A Great Big Sister-to-be

We have been trying to prepare Alli for the arrival of her baby brother for a while now. And even though she would lift up my shirt when we asked her where her baby brother was, I was pretty sure she had no clue what that meant 'cause occasionally when asked, she would show us her own belly or even her daddy's. But, just recently I'm starting to think that maybe she understands a little more. She will kiss, hug and lay her head on my belly (sometimes unprompted which I absolutely love!). She also recently started playing with her baby doll, and insisted that I wrap it in a blanket which is strange 'cause to my knowledge she has never seen a baby be swaddled up. She was definitely pleased when I swaddled the doll though and then wanted to rock it. Anyway, I think she is going to make a very loving and caring big sister and a great little helper as well. She loves to throw things away for me, helps empty the trash from the bathrooms, and even assists with putting the new trash can liner on- something she just started doing one day. I know I've done enough bragging, but I just feel so blessed to have such a sweet little girl full of so much personality. I feel like I just can't love her enough. Can't wait to meet her brother and find out what kind of personality he will have. I have a feeling I will love him just as much :-)

Baby brother are you in there? You can come out now!

How do you eat an Oreo cookie?

I don't know about you all, but Alli likes to pull her Oreo apart and scrape the filling off with her teeth. After that she smashes the chocolate wafer against her mouth until it becomes mushy and what doesn't make it into her mouth is left smeared all over her face, hands and arms. Not fun to clean up, but I'm pretty sure Alli thinks it was worth it! I have to say it was pretty fun to watch too!
As for me (in case you were wondering), I'm a milk dunker, but as a kid I would twist it open and lick out the filling before eating the chocolate wafers- mmmmm! And I know a cousin of mine whose son saves a little piece in his hair for later after his mom fishes it out :-) How about all of you? Comments welcome as always!

What a healthy snack mom!

Dement Family Photo

I'm guessing this will probably be the last Dement family photo of 3! As you all know we will soon be the Dement family of 4 and I'm hoping that family photo will make it to the blog very soon. Awaiting our baby boy.... just waiting.... and getting bigger by the day.... trying to be patient.... trying to stay comfortable.... becoming more anxious.... oh the joys of being 9 mos pregnant :-)

Day trip to Corpus Christi

We took a family day trip to Corpus a couple weekends ago, and while we were not well prepared since it was a last minute idea (the morning of to be exact), we all had a great time. We visited the Texas State Aquarium during the heat of the day and then headed to Padre Island National Seashore for the evening where Dwaine fished the surf and Alli and I played and walked on the beach. I found 2 whole sand dollars- still fuzzy actually! I didn't even know they were ever supposed to be fuzzy, so I wouldn't touch them. I had Dwaine come over to look, and he said that's the way they look when they are still alive, so apparently these hadn't been washed up for long. I thought that was very cool (and I'll actually touch them now that I now they don't have mold or something growing on them).

Alli absolutely loved playing in the water- so much so that she would have just walked out there until the water crashed over her head if we let her. Dwaine says her face actually lit up with excitement the first time he took her into the surf. You gotta just love those moments as a parent! She also enjoyed chasing seagulls and collecting seaweed.

Dwaine caught enough whiting to feed us for the next evening. I don't guess you would call it a completely successfull fishing trip, but it was enough to give him the "bug" and now we're shopping for a "beater" 4x4 beach/ranch vehicle so he doesn't have to steal my 4x4 everytime he goes somewhere. The mustang doesn't work to well for those purposes as you can imagine.

Well, I guess that's enough details for one blog posting... now here are some pics from the day. The beach pics are on the 35mm and hopefully will make it to the blog before too long (the digital camera didn't like the humidity). These are from the aquarium.

I loved the sea turtles-they just look so cool and I'm sure they speak in that dopey surfer accent just like the one from Finding Nemo!

Dad and Alli watching the sea otter flip and play in the water.

Mom (with Thomas at 8mos in the making) and Alli checking out the sting-ray and shark petting tank. Can't wait to come back next year when Thomas can enjoy it outside the womb!

Corpus Christi...Amen.

(just a little inside joke for my dad)