It's a . . .

So the doctor is 95% sure that Deuce Pauley is a girl . . . There was not a definitive "money shot"that clearly indicated either boy or girl - the umbilical cord was in the way but then towards the end of the ultrasound the doctor saw the three lines and so she's confident that we're having a girl. Yikes! I think I'm in a little bit of shock. I was convinced that it was a boy and felt pretty smug in the fact that I know little boys and I'm an expert now. ha ha So change of plans and now we get to buy lots of pink and yellow and all that good stuff. I'm scheduled to go back for another ultrasound in 8 weeks. The little stinker kept covering up her face (she's very camera shy) and they want to check a few things there so it's a good excuse to go back and look at her again. She has very cute hands, we did get to see a lot of those.

On a related note - I caught (and stopped) Will from riding his blue dog down the stairs this weekend. He was poised at the top like a bobsledder as I was coming up the stairs. I think Deuce is going to have to be on tough cookie to survive her big brother.

SOLD!

Just a quick note to let everyone know that our house if officially sold! We are still working out the details but it looks like we will be out by the end of the month. I'll update with more details when we know what is going on. In the meantime, I'm posting a new poll in anticipation of my dr's appointment on Tuesday (October 14). If Deuce cooperates, we'll hopefully find out the gender. To help you with your decision, I was much sicker in the first trimester than I was with Will. I'm craving sweets and Big Macs. The heartbeat has been in the 150's. Good luck! Have a great weekend!

18 Months!

Will had his 18-month check-up on Friday. I'm happy to report that he's a healthy boy. He's in the 90th percentile for weight still but his height is up to 75% so I'm definitely thinking linebacker or tight end as opposed to wide receiver. Okay, back to reality. He's healthy and was a good boy during the doctor's appt except for a brief meltdown when I wouldn't let him empty out one of the drawers containing medical equipment.

This weekend Glenn was hunting so Will and I and Aunt Vicky visited the Lee Martinez Farm in Fort Collins. For those of you northern Co and southern Wyo residents, if you haven't been yet - I really recommend a visit. It's a pretty little farm right smack dab in the middle of Fort C. Lots of original farm buildings, educational stuff for the kiddos and animals to pat and feed. Stay away from the calf - more on that later when I get the pictures back from Vicky. Click here for their website. Here's my attempt at being artistic with a picture of Will walking through the leaves. He actually got almost all the way to the green gate before he turned around to see where the rest of us were. He's Mr. Independent and if he only had a driver's license, he'd have no use for parents at all. Disclaimer: I took this picture while we were stopped at a stoplight, not while the car was actually moving. I just wanted to get that out of the way so that I won't get any hysterical phone calls from the grandparents. This illustrates how Will likes to ride in the car lately. It makes me feel even more like a chauffer. Relaxed huh? He fell asleep about 15 seconds after this picture was taken.
Finally, I bought this outfit a few weeks ago in anticipation for the Broncos season. So far, it's been our lucky charm. I tried several times on Sunday to get a good picture but Mr. Busy won't sit still so I finally snapped this one as he was attempting to water the plants. One thing to point out to all you moms out there - clearly Glenn changed his diaper last because the onesie top is unbuttoned and hanging out over his pants. Close enough!

Crab Apples - Yum?

Here are a couple random photos from the last week. We have a crabapple (I just typed that as crapabble - oops!) tree in our backyard that is beautiful in the springtime and slightly messy in the fall. Glenn and Will were out there this weekend and Will sampled a few of the crab apples. You would think that with a face like this -

or this - that he wasn't enjoying the crab apples. You would be wrong! This kid will eat anything. If you have dinner with us at a restaurant anytime soon, remind me to show you the lemon trick.

We had a nice weekend. Still trying to sell our house. Watched a little football and experienced minor cardiac distress when Coach Shanahan and the Broncos went for 2 with 0:24 left in the game. Gulp! This is a great article on the game but my favorite is this one. Now if I could only find a picture of Chargers QB Philip Rivers looking all indignant.

For those of you wondering, we'll (hopefully) find out the gender of Bronco Baby #2 aka Deuce Pauley on October 14. I've been feeling him/her move around quite a bit which is always neat. We've been pointing at my belly and telling Will "baby" but he definitely doesn't get it. He just gives me a zerbet (zerbit?) and laughs. Aw, well it's probably better that he's blissfully unaware at this point. Will has his 18-month check-up on Friday. I'll be back about all of his amazing statistics. By the way, he had his first dentist appointment last week and he's very advanced in the teeth dept. Apparently he only has 2 more molars to come in. The dentist said that he has is about a year ahead of other kids his age. Now we have something to brag about. "So your 18-month old can speak full sentences and count to 10? Well my kid is an advanced carnivore and has the mouth of a 2 1/2 year old!"

Cowboy Fans and Poop Stories

Will attended his first football game of the 2008 season this weekend. We all went to Laramie and watched the Cowboys dominate Ohio University - okay 'dominate' is not the right word with a final score of 21 to 20, but a win is a win! Here are a few random shots from the weekend.

Will and Glenn prior to the game. This is always the one football game of the season that I can get Glenn to go to because there were no hunting seasons open yet. Will sure looks like his dad, huh?

Will and me in the stadium. It was a hot day! Will has a habit of sticking both hands in his mouth when he gets nervous. Apparently, he was only half-nervous at this point. He was quite the trooper at the game - thanks in part to Grandma Pauley who took him on many breaks during the game. Will even learned the W-Y-O FIRST DOWN cheer - he doesn't say the words but the makes the arm movement. (Note to all the 30-yd line fans - Will has learned the regular version of this cheer - not our profane one.)

Will checking out the flowers in our front yard. I was desperate to get a picture of him in his n ew shirt and pants but whenever we bring the camera out - he makes a grab for it so I had to distract with something else. It's been a while since I included a naked baby shot. I'm not sure why he looks so forlorn, he actually loves the bath. Okay, here's where I write about things that will embarass the heck out of Will when he's older. He's started telling us "uh-oh" after he poops. Grandparents and other interested public have said that this means he's getting ready to be potty trained. I'm just not sure how we go from an "uh-oh" after the fact to getting him in the bathroom and all that action before the poop arrives? Any ideas? Finally, I've taken some flack for not having a picture of Canyon on the blog. Here she is, still alive and kicking at 13. She's still going strong and her tolerance for Will has increased a little bit, especially since he loves to feed her. Thanks to all who voted in the baby name poll. Looks like Bronco Baby #2 will be called Shazam. Or Shazam-a? Stay tuned.

17 months old

Today Will is officially 17 months old. He's had a good August so far. This week he mastered the slide at his daycare. He can climb up the steps and go down the slide all by himself. Coincidentally, it has also been a week and a half since our last accident report - so he's figuring that out as well. (We have to sign an accident report every time he gets a noticeable bump, scratch or scarp while at daycare. Last week we signed 3.)

I've been a slacker with the camera lately but here's a picture of Will and his favorite new toy.

This John Deere machine was given to him by the Omaha Pauleys - it was Ben and Alena's but they have grown out of it and they generously gave it to their cousin. The bottom line is that Will absolutely loves this thing. We brought it up to Vedauwoo and he spent the entire afternoon climbing out, climbing back in, sitting down, climbing out . . . etc. He also loved it when Ben would drive him around in it. Right now it's staying with the Pauleys in Colorado until we have more storage space in Cheyenne. I'm rather thankful that it's not at our house, I don't think we would ever get Will to go to bed.

We have some exciting news to share (and I apologize for getting the word out in the blog) but we are expecting another Bronco Baby in February. Being pregnant with a toddler is an interesting experiment but I'm feeling better and finally out of the first trimester ickiness. We're all excited - well Will's probably not excited, Canyon's not either, but Glenn and I are! We hope to find out in October if the baby is a girl or boy. In the meantime - check out the survey on the right and help us narrow down names.

One other bit of news - we've grown some giant zucchini! Cheyenne had typhoon-like rains last week and we didn't out to get the garden much. When I checked it on Sunday, I pulled these two out of the garden.

I put the banana in the picture to try to give it some sort of size reference but I'm not even sure that does the zucchinis justice. They are giant! Anyone have any ideas for how to make them edible? Anyone need a canoe?

The importance of dental health

At the Pauley household, we are committed to maintaining excellent dental health. Well, one of us is committed. The other one brushes twice a day but not for the recommended two minutes and flosses only before her next dental appointment. With Will being ahead of the tooth curve (born with two bottom teeth!), we've tried to get him used to brushing teeth in the last few months. All of the credit for Will's dental health lies with Glenn. He even went to Target (by himself!!) and bought him this little electric toothbrush. Usually one of us helps Will but this morning I let him take a turn by himself. We need to work on his form. Lately, one of Will's favorite activities is to put on other people's shoes. He likes dad's tennis shoes, mom's mules and anything else in his path. Here he's modeling cousin Alana's crocs. He was actually able to walk in these and pretty darn proud of himself. Don't worry, Aunt Vicky, I won't be buying him his own pair. For those fellow croc haters - you might enjoy this article.