We're having a...

GIRL!!!

How we found out...

We went to our ultrasound on Thursday and got to see Baby Swaim!! Baby was really active and everything looked great!! We had the ultrasound tech write down the sex of the baby and put it in an envelope...

Then we went to Hallmark and picked out a blue elephant and a pink giraffe. I had the salesladies take the envelope and the stuffed animals to the back. They opened the envelope, read the card, then wrapped the stuffed animal that meant we were having either a boy or girl!! They brought the tag from the right animal and I closed my eyes while they rung it up and she put the receipt in an envelope so I wouldn't see what animal we bought!

We didn't tell Josh's family we already had the ultrasound. On Christmas we announced what we'd done and opened the gift...

It's a GIRL!!! Kaia is SOO excited!! She has been saying every day that she thinks the baby is a little girl and she is going to have a little sister.

Our family!!

Little GIRL!!!

Our Christmas Announcement

We're excited to announce that we're expecting again!! Baby Swaim is due to make his/her debut in the midde of May!! Kaia is beyond excited...every day she gives baby a kiss good-morning and good-night!! This pregnancy has been going really well...I was really sick and fatigue hit me really hard this time around, but I was thankful for the symptoms because it meant things were going as they should!! I'm even more thankful that we're past that now. I'll be 18 weeks tomorrow. Every check-up has gone really well and we're excited for our upcoming ultrasound!! We're planning on finding out this time, and Kaia changes her mind every day whether she thinks we're having a boy or girl...but she says she'll be happy either way! =) And so will we. So check back after Christmas for our news!!

Family Pictures

Our friend Sarah took our pictures for us. These are the rest of my favorites!!

These are a few that I took with my camera...

Snow!!

Last Saturday we got our 1st snow!! Kaia was so excited that she went out in it 3 times!! You can see from the pictures as we continue to get more. We ended up with over 4 inches. She had a blast and I was happy that she was content to go out our deck and play by herself while I watched from inside!! The picture above is my favorite of our little snow bunny!!

snow angel!!

Taking a little hot chocolate break!!

Daddy went out and played for a little while too!!

Somehow we talked Berkeley into the sled and amazingly he stayed in it while Kaia pulled him around!! What a good dog!!

Daddy made her a little ramp off the deck that she could sled down!

Jumping for joy!!!

Minneapolis!!

The day after Thanksgiving we headed to Minneapolis with Julie to go to the Mall of America. Josh had never been before (and may never go back again!) We had a great time, got our Christmas shopping started, and Kaia went on her first rides!! After some drama over whether she was tall enough...a manager finally confirmed that she's exactly 39 inches tall (the minimum height required), she and Daddy had a lot of fun!! They went on a rollercoaster for the first time, the swings, ferris wheel, and a few others! Kaia even made out with a couple before-Christmas presents.

Kaia and Lotso, the bear she talked Grandma into buying at the Disney Store!! This girl loves Toy Story!!!

Us girls at the Rainforest Cafe!!

Kaia and Daddy at the Rainforest Cafe

With "Cha Cha" at the Rainforest Cafe

Riding the Diego bus

Taking a break with Daddy at our hotel.

Eating some cotton candy in front of the HUGE Christmas tree!!

Riding the swings!!

Thanksgiving!

We hosted Thanksgiving for the 1st time this year at our house!! Grandma and Grandpa, Kurt and Julie, and Jon came. Everything went perfectly, thanks to the help of Julie and Grandma! Except for when our power went out at 9:00 a.m. (just before it was time to put in the turkey!) Josh said my face was priceless. Thankfully it came back on after a few minutes and everything went great!! We enjoyed spending time together, having great food, and the awesome warm weather! It was Mandy and Drew's year with the Porters, so they sent some flowers for our table...Kaia LOVED getting flowers from her cousins!!

Helping Grandma Julie with the turkey

Ready to eat!!

Our feast!!

October Fun!

I had some time and haven't had a chance to upload pictures for quite a while, so I went a little crazy!! I 've uploaded all the fun things we were up to in October (like putting on crazy fake nails). There are lots of posts, so scroll down and enjoy!!

Putting on all her jewelry!

The beginning of October was really warm, so we were ableto get out the water table and swimsuit and have a little fun!

Waving to the farmer as he harvested the corn field behind our house!

Practicing to be a rock star!

Hanging out with our friend Diana when she was in town performing with the Phineas and Ferb Live show!!

Chasing bubbles in the backyard!

And painting a pumpkin at one of our churches' after-school program!!

Keep scrolling down for more posts!!