Sensible Shoes

 It's finally happened.  I now have to wear 'sensible shoes'.  Gone are the days when I could run into Shoe Carnival (or Macy's or...well...any regular shoe store), pick up a sale pair of shoes and be on my merry way.  No, my feet have officially evolved into what I loving refer to as 'duck feet'.

Thank you multiple pregnancies.  

To be fair, this is also genetic.  I have the EXACT same feet as my 85 year old grandmother.  Fortunately, there are more options than SAS shoes.  I get to shop for goodies like Keen's and Kalso Earth Shoes. I have not yet found a shoe company that makes an attractive AND comfortable heeled shoe.  As soon as I find them, I will let you know.  Trust me.

This also means I will have limited shoes for about 5 years or so as these types of shoes NEVER go on sale...and in my 30's I've discovered that I have a hard time parting with large sums of money (this would have been handier when I was younger...).

In other cuteness news, we went to feed the Saint Mary of the Woods Alpacas this weekend.  The kids get a real kick out of this, and admittedly, so do I.

The alpacas were kind of showy this time.  One in particular was spitting.  I didn't get a picture, but Harrison thought that was pretty funny.

The Fiberist in me would love to have my own alpacas. 

 The realist in me says 'maybe we should try chickens first...'

These ladies are just so sweet!

Birds and Bees

Ahnna knows where babies come from...kind of. 

Here's the scoop.  

It all started when we acquired Otis.  The first week he came to live with us, we had him neutered.  Somewhere in conversation Ahnna picked up the phrase 'we cut Otis's balls off'.  And she repeated it, sometimes to random strangers, sometimes just to either Logan or myself...but she repeated it almost daily. 

 Now, Otis likes to lay in a sunny spot on our upper landing and often, Ahnna and I will sit and rub his belly together.  About two weeks ago, we're sitting there giving Otis his rubdown when Ahnna tells me that Otis has his balls cut off.  I (having heard this before...) say 'yes, Otis no longer has balls'.  

Then after a minute Ahnna asks me 'why did we do that?'  

Here is the rest of that conversation...

Me:  Well, we didn't want Otis to make puppies.

Ahnna:  Boys don't have puppies! (giggling)

Me:  No they don't, but they help make puppies...

Ahnna:  How do they make puppies?

Me:  Well...boy doggies make sperm in their balls and they put it in the girl doggies and they make puppies.

Ahnna sits for a minute...

and then crinkles up her nose and gets all serious and says:

Daddy did that to you....didn't he?

Me:  Umm....Yes.  Yes he did.

Ahnna:  Oh.

She didn't ask any further and I didn't offer more...but after the initial panic of potentially explaining exactly how daddy 'did that to me',

 I've been giggling about this since.  

I hope you did too.

This week....

 Look! A picture where BOTH children are looking in my general direction!

The thing I like about this picture is that you can see the carbon copies we've created of each other.  On the left, pure Alissa....on the right, pure Logan.

I'm super curious about #3.  Maybe we'll mix it up this time?

There hasn't been a whole lot going on this week...

Lots of meetings and late nights.

(Derby & Library)

I had a birthday (33!).

And we're going to investigate signing up Ahnna for Girl Scouts this evening. 

 She came home with the flyer and very dramatically announced 'Mommy, I HAVE to be a Girl Scout'.

So we'll go check it out.

I also took the next picture last weekend to send to Aunt Sissy.  

I sometimes read a blog and everything is all shiny and perfect in the blogger's home....

mine....

nah.

For those curious, I was preparing the 'famous' and ever popular Spaghetti Casserole.

We have to keep the trash can on the counter because Otis won't leave it alone.

Harrison eats 24/7 and is investigating cereal because I starve him & not five seconds before taking this picture had told him 'no' on yogurt- apparently the cereal was handy,

and Ahnna is 'helping' me with the Green Pepper (otherwise known as playing with it...).

Yes, I still have Christmas Ornaments up from last year in the windows. 

 It seems rather silly to take them down now.

Dr. Bombay

I took this picture this past spring and came across it while I was cleaning out picture files.

I miss puggy snorts... and rubbing your fat rolls... and full-face puggy kisses... 

Even though I'm feeling nostalgic...there are habits of yours that I don't miss, but I'm going to be polite and not mention them. 

I gotta keep a little bit of perspective here....

I guess...I just miss you Old Stinky Dog.

<3

Popcorn Festival

Such big blue eyes!!!

So it's the beginning of September and in the Tipton household that means it's the beginning of FESTIVAL SEASON!!  
Since moving back to the Marshall Area, we've been big fans of the Casey Illinois Popcorn Festival.   We went a little later in the day than usual, so we didn't end up with too many pictures because I don't like the flash setting (everything comes out blurry & with red eye).
This is the first year that we've actually 'done' rides with the kids.  Ahnna is pretty laid back when it comes to telling her that we don't have any more tickets, but Harrison is a little harder to convince.  One look at the piggy train and the regular train & I knew that our previous ticket tactics were things of the past.  We went the ever-popular bracelet route and I can say that the money spent (although it hurt to shell it out....) was completely worth it.  The kids rode rides for a good two and half hours, ate a cupcake, played on the playground and fell asleep on the way home.
 Awesome.

Piggy Train.

This is right before the operator had to stop the ride because Harrison was trying to jump out and examine the track....

'I ride Nemo's!'

Ahnna is in the 'I like to have my picture taken with my mouth open' phase.  

I'll just mention that she ONLY ate the icing.  The rest of the cupcake was abandoned....but it was pretty good icing.

It's A.....

 Definitely a LEG!

 Yoga pose & potentially blowing bubbles?

Playing with hands.

 Ambiguous parts....

IT'S A BABY!
That much we know for sure!

It might be a girl...as it was for the first half of the scan.

It might be a boy...as it was for the second half of the scan.

At the end of the appointment when the technician gave us our cd of pics,
 she apologized that she wasn't sure,
 but she's leaning towards 'boy'.
I was reassured that all vital body parts were in the right place and functioning well.

We're also measuring a week 'early'
 although babies come when they will come
and we have an ETA of the week of January 11th-17th.
Ish.
Current name selections are as follows
 (however they are not binding until we actually see the face of this little Tipton)

Girl:  Evelyn Grace
Boy:  Kellan Wilder


Feeling happy, incredibly lucky, and excited!

20 Weeks

Oh, belly shots...

So fun to try and take a tasteful picture of my ever-growing (and now definite) baby-bulge.  We have our Anatomy Scan scheduled for Tuesday, so we (hopefully) get to find out if we're team pink or team blue.  Of course, I get to torture poor Logan with the girl-name-game.  Grunts & 'no-ways' will no longer be acceptable answers...he's now going to be expected to play. 

I will say that he might luck-out if we get a definite 'meat and potato' shot.  Harrison left nothing to the imagination and we're pretty much in agreement on a boy name this time. 

We've been seeing a homebirth midwife this time around, so we're getting into nitty-gritty questions like 'what kind of birth pool do we want'  and 'where are we going to keep/what are we going to do with the placenta'? 

Logan is still kind of in shock that the midwife doesn't take it with her... 

I'm hoping that I'll actually want to do a water birth, but the biggest thing I learned in my last birth was that I may change my mind while in transition and everything I thought would be nice and comfy wasn't.  

But I also wasn't 'allowed' access to either a shower or tub last time...

Most everyone we've mentioned our preferred birthing method to this time around has been supportive, 

and I don't know if we've just become those friends/family that do things a little offbeat or not, but we really appreciate the support and open-mindedness of those we've told so far.

We're truly hoping and planning for a smooth, uneventful birth 

but we are also preparing a back up plan should it be necessary.

If you had told me while I was pregnant with my first that I would be SO excited to give birth, I would have thought you were nuts.  I look back now on my first pregnancy and I was so scared of labor and delivery that I pretty much ignored that it was going to happen until I was actually in labor.  It was a medicated birth, helped lead me to my second and very empowering birth, and I'm curious how this birth will continue to change my perception of this process.

Until next time...

xoxoxoxo