You're only 3 once!

Ryan Phenix is the cutest boy in the world. We put puzzles together ("Match it up!"), build domino structures in different shapes, play monster truck, and dance. Every dance move I do, he imitates. He's going to be the slickest dance in the world when I'm done ;) Ashley and Ben had a family party for his third birthday (which is September 24) yesterday, and he was living in the moment yelling, "Happy birthday!" to every one. I think by the end of the night he realized it was his happy birthday :) I love him so much!!

I can't help but to take 5 million pictures of her!!

Annie & the birthday boy!

A manly gift from Adam & Brianna!

He received a lot of puzzles.

His current love: Helicopters

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse!

He seriously waited like this for 5 minutes while Ben took out his new helicopter toy! So darling!

Our balloon was a big hit with Imogen!

Silly Tim!

Mi madre and padre <3

Ben & Ryan intently lighting 3 candles.

He sang "Happy Birthday" along with us!

I wish I got a better picture of this!
He was clapping along with everyone after he blew out the candles!

Mads & Ashley!

Nakey baby & Tim!

Enjoying his birthday treat! :)

And the baby is a lady...

This Sunday we had our gender reveal party for my family! It was so much fun! During the week it was so hard not to tell my mom!! I thought time and again that this party was a dumb idea, that I just wanted to burst with the good news, but all in all I'm glad I had the par-tay!

We first divided the fam into two teams: Mustaches (boy) or Hair bows (girl). For some reason it's a lot more fun to play with a mustache than a hair bow ;) We played a Baby Trivia game, and then had each team create our future baby out of magazine clippings. Finally, we revealed our baby's gender! I took many pictures throughout the evening, so here are a few to highlight. Enjoy!! :)

Boy or Girl? ;)

What's not to love? :)

Baby trivia game (Team Hair bow minus Angela)

Team Mustache!

Team Mustache creating our future baby!

Team Hair bow creating our future baby!

Team Mustache: We love the arms!

Team Hair bow

We love the bum ;)

Shadow is trying to sniff out what color the balloons are!

Carl: "And the baby is a lady..."

"...lady killer!" AKA A BOY! :)

Just kidding. We're having a Ryan ;)

He really loved this box!

A mustache for all! :)

Angela celebrating!

Blue or Pink?

Carl and I will find out the gender of our baby THIS Tuesday, September 11!! We could not be more excited. Throughout the pregnancy, we have both gone back and forth between what gender we would prefer, but honestly we are just excited to have a baby :) We thought it would be super fun to dig into some old wives tales and see what they say the gender of our baby will be. We're adventurous like that ;) We have some experimental predictions mixed in with the basics (i.e. how you carry the baby, etc.) so you are in for a treat!! Here was the run down:


Monday, September 3
BAKING SODA TEST
Thanks to Adrienne for telling me about this old wives tale! Here's the run down: Measure out a tablespoon of baking soda and add some of your urine. If the baking soda bubbles a lot, it's supposed to be a boy; if it doesn't bubble a lot or at all is supposed to be a girl.
Our verdict?

Initial pouring of the liquid, there was no bubbling. It kind of bubbled in the corner, but really, there was no bubbling to be found! 
Results: GIRL

Tuesday, September 4
SWEET OR SALTY?
This is a tough test for me. The rule is if you crave sweet foods, it's a girl, and if you crave salty or sour things, it's a boy. I could seriously go either way. Here are my reasons why:
-- In my first trimester, all I really ate were potato-like substances: potato soup, potato salad, and especially potato chips! No crackers for me; it was potato chips all the way!
-- Currently, I am LOVING my sweets! I perk up if anybody says the words ice cream, cookie, chocolate chips, cheesecake... you name it, I will want it! I think my body thinks it needs sweets!
-- I love love love graham crackers with crunchy peanut butter and loaded with chocolate chips. That is sweet and salty!
However, here is the tie breaker:
I am obsessed with sour or vinegar-y foods. Pickles, lemons, BBQ sauce, a tart Granny Smith apple literally make my mouth water. Just thinking about it my mouth is watering!! I've always liked a lemon wedge in my water, but if we go out to eat I ask the waiter to bring out a bowl of lemons. Seriously. My family can verify my pickle craving. And Carl can testify to my constant desire to go to a BBQ restaurant.
To top it off, today I bought one of mine and Carl's favorite treats. I had a real hankering for it!

Oh, yeah :)

Results: BOY         
**If you think about it, shouldn't my baking soda in the previous test have bubbled since my urine is supposedly more acidic due to my cravings? Food for thought :)

Wednesday, September 5 (Happy birthday, Erin Stolworthy!)
STRING THEORY
I know you have heard of this one! Directions are to put a ring on a string and have someone else hang the ring over your belly. If the ring moves in a circle, it's a girl; if it moves back and forth it's a boy.

We used some thread since there was no string to be found (our other option would have been twine!), and we used Carl's ring since mine obviously has a diamond at one end. I didn't know if the unbalanced weight would effect our outcome. The ring moved back and forth for us! After awhile, Carl purposely moved it in a circle and gasped, "Oh no! What's it doing? It's switching!" Haha! Such a kidder ;)
Results: BOY

Thursday, September 6
CARRYING THE BABY
This is an old wives tale I had heard about but found it has two parts: if you carry high, then it's a girl; and if you carry low, it's a boy. If your most of your weight is in the middle, then you're having a girl; if most of your weight is in front, then you are having a boy.

K. So here's the deal. I'm carrying the baby normal. (Is that even possible? Judge for yourself.) Carl and I consulted my mom and Ashley and they also agree. If we had to choose--which for this post we must--we're going to go with high. And Carl and I are both in accord that I am carrying my weight in the middle. That's two for two on this old wives tale for a...
Results: GIRL

Friday, September 7
RED CABBAGE TEST
Oooo, I was SO excited to do this old wives tale because of how quirky is sounded! Have any of you even heard of this one?? It's a great find for sure! And what an awesome way to spend your Friday night ;) Here is the how to:
1. Buy a head of cabbage
2. Urinate in a cup.
3. Chop half of the cabbage
4. Put the cabbage in a large saucepan and cover with cold water.
5. Place the pan over high heat until it reaches a rolling boil.
6. Remove the pan for the heat and let cool for 10 minutes.
7.  Mix one part cabbage water with one part urine.
8. Scrutinize the urine/cabbage water. If the liquid is pink to red, you're having a boy. It the color is more purple, it's a girl.

This is truly my concoction haha!
Looks kind of purple-y to us...

Here's a better view.

Results: GIRL

Saturday, September 8
MORNING SICKNESS
This is an old wives tale that I semi-believe in simply because it was true for my mom and Ashley. And my pregnancy is supposed to be kind of like theirs, right? The guideline is if you did not have much morning sickness, it's a boy; however, if you did experience a good deal of morning sickness, it's a girl.

I am one blessed pregnant lady. The only time I have thrown up during this pregnancy was at my first doctor's appointment after they drew five million tubes of my blood. (Okay, I'm exaggerating. I'm really bad when it comes to my own blood. I'm a big wimp.) That's not to say I didn't feel sickly or nauseous periodically for these past 5 months, but I have never felt sick enough to make a trip to the white porcelain.
Results: BOY

Sunday, September 9
CHINESE CALENDAR
You know what they say, save the best for last! The Chinese Calendar is known to be 90% accurate when it comes to determining the sex of your baby. Pretty sweet, huh? Adrienne said this calendar was spot on for her two boys; however, Caroline said this method of predicting was wrong for her little Charlie. (Just so you are aware of the odds!) It's a simple chart: Plug in your age (23) and month of conception (April), and you have your gender.

Results: BOY
We were tied up until this last test, so we are 60% sure our ultrasound technician will reveal our baby to be a boy ;)

So what will it REALLY be?? :) We trust the ultrasound a lot more than these fun, but silly, wives tales. I mean, they can actually see the baby haha! We had so much fun doing these tests though. Your predictions and comments are welcome, of course!

The Littlest One!

I remember about nine years ago sitting in my living room with my family. We were about to have family scriptures when my parents made an announcement, "In August, we will be having someone come stay with us." We start guessing possible relatives--grandparents, our favorite cousins--but my dad shook his head and surprised us all by telling us we were going to have another sibling. We were shocked! Aaron (the youngest at the time) was about 4 or 5 years old. After seven kids, we were getting the hang of the routine: every two years or so my mom would have a baby, not five years! Needless to say, we were excited but surprised!

And so yesterday, August 30, we celebrated the ninth birthday of our surprise sister, Amelia! Amelia will always be "my little girl." I don't know what I'm going to do when she gets married, let alone starts dating!! I think I will be buying the shot gun! ;) Amelia is very much into ballet, gymnastics, fashion, and playing office with her friends. She's the definition of a little sister (you know what I mean ;) but I love her sweet nature :)

Our family birthdays have an evening routine: a dinner picked out by the birthday person, presents, and cake. Amelia chose to have my dad's famous crepes for dinner and there was no way this pregnant lady was missing out on that! Here are some pictures from the evening:

The birthday girl!

Down right silliness!

Opening her present from the Virgins...

It's fashion!!

She really wanted duck tape.

My dad pretending to have short arms. Ha!

Amelia was very proud of making her tiered birthday cake!

Make a wish!

Aaron's photo bomb.

Our fourth attempt! (Aaron really likes to photo bomb!)

"Fish Castle"

As Carl and I get out of our Jeep and walk towards the Phenix car, all I can hear is Ryan shouting, "Fish Castle! Fish Castle!" For a 2-year old boy, Pro Bass Shop does indeed look like a wooden castle with pictures of fish. For Carl and mine's Saturday outing, we decided to go to Pro Bass Shop! Carl had never been--and it is worth the drive across the river--and we thought it would be fun to invite the Phenix family to come along!

Um, can you tell I'm an obsessed aunt?? ;)

Looking spiffy!

When I asked Ryan to say, "cheese" this was his pose! Too cute!

Feeling cool on "my" camouflage sectional!

Can you see him?? ;)

The shooting range

They were a good team :)

Ben: "A woman after my own heart." Hahaha!

Mini MINI golf!

Ryan's favorite activity

He loved this thing!

Posing!

By the end, we were tired and hungry, so no group photo this time! Afterwards we went to Famous Dave's to eat. Ben and Ashley had never been before, and it is a favorite restaurant of mine! As the pregnant lady of the group, I was given the privilege to choose! If you want to get your fill of yummy BBQ, Famous Dave's is the place to go! :)

La la la la laaaaaaaaaa!

I was uplifted.
I was edified.
I was blown away.
Yes, Carl and I watched Amanda Bodine perform in a opera.

Amanda has been my good friend since high school, and she has always had the most amazing voice in the world. She recently finished her Masters degree in vocal performance and will be moving to California to sing professionally! She recently participated in her school's 2 week summer program where they performed various portions from The Marriage of Figaro. She played the Countess, of course! It was a splendid performance! The last aria she sang kept the audience clapping well into the next scene!! :) It was such a joy to come and support her and her accomplishments thus far while she was close.

I totally forgot my camera otherwise I would give you a picture of Caroline, Michael, Amanda, her wonderfully supportive husband, Barrett, Carl, and myself after the performance. You can listen to some Mozart today instead ;)