All it has seemed to do around here lately is RAIN! Everything is so soggy and swampy. The mosquitoes are multiplying like crazy and mud is on everything! We really wanted to try and go to the State Fair of Texas, but of course the day we thought was going to be free and clear of rain, ended up soggy and wet like the rest of them.

Sam had just found our that he had to leave to go out of town the next morning, so we really wanted to something fun together as a family before Brianna's birthday on Friday, since he was going to be gone. We decided to go to Amazing Jakes. We had not been there since it opened about a year ago. What better fun than an indoor amusement park, out of the rain, and on a 1/2 price Tuesday. SCORE! Even better, we had the whole place pretty much to ourselves!

We ate dinner, brought Brianna a little birthday cake to celebrate with, and played until the place closed. It was great!

Natalie tried rock climbing for the first time, and what could be funnier than her charging to the top, speeding past Brie & Nate's times, only to find out that once she was there, she could not get back down. She let go of the wall to descend but just hung in mid-air. It was hillarious. The worker had to fasten into belts, scale the wall, and hold her to bring her down.  Little Miss Daredevil was not bothered a bit though.

William and I were out for a date day today, and as we drove to get the mail on the way home I see Brianna and Nate waving their arms crazily on the sidewalk next to the mail box. I rolled down my window and they are telling me, "Mom! Mom! Look at Natalie!" I of course could not see her, nor did I know what they were talking about. I was scared to death thinking something had happened to her, but when I looked through my front windshield, I did see Natalie, with Daddy in tow, riding her 2-wheel bike all by herself with no training wheels. She had the biggest smile on her face! I was so--- proud of her. She had told Sam and I that she was never going to take off her training wheels. I do not know how Sam convinced her, but whatever he did, It Worked, and on the 1st Try! Way to GO!

I had to put this post in here because this has got to be the cutest relationship between 2 kids I think I have ever seen.

William and his buddy Dakota just bring the brightest smile to each other's faces whenever they see each other. It just makes your heart melt to watch the two of them interact together. William talks non-stop about Dakota. He thinks he is the best thing ever and will protect him to the end, and vice-versa, if they think it is needed. They speak each other's language, laugh at each other's jokes (even though no one else gets it), and are just the best of buds!

We decided to make a family night of attending the Plano Balloon Festival this year. We had not been since Brianna and Nate were little so we thought it would be fun. As the time to go approached, and the rain finally stopped, I realized that it might not be such a great idea for me to walk around too much. I had been having pretty bad consistent contractions all afternoon. Sam, being the trooper he is, decided he would take the kids himself while I rested. They had a blast.

There were not as many balloons as usaual because of all the rain, but the kids did find a favorite.

William is very much into Toy Story right now, so they all fell in love with this great big penguin balloon that looked just like Wheezy from Toy Story 2. We won't tell William that the balloon was actually Penguin Ice's mascot!

Sam and the kids ended the festival by rocking out to the Kildaires, a celtic rock band that was actually pretty good. They really enjoyed themselves. Hopefully next year the whole crew will be able to go.

After quite a roller coaster ride the past several months, we finally feel okay to announce to all those who have not noticed yet that we are indeed expecting baby #5! We are very excited, but have been very cautious too. The beginning of the pregnancy was very rough, and we were not sure it would end with a positive outcome. Today we had our "16 week" ultrasound which revealed a very healthy, very BIG 16 week baby. The baby is looking fantastic and we are very hopeful that things will continue to go in a positive direction!