24 Weeks (16 weeks to go)

Well the Calon household has been very busy of late. Running to and from school, dance, ultrasounds, you name it we've been there a couple times in a week! Alex has a very established early week schedule and she depends on that schedule. If anything disrupts it she knows and is not happy. She had to miss school last Monday for Thanksgiving and the only reason she wasn't kicking and screaming was because she got to spend the day with her Grandma Linda, Auntie Robyn, Uncle Nolan and her favorite cousins Connor and Charlie!

It was a wonderful day and Auntie (Me) got to hold Charlie for quite a long time. At one point Robyn was trying to make sure I wasn't bothered by holding him and offered to take him from me. She got a very dirty look and promptly sat down lol. Charlie is such a sweet little guy and it made me very impatient for February!
Alex and Connor hit another sort of milestone that day. Playing like "BIG" people. Normally they would play with toys side by side and there would be the very seldom fight over a certain toy, usually the toy shopping cart. But this time they played together climbing, jumping, screaming, pretending. It was such a wonder to watch.

Last Sunday, the 18th, we went up to Edmonton for our 3D ultrasound at UC Baby. Although we didn't get the best pictures of Joseph's face we did get picture evidence of the boy factor. We got a very nice clear shot of his feet, his one hand and his "privates". Pat was laughing at me as I posted the picture on facebook. He thought it was a little silly to post pictures of our son's privates on the very public Internet. But I was very proud of those little privates! When we first got into the room the technician said she would look at the face first, then do the heart beat, the confirm the gender. But the instant she put the paddle to my stomach she giggled "Oh yep its a boy!" She then showed us the 2D and 3D image of said area. Martine, who came with us (Linda was too sick to come), couldn't for the life of her see what the technician was talking about. She was still skeptical until we showed her the very good picture of it. "OHHH!! Yep that's a boy!" She exclaimed.
Since we could only get one semi-clear shot of his handsome face we have to go back in a month for another try at it. But from what we did see he looks just like Ally. He too has Pats nose and mouth, and from the looks of it his feet too. I'm pretty sure in 15 years I'm going to dwarfed by all these very tall, blond hair, big footed people, with only Alex and Joey's brown eye's to even claim that they are indeed mine. I'm sure people will think the 3 of them adopted me!

I know I said Joey's brown eyes, true we don't know what they will be. There is a 50% chance of him having brown eye's just like Alex. A 25% for Blue and a 25% for green. But giving the very strong brown eyed tendencies on my side and the very strong blond tendencies on Pats, we're pretty sure we'll end up with another Alex lol.

As soon as I can figure out how to post the ultrasound pictures I will do so. They have to be scanned at a very high resolution and the web-page won't support them. And another picture of my expanding tummy is on the way as well ;)

Happy Fall Everyone!
Pat, Danielle, Alexandria & "Joseph"

22 Weeks (only 18 left!)

It's beginning to look a lot like fall around Red Deer, in fact it's really feeling like it too! For so many reasons we are looking forward to fall and winter this year. And only one of those reasons is Christmas!

There is Halloween, which is a huge hit with Alex. She has been practising her "trick or treat!" all year long. Last year we only took her to some of our friends and families house but this year we plan to go around our neighborhood a little bit. Alex picked out her costume about a month ago. They had all the Halloween stuff all set up in Wal-Mart and she insisted on going and taking a look. Well down one of the isles there were some farm animal costumes. She got very very excited about them because she loves everything about farms and animals.
"OH A COW!!!" She shrieked, much to the amusement of the 2 ladies setting up the displays.
"I want to be a cow!" she insisted. I looked and looked and couldn't find one quite her size so I tried to persuade her to choose a different one.
"How about a dragon!" I tried to be excited about it.
"Nope that's for a boy!" She rolled her eyes pointing on the package where there was indeed a boy dressed as a dragon.
"Well girls can be dragons too you know?" That didn't work, next!
"Oh there is a nice purple unicorn! Look at how pretty that is!" I was sure she'd take the bait, purple being her favorite color.
"Nope that's too purple! I want to be a cow! Cow's say moo and I can say moo too!" She folded her arms and gave me a look that I'm sure I've seen in Pats eyes more than once over the years.
I of course gave in and decided that if she wanted it so bad it wouldn't matter if it was a size too big. So Alex is going to be a cow.

Next on things to look forward too is Joseph's baby shower! Yes that's is his name! We decided to name him after his daddy. One of Pats middle names is Joseph, plus as you all have read, Pat, Matt & Zac decided to call him Smokin' Joe all summer. When I decided to give Pat smokin' Joe he was practically giggling with glee. It was a name that I had suggested a couple of months ago but he turned it down then, can't remember why. OK back on track. My darling sister Des and my best friend Lisa are so sweet, they are hosting a shower in honor of our little guy! I'm so excited to see everyone and play all those games. I might be the only one but I love shower games!! Wedding, baby you name it I love playing them! Hope to see you there!

Our Best to you Arts and Craft show is a couple of day before the shower and I've had it marked on my calender for over 2 months! It is one of my favorite places. There is so much Christmas and great food! I've gone every year for the past 5 or 6 years. Poor Alex got hauled around in her baby carrier when she was just over a month old ;)

Then there is Christmas, New Years and then February!!! We are all getting very excited about having Joseph join our family. I was not even prepared to be ready for Alex until the day of her due date but I'm really hoping this guy comes a little early, not too early though ;)

On another note; last Friday, October 2, Pat and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary. It was a spectacular day! We had a beautiful supper at, in our opinion, the nicest restaurant in Red Deer, the Redstone Grill. They treated us so wonderfully, with champagne and dessert on the house. I only indulged it 2 large sips of the champagne, oh it was heaven! Pat was generous enough to drink my glass for me ;) We sat and talked about how far we've come in the past 5 years and how our life has changed. We could never have imagined that we would have a 3 year old and one on the way. Or be on our 3rd house. Or be quite as happy and content with each other. I can only imagine what the next 5 years will bring our way, but the one thing I know will never change is the love and respect we have for each other.

As for Mr. Joseph he is coming along quite nicely. The future NBA all-star never really stops. He already is on a funny little schedule; he is active for about an hour or two in the morning, sleeps all afternoon and is up a raring to go at 4ish. He kick, punches and rolls till about 11:00pm when he finally goes to sleep. Even Dr. Keller was amazed when he say him kicking the Doppler! Alex was never this active so early and no one but me could have felt her kick until at least 25 or 26 weeks. I'm finally gaining weight again! And most of the nausea is all gone!! We are going up to Edmonton on October 17th to UC Baby for our 3-D ultrasound. It is a completely different experience than the medical ultrasound. Since it is private they are totally geared towards the experience. I'm looking forward to showing Alex her little brother in much more detail.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Lots of Love
Pat, Danielle, Alexandria and "Joseph"