Some phone photos from the past few days:
We are still doing homeschool around here – at least for now. On Thursday we learned a lot about different kinds of bugs. The kids loved this bug sensory bin.
We go to an Asian grocery store around here that has fresh, cheap produce. The kids’ favorite part: this carousel ride that only costs a quarter!
This girl loves sidewalk chalk!
We had an awesome weekend with family!
Conversation between the kids today:
R: Hey baby! What do you want for Christmas when it's Jesus' birthday?
M: I want chocolate milk.
R: Oh, okay! I'll go get it. But I have to get money first.
M: Oh, sure, sure, Russell. Money will be fine.
I just love hearing their thoughts. So cute.
Almost 2, and she finally needed a trim! Meredith still has very fine hair and not much in front, but she had a little baby mullet for long enough, so something needed to be done. Miss Sue (a hairdresser from a friend’s recommendation) came to our house and gave her a few snips – and also a lollipop and a new hair clip! She was shy at first but warmed up quickly. Russell enjoyed having a new face around too (and it didn’t hurt that he also got a lollipop!)
Picking her new hair clip:
One final comb:
No more mullet!
The ultrasound was on Tuesday, and the picture below is how we announced baby’s gender!
That’s right – another sweet girl! Russell was right! As I had told a few friends, I also had a suspicion it was a girl. I guess we need to go in the attic and see what girl clothes we have and what we need – we borrowed some of the clothes Meredith wore and have since returned them to their owners. Also, we are about 95% sure on baby girl’s first name. Definitely no middle name yet.
It was so sweet to see her. She was squirming all over the place. The ultrasound tech had no trouble seeing everything she needed to see. She is perfectly healthy. She also told us that baby weighs 8 oz right now (at least, that’s what she’s measuring – we all know how (in)accurate those measurements can be!)
We got a 3D photo of her sucking her thumb 
Belly at 18 1/2 weeks – geez:
New pregnancy news: I’m currently pretty hungry
We have a DVD called God Rocks: Grow in the Lord. There is a song about the fruits of the Spirit in it (Gal. 5:22-23). We were playing instruments the other day and the kids started singing it. They know it by heart! The song’s lyrics are essentially the same as the Bible verses, so it’s nice to know that they’ve memorized yet another verse through song.
The lyrics: “Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control – against such things there is no law; the fruit of the Spirit is”
This weekend, Kacki and Paw Paw came bearing Valentine’s gifts for the kids:
Cars for Russell, of course!
And a book for Meredith, which she loves.
Today, we had our Valentine’s party with our co-op. They had a shortened school session, then we had cupcakes, handed out valentines, and did a little craft. (Unfortunately, Russell elected to get into trouble while I was helping Meredith with her craft, so it was time out and no craft for Russell.)
Here are all the kids at the Valentine’s party 2 years ago:
And today – they have doubled in number 
It’s amazing how fast time flies!
