Toucan Sam, or Samantha? Hmmm...

The latest addition to the nursery...

I see this fella every time I walk out of my bedroom

and sometimes I think, "I really like it!",

and sometimes I think, "why is it watching me!?".

Baby's room in the making

This room is the smallest in the house and actually started off as the dogs room!  Back when the big boys were crated, it was the the best place to put a Great Dane size crate.  It wasn't just where we put the dogs, it was decorated like a dog room, picture frames, little art things, etc.!  But now, it will be the baby's room.  We're going from dog theme to jungle theme!  Here are a few pictures to give you an idea.

The tree frog only took a few hours to do, not bad (I think) for my first time!  The palm tree, well that took quite a few more hours - I didn't count them!  Start to finish it probably took me a week and a half working on it here and there.  I think I'll be adding something else, maybe a colorful bird or some turtles somewhere, but I think for now I'm taking a little break!

Dogs

I have no new baby news to report, all is going well and the little munchkin is growing just fine.  25 weeks tomorrow, so only three more weeks and it's the third trimester!  Dum da dum dum.

So in this case I'll just report on the dogs... 

Drake - he who doesn't understand why he can't comfort the couch 24 hours a day - still enjoys a good romp in the yard, searching for squirells, bunnies, chunks of grass to pull up, perimeter patrol for other dogs, and a nice twig to chew on...

As for J.J., remember that "ball of the day" I mentioned before?  Hello November 6th ball...  You can see this one has met the lawn mower, but it's still one of his favorites, and one of ours I must say!  Ahh, quiet.  He sure doesn't act like a 9 year old when it's ball time.

J.J. in the Jungle...

Ok, so I really want to stress the fact that I did not pose J.J. for this picture.  Kevin and I were working on the nursery and taking some pictures.  I looked down at the rug and there's J.J. trying to hide himself amongst the other jungle animals!  He's perfectly covering the giraffe's head.  What a cutie.

Happy Birthday...

J.J. turned 9 yesterday!  For his birthday he got three new squeaky balls.  He has a bad habit of bringing his ball of the day outside - which typically gets left outside to meet the doom of the lawn mower - thereby loosing the squeak.  So for now the house is loud again with the sounds of J.J. playing ball, all day long if he could - or actually I should say if WE were willing!  We just may need to introduce these new balls to the lawn mower before baby arrives!  Sorry J...

20 Weeks

We're half way to baby day!  20 weeks along now and we had another ultrasound today.  Everything is looking good, they think the 2/20 due date is still right on, and they think the baby weighs about 12 ounces!  Before you ask - NO we didn't find out the sex of the baby!  It's still a surprise!  The baby is moving a lot now, I actually think he or she is trying to send S.O.S. messages to Colorado...  These ultrasound pictures are not the greatest, I guess baby is camera shy already!  In the profile picture you can see the head/nose and I think that's an ear...  The other shot is of its feet.  Can't see any bunions...  Hmm...  what could that mean?  ha ha.

Camping by the Mississippi

We definitely had a nice relaxing time camping in Thomson, Illinois.  Sure it was a little cold, a little windy, but still relaxing all the same!  I definitely have to give kudos to Kevin for being prepared for the cold, he even bought a heated blanket for the trip!  Our site was not quite as fabulous as I had dreamed - in fact we had to pick a new site otherwise our fire pit would have been right on top of the massive RV that was parked a little too close to our site.  We were across the road from the river, not right on it.  Anyway, it was a nice time and we would certainly love to return to this campground.  There was also this great farmstand nearby that sold HUGE pumpkins for a steal of a price.  Another great nearby place to visit is the Mississippi Palisades State Park which would be really great for a fall colors drive!