Hello Baby Girl!!!!

We are so, so excited to announce that the Crosby family will be welcoming a baby GIRL in April! It was honestly a huge shock when we found out.

Jack had a rough night last night (it may have had something to do with us watching "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" on the couch right before bed...oops.) Anyway, he was up about six times and slept horribly. This meant that Mommy slept horribly, too. In between Jack waking up, I tossed and turned. I was very nervous about this ultrasound - much more nervous than I was with Jack. I went in truly not knowing or feeling one way or the other, and for some reason this time I am much more aware of all the things that can go wrong with a developing baby. So I was both nervous and tired. We decided to take Jack to play at the "inside park" daycare instead of dragging him to the ultrasound with us. We figured 30 minutes in a dark room with nothing to do or touch was just too much for him, even if he would love to see the baby.

Justin still feels awful, so he dragged himself out of bed to come with me. The ultrasound technician was super nice, and put us at ease making small talk while she got me all situated and measured all the exterior things (Pop Pop and Uncle Colin: I won't mention anything gross this time!!!) :)

Anyway, eventually she asked us, "so are you SURE you want to know? Becuase once you see it, you can never go back!" And I thought, "it's definitely a boy, we are about to see a penis." She said, "well, unless I am wrong, which I never am, you have a healthy baby girl!" I think I literally started crying and even Justin whooped with excitement. After that it's all kind of blurry in my mind - I was so excited. I remember that she measured her heartbeat (153 bpm, strong and healthy!) She spent awhile looking into her mouth and at her palate (all fully formed and functional! If you look closely you can even catch some shots of her opening and closing her mouth. So cool.) Baby girl is measuring 19 weeks + 1 day, which is perfect, and is in the 34th percentile for weight. She weighs 0.66 lbs. (WOW) She has 10 fingers and 10 toes. It's so weird even typing "she" because I guess deep down I really, really thought it was a boy!

We went and picked up Jack and told him, "It's a baby girl! You have a baby sister!" and he caught on very fast. I think he really understands! As for us, we are so blessed and feel so lucky. Our family was complete either way, but this makes it easier somehow.

Here are a few still shots:

Without further ado, here is the link to the full ultrasound (probably boring to most of you but we thought every second was amazing!!!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEPYrpKHIcM

No, there is nothing wrong with your computer. There is no sound - this was literally just the recording off the technician's computer.

Notable time counts:

17 seconds: See the bottom of her little feet!
1:02: A very clear shot of the spine from top to bottom.
1:38: Look at those four heart chambers beating away like a drum!!
1:44: The heartbeat monitor - hers was 153bpm, which was perfect.
2:16: You can see her heart beating clearly on the left, and she's opening and closing her mouth on the right!
Most of minutes 3 and 4 are measuring her head.
5:18 is measuring her femur.
6:26-6:27: She is pointing out the two parallel lines that are indicative of a baby girl. We suppose these are her ovaries (already formed, how amazing is that??) She then spends a minute or so poking around to make sure nothing is hiding...and confirms at
7:15: It's a girl!!
8:45: She starts poking around her mouth checking her palate formation.


We hope you enjoyed this movie of our dear, sweet, already very much loved baby girl :) Now, she just needs a name...ha ha.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town!

Poor Daddy has been super sick with the flu all weekend, and by this morning we were all a little sick of being trapped inside the house. We decided to drag ourselves out to the mall to take Jack to see Santa. In the car, while we were explaining the whole process, the conversation went something like this:

Daddy: "Jack, we are going to take you to see Santa Claus. He brings you presents on Christmas, if you are a good boy. When you see him, you are going to sit on his lap and tell him what you want."

Jack: "I want presents!"

Mommy: "What kind of presents?"

Jack: "A garbage truck!" (There is a big garbage truck in Target that he loves to play with, and he's been saying for awhile now that he wants Santa to bring it. I think it's partially because when he asked if "it can come home with us?" last time, I said, "It's awful close to Christmas, maybe Santa will bring it for you..." Anyway.)

So we get to the mall, and we were fairly confident that he understood what was going on. We were lucky to hit Santa right when he opened (I mean, arrived at the mall on his sleigh) and so there was no line. We had plenty of time to try and snap a good shot.

We started off with his typical "Oh no...I'm scared...Mommy what is this?" look...

Slowly warming up to Santa, who was whispering in his ear.

The Elves asked Daddy to throw a ball to Jack to make him smile...
this was 2.5 second before Daddy his Santa square in the face with the ball :) Oops.

Ok Jack, there's a smile!!! Way to go!

Candy always makes it better.

After we were done, I asked Jack, "so did you tell Santa what you wanted him to bring you?" And Santa said, "Yes, he told me race cars, a garbage truck, toys, and candy." Apparently he was more loquacious with Santa than he was with us!!

It was a great experience - much better than our previous visits. As Justin was checking out, I sat there thinking: this may be the last visit like this that Jack will be alone! Easter next year is on April 8, about two weeks before my due date, and it is not unlikely that the baby will be here then. Either way, next year Santa will have two Crosby kids on his lap - and for that, we are very thankful!!

Speaking of our little baby, they call the second trimester of pregnancy the "golden weeks" for a reason. There are seriously days when I forget I am pregnant (and Justin does too, as he often admits!) I am not yet big enough for my belly to be a burden (although I do sometimes have the cramps / contractions / lower back pain, it's nothing compared to what I know is coming.) The nausea is completely gone and my migraines have improved considerably in the last few weeks. For the most part, I feel amazingly good...and I enjoy the little pokes and prods from the baby now (which I know will turn into oomphs and sharp kicks soon!) People looking at me can tell I am pregnant, but I am not yet swollen and I don't waddle. In another 12 weeks or so, I will be pretty miserable, but for now I am going to enjoy this special time :) This is *it* for babies in the Crosby house, so I'm already halfway done with my last pregnancy! That's something to celebrate!!

Thanksgiving 2011

Since we just returned from our trip on Wednesday, Thanksgiving dawned bright and early and surprisingly fast on Thursday. Luckily we had a relaxing day chatting with family and friends. We took the holiday leisurely, beginning with taking Jack to the Muppet Movie in the morning. He loved it! I wasn't sure if he'd be better or worse with Justin, but he did really well. He loved the funny jokes and now whenever a commercial for it comes on, he says: "I know what that is! Muppet movie!"

Then, I worked on the turkey and extra dishes while Jack and Justin had a killer nap. It was much-needed! Jack also took a 2.5 hour nap today (with me this time!), so it seems like we are all recovering from our big weekend.

We are looking forward to Rivalry Saturday tomorrow, and getting together with some friends and fellow GT Alums to watch the game (which yes, is on at 9am here!) Jack will love having friends over! We also put up our Christmas tree today, which was a BIG success. Jack definitely understands the concept of Santa coming to bring you presents, but I am not so sure he understands that he has to be good in order to get them. We are bringing out Mr. Elf on a Shelf for the first time tonight (still has no name) so maybe that will help with making him behave. He likes to pull the ornaments off the tree and throw them. Um, no thank you.

In other funny news, Jack has become a constant chatterbox. Yes, yes, I know, my family always makes fun of me for how much I talk - but this kid puts me to shame! I think we had a two-hour period today where he was not silent for ONE SECOND. Justin and I laugh because he just randomly says ridiculous things. It's like his stream of consciousness is verbal, and he feels the need to narrate everything we do! For example, if I am in the kitchen making dinner: "You turn on water? You put water in pot? You put pot on stove? Stove is hot. No touch stove. You pour in something? I know what that is. Something is missing. Mommy, need spoon? Let me help you." Etc etc etc.... it goes on and on! It's mostly hilarious, sometimes annoying, but it always reminds me that he's around and he is watching every move I make. :)

He has also gotten really good at pretend games. Tonight, he was taking a bath. He has Thomas, Percy, Captain, and a few other bath toys that are his favorites. He was in the bath for an hour, and in that time, we laid them all down to go night-night, we covered them all up with their own blankets (washcloths), we sang the nighttime song to them, they woke up, they wanted milk (real cups), and they wanted breakfast (real plates- and I had to pretend to make them their breakfast of strawberries, rice, oatmeal, chocolate, and popcorn.) I had seriously considered asking Santa for a play kitchen for him for Christmas - maybe now I will definitely do it! I think he would love it.

Anyway, that's all that's going on with us. I will post more soon. We have a big day next Tuesday, the 29. In the morning we get our ultrasound to have a very detailed look at baby, and then in the afternoon, both Jack and Justin go for eye exams (and they are testing Jack for red/green color-blindness...let's keep our fingers crossed!)

Our first family vacation!

If you know us, you know that Justin and I do a lot of talking about taking trips and going neat places, but we never actually seem to do it. This time, with Justin setting the agenda and me making the few last reservations, we were pleasantly surprised to take a real family vacation with just the three of us! It was such a special treat. Jack loved spending so much one-on-one time with Daddy, and despite the vast amount of driving, we had so much fun!

We started our trip by driving down to Carmel, Monterey, and the Pebble Beach area. We drove through beautiful (and crazy steep!) terrain down to the coast and then walked around Carmel. It is a really nice, quaint little town right on the water. We stopped for lunch at a super neat pub that had huge fire pits to keep us warm. We gobbled down some lunch and then walked down to the water.

It is really amazing how different the west coast and the Pacific are from the beaches we are used to. It was rocky, cold, and truly breathtaking. Jack loved running up and down the beach, dipping his toes (and pants and socks) in the water, and getting sandy from head to toe.

I took this shot to show you the background...absolutely amazing!

Daddy was on Jack-catching duty on the beach. Note:
strollers are NOT beach-friendly :)

Family photo op!

Along 17 Mile Drive, Pebble Beach. SO pretty!

Daddy and Jack, 17 Mile Drive

Pebble Beach

Pop-Pop...how would you like to tee off there?? The wind was
gusting at about 45 mph too!

Gorgeous!

That night we made our way to the hotel. We stayed nearby so that we could hit the Monterey Bay Aquarium first thing in the morning. They claim to be the best in the USA...and it was pretty cool, but nothing like the Georgia Aquarium. It was tiny in comparison! Jack didn't know any better though, so he took in all the sights like the excited little kid he was :)

Touching the starfish, kelp, and snails in the Touch Pools!

Daddy helped me touch. My tongue also helped.

They had this awesome tunnel where a huge wave would crash
over the top of you every few minutes into a beautiful coral reef below.
Jack was a little terrified at first (see his face?) but then he kept saying
"we go back to waves??" :)

Most of the shots we got were blurry because he was always
moving or running around :)

We spent a few hours touring the Aquarium, and then had lunch at Bubba Gump's at Cannery Row before hitting the road to head to Los Angeles. Let me tell you something: California is a HUGE state!!

It was a solid six hour drive, and that was before we hit awful traffic in the rain in north LA. Here is what Jack thought of us being stuck in traffic after he was stuck in the car for 6 hours:

Mad little guy. Thankfully this was the only car meltdown he had!

We got to our hotel late Sunday night, and the boys hit the pool and the hottub to unwind. We got room service for dinner and crashed to get up early for our first morning at Disneyland!!

Hmm...what ride should I go on first??? It's so hard to decide!

I LOVE "It's A Small World"...especially when it's
decorated for Christmas!

Playing in the magic fountain in Toon Town!

Waiting in line with Daddy!

Waiting in line for the Bug's Life ride.

"Whoaaaaa!! Look up there!"

Riding the Catepillar train!!

The trains were arguably my favorite :) Although I rode
most rides with this look of consternation, until they were done.
Then I ran out yelling, "NEXT RIDE PLEASE!"

On the Monsters Inc. ride!

Waiting in line with Daddy to drive my very own car! I loved this ride,
but I think Daddy liked it more :) It was very bumpy!

After the parade...by the giant Christmas tree on Main Street.

With Daddy on Main Street!

Waiting in another line.

Riding a real life firetruck!!

Overall it was a great few days. We did things on our own schedule, headed back to the hotel when we needed a rest, and stayed up way too late at Disney! (Jack happily rode the rides until 10:30pm on Monday night! What a trooper!! Daddy even got in a ride on the Matterhorn, the big roller coaster.) We loved the trip and although it was very crowded because it was a holiday week, it was still worth the drive. Jack talks on and on about everything we did, all his favorite rides, and keeps asking when we can go back. :)

We explored Disney California Adventure on Tuesday morning (the smaller park across from Disneyland - a welcome break because it was less busy!) and then around naptime we hit the road. Having lived in both Atlanta and Boston, we thought we knew all about traffic. HOLY COW, we had no idea how bad LA's traffic was. It was stop and go on every major interstate at 1:30pm when we finally got on the road, and we slowly wound our way north through downtown LA.

Everything was going fine until we hit a HUGE pothole, and we popped the front tire on Daddy's car. We were in denial for a minute, and then we had to pull over in the left breakdown lane - yes, in downtown LA, in stop and go traffic. Justin's car somehow doesn't have a spare tire (?) so we called for a tow. They told us it would be 30 minutes, then another 30 minutes...as we sat and fretted about the dangerous position we were in. (Thankfully Jack slept through ALL of this!)

All of a sudden, a tow truck pulled up. He quickly assessed the situation and said "I can't take three of you in the cab of my truck so I need to call my partner to come with another car." We were disappointed - we had already been waiting an hour on the side of the road. Shortly (VERY shortly!) a California Highway Patrol car pulls up behind us, lights blazing. Apparently a passing motorist had called 911 for us, and they dispatched LA's Emergency Roadside Assistance program. The tow truck wasn't the one we had called (he was still miles away!) but one from the city of LA. It was amazing!

We strapped Jack's seat into the back of the state patrol officer's car (you should have SEEN his face!! If it was appropriate, I would have taken a picture.) He kept telling the officer that "you get bad guys!!" It was adorable. The policeman cleared the highway (literally, by blocking traffic with his car) so that our tow truck could drive over and get off at the next exit. He towed Justin's car to this little mechanic that had a new tire on in 20 minutes! The best part? The tow was free, and the tire was only $40! Overall it could have been a lot worse. We were very lucky.

This is the only picture we have of our roadside disaster.
Justin was trying to see the model number/type of tire to tell the
mechanic what he needed.

I don't know how people survived without iPhones, because Justin's saved us on the side of the road for sure. When we finally did get back on the road, it was about 5:30 pm and while we hit more traffic on the final way out of LA, it wasn't too bad. We drove until we literally couldn't drive anymore, and then we stopped at a Best Western in the middle of nowhere to crash for the night. I was expecting the worst, but I was pleasantly surprised! We somehow got a suite, and Jack had a pullout couch in his very own little alcove. The room was clean, quiet, and new. If you are ever on Highway 5 in the middle of central California, stop at the Best Western in Kettleman City! It was great - we even filled up on the free continental breakfast before heading back home this morning.

We drove for a few hours, and stopped at the outlet mall in Gilroy. Justin got some much-needed new clothes and we stretched our legs. From there it was only about 35 more minutes back to our house.

Even with our delay and bad tire luck, it was a wonderful trip. I am so glad that I got to spend so much time with my boys before our lives are thrown into turmoil with the new baby. It was relaxing, and Jack had an absolute blast. And overall, he was an angel! It definitely gave us confidence to do it again. We are already talking about our next ski trip to Lake Tahoe (luckily only about 2.5 hours away!)

As a side note, Jack has started doing a few things that are pretty funny. The first is saying, "It's gone!" with the most pitiful, sad look on his face. He says it about everything. If a commercial comes on for a show he's watching, he says, "It's gone!!" If he loses a toy under the couch, he says, "It's gone!!" I have no idea where he got this but it's hilarious!

The other thing is "open baby!" I showed him a video online of what the baby looks like inside my belly. Now, he loves (loves!) to rub on my belly, give the baby kisses, and talk to the baby or show the baby things. This means he lifts up my shirt randomly to do this. This is super awesome when we are at home...it's really cute and I really think he understands what's growing inside of me. However, when we are out in public, it's another story. Like at Disney, we'd be standing in line and he'd say "Open baby!!!" and try to lift up my shirt to show the baby something. Ahhh!! Not okay, Jack! How do you explain the idea of modesty to a two-year-old?? :) We do love, though, that he seems to adore the baby (and the idea of the baby coming soon!)

So that's it! We had a great time. Happy Thanksgiving to all of our family far away - we miss all of you and you will be sitting around our table in spirit tomorrow. We are so thankful and feel very blessed this holiday season. Peace and love from our family to yours!

Jack Gets MAD

They call it the terrible two's for a reason, but sometimes I wonder if our little guy has more of a temper than a normal kid! Today, he was playing outside while I was folding laundry on the couch and watching him out the sliding glass door. All of a sudden, I heard horrible screaming - but mad screaming, not hurt screaming (something only a Mommy's ears know.) I peeked out, and saw him hysterically yelling at his dump truck.

I was trying to figure out what was going on while simultanously grabbing the camera. He was loading apples into his dump truck, only to make it too heavy and have it fall over. He would get SO MAD when it fell over that he launched into a full-on tantrum. He couldn't figure out why it fell over!

Here is the end of his tirade. You can hear him yelling, "I DON'T LIKE YOU!"

This is pretty hilarious, I have to admit. :) My personal favorite part is when he throws the apples in really hard and pushes the truck over.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCZrDCqQKpI

Belly Shot

Okay, okay! So many people have asked for a belly shot that I will post one...even if it is a bad, bad picture - dark and out of focus. Oh well. You can CLEARLY see little baby in there, growing strong! 

I am definitely bigger faster this time. I have had a few issues with contractions, cramps, and general discomfort caused by not enough hydration. My doctor says, DRINK MORE WATER PLEASE! And so I will, especially with the awesome trip Justin has planned for us next week - the Aquarium and then Disneyland!!

People notice me in public now, and Jack likes to point out the baby to random passersby on the street. I can't wait to find out what's in there, kicking and growing so big and strong :) 

Lots of love!

Approx. 16.5 weeks...

Hi, Baby!!

They say that one of the best, most rewarding moments in pregnancy is when you first feel the baby move. I've been having little "flutters" for a little while now, but in the last 48 hours or so it's gotten much stronger. I can now sit very still, or lay in bed at night, and poke my belly, only to have a little "tap tap" back in response. I love it!! It's truly amazing :) and it reminds me just how lucky we really are. I can't wait until I start really feeling it all the time. It's such a reassuring feeling to be able to know that the baby is healthy and moving around in there!

Anxiously awaiting our ultrasound on November 29...

Colds Abound

Ugh, it's that time of year. I thought we avoided any sicknesses, and we really have up to this point, but the fall sniffles got us all! We are on about day 3 of this runny, nasty stuffiness and we are all sick of it! It's gotten considerably colder here in the last week (amazing that a high of 60 feels cold now!) and we've had to run the heat in the house. I think that's contributing to our feeling of general blah-ness, because it's forced hot air heat (all new to us) so it's very dry. Poor Jack has struggled to sleep at night and the time change didn't help anyone! Hopefully we all get back to normal very soon.

I ordered Jack a new "potty training" night light. It's an elephant that you charge during the day and then they can sleep with it in their bed at night, and carry it with them to the bathroom if they have to go. It's a little early for that, but he does really like it as evidenced by this photo:

Videos

I am having severe trouble uploading videos to the blog lately (and apparently I am not the only one!) so in the meantime, I am going to link here to videos I post on YouTube. You have to have the specific link to view them (for privacy reasons) so here you go:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fy5Sqh_z3F4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCoUx_SHmAU

A few things...

On Halloween, we took Jack and Spencer to the bouncy houses as it was going to be the last day they were out with the pumpkin patch. Here are a few action shots...this was by far the best bouncy house we went to, as Jack could actually climb up the stairs unassisted (although Spencer was much faster!! He got in two slides in the time it took Jack to climb the stairs. Poor guy!)

Jack at the top...not scared one bit (and it was a fast slide!!)

Spencer saying, "Jack, are you okay?" (SO CUTE!)

 This morning we were bored and it was cold and rainy outside (shocker!) so I decided to take Jack to a new place: the Children's Discovery Museum in San Jose. The first thing when you walk in? A full-sized, real firetruck, complete with fireman outfits for the kids to wear. He was in heaven! Unfortunately I only got in a few pictures before my camera battery died...we will have to go back for more.

SO EXCITED to be a fireman on a real truck!!

They had a moveable water wall...the kids could take the magnetic pieces
down and rearrange them to make the water go in various directions.
This was Jack's creation (with my help for the parts he couldn't reach.)
Impressive, our little engineer!!

Making Mommy a fake pizza, and then serving it at the broccoli table...

More water play. This place was amazing!

He had a really good time!! It had a lot of things for him to build and explore, which was really nice! By far his favorite part, though, was the giant dark room with a disco ball and dancing music. He ran and danced for almost a whole hour with the other kids! It was adorable.

In case you were wondering, we have our ultrasound on November 29 to find out what this baby is. We are very excited and can't wait to see if it's a boy or a girl. My intuition keeps sliding, so I have no idea. It will be a big, big surprise either way! Today, I am right around 15 weeks and the baby is the size of an avacado. :) It is definitely getting heavier and I am getting bigger!

Things Jack Does

I haven't done a post like this in awhile, mainly because I mostly do them for Jack's grandparents, and he just spent so much time with them that much of this won't come as a surprise. Anyway, he's really been doing new things lately so I thought I'd post them. He's such a funny, funny little man!!

• "That's mice!" = That's mine. No idea where this came from, but he says it all the time now. It's really funny. He's starting to get the hang of pronouns now (yours, ours, hers, his) but this one still trips him up.
• "No, DON'T do that!" = Whenever he wants you to stop doing something. I am trying to teach him to say "no thank you" instead, so now he says "No, DON'T do that! No THANK YOU" which I guess is a start. :)
• "You don't come with us." He is quite the bossy pants. A few nights ago, Justin and I took him for an after-dinner ice cream treat. We all got out of the car, and he instructed me (yes, Mommy!) that "You don't come with us!" and he'd point at the side of the car and tell me to stay. He happily walked into the store holding Justin's hand, turning around every five steps or so to make sure I was staying where I was supposed to. I would have been offended, but he's an equal-opportunity employer. Sometimes he does it to Justin too. :)
• He likes to narrate as he does things. Today, he was jumping off the edge of the couch. First, he asked me if he could jump (yes.) Then, he says this all in one breath: "I jump now! Be careful. Table give big boo-boo on my tummy." I don't think the table has ever actually given him a big boo-boo on his tummy, but it was good that he knew it could!

I know I have lots more things to say, and I will remember them later. :)

Halloween!!

Last night we took Jack trick or treating. He had SO much fun, and was so confident and brave for such a little man! We went over to Chrissy and Gordon's house so that he could trick or treat with his best friend Spencer. We were joined by another coworker from Apple, his wife, and their little girl Sophia. The three of them were a great team, and so good together!! We had lots of yummy, delicious food before heading out on the road.

Sophia the Princess, Jack the Spider, and Spencer the Bee (already chowing on candy) :)

We tried to make them pose for a mid-trick-or-treat photo. No such luck!

Jack and Spencer trying on their costumes earlier on Monday.

 Jack amazed us...he wasn't scared AT ALL! He had no shame about running up to someone's door, knocking, yelling "TRICK OR TREAT," getting candy and saying thank you. The only problem we had was when someone (nicely) held the bowl out for him to pick...it was like he was solving world peace. He would pick up a piece, turn it over, look at it, put it back, repeat....sigh. We have to work on that. :) Otherwise, he did great following the bigger kids all around and I have to admit - he got A LOT of candy. His spider basket was FULL by the time we were done!

"On to the next house, let's go let's go!"

"Trick or treat!"

And again. They must have hit at least 30 houses.

 Finally, it was getting late and it was time to go home...Jack was obviously very excited. He had no idea why we had to leave.

Overall it was a very special, awesome night. The weather was perfect (mid-60's) and we all had a great time. Chrissy and I were talking about how excited we are now for Christmas, because they will understand so much more. It's going to be a blast!!