Almost a month ago (by weeks, but not date) our family went to see the baby on the ultrasound. The night before, I posted our predictions and I thought it would be fun to see what you think.

Our friend Amanda is still the only person we know who knows for certain (besides the ultrasound tech, the nurse, and the doctor). Her generous bidding in the world of ebay will ensure we get the baby a car seat. She gets that privilege until Thursday, the 23rd, when it will be officially a month after the ultrasound.

So, please leave a comment and let us know if you think Fuller will get a sister or brother. You have a 50/50 chance of getting it right. And to sweeten the deal, of the group that is right, we will do a random.org drawing and give a small prize to the lucky commenter.

Happy guessing!

I’m so excited to finally have something to post about our efforts to work on our house.

For a couple who has lived here for almost ten years, we have done quite a bit of renovation. Unfortunately, we look around and see there is still a lot to do. And since the budget to do those sorts of things has been rather tight in the past year, we have been just living here, enjoying the work we have accomplished, and ignoring the unfinished work in other areas.

When I traveled to Orlando in September, I was one of the winners of a $100 Home Depot gift card. I knew I wanted it to go toward a new backdoor. I won’t go into all the details of what was wrong with our old back door (though I will mention it was actually an interior door, which isn’t very weatherproof). It was a project we had been putting off, but recently realized we had to get to it this year, before the winter moved in permanently.

We took a family outing to Home Depot and as we looked at the doors we wanted, I suddenly felt like the child in the Mother’s Day commercials who has 50 cents and wants to buy Mom a $200 diamond tennis bracelet. The ideal door for our back entry was going to be way more than my paltry $100 gift card could cover, and it was kind of a downer.

Damon came up with other solutions we probably could afford in our tight-budget lifestyle- salvage yards and the Habitat for Humanity Restore. Last Wednesday D and I took a quick trip to the Restore, with the realistic concept that we might not find anything. It was nice to see the sign at the door telling us everything in the store was 50% off that week, so we started to dig through their inventory.

Imagine our surprise when we found a brand new exterior door with a full glass panel, just like we had been wanting! And since it was half off, we were thrilled with the $75 price tag.

Our friend Ed helped D bring the door home last Wednesday and on Saturday Damon was able to start working the prep to install the door on Sunday. It was unfortunate that Saturday is when the temperature started to dip and insist on letting Fall take up residence in the Tennessee Valley. So Damon worked into the dark on Sunday to get the door installed (once the old door was removed, there was no stopping, even for sundown).

All day yesterday I admired the sunlight streaming into my kitchen (though I kept thinking the backdoor was left open). And I got a little thrill as I closed the door and it stayed closed. The dogs loved being able to look out and wait for us to come home.

We are now in the process of looking for an appropriate storm door, but for now, I am so happy to have the new back door.

On Friday we had the opportunity to show off Fuller in his WWII Captain America costume. The Creative Discovery Museum had its annual Monster Bash, which invited the kids to wear their costumes and participate in some fall themed activities (painting pumpkins, running around a maze of hay, making fuzzy spiders, drinking hot apple juice). Since it was free for members, we decided it would be good family fun, even if we weren’t there very long.

Surprisingly, we were there for almost the entire time. They had a magic show running at specific times and our tickets were for 8 p.m. When we arrived at the museum at 6:30, 8 p.m. seemed so far away. But Fuller had a blast and we stuck it out until the magic show. Fuller watched and listened as Damon clued him in on the “magic” of it all.

As of today, Fuller is still talking about the magic show. And the candy we are trying to give out sparingly. Of course, we have pictures to share.

Before we went to Monster Bash, we had a little photo shoot for Fuller over at the Federal Building. There are some concrete eagles as part of the architecture, so Damon thought it would be a good backdrop for Captain America.

I didn’t do my typical Reading List post yesterday because we didn’t return our library books from a week ago. Since Fuller traveled over the weekend, it cut into our reading time. So I decided we needed another week to read them and see what we really thought.

But! I was excited Fuller received several books for his birthday, two of which he brought back from his weekend away. So in addition to the library books we have been reviewing, we have been reading the following:

Blueberries for Sal – This book was a childhood favorite of mine and my sisters. Which is why it was appropriate to receive it from Cool Aunt Stina. Fuller enjoys the story and always wonders if Sal will find her way back to her mother. And he loves making the sound effects of the blueberries landing in Sal’s pail.

Lola at the Library – Again, another book from Cool Aunt Stina, who happens to be a librarian and loves encouraging Fuller’s love of books and the library. Reading about going to the library just gets Fuller excited for when we go, and I hoping reading about Lola picking out her own books will encourage Fuller to get more into that aspect of library day.

Harold and the Purple Crayon – This book was on Fuller’s wishlist, so I was excited when he came home from The Lake with it. It is a children’s classic (our copy is a 50th anniversary edition) that encourages imagination. Fuller did an excellent job remembering the story from reading to reading. I expect him to start reading the book back to me soon.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom – This book has been recommended to us over and over again, and I am thrilled to see it as part of our own library. The version we have came with a CD of Ray Charles reading the book. Fuller has been listening to the book over and over again during his quiet time (yes, he knows how to work his CD player). The colors of the pages are enticing and he has figured out how to turn the pages when the CD dings.

X-Men Pop-up Book – Tia and Tio saw this book as a way to encourage Fuller’s super hero training. The characters are the retro versions of the X-Men and the story tells who they are. There are pull out fact sheets, explaining when the characters first came to the comic book series and a little of their back ground. The pop-ups are spectacular and Fuller asks to read the book over and over again.

We love books as gifts at our house, and this new batch is an excellent addition to our shelves.

Technorati Tags: preschool reading, preschool books

I was really and truly excited about a month ago when I received tickets to Texas to visit my parents. Fuller was getting so excited to play with Grandpa Fred and go to the train museum near their apartment.

Last week, my doctor told me, because of my placenta previa, I couldn’t travel until my next ultrasound. Since my next ultrasound is November 18th and my travel date was November 9th (my birthday!), I was essentially grounded.

We broke the news to Fuller soon after we called my mom to tell her, and Fuller got very upset. He cried. And then yesterday, when he Skyped with my parents (Happy Birthday Daddy!) he was told he will probably get to go to Texas in the spring. And now, Fuller wants to know when the spring is.

Fuller has a lot to look forward to in the next months- Halloween, Thanksgiving (still not sure if we can travel for that either), Christmas, a new baby, March Madness, and then Texas. If we add one more thing to the list, his precious little head might explode keeping it all straight.

So, please, no one tell him Christmas is coming, ok? I’m already sick of telling him when he will see Aubie (March) and when we get to bring the baby home from my tummy.

Fuller and Damon went to Lake Martin this weekend so Fuller could stretch his birthday a few more days and go see his first Auburn football game.

According to Damon, the weekend was a great success. Fuller and I have many thank you notes to write (once I figure out who gave what- Grandma Linda, I’ll be emailing you) judging by the loot brought back.

I am sad there are no photos of Fuller at his first Auburn game, but Damon forgot the camera and only has stories to tell me. Like how Fuller would follow the game based on which side the football was on on the scoreboard. Or how after the game, Fuller was in his carseat and Damon was setting up the GPS and Fuller just blurted out, “Thank you for taking me, Daddy.”

While they were busy having fun at Lake Martin, I was home enjoying some out of town friends (courtesy of Covenant’s homecoming) and doing some nesting cleaning. I was thrilled to have them come home Sunday night, but very glad they had this special weekend together.