Go Cats!

We went to Abilene this weekend for ACU's homecoming.  We all had a great time and Sydney had a blast!  She went to a carnival, parade, played with her friends from Austin, and got to go to the zoo!  We also took some pictures while we were there for our Christmas card.  She was not too cooperative during the morning session, so we had to go back after nap to try again. Luckily those pictures went much better and our Christmas card has been ordered!  I have posted some of the more candid pictures from the shoot for you to enjoy.

Here she is posing in her new ACU cheerleader uniform.  We passed by a cheerleader on our way to the car and Sydney yelled out, "GO CATS!"  She was so excited!

Here she is showing you what she does about 15 times a day, hugging her brothers.

This is a fun action shot of her in the new dress I made for her birthday.

Smelling a rose.

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Posing with the cute statues.

On the steps in the science building.

And here are some pictures from the Abilene Zoo. For those of you who don't know, this is one of the absolute best zoos for kids. They actually let you feed the animals with this special animal food they give you at the gate.  Sydney loved it! Especially feeding the giraffes on the bridge that goes over their enclosure because you can place the food right onto their outstretched tongues.

Cali-forn-i-a

Last week we packed up the family and headed to sunny California.  San Francisco to be exact. Tony had a conference and we all decided to go and have some fun for a few days before it is too late for me to travel.  Sydney and I stayed fairly close to the hotel in Union Square and went shopping, to the playground, the carousel and fun restaurants.  The conference provided childcare so we were able to leave Sydney there some and go to some fantastic restaurants at night and take a little side trip to Muir Woods and the wine country.  We had a great time just the two of us and enjoyed a quiet day together filled with seeing God's beautiful world.  The next day all three of us headed to Fisherman's Wharf and the recently opened Academy of Sciences for some family fun.  Sydney says she really enjoyed seeing the penguins and touching the sea-stars in the aquarium.  We went back to the carousel and the playground before enjoying a fun dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.  Daddy and Sydney demolished a slice of Dulce de Leche cheesecake with whipped cream.  Mommy and the boys were too full!  All in all we had a great time on our last family of three vacation.

First Question

Having had a day to ponder the wonderful news of our healthy baby boys, I find myself with more questions than answers.  What do I do with boys?  I was not blessed with a brother, so I am sorely lacking in the boy knowledge department.  Sure, I have a husband, but he is a man. I missed the whole "boy" time.  It may feel like he is a boy at times (i.e. picking up after him, cleaning, etc.) but he is definitely a grown man.  I have an almost three year old little girl. She wears tutus and hair-bows and tights. She plays with dolls and Dora and dishes.  She would have no idea what to do with trucks or trains or pirates.  We go to gymnastics and dance, not football and baseball.  Therefore, I do not know what to do with a boy, much less two of them.  I feel it will not be terribly different for the first year or two, but after that I fear I will be at a loss.  I don't want to encourage them to be rough and tumble, but neither do I want them to be girly boys.  I don't want them to play with guns and Power Rangers, but is it unavoidable?  How far does nature versus nurture go?  I know I don't have to have all the answers today, or even in the next year, but the questions are certainly already here.  If any of you have any thoughts or advice, please feel free to share them with me.  Any words of encouragement are greatly appreciated.  Many more questions to come in the future.

Two Very Healthy Baby...

We got up extra early this morning and went for our sonogram.  It was a little tough to tell at first because they were being a little shy, so we had to wait until they were ready to cooperate. The sonographer checked them both from head to toe while we waited patiently for them to move into viewing position.  Everything looked absolutely perfect.  All of their measurements were exactly what they should have been for 21 weeks.  Their brains and hearts looked great, kidneys and stomaches functioning as they should be.  And then the sonographer said, "We have a tallywacker!" And then a few minutes later she said, "We have another tallywacker!"  It is 100% positive that we are having two baby boys.  Tony is shocked. I am simply thrilled that they are both so healthy.  And Sydney.  Well, Sydney is voicing her disapproval.  Her initial reaction to the news of her brothers was, "NO! I want sisters!!!" Followed by some crying.  We, of course, had the video camera on hand to record her reaction for posterity.  I am sure someday we will all have a big laugh over it.  We respectfully request your prayers as we think about and learn what it will mean to be the parents of two little boys. We know it will not be the same as having another daughter and appreciate your advice and prayers as we prepare for their arrival in our family.  And if anyone has any ideas for bringing Sydney around, bring em on.  Love to all and many thanks for your continued prayers.

Brothers

Baby A's First Photo

Baby B's First Photo

Nice Calm Week

Everything has been pretty laid back around the Fillmore house for the last week which was very welcome after last week's events.  Sydney is all healed and will most likely not even have a scar to show when she tells her story thanks to the expertise of our plastic surgeon friend.  She does have two scabs on her knees from a sweet wipeout in the park on Tuesday, but I will take a couple of bloody knees any day over a trip to the ER for a date with a plastic surgeon and his scary looking torture devices.  

Sydney is convinced that "her babies" are both girls and is already purchasing gifts for them most recently in the form of identical pink elephants.  I am open for suggestions on what to do with these gifts if we find out the babies are boys.  Speaking of... the big day is only two days away!!! So please be sure to tune in sometime on Monday for the BIG announcement and hopefully some pictures if I can figure out the scanner to computer stuff. 

I am finally well and truly showing now and I seem to get bigger each day instead of each week with Sydney, so who knows just how big I will end up before they are born.  I will try to upload some pix in the near future.  I just really am not sure how to do it.  If they are on the computer already, I might be able to figure out where they are and how to get them on the blog, but if I have to download (or is it upload?) them from the camera... forget it.  Probably not going to happen.