Surprise.....Its a girl!

So I went to the doctor today for my ultrasound to find out if the baby is doing well and what the sex is. I got a huge surprise. I was laying on the table talking to the ultrasound tech about my baby registry. I mentioned that I didn't have much on the registry because I believed this baby to be a boy and already had most of the 'boy' stuff. She says to me " you might want to expand your registry." I said " and why?" Shes says "because its a girl." I said "no way!" I couldn't believe it! She turned the screen toward me and showed me, sure enough its a girl. Now of course nothing is 100% but she said "I'm 99% sure that its a girl." After having 2 boys and ultrasounds with both, I can tell you this when I was looking at the screen I definitely did not see what the ultrasound tech would call a "turtle-head". Nothing poking out of the bottom area, so yes I'm sure shes accurate when she says its a girl.

I have no girl names picked out at this time. I have a few that I like but nothing that has stuck. Mike and I will have to sit down and talk about it. Maybe this time Ill be able to pick out the name since I didn't get to pick out either boy name. (I'm not bitter about that I told Mike to just pick a name and he did wonderfully I think) My first thought is "what am I to do with a girl?" I love my boys and I know I will love this little girl too. I love the idea of putting dresses on her and combing her hair. Its scary though. Girls can be so emotional and dramatic. Not that my boys cant be dramatic.

Michael is so happy. Hes been wanting a little girl and now he will have one. Had we had another boy we were considering adoption. It will be nice to have a little girl last because I am ready to be done having children. Michael and I had a long talk about whether or not we should have another baby after this one. We've decided to call it quits after this. We both agreed that given our age and where we are in our life we're ready to stop. But now hes got his little girl and things are complete.

On an even better note my sister called me today to tell me that she is also pregnant! Due in January, our kids will only be 4 months apart! Life is good and I have God to thank for it!

Family Vacation

This year we got to take a family vacation to Silver Dollar City. I had never been there before. We left for our journey Friday May 14th at 1pm arriving in Branson at around 530 pm. We had dinner at Rib Crib and then set off for our hotel. When we arrived at the hotel Mike and I decided that we would take the boys down to the indoor pool and let them blow off some steam before bed. It was so nice. A heated pool and we had it all to ourselves. Jordan and Conor had a blast swimming around before we went back to our room to relax.

The next morning we awoke at around 630 am. We wanted to be able to get to the park early so we could eat at The Mill Restaurant before entering the park.

                                                                     

 In the restaurant Mike, Steve, Heather, Tony, Conor and I sat at one table and the kids at another. About halfway through breakfast I said to Heather that I felt really short sitting at the table because it seemed really tall and then we all noticed that the table had been slowly lifting up while wed been eating. They call them "trick tables." It was lots of fun. We all finished up and we off to enter the park.

The front part of the park is really pretty. Lots of beautiful trees and flowers and of course the Silver Dollar City sign. As we entered the park there was a clock with the correct time and day but the year was set somewhere in the past.....

                                                                                                                                            

We entered the park and prepared to start seeing the sights. We went everywhere, to every shop and watched everything. They have a wide variety of things to look at. There's a leather shop, a knife shop, a blacksmith, quilts, candy, candles, a bakery and everything in between. The blacksmith is really something to see.

Then of course there were the rides. Mike, Jordan and Steve went on Thunderation first. Then over to Wildfire and Fire in the Hole. I rode the Flooded Mine because we could all go on it and it was safe for me. They also rode The American Plunge, a water log ride. All in all Jordan seemed to really be having a good time. For most of the day it rained off and on. I really didn't like the rain but it was still loads of fun.

There was also a train there that took you around and while on the train two "outlaws" would "rob" the train. Very funny to watch and be involved in. Conor really enjoyed the train. It was the only thing he was tall enough to ride besides The Flooded Mine. I had so much fun watching the kids enjoy the attractions.

We wrapped up the day with a little shopping and then headed out to grab dinner. After dinner we drove around the main drag in Branson just looking around. There is so much to do. I really want to go back and take to kids to The Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum, The Titanic Museum and The Wax Museum. We ended up eating at Wendy's before heading back to the hotel. When we got back we were all tired and decided to skip swimming and just lay in bed so off we went to our room.

I got up early the next morning so I could go down to the continental breakfast. It was really nice. Then it was back to the room to finish getting ready and pack. I got back to the room and finished packing. Just as I got everything back into the suitcases I heard it, a loud clang of thunder. I opened the curtains only to find it pouring rain. My first thought was 'okay I'm ready to head back to Tulsa.' But I didn't have a say so off we went to the park. When we got into the truck it started to taper off and I saw a ray of hope that we might have a somewhat dry day. Not so much. By the time we arrived at the park maybe 10 minutes later it was pouring and blinding while we drove. We parked and ran as fast as we could to the tram that would take us to the front gate. We arrived at the gate and exited then started to walk toward the entrance. It was still pouring and my feet were getting wet because there were huge puddles everywhere. We got to the bakery and all bought ponchos, boy was that fun.

We decided to go ahead and try to enjoy the day. I was thinking yeah right, but actually it turned out to be a pretty good day. Around 1 or so it dried out and the sun began to shine so we took advantage of it and let the kids ride The Lost River of the Ozarks.

Mike, Tony, Katy, Becca, Jake, and Jordan all rode on of the wettest rides at the park. And of course they rode it twice! But they did have fun and that's all that matters. Jordan, Becca and Katy got soaked the most.

Afterward we all went off to the front of the park to do some last minute shopping. By this time I was really starting to feel the effects of being pregnant and swollen. I was ready to leave. We found the tram and went back to our car. Just as we go into the truck to leave it started to pour rain again. We left just at the right time. Although I was glad to be out of the rain I was a little sad to leave. There was so much I wanted to do still but I was also ready to head home to my own bed. We decided we would eat in Branson. We ended up eating at a combination KFC/Long John Silvers. Afterward we got into the truck and were Tulsa bound. We arrived in Tulsa around 745 pm. I was so glad to be home. It will be nice if next year we can take the kids and just go to Branson. I look forward to many more family vacations and memories for the kids.