Happy 2nd Birthday to Devon!

Devon turned two on September 21st and we had a birthday party for him on the 20th. As you can see, Spongebob was the theme. Spongebob is definitely Devon's favorite TV character. He and few other little boys had fun hitting the Spongebob pinata. We finally had to have Bryce bust it open. The thing seemed like it was made of steel! My mother-in-law, Kathy, made the adorable Spongebob cake. It was delicious! Devon got a couple of pairs of cool sunglasses. He likes just placing them on his head more than anything, like he's doing in his car. Devon got a lot of nice things for his birthday: clothes, Spongebob items, a Superman Halloween costume, shoes, bath toys, a Berenstain Bears DVD, and books. It was a nice party. Thank you to everyone who was able to come, and thank you to all who sent gifts and cards.

Misc. Pics

Here are just some different pictures that I have taken recently. Bryce and I went to Mammoth Hot Springs about a week and a half ago in Yellowstone National Park. We had already bought Playmill tickets to see "Guys and Dolls" on August 15, and then we found out that the park was free that weekend, so we decided to take advantage of it. This was the first time that we had gone to this part of the park. They were doing some construction, which included a lot of blasting, so we didn't see too many animals this time. I have never gotten to see a bear or a moose while I've been in the park.

I had Emily take a picture of my pregnant self to let you all see my belly's progress. I will be 25 weeks along tomorrow, and recently had to start pulling out the maternity shirts. I have been wearing maternity pants for awhile, but hadn't had to wear the shirts until a few days ago.

The reason I took a picture of the back of Devon's head was because he had his first official haircut. I trimmed a little curl awhile ago, but I really got the scissors going this time. I had to have Bryce and Emily help me hold onto Devon while I cut his hair, because he wasn't too thrilled with the process. I took the picture of Devon in his car, because I thought it was funny that he had put my car keys in the keyhole. I was looking for my keys and all of a sudden noticed them in his car. He's a funny boy, that's for sure!

A Girl!

Catherine had an ultrasound appointment yesterday, and at first the doctor couldn't tell if the baby was a boy or a girl. So, he went ahead and did all of the other stuff (checking the heart, doing measurements, etc). Devon kept looking at the ultrasound and saying "baby, baby" over and over again, so at least he understands, somewhat, what is going on. After a little bit, the doctor checked again and said that we are having a girl! The doctor said that both mom and baby are healthy and the expected due date remains the same-December 10th. We definitely have some busy months ahead. :)

Trip to Indiana

This past week was our annual trip to Indiana. We had a lot of fun visiting friends and family. The week just flew by. These pictures show some of our activities. Devon got to ride the carousel at the Washington County Fair a couple of times. We also let him play a couple of games, which he won prizes for. He had fun sharing a sno cone with my stepmom, Karen, while there! We went to the John Hays Museum in Salem and had Devon's pictures taken by Shane Dowling. Anyone can view these pictures and purchase them online. The website is www.dowlingfamilyphotos.com. You have to add the www. to make it work. When you get to the main page, scroll down and click on portrait proofs. Then click under the "libka" file. You will then be asked to give a password, which is "Devon". If anyone has trouble viewing the pictures, just e-mail us or give us a call. Emily and Dad are racing in one of the pictures. Emily likes to have what she calls "contests" when we visit Dad. They usually have a race, play basketball, throw a frisbee, etc. Dad always trash talks and Emily thinks it's great and always ends up winning the contests somehow. LOL! Devon also made a new friend named Lilli. She is my friend's, Jenne Smith, daughter. I was able to visit with Jenne, Andrea, Mariah, Summer, Rachel, and Ashley while we were there. It was nice to see them and catch up on things. It's always hard to say goodbye, but it is nice to have the time there that we do.

A Day at the Zoo

We took Devon to the Tautphaus Park Zoo in Idaho Falls for the first time a couple of weeks ago. He liked the monkeys the best. He kept putting his hand up to the window when the monkey would. Devon got restless after awhile, but it was fun to go there. I hadn't been to a zoo in a long time. We saw several neat animals - the ones that are pictured and we also saw bears, snow leopards, penguins, macaws, pelicans, donkeys, etc. Devon got to feed the ducks, which he really liked. One duck had a blue beak, so it was pretty cool looking. We went to the gift shop afterward and bought Devon a toy snake. He still likes playing with it, so I guess it was a good purchase. Devon is closing in on 22 months now. He talks a lot, but pretty much just one word at a time. We bought him a potty and have been slowly introducing him to it. I would love to get him potty trained before the baby is born, but I'm not sure I'll get that lucky.

Fun at the Park

I took Emily and Devon to the park last week to play. We mostly went to go to the Splash Park, but the weather wasn't cooperating. Once the kids finally got into the water, Emily fell and scraped up her knee and leg after only playing for a couple of minutes. The water was cold, since the weather really wasn't warm enough. Devon seemed a little gun shy of the water, which kind of surprised me. He mostly just ran around the outside of the splash park. But, as you can see, Devon had a lot of fun on the play equipment.

Devon's New Bike

We finally put together Devon's bike that he got for his birthday. It was for 18 months old and up, so we just now got around to putting it together. He likes it really well, but doesn't know how to pedal yet, so he just scoots around on it. We saw Jared, Kylie, and Dax a couple of weeks ago. Dax will be one year old on June 17. We couldn't believe how big he's gotten!