IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!!!!

Boy oh boy!!

We hosted a small Bowties or Bows themed party for our closest friends and family on April 6th to find out the sex of Baby P#3.  Our ultrasound tech had written it in an envelope, and we gave that to our friend Lara, who opened it and purchased blue balloons to put in a box I decorated and gave to her.

We asked everyone to "cast their vote" by coming dressed in either blue or pink depending on their guess of the gender.  Emilie and I were pink through and through.  Daddy was half and half and Marin changed her mind to team blue at the last minute.  

At the party we gathered everyone around and the girls and Jason and I opened the box together, revealing the secret to both us and our guests.  Erica took this awesome picture that perfectly captured the moment.  I love it so so so much!  To say I was shocked is a major understatement. 

This was SUCH a fun way to find out the sex.  I even say almost as fun as finding out in the delivery room.  Especially since it was such a shock and a surprise, it was so awesome to look around and see the same shock and surprise and excitement on all of our friends faces and to share that moment with everyone.  So fun!

The rest of the night we reveled in the fact that we are going to have a boy, and there was a lot of back slapping by the guys to Jason.  This strange thing happens when you make a boy, there was a lot of, "You did it man! Congratulations!"  So strange to me.  What is this, China.  I tried to wrap my brain around the whole thing and was in disbelief most of the night and next week.  The girls are so excited to have a baby brother.  And they loved playing in the box the rest of the night.  It was such a festive night.  I wouldn't have changed a single detail.

Many props to Lara and her husband, John, who sweetly bought the balloons, which turned out to be an ordeal.  They decided to test the opening of the box, and the balloons didn't budge.  They then spent way too much time, while they locked their kids in the basement so they wouldn't ruin the surprise.  Needless to say, they cracked the code and figured out the perfect solution to ensure that our back yard was lite up with blue balloons abound!

I loved this celebration and sharing it with our friends.  So much fun!  And a wonderful start to celebrating our precious baby BOY for a lifetime! 

Our beloved "Plus Pooch", Norah.

Norries, Norah-belle, Norah bones, The green and yellow Norries (not sure where this came from), Norsies (what Mare called her before she could pronounce Norah), WBP (World's Best Puppy)... the nicknames go on.  Norah passed away one month ago tomorrow, April 3, 2013.  We woke up in the morning, and she didn't.

About six months ago, Norah was diagnosed with a heart condition.  Actually, three different heart conditions, and was put on human heart medicine that we were told would essentially delay the inevitable.  Her vet told us that there was no cure for her condition, but that the drugs would keep her pain free and curb the recent seizure-like episodes that she began to have.   But the vet also warned us of sudden death.  We cried, and then we enjoyed every single second with Norah.  She was doing so well, that we almost forgot that she was sick.  The girls knew that she was sick, and that we needed to give her extra love, and they never ever forgot her in their nightly prayers.

In her last week, she only made it to the end of the alley before we had to end her walk and take her home.  It took me three times the amount of time to get her home.  Then she fell down the stairs.  And she started panting a lot.  These were signs that we knew her time was close.  But we lived at least partially, blissfully in denial.  When we found out she was sick, six months ago, I told Jason that I just wanted her to not wake up one day.  So that we didn't have to make a difficult decision, or have to see her suffer for a long time.  She was "singing" with the girls piano until the last day.

Every night before bed I knelt down next to her and told her she was a great dog and that I loved her.  She was truly our first baby, and a very important part of our family.  I heard her that night, have a hard time breathing, I offered for her to come sleep next to me, and I told her she was okay and that I loved her.  When we woke up in the morning she was gone.  The girls all held her and brought her blankets and laid their favorite stuffed animals near her to comfort her.  We told them that she was in heaven, which they accepted sweetly, until about an hour in when Marin asked, "If Norah's in heaven, why is she still in your bedroom."  After contemplating explaining the concept further to a four year old, we just told her that we were taking her to heaven, when Jason and I took her to the vet that morning to be cremated. 

My mom came and watched the girls, and Jason and I went together.  That was a hard day.  But the quiet, clip-clop of her paws free days that have followed, have been even harder.  We all miss her very much.  And it has gotten easier every day.  Marin and Emile each kept one of her favorite animals, and we donated her things to a local shelter together.  Marin slept with a picture of Norah and her together tucked under her arms for weeks.  Now it's by her bedside.  Emilie asks "Where's Norah?"  and requests that she goes for walks with us.  But they are getting used to this, and asking about her less and less.  The vet gave us a mold of her paw, which we framed and hung in the hallway with our photo collage.  Although Emilie thinks it's a wolf paw.  She keeps pointing to it says, "Look, Mommy! Wolf!"

We will always remember our sweet dog Norah.  She was the sweetest, snuggling, head tilting dog.  Our walks will never be the same.  Our hearts will hold her forever. 

Emilie's Big Girl Bed!

I'm behind again, because life is bonkers and frankly, I'm tired.  But also because I have officially taken so many pictures that our computer is out of storage, and the process of storing them permanently on an external hard drive, where I am most comfortable- more so than just on shutterfly- is so painstakingly ridiculously tedious and time consuming, I almost can't believe it's 2013.  There has to be a better way.  I am convinced that there is.

In any case, I am anxious to get some of these posts up before I get even further behind, and then I'll just have to post pictures later, when I can finally get them off my camera and onto the computer.  Here goes....

Emilie is sleeping in a big girl bed.  She has for about two months now.  In keeping with what has become the entire theme of her life, girl was ready to be just like her sister- and in this instance, sleep in a big girl bed.  She tells everyone that walks through the door, "Big girl bed.  I sleep all night!"  She sleeps like a champ in there, although, admittedly, she still isn't the sleeper that her sister is.

Natch, with her big girl bed, came a newly decorated room.  I still have a painted scalloped-thingy detail that I want to add to finish off her room, but otherwise, its done.  And since we kept her room hers, and moved the nursery, the extra detailed-not-sure-how-to-quite-do-it scalloped-thingy is going to have to take back burner to decorating the baby nursery.

We moved the baby furniture over to the new nursery, what once used to be the world's smallest master bedroom, pre-addition.  The room is painted anjou pear, and I promise it looked cool with adult furniture in there, but now, with a crib set up, it looks exactly like baby diarrhea.  It has to go.  Yesterday.  Plus, did you hear?!  IT'S A BOY, Y'ALL!!!!!!!!  WHAAAAAAAAAAAT???!!!!  Can't WAIT to decorate a boy nursery.  Stand by for more on the addition of testosterone to our estrogen palace.

So proud of big girl Emmie-cakes in her big girl bed.  Almost as proud as she is of herself.  She looks so cute and little snuggled in those big kid sheets.  But alas, she's growing up...