Boy oh Boy!

We went for our ultrasound yesterday. It was very neat to see the healthy baby. The whole appointment he was curled into a ball. Knees to nose, feet above his head. With a little work they told us the news...It's a BOY! While I was excited and Jared was excited. Mea is going to take some time to completely warm up to the idea. She was a little sad, but after I told her she would be the only princess in the house, she perked up a little. I think she is happy to be a sister, and was excited to see the baby. A part of me was sad for her too, but then I got to thinking about the having one beautiful girl and one handsome boy at home. Finally the rational part of me kicked in and I have decided she's 3, she'll get over it. On the way to school, Mea asked me if next time I could have a girl....uggg...everyone is thinking that there may be a next time but me!!! Just kidding....kind-of!

Where has the time Gone???

After a month of not posting, I fell really bad and need to let everyone in on what is going on. Sorry for the long post and the many pictures. Most of the people who read this blog know at least some of what is going on, but I still fell the need to re-live the last month. For Mea: The month has been a lot of fun. She has enjoyed playing dress up on a regular basis (nightly). She love Halloween and was both Snow White and Ariel. Mea is very helpful and it has been amazing how much her personality has blossomed over the last month. My mouse is quite the trickster and loves to tease everyone. She is also repeating the phrases that I have been using since her birth and they are coming back to bite me. For instance, we were all in the living room. Mea was dressed up and I began laughing at her outfit. Her reply to me was "Mom, it is not a big deal...I'm fixing it." It was very funny. She has enjoyed going to the pumpkin patch 5 times. Mrs. McCoy decided she was her best customer. She also went to a cow show in KC, to see Grandma and Grandpa Decker. Mea is going to be a cow girl, I am nearly positive. She wanted to be right in the middle of the action.There was also a petting zoo there which was a fun. Other than that, the only other thing she talks about is her soon to be brother or sister. Well, for Mea the only option is sister. She has talked about throwing a boy away, giving to her Aunt Erin or dressing and treating it like a girl. We find out the sex Thursday, hopefully she will be okay with either, otherwise the dr. might hear about it. For Jared: The cow show was his highlight. Jared even got to show one of the cows, and did a lot of work getting them all ready. I think that he enjoyed working with the animals again. Jared also got to go camping with the boyscouts. He was stinky when he came home, but seemed to enjoy himself. A lot of his time is spent on the computer working on school/work stuff. Jared is excited about the baby and laughs at Mea's insistence that it is a girl. We will see! Masterpiece pumpkin. For Me: October was fun. I enjoyed the cow show...shocking I know. I even touched the cows without making a face, wore boots the whole weekend, and learned a lot about what makes a good cow good. Physically, I am feeling a lot better. Most of the morning sickness is gone, and I am just constantly dealing with heartburn. I'm not sure which is worse. I had a seizure scare earlier in October, but have made some decisions about what to do and am feeling pretty good about the situation. I have to laugh at the random ailments I deal with while pregnant! It makes me want to adopt any more babies, but I have not convinced Jared on this. **Look for an update after Thursday- hopefully we will have a baby update!

A movie

Princess Mea thinks she is a movie star, so we made another movie last night. This is the edited version. She jabbered to the computer for a good 5 mins. The first part is to Grandma Margie and papa...then wait for the last part. It is what Papa England sees from the stand at church every other Sunday. Our conversation after the movie ended "Mea, what does that sign mean?" Me to Mea "He'll know what it means" "What does it mean?" Me to Mea "It's a secret!"

Give Me A Break!!

,I know, I know it has been forever since I last posted. I tried the excuse that I am so busy, but in all actuality I just didn't think I had much going on to post about. My family informed me last night that I am wrong. So here is the skinny... School is going great. My students are fun, I have a couple of difficult students, I have handed out 3 suspensions, but have taught a lot and have seen a ton of progress. Mea is doing well. She is happy, growing a lot and continues to be dramatic. The new big decision is what to be for Halloween (right now she is going to be a mermaid). Jared and Mea went on a "date" this weekend to the MU Ag. Open House and had a ton of fun. They ate bugs (Jared a real on and Mea candy) which Mea made sure to tell her whole daycare about. Jared is super busy. He is getting home late, eating dinner and dashing back to work. His research is going well and he seems very excited about his progress. He had a birthday last week. Mea and Jared had a long discussion about being 26 and how old he is. It was a funny conversation to listen to. Tyler, Erin's baby, finally arrived and Mea loves taking about him. She was thrilled to see him at the hospital and has enjoyed holding and "playing" with him. We are glad everyone is happy and healthy. So in a nut shell that is life. I am posting a video mostly for the Deckers. Mea and I talked about families for FHE and she decided to make a video for them. Life is good. We are busy and happy!

Butterflies and Spaghetti

This one is from the fourth of July- so cute!!

Okay, so Spaghetti and butterflies have nothing in common, except I have pictures to post about both, and both events were a lot of fun. The pictures were taken on my cell phone so they are not the best quality, but you'll get the idea! A couple of weeks ago we went to the Butterfly House in St. Louis. It was a ton of fun, and Mea seemed to enjoy the afternoon (regardless of what is seems in the pictures). We had a picnic lunch, went to see the butterflies, and then rode on the Carousel. There were lots of butterflies to look at, even Azure ones like in Fancy Nancy (Mea's favorite books). I think, the feature Mea liked the most was the huge funnel tube that you drop coins in and they spin around and around, to donate money. She dropped in several coins. The park was great, so it was a great day!

Now for the spaghetti, early last week I made spaghetti for dinner. Nothing too special, but I had forgotten that it is one of Mea's favorites. She filled her plate and ate a so much. It was hilarious. She had sauce every where ear to ear and head to toe. Then she decided she needed bread and butter. As you can see there is a lot more butter than bread. I guess the "butter snatcher" nickname will stick for a couple of more years. I am not sure that I have laughed so hard in quite a long time.

My Little Fish

This is her camera smile- She is in the car ready for Stephens Lake.
We have been swimming a lot this summer and it has payed off the last couple of weeks. Mea learned how to "swim". Basically, it is a float with her legs flailing and arms moving, but she is starting to move forward. It is super cute! This was one of the proudest I have been of her this summer. She worked and worked and is really proud of herself as well. I was impressed by her persistence. It started with just going under. Then she would go under longer(which is scary in a lake- I worried that she was drownding), and with a little coaching she has gotten to this point. Every time I asked her to do something or made a suggestion, she did it with a smile. I call her my little fish, but she prefers mermaid.

I'll post a video this weekend. Our stolen internet just isn't very fast tonight.

Random pictures that make me SMILE!

So far this summer has been great so I thought I would post some of my favorite moments captured with a camera so far. At times I just have to laugh at how happy I am right now. Life is really great! Mea seems really happy and I love spending days with her. She is so smart, funny and strong willed. Jared is supportive, kind and good lookin to boot ;-)! Can it get any better?

Nora and Mea at the zoo- Everyone had a good day!


My little water bug!! She loves to swim and her brown skin and blonde hair are so cute!!

The next to are sideways- sorry I didn't take the time to fix them. They are still great!Mea loves ice cream and her step daddy!


Mea and Nora eating treats by the pool they were tasty!

Watching the horse races in NM. That was a lot of fun- Mea is hoping the pink horse wins- she picked pink every time!- No gambling took place.

Mea's beautiful new cousin Shaylee. They had a ton of fun together!

Wedding Reception Pictures

I like this picture because it captured how I felt- so excited!!

Grandma Margie and Jared dancing- she's pretty good!!
I love to dance with Jared- and am getting much better. So much fun!!


I stole this one from Mar
gie- My sisters are the best...my biggest cheering section and my best friends!


This was at the end of the night; we were all pretty tired.




This picture also captures my feeling pretty well. Jared's face says "so happy to be near the cows", Mea's face "still not sure about this cow stuff", Mary "I am really not sure about this but will pretend for Jared's sake".