Giddyup, Cowgirl!...

I hate that I haven't blogged in so long. I hate that my sister, mother to four children (and one on the way!) is far better at keeping up with hers than I am with mine. I hate that I make promises to "catch up" on the blogging... but don't seem to ever deliver on the promise.

Excuses excuses excuses - including the fact that our computer has been "putzing out" on us for several months' time (requiring lots of backing up to an external hard-drive, which in turn then leaves me without my photos readily available) - they just don't really cut it.

So now while Tee Jay and Casey are napping (and my churning belly lets me know that Finlay most definitely is NOT), instead of waiting to get two-year-birthday and Easter and Christmas and other photos off the other hard-drive and uploaded to this newly working PC, I'll just share with you our little outing from today.

CANTER YOUR HORSES!

Casey and I share really nice rides to-and-from her daycare five days a week, and along those trips we get to see two sheep (in the same enclosure) and many, many horses (among a handful of farms). Lately, she's becoming more and more insistent, with her finger pointed in the air like a scolding parent mind you: "I want to go in there." This request/demand is always made when we pass one particular farm, and it's followed by, "Mommy, talk to Daddy. I want to go in there with the horses."

So I did talk to Tee Jay to find out if he thought there was a place we could go nearby that has horses just-for-the-seeing, since it's not like I'm ready (or have the money) to get my two-year-old into riding lessons (though I'd venture to say my first time on a horse was probably earlier than Casey's age now, having been raised by a Mom who took a "trail ride" with my grandfather nearly every Sunday when we lived in West Virginia). While he and I started looking online for possibilities, I stumbled across the website for the exact farm that inspired Casey to want to "go in there" and realized they were having an Open House TODAY!

We ventured out to Majoda Stables and spent a good two+ hours there, mostly spending our time snacking on hot dogs and hamburgers and walking to-and-from the barn and the bench near the riding ring. We learned very early in our day that Casey did NOT want to be anywhere near the horses themselves (not even the goats or the adorable soft bunny rabbit named Cheezit), but she LOVED watching the horses and the children riding them... from a safe distance. (That is, she loved watching them once she got over her fear that one of the many horses behind a fenced enclosure might come eat her hot dog out of her hand. A five-year-old'ish girl next to her explained all about how horses are vegetarians...)




Casey took a special liking to one horse named Cinnamon while I spent most of my time petting a horse named Jack inside the barn. The whole ride home, our sleepy girl asked us to sing songs about horses, sheep, Cinnamon and Jack. As afraid as she was at times there on the farm, I think she'll be begging us to go back soon!

Seeing Blue...

So, in chronological order (of exciting news in our household!), I'll try to play "catch up" with back-blogging.

The first exciting thing we have to announce is that many, many weeks ago (egads - it was two months ago!), we had an anatomy scan of our little BouBerry, and... it's a BOY!

We are excited to be welcoming Finlay August Boudreau into our home at some point in early-June.

Finlay (pronounced Fin-Lee) is a name of Irish/Scottish descent, and we chose it simply because we've liked it for quite some time.

August, on the other hand, carries more sentimental value, since we chose it from my (Christina's) family tree - on my dad's side. August F. Grummich was born August 28, 1833 in Aushca, Bohemia (now Ustek, Czech Republic) and died June 25, 1911 in St. Louis, MO - he is our little guy Finlay's maternal great-great-great-great-grandfather.

Just this past weekend, we encountered a most pleasant surprise when Tee Jay’s grandmother (on his dad’s side) told us that the only grandfather she ever knew was Auguste (the French spelling) Bernier. Auguste Bernier is Finlay’s paternal great-great-great-grandfather.

Therefore, while Casey’s middle name represents her grandmothers (Susanne is her middle name – for Susan and Leslie Anne), Finlay’s middle name represents his grandfathers’ families.

In an even better twist of fate, Tee Jay has been working diligently on his 2011 Philadelphia International Flower Show exhibit, “Rediscovering Rodin” (which began this past Saturday). Tee Jay didn’t personally create the interpretation for his display this year, so he paid little attention to the details about Rodin himself, focusing mainly (and understandably so) on the design, the plant forcing, the creation of his “Thinker” topiary, etc. When his grandmother, sister and I arrived at the show on Saturday, we were all stunned to read the signage about the famous sculptor, Auguste Rodin. (It’s meant to be!)

We'll post more about our boy Fin when he arrives, of course!

Fervent Prayers...

I know we've been MIA for like longer-than-ever... and we'll be back soon, I promise.

But for today, please please please PRAY YOUR VALENTINES' HEARTS OUT for an old friend Lori, who with her husband Mike, are bringing home their 20-day-old daughter ~sweetheart Sofia Isabella~ so that Sofie can pass away peacefully in the comfort of her parents' arms and warmth of the beautiful nursery they prepared for her so long ago.

My hardest task this morning was picking which pants Casey should wear to her Valentine party at school, and I therefore cannot imagine the terror, anguish, and anger that will be present in Lori and Mike's day or upcoming days (and their families' as well).

Our prayers are intended for them, fervently, and I ask that yours be also.

What Goodies!...

When I first saw Casey through the doorway of her classroom this afternoon, I could tell her hair was differently styled than when I dropped her off this morning. It looked so cute from the front, but the real surprise came when she turned around, touching her hair and lovingly saying "Emily" (giving credit to her beloved teacher, who gave her the hairstyle), and showed off the two most adorable first-ever braids a little girl has had!

Seriously, I've never even THOUGHT about braiding any portion of Casey's hair - errrr... rather, I didn't think it was possible to do so yet. But man, did I love it!!!

We remembered to grab some quick pics in the tub before suds and water washed her braids away:



To add more excitement to the evening, a package was awaiting us when Casey and I arrived home (Tee Jay having been patient and leaving it unopened - even though it was technically addressed to him). It was from my Granny and Gogron in West Virginia, and ohhhhhhh... was it ever good!

First off, how totally awesome is it to get mail???? (We had also received our first photo holiday card of the season - super cute, Owen!!) But mail in the form of a brown paper package filled with goodies from West Virginia lovies? THE BEST! I won't list every little gift the box contained, but let's just say that we three Philly Bous exclaimed each step of the way, and Casey is already loving her little "look and find" book.



Tee Jay and I whole-heartedly agree that the pièce de résistance is this super hip and oh-so-sentimental "cake taker" which once belonged to my great-grandmother Stella. The cake taker is much older than I am and graced my Granny and Gogron's home on McQueen Boulevard the many times Stella brought a cake there. (Tear jerker! Family heirloom!)


Thank you, thank you, thank you, Granny - for packaging up such wonderful gifts! We love you and Gogron more than words could ever say!!

The Cat's Out of the Bag (or in the oven)...

So, if you’re a friend of mine over in the Facebook world (funny how “Facebook” gets mentioned in practically every post?) or if you’re a family member or have a way to obtaining good gossip, then you already know…

…we’re pregnant!

Yes, we are expecting our little “BouBerry” sometime around June 13^th (the date’s been up for debate among me, the doctors, the ultrasound techs, etc. – let’s just say it’s between June 9^th and June 14^th). That puts me at 11 weeks’ along at this point, and here are four quick observations I’ve made so far with this pregnancy:

1) We are already in a “better position” than we were with our last pregnancy, when at the first ultrasound, no fetal pole could be detected. The past miscarriage definitely made me a lot more paranoid this time around, but at eight weeks with BouBerry, we had an ultrasound which not only showed a moving little “raspberry” at that point, but also let us glimpse AND HEAR a beautifully beating heart. I know that life is fragile (especially the life of a teeny, developing baby) but I feel more confident now that I did after taking that initial pregnancy test.

2) Just like last time, people are already REALLY ANNOYING in their constant baby- and pregnancy-talk. Don’t get me wrong… it’s nice to be cared about. But when I work with someone 5 days a week, and they ask me how I feel, followed by “I had nothing for my first, but was sick as a dog with my second” every single day of those 5 days, it gets a little (a LOT!) old. And we’ve got 29 more weeks to go! Soon, I’m sure I’ll be bombarded with the “Wow, you’re getting big!” and “You’re still here?” and “You haven’t had that baby yet??” statements. For now, I’ll leave you with the two most interesting ones over the past week

– Last Monday, when I was 10 weeks’ pregnant, a coworker stated,
“You’re having a boy. Your face hasn’t changed a bit.” (I was only
TEN WEEKS’!!! I hope my face wouldn’t change already!)

– Today, the same coworker mused, “Wow – you’re really carrying
different this time.” (I am only ELEVEN WEEKS’!!! Come on!)

3) It is not too difficult (yet) to chase a toddler around while pregnant, which I’ve been warned could be a tough thing to do by the end. However, having a toddler does make it harder to sneak snacks in while driving! When I need to eat, believe me, I NEED TO EAT – and at 5:00PM when carting Casey home for a well-balanced dinner, the last thing I want is to have her snacking in the backseat. But if Mommy’s munching away, she definitely wants in on the action.

4) For the first time in my life, I have no idea where Tee Jay and I stand on the subject of Future Kids. Before we were married, we both knew that we definitely wanted children. I always said I wanted 7 (but would settle for 4), and he always quipped that 2 would be a nice number. At some point, I think I convinced him to jump up to the 3-kids range, and after Casey was born, we were still on the "there'll be another one someday" bandwagon. But now that we’re juggling the finances of just one in day care (and pulling our hair out about the certainty of a second), I honestly feel clueless as to what our future family will look like. I mean, don’t get me wrong – I’m not really worrying about this right now; it’s certainly not keeping me up at night (while other things are!). We’ve got plenty of time to ease into the parenting of BouBerry alongside Casey – and I’m sure plenty of pay raises, job changes and other life adjustments to get through – before we even have to think about adding a third Baby Boudreau to the mix. But it’s a strange, clueless feeling nonetheless.

Oh, and for the heck of it, let's throw in a quick fifth observation - If you are emotional to begin with and were even more emotional the last couple of times you were pregnant, well... it should just go without saying that you're DEFINITELY out-of-control emotional the fourth time around!

But we're living through it, and I'll leave you with the sweetest little pics of our BouBerry.

Artist

This morning Casey painted a few masterpieces after breakfast....






Then went promptly into the bath!

A wonderful start to the weekend!

Happy Halloween!...

Yeah, we have a lot to post. But let's just start with the most recent event, which was (still is!) Halloween!

Casey "for-real Trick-or-Treat'ed" this year, and she wore a homemade turtle costume. She was SUCH a little sweetie, really getting the hang of Trick-or-Treating after a couple of houses. (She wasn't so great at actually saying the words "Trick-or-Treat," but she certainly had "Thank you!" down pat.)

Casey's friend Zack "The Gorilla" Santucci came to visit from RI (with his parents) for the weekend, and he got into the spirit, too!