Choo-Choo's Maiden Voyage

My parents gave Grayson this adorable electronic Thomas train for his birthday and he absolutely LOVES it! He fondly calls it "Choo - Choo" and rides it around the house every day.

Well tonight we decided he had mastered it well enough to warrant a maiden voyage outdoors.
In true Grayson style he loved to ride it about 10 yards, then push it 10 yards, then run around, then ride it, then push it....you get the idea.

What can I say, he likes to keep us on our toes because about 10 minutes into the 3rd set, he face planted and we have our first major boo-boo...a scraped upper lip.
Poor kiddo!

We did have a heck of a run though! 16 months with minor bumps and no blood, until tonight.

Here are the pre-boo-boo pics.

Hey Momma, is my little sister here yet?

We have 9 ½ weeks to go folks!!
Ok, technically we have 8 ½ weeks until our scheduled c-section, but as you can see, we are all eagerly anticipating the arrival of Baby Girl Halsted.

28½ Weeks!

In preparation for our doctor’s appointment today, I whipped up a batch of mini cheesecakes for my favorite doctor and also arranged for Grayson to spend the morning with one of his bestest friends, Jackson (Thanks Amanda!). So after we dropped Grayson off, Dan and I scooted out for our biweekly appointment including a fun-filled session of peekaboo with the ultrasound tech. I love getting those sneak peeks!

Thankfully everything looks fantastic and an extra bonus...I didn’t faint! (Darn vena cava!)
Our baby girl is measuring right on schedule for her Christmas Day due date; she’s in the 40^th percentile for growth, the fluid levels look great and low and behold….she’s NOT breech!
I thought for sure she was going to be breech, just like her big brother; but nope, she’s already surprising us! We’ll see if she changes her mind between now and Christmas.

What didn’t surprise us was her current state of comfort we were able to capture. Why was there no surprise? Well…it’s known in this household as a popular pose when you’re resting. Grayson does it and so do I. :-/
Here’s the shot we got, her arm resting over her eyes. Genetics are an amazing thing!

There’s No Place Like Home!

With the 3^rd trimester looming (a milestone that has since passed, YAY!) Dan and I decided to head back home for a quick visit.

Since we can't travel for Thanksgiving or Christmas, we timed our trip perfectly and were able to be home for Dad’s birthday. Happy birthday!

We really do love Columbia, but heading home and spending time with family really makes us miss Little Rock. And unfortunately, in utter non-Laura fashion, I neglected to take many pictures.

So here are the few I took. As I sit and look at them, I cant believe how big Grayson is getting! He’s really turning into a little boy!

Thanks for having us Mom & Dad! We’ll see ya in a couple months!

Snuggle tackle on Mamma

Making a birthday card for Grandpa

Lovin’ the beach

We jetted away down to the beach for Labor Day weekend a few weeks ago and as usual we had so much fun!

Grayson loves the sand and pool, but could probably pass on the surf for now. Something about the ginormous waves and their subsequent retraction scares the poor little guy to death. I’m sure he’ll grow to appreciate them someday, in his own time.

And in typical Dan fashion, he booked an incredible room in a prime location so our week was filled with lots of sandcastle building, tons of pool time, the most incredible sandwich I’ve ever had (being 6 months pregnant, full of cravings and starving might have had a tiny bit of influence…but it was A-maz-ing!), and LONG walks on the beach. Grayson and I probably walked a good mile every day, which is a

lot for a little toddler

walking next to me!

Here are some of our pics, the rest are HERE. And I have to tell y’all, living

so close to the beach is one of the best things about Columbia!!

Lions Say ROAR!!!!!

Grayson and I have a lot of fun with animal noises around our house. He knows sooo many and I just eat it up.
For over a month now, is favorite BY FAR is "ROAR!".
Here he is in action. As you can see, we both enjoy it. He cracks me up every time!

Sugar, Spice & Everything Nice

THAT’S WHAT LITTLE GIRLS ARE MADE OF!

As you might have guessed, Dan and I found out today that our Christmas miracle is a little baby GIRL!
We are so excited to finally find out, start planning, thinking of girl names, and of course for me to start buying up everything pink in Columbia, SC….so everyone might want to buy stock in PINK!

We had such a great time peeking in on her and got a pretty good giggle that our little lady is a southern belle in training. She had her little ankles crossed, sitting ever so gracefully, probably enjoying some sweet tea. That is until the ultrasound tech moved her (to measure the femur) and the tomboy in her took over and she kicked so hard it made me jump. The best part was since her leg was on the “tv screen”, Dan got to see the kick (and my subsequent jump) in HD. So maybe we’ll have a little southern belle soccer player?
Here are some images from our u/s.
Can’t wait for Christmas!

We LOVED her little hand, waving to us:

Hi-yah! Kickin' at cha:

Smishy face view:

Profile of course. So sweet.

Baby Pool Excitement

A few weeks ago we broke down and bought Grayson a little baby pool.
We’d been fighting the idea because we paid to use all our neighborhood pools this year.
In the end, we decided having a baby pool would be fun for short stints and leave the big fun to the big pool.
So off we went… And while picking out the pool, we overheard a brief conversation that made us giggle at the South Carolina temperatures. A little boy, probably 4 years old, was begging for a new pool since his had popped a few weeks back. Here’s the mother’s response: “Logan, it’s July and way too hot for baby pools now. We’ll have to wait until next year.”

Ha ha. Yes, it IS hot. Our temps are always around 100 degrees. In fact our little temperature gauge told us that the water, straight out of the faucet, was 85 degrees. Whew!
So here’s little man, enjoying his little tiger themed pool. And in true Momma form, he loves the baby pool as much as the big pool. Go figure!