this time!! We went explained the situation again to the people who gave us our new set up and they gave Xandria back the bike she was orginally riding and unhooked the extra bike from my seat. They said we could ride down to see Buckingham Fountain by ourselves if we still wanted to do that. So we did. And it was nice. We stayed there for a bit, then rode back to Navy Pier. It was beautiful out there that night and we just enjoyed the ride. We left to go home just before 10 pm. I was SO READY to be home and in bed!!! My head was killing me and I was so exhausted!!! We will rent bikes there again I'm sure, just not doing the tour. It's too hard with kids. We did have a great day though, besides the drama :)
• We finished moving Xandria and Xavier's rooms around. Xandria's new room is painted a light purple and Xavier's room is...well...it's still pink and purple stripes. Oops. Hopefully it will get painted the green he picked out soon and shelves need to be put in his closet as well.

That's my BIG, HUGE post for now. Going to take Mr. Daxton outside with the other kids to enjoy the weather. P.S. Besides crawling for a couple weeks, he's now mastered sitting himself up.

I will add pictures of all our events soon.