It's A Boy

On Thursday Ben and I took Olivia to our big Doctor's appointment. We were scheduled to have our sonogram and then meet with Dr. Peppy. I missed the first part of the sonogram because the screen wasn't working and the tech didn't turn it so I could see as well. But Ben and Olivia were watching. She asked if we wanted to know the sex of the baby and I practically screamed that yes we did. Practically seconds after that she announced that "It's a boy!". Oh what great news, we could not be more excited to have a son coming.

The heart rate was steady at 150 BPM's. He was very healthy and very active.

We decided that we would have a get together at our house on Saturday to announce the gender to our family and friends. How we managed not to spill the beans is still beyond me but we made it and everyone had a great time. We played a little game where everyone picked a boy or girl duck out of the bag until the right one was chosen.

It's a Boy!

Benjamin James Morse Jr. 



Pumpkin Patch

Finally last night before i had to run back out for a work dinner, we were able to take Olivia to the Pumpkin Patch. There is a little church by us that fills their little field with the orange balls every year. Last year was the first time we took Olivia, but this year was much more fun.

She walked around, touched them, and tried to pick them up. We let her pick out a bunch of the little ones to put in a bowl. She has a pretty good sense about which one to pick.

17 Month's

17 Month's

Another month has passed us by and Olivia, you just continue to change and grow.

In the past few weeks you have begun to really put words together. I can't wait to hear you say a full sentance. My favorite was listening to you at Mommom's the other day. While you were sitting in your charir having lunch we were watching Barney and when it came to the end of the show you sang the first part of the song. 'I love you, you love me...' I about feel off the chair. I wish that I had it on camera.

You learned a new animal this month, Daddy taught you how to do Shark. You put your little hand or hands on your head and go 'do do, do do!'. It is the cutest thing since the chicken.

We have had another month of cuts and bruises, but they seem to be slowing down just a little. The good news is we are moving into the colder month's, so maybe the extra padding in those layers will help cushion you a little more.

Your appetite is still going strong and we just continue to introduce you to more and more. You still love your cous cous and green beans (which you now can say), but we are adding to that list. I am not sure weather to be happy that you don't care for cookies and cakes or to be happy because you would rather have fruit. You did have a few licks of my lollipop while we were at Sea World last weekend so we know you won't avoid the sweets completely. We now have a small cooler bag that we tote just about anywhere with all your snacks. Luckily for Mommy too, I always put something in there for me.

The big news this month is that you are finally all moved into your new room. We still have some parts of your wall decor to move over but everything else is there. You also love to point to Mommy's ever growing belly. If we ask you where Mommy's baby is you come and point to it. When we sit in bed or on the couch you wave to the baby in my belly and say hi, you love to give it kisses and squish your face into it. Daddy and I love to watch you do these things and just hope that when the baby gets here it continues. I have my doubts when I see you hug and hold your baby doll and then 2 minutes later you throw her to the floor and walk away.



Just for fun! Some of the ways you sleep.



What's In A Name?

A name is only the one thing that is attached to this new being for the rest of 'its' life. Ok unless I have one who decides its not good enough and goes to change it. But since it won't be Guitar, Blanket, Apple, or anything else strange I doubt that will happen. We want a strong name thats original but not overly used.

Ben and I have had our names picked out for about a month now. Which is really good because with Olivia we had it narrowed to 2 girls names and no boys names on the day we found out. But to us keeping it meaningful to us is important.

Olivia's middle name is my Mom's and my middle name. Which made it special and important for me to have our oldest or only daughter continue this tradition we started.

Most Popular Baby Names for 2012

Will the new baby's name be on this list? We would love to hear your guess on what the new baby's name will be.



Gender Predictions

Since we are 8 days away from G-Day (Gender Day) I figured we should try out some of the Old Wives Tales to see what they predict.

My favorite one is the BPM (Beats Per Minute) Test. If the baby's heart rate is under 139BPM then its a boy and over 140BMP its a girl.
We only have one heart rate to go by and it was 160BPM.
Girl

Carrying high its a girl and low its a boy.
Even though I am only 5'1 and just like Olivia the baby has only so many options, I feel like it's higher then lower.
Girl

Experiencing Morning Sickness they say its a girl.
Yea and lots of it.
Girl

Craving sweet foods they say its a girl and sour food its a boy.
Bring on the lemons, pickles, and vinegar (not sure if that's sour but it sure isn't sweet.)
Boy

If Daddy is gaining sympathy weight it is said that it is a boy.
No such luck here.
Girl

Is your belly shaped like a watermelon (girl) or a basketball (boy).
I have to say that both times now I have been very round like a ball.
Boy

Chinese Lunar Calendar Gender Prediction Chart
It calculates your Chinese Lunar age and Lunar month at time of conception to predict if its a boy or girl.

Our Results

Boy.

Online Gender Predictor
Based on this information our results were:

Boy.

When I did both of these last tests based on Olivia's information they both came back that it was a girl. Hmmm....?

Well I guess we will know after next Thursday although you will have to wait until Saturday to find out since that is when we are having our BIG Gender Reveal Day. I can't wait to see what is in there. Graduation from It-hood to He/She-ness!

Fall Fun

We spent the last weekend kicking off the holiday season...YEA! We even planned our activities on the best weekend, it was slightly overcast with a nice breeze. Saturday we took Olivia to Scott and Long's Farm in Zellwood, yea I had never been either. It was fun just a little disappointed that there was no pumpkin patch, you could just buy them at the little store they set up. But the kids had a blast playing, doing the corn maze, and taking a hay ride through the field.

We even enjoyed a nice lunch on the way back to Mark and Jenny's at the local Chili's. Which was pretty much the only place to eat there. We were in the country folks we were lucky they had a Chili's at all. Then it was back to their house to make Halloween Gingerbread Houses. Now, this was a task we decided that should be left up to us mom's to build the house while the guys took the kids to the playground. Then we could decorate it while the guys went to the store for dinner goods. But to get back to the building...none of us had done this before! It was interesting but we figured it out. The fun part was letting the kids decorate. Olivia sat with me while I did most of the decorating and she decided that she was just going to eat the candy. She picked up a gummy pumpkin and just started eating. Oh well there is only so much I can fight her on. I think we had more candy on the ground then on our houses. It was a blast.

Sunday it was off to Sea World to see the fish and the sharks. We joined the rest of the Morse clan got our plan of attack ready. In just a few hours we had seen 2 shows, had lunch, Trick-or-Treated (sort of), and rode some rides. Pretty impressive for only a few hours.

Olivia loved the Dolphin and Whale show and the Shamu Show. She just stares and claps for them the whole time. I love watching her expression and her 'wow' face that she makes. After 2 days of trying to get her to try on her Halloween costume we finally got her in it while we were there so she could get some candy. For not taking a nap until 4 she did great and had fun spending the day with her grandparents, aunt's and unlce.



We sure do have the cutest little 'Buzz Buzz' in the world!





Allow Me to Introduce...

...LaLa

In the past few weeks Olivia has gone from looking at her reflection, or being asked who she was and saying 'Baby' to now saying 'LaLa'. She tries to repeat you when you say Olivia but it comes out a little more like LaLa or Jala (Hala)!

Tia and Lala!
Please excuse the looks I was getting from these two, although I am dying that they are making the same face!

I am thrilled that she is learning to say her name, I wasn't sure when they figure this out. What is even cuter is that her very first BFF Caitlin (also our God Daughter) has been calling herself Tia. So we now have the adventures of Tia and LaLa to report on and there are lots of them. They have a love/hate (but only when certain toys are involved) relationship. Oh I know their Daddy's are going to have lots of fun in the future.

We have had quit the week so far and today is only Wednesday. I thought I would share some photos from what we have been up to.



Olivia loves my rain boots and carries them around the house now. Silly girl!




Just monkeying around in our new PJ's having some more dinner. This kid can eat, you would never have thought we had
so much trouble getting her to actually do that.




She wanted a snack like Mommy, so Daddy made a special PB&J for her. She discovered that she didn't mind the jelly on her
little fingers because she really likes it. So she pulled it apart and ate the jelly first then went back to eat some of the sandwich.
Oh yea, pardon the dried blood in her nose, no its not jelly. She fell before I got home and hit her head and nose.




Olivia is beginning to be kinda helpful in the kitchen, she has always been interested in what you are doing in there. We made pizza!
Then she touched the light bulb under the counter and burned 2 of her fingers. Yea, needless to say Tuesday evening was not a very
good time.

Happy Wednesday, here's to Friday coming quickly!

It's Potty Time

This past week we began the exciting new journey of potty training.


So far it has been pretty entertaining, but no exciting news yet. Olivia loves to sit on the potty and read, or carry it around the house. She has actually sat on it twice and gone number two unfortunately she was dressed and wearing a diaper. Nor did she tell us, but she has her signs so you know what she is doing.