We're having a GIRL!!!

Grant was very obliging during his ultrasound. He gave us a clear picture of his manhood and a beautiful profile of him sucking his thumb; and he has been working the camera ever since. Click here to see Grant's ultrasound pictures.

"Sadie", on the other hand, was not as obliging. She was rather modest and stubbornly refused to uncross her legs for quite a while. And instead of a beautiful profile picture, she gave us this shot.
In case you can't tell, it's a picture of her face. Good luck making out the eyes, nose, and mouth in the Rorschach.

Here's a picture of Tenille 21 weeks into this pregnancy.

If at first you don't succeed . . .

I have learned more about life, love, and the Gospel from my son in the last year than I did in the twenty-six years that preceded his birth. Today's lesson: PERSISTENCE. Grant spent an hour learning how to stand, take a step, fall gracefully, and do it all again. Before I knew it, he was walking across the room. He is such a great example!

I Offer This as Proof

Some days I really do think that I have the best baby in the world. While this is really more of an example than a rigorous proof, it illustrates a typical bedtime with Grant.

Seriously, this is how happy Grant is most nights: he lunges into the crib, grabs for Fox, and kicks and giggles as we put the blankets on him (he needs several because it is freezing in Pennsylvania). We turn off the lights and close the door and don't hear from him again until early morning (usually between 5 and 6). If only nap time were this pleasant . . .

Still Enjoying Thanksgiving Leftovers

I let Nathaniel be in charge of the stuffing this year. If I allow Nat to prepare more than one dish, we end up with way too much food. Unfortunately, I did not do a very good job of limiting myself and we still ended up with too much food. We're still enjoying Thanksgiving leftovers thanks to:
14 pounds of turkey
20 cups of the most delicious stuffing ever
6 cups of mashed potatoes
3 pies (my apple pie was amazing)
3 1/2 eaters (Tenille, Nat, Candace, and Grant)

Grant wasn't much help around the kitchen, but Candace did an excellent job keeping him from climbing in the drawers by distracting him with the camera. Here's Grant in what we affectionately call his Charlie Brown Sweater.

Another cute video

I recorded this video of Grant while we were visiting family in Utah. He loves having his feet tickled and always asks for more.

13 months: does this count as walking?

Nat got Grant to do this on his first try.
Nat: "Hey hon, look what Grant can do!"
Tenille: (rolls eyes) "I've been trying to get him to do that for weeks!"

3 Reasons I'm a Slacker Blogger

3. Nat's little brother Josh returned from a mission in India
Josh had a long layover in New York, which resulted in a quick trip to the city for our family. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures of Josh on our trip, but we got some cute pictures of Grant pointing at the dinosaur bones.

2. Tenille's little brother Preston returned from a mission in Brazil
Tenille and Grant flew to Utah to see Preston; Nat got to stay home and go to school. We had lots of fun visiting family and eating Mexican food. Grant changed so much over the week and learned so many new things: crawling down stairs, saying new words, and sliding down ramps.

1. We are going to have another baby in April
Hopefully this explains why I look a little fat in the pictures :). We are very excited to have another sweet spirit join our family. The baby is expected the end of April (Tenille is currently 16 weeks). Many of you are probably wondering if this baby was planned. The answer: it depends. We wanted our first two kids to be close together in age (2 years), but it took four years to get Grant and we weren't sure how long it would take to get another one . . . so the kids will be 18 months apart and we couldn't be happier! And happily, Tenille is almost feeling better.