Graham is officially a Puppy at First Baptist. He transitioned in to his new room like a champ and didn't miss a beat. The schedule is pretty much the same and most of his friends from the Kittens moved up with him, so I am sure that helped! His teacher said that it will probably take a 2 -3 week adjustment before she gets them in a good potty training transition, so we are still in the hit and miss mode with it, good days and bad days.

He continues to be very very excited for his birthday party. We got a big box of Thomas decorations in the mail and he was very interested in checking out each and every item as we looked through the box. He talks about his birthday and his Thomas party all the time!

He has finally gotten really good riding his tricycle after lots of practice in the house since we took all the gates down, so we decided it was time to buy a helmet and pads for him to ride it more outside. Of course, I wasn't sure how well a helmet would go over, so I pulled out an ace - I found a Thomas helmet! He was thrilled and put it right on and has rode it multiple times and even wore it while watching Thomas on the couch! He is proud of his pads too. He has really gotten the hang of riding it for sure!

On Saturday, we headed to my parents to celebrate my daddy's 60th birthday. Daddy went and picked up Granny and Kenneth, Danah and Baby Lillian were there and Dean's parents joined us as well. We had a very fun time with lots of entertainment from Graham and Lillian and he still just loves to love all over her! We had cake and ice cream and Graham lead us in singing happy birthday. But, he was also quick to point out that his birthday is next! He ate some "pink" ice cream and was quite pleased. He rode his trike, played with his bubble mower, and played ball all over the yard, needless to say he was fast asleep pretty quickly after we left. So, he napped in the car from about 6pm - 7pm and then after a long bath when we got home (as he was quite dirty!!!!), he was asleep before 830pm! I think he was exhausted from just going going going all day long!

He slept in until 720am on Sunday, ha ha! We decided to miss church again. I was pretty exhausted as I think the past couple weeks of travel, full weekends, oh and being 19 weeks pregnant......caught up to me a bit! I needed to catch up on laundry, go to the grocery store and do a few things around the house and try to rest a little. Graham took a late afternoon nap on the couch and then we had a nice grilled steak dinner!

Graham and Dean started off the week with me gone again, I had a good fast trip and got home late Tuesday night. Graham was fast asleep but I did give him some kisses! I had him surprises for Wednesday morning and evening, which he has come to expect when I travel! I couldn't find any legos in the airport in NY, which was the only time I had for shopping, but I did get him an "I heart NY" t-shirt which he wore to school the next day, a bear and a FDNY toy set. He was quite pleased with all of it, so that was good!

Graham started visiting the Puppies classroom this past week and on Monday he will start full time in that classroom and stay there through the school year. All but three of his classmates are going with him, so that is good and the morning teacher has filled in some in his old room. He seems pretty excited about it and understands what is happening. His Kittens class had a party on Friday, complete with cupcakes. We also got copies of pictures from water play day and the day of the petting zoo, so those were fun to see! Hopefully, he will have a super smooth transition!

Potty training is about the same, good days, really good days, bad days and really bad days! Maybe once he settles in to the new classroom, he will knock it out!!

We had another jam packed weekend. On Saturday morning, Graham and I ventured to the new photography studio, Portrait Innovations, for his three year photo shoot. We decided we just did not have the energy or patience to try for shoot after shoot to do the photos ourselves and we wanted some new props and backgrounds too. So, it went great! (as you can see below!). They took pics for 30 minutes non stop and we went through several outfits and he was a dream! They loved him and kept saying how great he was doing. Mama and daddy got there as we were finishing up and mama helped me sort through 82 proofs and we were able to narrow it down to 13, but they were all so good! Daddy occupied Graham while we looked at the pics but he liked looking at them too. Then, they printed them while we waited which was great!!!!

We left there and went to the mall and hit the train table at Barnes and Noble, the food court and the riding toys in the food court area. Then, we headed home to get Dean and the kayak and head to the lake! We hit the pool, which of course Graham loved as always, and Daddy and Dean went on a long kayak ride! Then, daddy took me and Graham on a ride, so that was fun. We hit the pool some more and then headed to Outback for dinner.

Graham is still loving his new room and was very excited to show it off. Mama and daddy stayed the night and headed home early Sunday morning and we just had a lazy Sunday morning at home. The rest of the day, we did housework, errands and caught up a bit, which was much needed with me being out of town so much lately!

Here are just a sample of the 3 year pics, I have them framed and all over the house and more to take to work and to share with everyone else! I truly never dreamed that it would go this great and we would get this many great ones!

We all survived my latest trip out of town. Dean and Graham got along well during the week and I had a busy and tiring, but successful trip. I got home shortly after they did on Thursday evening and still not sure what was more exciting - seeing me or the new Legos! Either way, we were all glad that I was home!

On Saturday, we spent the biggest part of the day at the lake, we did a little bit of everything! We started at the pool, which we had to ourselves for a good long while, then stopped for a snack. After snack, Graham and I got back in the pool and Dean took the kayak out for a long ride. It was really neat because we could watch him the whole time from the pool and the deck. Graham yelled to him and waved a bunch and paddled over near us, so that was neat. He came back and joined us in the pool for a bit longer and then he headed over to the beach area. Graham put on his orange jacket, as he calls it, and they headed out for a ride. Graham sits very calmly and talks to Dean and points to things, he does so good riding in it with him! It is so cute! After their ride, Graham played in the waves and then wanted to build sand castles and then wanted to be totally buried in the sand, he had a blast! We hit the pool one more time and then called it a day! He konked out as soon as we got in the jeep, slept all the way home and then some!

On Sunday, we headed out to the early church service as we don't have many more chances to go to that service before choir resumes at the second service. It was nice to be back home early and we just stayed in and took it easy, with some housework and outside playtime and a walk. I had to get the boys and me ready for another trip, I am going to Syracuse, NY for work on Monday and Tuesday and then that should be my last trip for a bit. Atleast this time I will just be gone for one night, although, I do get home after bedtime on Tuesday night! But, hopefully,I can find a neat treat for Graham, maybe almost as cool as legos!

Graham continues to talk about his bday alot and ask about his Thomas party very very often! It is neat that he is so into his birthday this year, so that will be a lot of fun! He has totally thrived in his new big boy bed and bedroom and really seems to like it. He hasnt paid much attention to his old room at all, not much going on in there right now!

We had another full and busy week! I had a routine doctor appt on Tuesday, everything is looking good and heartbeat is coming in strong, loud and clear! I go back in two weeks for another routine appt and then we are counting down the days until Sept 2nd and the BIG ultrasound. I also had a dentist appt on Monday and I scheduled Graham's first dentist appt for later this fall in November. She said she would count the first appt a success IF she got to count all his teeth, ha! I have no clue how he will do, but we are gonna get a couple books she suggested about going to the dentist. I also made his 3 year check-up for October and he has another check-up with his ENT that same time period for his tubes, so lots of doc visits!

On Wednesday evening, we were supposed to go to the playground to have a playdate with Tammy, but it rained us out, so we went to IHOP instead. It is always a sure fire hit for Graham and we had a nice visit and meal.

Graham did great all week sleeping on his full mattress on the floor in his new room, and he really liked all the extra room! We found him spread out a different way every single morning! We talked about his big furniture all week and that it would be here on Saturday. He seemed really excited!

Then, we moved in to a jam packed weekend! So, first thing Saturday, the BIG truck arrived and Graham supervised every step of the delivery process. He stayed right with the "boys" and talked to them, read to them and sang to them as they assembled his furniture. It all turned out great, the chest of drawers is out of stock and won't arrive for a few weeks but all the rest looks great. We got a platform bed with a trundle underneath and put the side rail on it to keep him in. The footboard comes up a little above the mattress and the rail only allows a small opening at the top of the bed at the pillow area, so that should keep him in, atleast while sleeping! It took awhile to get all his books moved over and things situated and then he had a great time sitting on bed reading, sitting at his desk reading.......climbing up on his desk getting books........ we think he really really likes his new big boy room!

We headed to the lake for the afternoon. We went straight to the beach area and Dean and Graham were very excited about the kayak! Dean went out first and tested it out and then Graham wanted to hop right in. He was very calm, held on with both hands and wore his life jacket perfectly! Dean went out really really far a couple more times and Graham and I played on the beach and then Graham went out one more time with Dean. He was also much braver about wading down in to the lake today and on several occasions was in the water up to his neck! He had a ball and we spent so much time there and it got so late that we didnt even get in the pool!

Graham napped all the way home and we were all pretty wiped out! I spent the rest of the evening getting us all ready for me to be gone to Minneapolis for work this week. I head out Monday morning and get back on Thursday evening. When I told Graham I was going on the airplane, he immediately replied, you are going to Minneapolis, I said yes.......and he started naming the legos that he wanted me to bring back and when he saw my suitcase later he said - this is your case to take to Minneaapolis to bring back my legos in ........ I guess he has me figured out! I am sure Dean and Graham will have a great week and hopefully the week will fly by for me as well!

Another busy week and weekend for us! The highlight of this week was announcing publicly at work and to all our extended family and friends that we are expecting another baby! I am 15 weeks today, due January 24, 2010, and we are so excited and happy. I have been pretty sick during the early weeks, but we still managed to keep things low key until we made it out of the first trimester and got the all clear. We didnt even tell Graham there was a new baby brother or sister in the picture because he is just such a little chatterbox, we weren't sure who he might tell when or where! We have added "the little baby" to his prayer list and he never even questioned that! We have the BIG ultrasond scheduled for September 2nd and we hope that day he will get to hear the brother or sister news!

So, the most immediate project was getting him moved from his bedroom (the nursery) to the guest room. So, about a week ago, we settled on a pretty blue color / dragging technique for the walls. Dean worked very hard and it turned out gorgeous. Graham was most interested in what was going on and we would go visit while daddy was painting and one night, he even painted a few swipes! And, he was even more excited about getting to sleep in that big bed that was in there (a full size bed). He started calling it his new room and definitely understanding that he was going to move in there soon!

Late Saturday night after Graham went to bed, Dean put the finishing touches and we put his new bedding on the bed (sailboat bedding, a continuation of his current theme) and pushed the bed up against one wall and brought a few of his toys in and on Sunday morning when he woke up we took him to see it. He was like a kid on Christmas morning, it was so cute. He wanted to go get more toys and bring in there and he played for a long time! It was very very cute! On Sunday night, Dean went ahead and took the bed apart and just left the mattress on the floor and he was totally fine with crawling on the mattress and going to sleep there! He was still sleeping in crib converted toddler bed, so this is a big step, so we thought this would make a nice transition. Next on our list is to get his new bedroom suite. We think we have it all picked out, so hopefully we can get that tackled this week!

On Saturday, we went to Blacksburg to Dean's company cookout at one of his co-workers house. We had a fun time and there were quite a few kids there and they had stocked up on bubbles so Graham was in heaven. We stayed for a few hours and had a great time. Graham had napped on the way there and some more on the way home!

On Sunday, we celebrated Dean's birthday, which is this coming Wednesday with a Mexican fiesta! We had a full house - Both sets of parents, Kenneth, Danah and Baby Lillian, Al, Michelle and Adam and Mark and Tammy. We had lots of food and lots of fun. Between Graham and Lillian, we had lots of entertainment! Lillian is rolling all around and trying to crawl and Graham enjoyed playing in the floor with her. We managed to get some outside time on the playset as well. Graham went hard all day and never napped, probably another reason that he went to bed so easy in his new bed!

We are still hit and miss with potty training, really good days and really bad days, so we will keep working at it. He is always very proud and wants to tell you all about it when he has success, so hopefully he will turn that final corner soon! Maybe the transition to his big boy room will help!!!!

So, in addition to Graham's weekly updates, I will resume my weekly belly pics as I did with Graham when we first started the blog. So far, I am not full force in maternity clothes yet, but it won't be long. So, here is a non-maternity clothes shot of my 15 week belly!