The waiting game

Hello again everyone! Hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Christmas. Our first Christmas in Montana was great, even though we missed lots of things we had always looked forward to with Christmas at "home" (dinner theater, dinner with our small group, dinner at my folks...do all of our Christmas memories revolve around food??!!) Juliana had an absolute blast opening all of her presents, and the tree stayed surprisingly intact throughout the entire season (minus a few broken ornaments that were falsely advertised as "virtually unbreakable!"). When she came out into the living room on Christmas morning and saw all of the presents under the tree, Bo asked her who they were for and she just shrugged. Guess we had her so conditioned NOT to open anyone else's present that she just couldn't imagine she might actually get to open them! When she found out they were, in fact, ALL FOR HER, her eyes went huge and she dove right in before we could change our minds. She has cooked us breakfast every morning since Christmas on her new kitchen set from Grandma and Papa Vaught, and I think Bo is enjoying playing with all of her new toys as much as she is (I have caught him with her Barbie computer on more than one occasion).

Well, our bag is finally packed for the hospital, and we are anxiously awaiting Landon's arrival. Now that we are only 4 weeks away from our due date, each day we wake up wondering "Is today the day??". Looking at the bag ready and waiting by the door is worse than waiting for cookies to come out of the oven (or for Juliana to get herself dressed) so we are hoping the day comes soon! I know that I have started to get that look in my eye of a woman on a mission, and I have stopped wondering why people give me an extra two feet of personal space when they see me waddling towards them in the grocery store. I think they are just hoping I don't eat them as a pre-dinner snack before they can race to get in front of me in line. (Let's just say at my next appointment my doctor may not be singing the praises of my weight gain as much as she has in the past!).

We'll continue to keep everyone updated on the progress of Pumpkin Head #2.

Congrats to two couples, Katie and Lenny and Libby and Stu, on finding out the gender of your upcoming arrivals! I have a bad habit of spilling the beans on things that are supposed to be a secret, so if you are going crazy with curiosity you'll just have to check with them!!

Love and miss everyone.

-Brooke, Bo, and Juliana

Jesus Loves Me

Hello everyone! Thought we'd try our first attempt at uploading a video. More to come if this works!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful and very merry Christmas.

Big Girl Bed

Just wanted to share the latest from our newly graduated "big girl". She has made the switch from the crib to a toddler bed with hardly a glance behind her...what else would we expect from full speed ahead Juliana? We hadn't planned on moving her to the bed just yet - I had just told my dad the day before that she was going to be in the crib as long as possible just to keep her in one spot for naps!! (I remember when Juliana was born that someone told me to keep my words sweet since, as a parent, I'd be eating a lot of them!) The move happened after a near-traumatic incident with one chubby thigh getting caught in between the bars of the crib. I was sitting in the living room, patting myself on the back for not giving in to Juliana's cries and staying strong that she WOULD nap that day, when I finally caved and went in to see what all the fuss was about. Evidently, she had a good reason for crying, since her leg was so stuck in the crib bars that we had to use lotion to grease that puppy out of there! (Talk about getting the Guilt-Stricken Mom of the Year Award!) After that, there was no way she was getting back in the torture chamber that she had slept so peacefully in for the past two years, so welcome Big Girl Bed!! It only took a few times of getting out during naps, and one or two suggestions that the crib might be coming back in the picture if she didn't stay put, to make her decide that the bed was the coolest thing since...well...the temperatures in Montana!

In other news, we're getting all geared up for Landon's arrival. Even though I techincally have six more weeks, I have been having so many contractions lately that it's hard to believe this can go on for that much longer. I know they say that all of the sleepless nights during pregnancy are just to prepare you for the sleepless nights after the baby, but doesn't it seem like NOW is the time when I should be storing up peaceful, sound, hours and hours (and HOURS) of sleep to get me through the delivery??? No one asked me, though, so it's up and down every few hours. Bo sprained his back earlier this week, so between the two of us limping around and me holding my belly and he holding his back we are quite a pair. Those of you who have been fortunate enough to observe my husband on pain medication already are getting a mental picture of those fun-filled evenings we have had lately.

Hope everyone is doing well and getting ready for a wonderful Christmas!! Love and miss you all.

Just a quick belly picture for those of you who are curious (you sick, sick people! Just can't wait to laugh at the pregnant woman, can you?) Let's just say there's a LOT more of me to love right now. My belly also has the added bonus of being able to "accidently" annoy rude people at the grocery store ("Oh, excuuuuuse me! I didn't mean to knock over that entire display of canned green beans right in front of you! No, I'm not smuggling a watermelon under my shirt...please don't call security...No!! Wait!!)

Hugs, kisses, and love from one cranky momma in Montana.

Life in 3D

Sorry for the long delay in updating our blog! These last few months of pregnancy are going to find me staring blankly at the wall while Juliana naps (the only time I get to "check out"), thinking of all the laundry that should be done or the dishes that are NOT washing themselves in the sink like I asked. Ahhhh, but there is always something to be done or folded or washed or baked, and just not enough hours in the day. Juliana's favorite phrase lately is "Sit DOWN, mommy!" and I am taking her advice more and more. It seems like she gets a little smarter and grows just a little bit every day, and I am so thankful that I get to be home to see every minute of it. Enough bragging on our firstborn...on to baby #2!!

We had another ultrasound today to check out little Landon's progress. I was informed after one of my updates that I had accidentaly spilled the beans on his name, so I'll just go ahead and ruin it for those of you who actually like being surprised...his name is Landon Creed. Landon because we just like it, and Creed because it means "belief, guiding principal, I believe". Ultimatley our prayer for our son is that he will believe in Jesus with his whole heart and be a strong man of God, but until he can decide that for himself we'll just tell him that's his name so he has to do it. :) Everything looked really good on the ultrasound, and he is DEFINITLEY a boy (he wasn't shy at all today!) and it was so neat to see him again. He sucked his thumb through the entire ultrasound, and we even got some 3D images of him going to town on that little finger. You could see his jaw and lips working...he wasn't moving that hand for anything! Juliana was addicted to her pacy, but a thumb is a little harder to poke a hole in and throw away, so I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get there. Right now he measures in at about 4 pounds, so if they gain a half a pound a week and I have 8 weeks left, does that mean I'll be delivering an 8 pound baby? Voluntary C-section, anyone? (Sorry fellas...that was more than likely too much information).

It snowed here again this afternoon and I had not one but TWO phone calls telling me to stay off the roads (only one was from my husband). I have no desire to go out until temperatures get above 20, so I've been keeping occupied inside and have consumed almost an entire box of Dibbs ice cream today (oops, did I say that out loud?). I actually saw a woman jogging this morning in SHORTS and I tipped my nice warm winter hat to her as she ran by...she either is crazy or is dealing with some serious hot flash issues! (Both?)

To all of my wonderful Christmas Dinner Theater comrades, I will be thinking of you over the next two weeks!!! Hope everyone has fun and is blessed for giving their time and talents. Know that all the work you have put in is remembered and appreciated by many, many people.

Love and hugs from MT!!

A trip with Buffalo Bill...

Hey everyone! Here's what happens when you ask to go on a date with my husband. All I wanted was a nice, quiet, candlelight dinner where I could actually eat all my food while it was still hot and not have to cut anyone else's meal into little bite-sized pieces, but NOOOOO! My wonderful husband went all out and secretly planned a trip to Cody, Wyoming last weekend and whisked me away Saturday night. (Actually, it's kind of hard to "whisk" a pregnant woman anywhere, so he gave me a little advanced warning before we got in the car). We had a great weekend just relaxing and sleeping in past 7:00 am (that is usually an impossible feat at our house).

In case any of you are tempted to spell Wyoming with a "Why", I figured out the answer to that last weekend. There is not too much of anything in Wyoming unless you like lots of nativity animals and open road. A few of these pictures are animals we actually saw just sitting in the middle of the highway waiting for us, looking at us as if we were really upsetting their relaxing Sunday afternoon plans. We probably looked like crazy Japanese tourists, because with every new animal group we'd come upon, I'd grab the wheel and shout at Bo to STOP AND TAKE A PICTURE!!!

We did get to go to the Buffalo Bill historical center and museum, which was pretty interesting (at least for the first hour). After a while we kind of decided that after you'd seen one buffalo, you'd probably seen them all. I did learn, however, that grizzly bears have a hump on their back, and brown and black bears do not, so if you see the Hunchback of Notre Dame covered in fur and heading towards you out in the woods, it's probably a good idea to turn around and tiptoe out the way you came. One picture is my hand compared to a grizzly's paw....let's just say I won't be shaking hands with one anytime soon.

My dad is stopping in this weekend for a quick visit. He's combining a trip to Canada with a return trip through Billings and staying through Sunday. I told Juliana that Papa was flying on an airplane to come see her, and she smiled and said "Thank you, Papa!" We're going to attempt a picture with Santa tomorrow afternoon, so hopefully Papa will be a good distraction and she won't be too freaked out by the big man in the red suit.

For all your Crossroads people at home getting ready for the dinner theater, I'll be thinking about you!!! Maybe you could just put a cardboard statue of me on stage at some point so I can at least feel like I've been there with you through it?? Somebody suggest that to Mark.

Love and miss everyone! More to come...

Yes, I am pregnant!

Just had to share a funny story that happened at school on Tuesday. I teach music to all grades, Kindergarten through high schoolers, and it never ceases to amaze me how differently their little brains develop. My high schoolers ask me all the time about the baby, and fuss over me if they think my heels are too high or if I'm not sitting down enough. I had a second grade class, on the other hand, who apparently just thought "Mrs. Wagner" had been hitting the Krispy Kreme a little hard. I made a comment about how fun it was to carry another person around all day, and looked up to see almost the entire class with shocked expressions. One student finally had the courage to raise his hand (precious) and ask, "Mrs. Wagner, are you pregnant?" My jaw dropped about as far as theirs had, and I managed to stutter out that yes, I was expecting. I heard several "Cool!"'s and "Congratulations!" as they exited, and just stood there amazed that it really hadn't occured to most of them that I wasn't just smuggling a basketball under my shirt every day...weird!

Not too much excitement around here after that. Bo and I are in a state of mourning over the news that 24 will not be returning in January as we had eagerly counted on. Some writer's strike or something equally goofy as that. Bo is especially disappointed because 24 is the only TV show I don't talk through...we're both silent and breathless until the commercial breaks.

This little fella I carry around all day sure likes to be on the move! I was pretty sure I was having twins the other day because he was ALL over the place...a foot under my ribs, an elbow in my side...Juliana is quickly running out of lap room and is NOT happy about it. I'll try to post some new fat belly...I mean baby belly pictures soon.

Love and miss everyone!!!

-Brooke, Bo, and Juliana