Ultrasound Results!

And... the moment you've all been waiting for... [drumroll please]

We had our ultrasound this morning and the baby looked really good. Everything was normal and healthy and the due date of March 17 was right on schedule. AND we found out that we're going to have another girl! Yay! We're really excited. It wasn't 100% sure that it was a girl but we looked several times and eventually became more and more sure.

So Avery's going to have a little sister. We're thrilled, although we were probably more thinking it was going to be a boy. Not that we preferred that per se, it just seemed more logical since we've had a girl already. But then again I kept thinking about how similar my pregnancy has been to Avery's and so that makes sense too.

Anyways, ultrasound pictures to come.

Job Hunting

We wanted to give you an update on how the job search is going for Merrick. No cutie girl pictures this time. :( Well Merrick did about 10 interviews in the month of October with various businesses and was able to get asked to fly out for two interviews in November so far. He's going to Milwaukee, WI on November 4-5 for an interview with Kohl's. The other place he's going is Dearborn, MI on November 11-12 to interview with Ford.

We still have 3-4 jobs he just finished first interviews with that could possibly offer to fly him out but for some reason all the jobs seem to be around the Midwest. Who would have thought. So we're hoping for some job offers in November since Merrick graduates in December and then hopefully we'll move in January and get settled before the baby comes in March. Wish us luck!

Avery's First Hairdo

Avery's hair is finally long enough and somewhat thick enough to put into a little ponytail or pigtail or whalespout or whatever you call it on the top of her head. She's actually let me keep it in as long as it hasn't fallen out.

Doesn't she look so cute? And actually like a girl for once! (Not that she isn't feminine, she just gets mistaken for a "little guy" or "little buddy" most of the time when people glance at her quickly because of her short hair for her age).

Lions and Tigers and... Balloons? Oh My!

So we discovered this weekend that Avery is highly afraid of balloons. We're not sure exactly why they evoke such fear but it was quite funny to watch her run away from the balloons when Merrick touched her with them. We had a little party at our house last Wednesday for Avery's aunt Taryn's 19th birthday. I decorated the house a little with balloons and streamers and kept the balloons well out of Avery's reach until after the party. She didn't seem to be afraid of them while they were hanging from the ceiling so we have deduced that the source of the fear was probably because Avery saw me popping two of them. You would think she would just consider the balloon to be an odd shaped ball but I guess there are some things only a 15 month old can understand.

Ashley enters MTC

Vanessa's sister Ashley Haws entered the MTC on Wednesday, October 3rd - bound for the Chile Rancagua Mission. We had Ashley stay with us for a few days before she left and Vanessa and Avery went to see her off at the MTC with Vanessa's parents and grandparents. Good luck Ashley! We'll miss you!