We are excited to announce...

... that we are having a baby GIRL!!!!!!!!  

Wow, we were SO thrilled to receive the much awaited news at our doctor's appointment this week!  It felt like such a long time to have to wait another whole month to find out the gender, but fortunately, the busy holiday season seemed to help time pass by quickly.  

Now we can officially look for cute pink and purple baby items instead of blue!  :)  And, Derek and I are somewhat relieved that we do not have to come up with a name for a boy right now - we already agreed on a girl name but not on a boy name yet.

The baby was positioned with her head down this time (instead of breech), which is good news!  I am praying that she will stay that way so that I won't need to have a C-Section delivery.  We really appreciate all your prayers and support to continue having a healthy pregnancy!

Christmas lights at the Zoo

Last night we decided to brave the freezing rain and spend the evening seeing all the Christmas lights at the Zoo!  Derek and I took Logan, our niece Madison, cousin Michelle, and cousin Kristen with us.  We were all dressed in tons of layers to keep warm, and of course, we sipped on hot cocoa.  

The lights were so beautiful!!!  Every year they seem to add more and more to their display, and I loved watching the lights around the pond dance to music.  They were timed perfectly to whatever song was playing at that time.

To keep from getting too cold while we walked around, we ducked into several of the buildings to see some of the animals.  First, Logan and Madison wanted to go see Santa - so we took them to sit on Santa's lap and they each got a candy cane.  

Afterward we went in to the reptile building, where the kids were able to pet a real snake.  Ewww gross!  :)  Then we went on to the other buildings to see the manatees and elephants.  

Some of the pictures we took are below!  Great times!!!

Michelle, Kristen, Madison, and Logan sitting in the sleigh!

Here we are FREEZING as we pose for a picture!!!!
Logan and Derek in the Manatee building!

A day at COSI

Last Saturday, we spent the day at COSI!  This was Derek and Logan's first time there.

My work hosted a cookies with Santa event - so we went to get Logan's picture taken on Santa's lap, ate some cookies with hot chocolate, and then we spent the rest of the day seeing all the exhibits.

Logan loved the many Science a la cart displays they had throughout the hallways, and his favorite exhibit was Gadgets.  

There were lots of fun things to do and build in the Gadgets area!  We learned about pulleys, electricity, and helped to put a bridge together here too.

We went through most of the other exhibits they have on all three of the levels too: Space, Ocean, Life, Progress, etc.  

Logan was able to climb into a submarine and space capsule!  And we explored the old streets in the Progress exhibit - it showed the changes between life in 1898 to life in 1962.

On the second level there was a high wire unicycle ride.  Since Logan wasn't tall enough to go on the unicycle, Derek decided to ride on it.  

This would not be a good ride for someone who is scared of heights.  The high wire extended out over the first level 17 feet above the ground - it was too scary for me!!

We had a really great time!  Logan can't wait to visit COSI again soon!!!