It's a...

I am still in shock!!! But it looks like we will be evening things up a bit here in the Pyper home. I would have posted some ultrasound pictures, but you can tell its your second child when you forget to even ask for the pictures, let alone get them on disc! :)
(Like we HAD to do with Tucker!) :)
Anyway, I thought for sure it was a boy! I don't know why. Yesterday I was in too much shock to even be excited!:) But the more I think about it, the more and more excited I'm getting. I just didn't think I was ready to give up the boy mode I'm in right now and was hoping to continue it a little bit longer. I mean we have a good thing going on with Tucker right now. I didn't want to disrupt! :) But I guess we'll now be immersing ourselves in ruffles and pink and everything else that comes with little girls! :)
It was really funny because Tucker was also set on the idea that it was a boy. He would always tell me that he wanted to teach him this or that. So when we told him yesterday it was a girl. He was almost in tears. He just kept on saying over and over, 'It's not a girl, it's not a girl! I don't want a girl!' Ben did his best to convince him otherwise and I was still just laying on the ultrasound table in shock. Eventually Ben convinced him that it was a good thing and he left the appointment excited about having a little sister. When we got home after the appointment I asked him what he wanted to do for the rest of the day. He told me he wanted to play with his girlfriend. I asked him who his girlfriend was and he said, 'My new baby girlfriend.' It was very cute and I can tell he's already warming up to the idea! :) He also told me today that he wanted to name the girl Jessica. But then he said, 'I don't like the name Jessica, we will call her Jess.' So apparently he's put a little thought into it! :) And Ben, who was the biggest advocate for another boy admitted to me yesterday that he had always hoped for a little girl. I think he was even more excited than I was! :)
Anyway, our lives are about to be flipped upside down, I can tell already! :)

Busy, busy, busy...

I always feel like I have nothing exciting to blog about but then I'll go through pictures and think to myself, 'oh, I want to blog about that...oh, I want to blog about that....' Anyway, we've been pretty busy lately, and here's what we've been up to:
First, the biggest news of all is that Tucker is potty trained!!! I can't believe that he is such a big boy already! So all of my friends told me that I'll know when it's ready to start potty training, that he'll do it when he's ready. I was still clueless, I've never done it before. I always thought to myself, how will I know when he's ready??? Anyway, a few weeks ago we were playing outside and he told me he had to go poop. So we ran inside and he went poop and pee on the big boy potty. I thought to myself, if he is telling me he has to go poop, then he is ready to be potty trained. The next day was a Wednesday and we didn't have any plans, so I stripped him and put big boy undies on him and we didn't leave the house all day. He had a few accidents that day. The next day, Thursday came and NOT ONE ACCIDENT! He was already a pro! The next day, Friday he was accident free until we to our friends house that night for dinner and to play games. He had one accident there, but also went twice in the toilet there, and since that Friday he has been accident free! The next day, Saturday we even went to Chuck E Cheese and he had no accidents. He even was good through trips to the park that week, visits to friends, church, and shopping trips! I keep on waiting for him to relapse or something, because it seems like it should have been more work, potty training him, but he was a breeze! But I've found that the things I just dread doing, aren't really as bad as I'm expecting, luckily. Anyway, he has been accident free for two weeks now and it was so easy! I do still put a diaper on him at night. I'm not even going to attempt night time potty training for another few weeks. I want him to get in the habit of this during the day and then we will attempt night times. Night time potty training kind of scares me, I have no clue what to do or how to do it! If anyone has any good advice, it would be greatly appreciated!

Is it weird that I was so excited so I took a picture of him on the toilet for all the world to see?

So this is a sight that we see quite a bit around our house lately since he never wants to put his pants back on. He just wants to run around in his big boy undies all the time...

The next exciting piece of news around here is that we (ok, Ben) changed the bathroom floors! yeah! Ok, maybe no one else is as excited about this as I am! :) It was long overdue and I am so happy to see the ugly pink linoleum GONE! Tucker, of course had to help every step of the way! Thanks to my wonderful father who also helped a ton! I somehow missed taking a picture of him when he was here helping...



This is right after they were done putting it in, but before they were finished with everything. Notice the toilet in the bathtub...

And the finished product. 100 times better! Thanks Ben for all of your hard work!!!

I went to the Kieth Urban concert a few weeks ago and it was so much fun! I went with my friends, Danna, Heidi and Sharlene. We had great seats and he is such a good live performer! He is seriously so hot when he sings. (we also think that he may have been a little tipsy while performing) But he seriously made it the best concert, he was so into it and going up into the stands and having a grand ol' time! The group 'Little Big Town' opened for him and they were really good too. Since then I have actually listened to their CD, I had never actually heard of them before, and they were just as good live! They harmonize great together, and they were good, too!
Here are all of them performing a song together:







It was so much fun! Thanks girls!!! :)
And a few more random pictures. Here is a picture of me. I am now officially 18 1/2 weeks along. Our ultrasound is on Monday to find out what we are having. I'm so excited!

And now I am off to join this little one in a little nap... This pregnancy just wipes me out sometimes! :)

Sure Signs of the Fall...

Besides the weather, there are always a few things that always remind us that the Fall season is here.
Here are a few signs that it is fall around here:
1. Festivals. Such as: The Fair & Pig out in the Park. Here we are at Pig out in the Park. After being extremely disappointed at POITP we opted to skip the fair. I always get so excited for things like this, I always loved going to them when I was younger; But the greasy food and big crowds just don't appeal to me at all anymore! :) Tucker and Ben rode the Carousel downtown. I can't do rides like this, just watching them go around and around almost made me sick! Tucker is always so excited to go on rides like this, but I don't think he really likes them. His face was hilarious the whole time. I tried to get a picture of it, but none turned out. He is always scared out of his mind, holding on for dear life throughout the entire ride. But afterwards, he will tell you he loved it and will want to go again. Funny boy!

Ben & him also played in the jumpy castles...

Another sure sign that the fall is here for us this year, are these three cute little boys...
Tucker and his two best friends, Carter and Owen get together once a week for a little pre-school/play date. I love that Tucker has such great buddies already! They are so cute together. We are going to focus on a letter a week.

We rotate houses, and this week we had it at our house, and we started with the letter A! (yes, I'm a little behind in updating my calendar!) :)

The third thing that reminds us that the Fall is here, is Carly's birthday. You can't go wrong at Chuck E Cheese. It was our first trip for the season, and I'm sure it won't be our last! Here she is showing us how old she is-3...

And of course, Tucker had to show how old he is...

Anticipating the cake...

I wanted to get a picture of the two of them and Tucker was more than happy to oblige, but Carly, not so much! :)

Despite the fact that the seasons are changing, we have been trying to enjoy these last few wonderful summer evenings by going down to the river to play. We love it down there. The boys can be boys and it is absolutely beautiful! We are so lucky to live is such a beautiful place...

skipping rocks together...

This one of all of us is not the most beautiful part of the river, but you get the idea... :)

Tuckers face after a good skip! :)

Anniversary Celebrations

6 years with this guy...

meant some serious celebrating! :)
We went to Spencer's. It is supposed to have the best steaks in town. It definitely did not disappoint. The steak was delicious. Here is my beef with places like this: Yes, it was delicious; and YES, it was expensive. But that's all it was. Steak. The sides left more to be desired. The Calamari for appetizer was not fabulous. For the money would I have been happy going to PF Changs or Olive Garden? (Both of which are a lot LESS expensive.) YES. Was it great for a one night romantic evening with my husband. You betcha! Will I go again, probably not! I didn't love it THAT much! :)
Anyway, back to our fabulous evening...

After dinner I surprised Ben with a concert. We went to see 'The Dave Brubeck Quartet'. Most people that I tell this to, have no idea who they are. They are a jazz quartet. Dave Brubeck has been a jazz pianist since 1949. He is considered a 'living legend'. (yes, I read the pamphlet with his biography on it.) Yes, he is that old. I had never heard of them before I married Ben. But he grew up listening to this type of music and loves it! And it was amazing. This 89 year old man has fingers that move faster than my 2 year old sons! I couldn't believe it! I kind of chuckled to myself when Dave Brubeck came out on the stage, barely able to walk. But he sat down at that piano and it was amazing!

Pictures were not allowed during the concert so I snapped some before it began. ( I only had my little point and shoot camera, so they didn't turn out so well.) The concert was in the beautiful and old FOX theater. It is a fabulous old theater here in Spokane that has just been renovated. You will notice two things from this picture below:
1) all of those light spots. Don't they say that those spots in pictures are a sign of ghosts? If so, I would believe it. This theater is so old, it totally wouldn't surprise me that some ghosts are hanging out in it. and...
2) Notice that we were the only ones at the concert under the age of 50! It was a rockin' time! :)

But it was a wonderful evening with this guy...

Tuckers bad week...

Haircut one day...

a fall out of the crib AND a run in with the banister on the stairs the next...

Poor kid has band aids and bruises all over himself!!! :)
He is such a boy!

Ode to Summer...

Since the summer is ending and I just found these pictures on my camera that I had forgotten about, I thought I'd better post about these happenings before I forget and the summer escapes me forever.:) Pregnancy brain, ya know...
When my sister was here in June, she had a birthday but her husband wasn't here, so he set up a birthday surprise, and surprised her with a brand new sewing machine. She had been wanting one and she was SO excited.

My cousin, Trinidy and I at the fabric store where the surprise took place...

Tucker and Pat just playin'... Tucker is my brother-in-law's little brother and whenever Tucker sees a guy with either red hair or curly hair, he gets really excited and thinks that its Pat! :) He loves Pat!

After the sewing machine stop, we had to stop for some milkshakes...

My brother and sister-in-law also came into town to see Kayla while she was here. Tucker & Keyton are always happy to see each other.

Here they are making silly faces at Papa's house...


My sister-in-law, Angie is preggers and is having a little boy in October, so her friends threw her a baby shower... she got lots of goods!

All of us girls at the shower.


My dad, Nathan, Tucker and I headed down to Milton-Freewater, OR to visit my aunt and uncle and grandparents and mom for a few days. Milton-Freewater is a tiny little town where my parents grew up and where I still have lots of family. My mom now lives in Walla Walla which is just about 5 minutes away. We stayed with my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Scott. They have a pool and lots of dogs, and lots of girls to give attention, and Tucker was in heaven. Oh, and my favorite... lots of good food! :) Thanks, Kathy and Scott!!! The boys went down to work, my grandparents house was in desperate need of some repair and a new paint job. But Tucker and I went down to play... :)
We went swimming every day we were down there.
Him and my cousin Trinidy...

And more swimming...

We went on a walk one night around my Aunt & Uncle's apple orchard. I love warm summer evenings!

Tucker loves my Aunt Kathy...

And more swimming...

My other cute cousins: Kristin & Stormee...

Thanks guys for letting us come and stay with you! We always have a good time at the Campbell's! :)

We have also had a pass to Wild Waters this summer. Last winter I couldn't pass up the good deal knowing that after only going a few times it would pay for itself. We didn't get out as much as I'd hoped, but we definitley got our money's worth. We went for the last time this week as the weather is now turning colder and the park is closing after Labor day. I finally busted out my camera on our last trip. Tucker certainly loved it. I thought he would like the toddler area with shallower water, smaller slides and fun water toys, but he almost always just wanted to wear his floaties and swim like a little fish in the big pool.




tucker & carly...

in the car, ready to go swimming...

Ben came with us one day and him and Tuck had so much fun together. Tucker always refuses to go down the big slides with me whenever it was just the two of us, but when Ben was there, of course, he was so happy to go down them with his daddy! He is such a daddy's boy!

Farewell summer, we will miss you!