Happy Helper!

Zoe is always saying she wants to help. And we always try to find ways she can help us with what we are doing right there and then. I love her happy attitude while she is helping. It seems to make the task go faster. I am hoping she keeps wanting to help me. Especially now that baby bunny is coming in August. I know she will be excited to help mama and bring a diaper or bring the wipes. She already is saying she is going to hold her. Which I am a little nervous about because she can be very independent at times so I can see her trying to pick the baby up by herself. We have had a talk a couple times reminding her that only mommy and daddy can pick the baby up. But if Zoe wants to hold the baby all she has to do is ask mommy or daddy and they will help you. I am hoping I can get this in her brain before the baby comes but I know my daughter and she will probably try to pick her up the baby all by herself at least once. But I know she is going to try to be that little mommy. She is already showing signs of it. She likes to lift my shirt up and pretend she is taking the baby out of my belly and she will have her hands cupped like she is holding the baby in her hands and she will talk to the baby, give it kisses, she even pretend she has the baby on her shoulders, and she plays with her in her pretend kitchen. When she is done playing with the baby she lifts up my shirt and puts the baby in my belly. I don't know where she gets that idea but I think its adorable. I know she will get jealous when baby bunny gets here but I can't wait to see them both together. 

We went grocery shopping last Friday (4-25-2014) and when we got home Zoe said she wanted to help daddy with the groceries. Daddy at first gave her the light bags with chip in them and then it was the bread but then daddy only had heavy things to bring in left like mommies ice tea. Daddy gave her the ice tea and asked her if it was to heavy and Zoe said no. But I was watching from the doorway and I told Alex if she is struggling I would come out to help her. she didn't struggle at all. I was really surprise. I am a wimp so she doesn't get her muscles from me.. 

My happy helper

 I still can't believe she carried that ice tea by herself!

Our Baby Bunny!

From the first time we saw our baby on the ultrasound it was jumping around in my belly. So I kept calling it  baby bunny. So if you hear me talk about baby bunny Its a nickname I have had for the baby since the first time I saw the baby on the ultrasound at 7 weeks and 4 days when I saw the baby jumping around. I had 3 ultrasounds after that and baby bunny kept jumping around every ultrasound. I did a blog post about out ultrasound on March 29th and how the baby didn't want to cooperate and let us see what the gender it was. So we scheduled an elective ultrasound so we could see baby bunny again. Well this time it was a huge success! We are defiantly having a.......................GIRL!!! We are beyond excited and we are so much in love with her already and we can't wait to love on her. She is perfect in every way. Seeing her was such an amazing experience. If you get a chance to go to a 3D/4D ultrasound do it!! I highly recommend it. Here is some pictures of our Baby Bunny and our wonderful day!

Yup! She is definitely a girl!

 Her foot!

 Her pretty face

 Her hands were up by her face.... Zoe said she was counting because she was playing hide and go seek

 This picture looks better in person.....But this is our baby bunny. Isn't she adorable??? 

Our elective ultrasound was April 19th, 2014.. I was a day shy of 23 weeks

 I was so blessed to have so many people there to find out the gender with us and celebrate when we found out she was girl! It worked out perfect that my grandma was in town from Florida that she could be there. I also had my parents, 2 of my sisters, and my Aunt Debbie there! It meant the world to me that they were all there. And they made my day even more joyful being there. 

Bonnie the tech was amazing! She was the sweetest person. She felt bad for me because of my last ultrasound so she gave me more 3D time to watch the baby. 

Zoe can't wait to play with her baby sister. She wants to play in her pretend kitchen with her. Lately she lifts up my shirt and acts like she is taking the baby out of my belly and pretends its in her hands and then plays with her and then Zoe puts her back in my belly. It's so cute!

We can't wait to meet our baby bunny! She is loved by so many people already. I can't wait to hold her in my arms and tell her how much I love her and give her tons of kisses and snuggles.

Zoe's Actual Birthday!

Zoe's birthday fell on a Monday this year so Alex had to work. But I didn't want Zoe's birthday to be an ordinary day. So I asked Zoe what she wanted to do for her birthday. Being a daughter after her mothers  heart she said she wanted to go to the mall! I had to laugh. But I ended up taking her to Chuck E Cheese! I knew Alex wouldn't mind because he told me he rather die then go into a place packed full of kids whining, screaming, and being spoiled rotten. So I thought it was a perfect time to bring Zoe because most kids were at school. So there wouldn't be much kids. And I was right! But before we went there we met up for lunch with Alex. And it was a surprise to Zoe! I didn't tell her daddy was coming. She was soooooo excited to see him at Wendy's. It was so cute! After  we went out to lunch we went to Chuck E Cheese just to play games. Zoe had a blast! Of coarse she liked all the rides. But the rides don't give tickets. But she didn't care. But one of the workers went around to check and make sure all the games were working and he would leave all the tickets he won so I would grab those tickets and Zoe did some games too!

Zoe Excited and ready to celebrate her birthday!

 Now she is getting really excited!

Zoe riding a tow truck

Zoe had to ride the horse. She loves horses! 

Next was riding the too-too train with Barney 

 I don't know what is with this game but Zoe loved it!

 Zoe riding the police motorcycle

 This truck moved all over. And it scared Zoe and she wanted out. But I made her stay in and I told her she was okay and that mommy wouldn't let her fall out. 

 Zoe holding on for dear life 

Zoe playing one of games and I didn't realize it until after I took the picture the number three at the top. But I thought it was fitting since it was her 3rd birthday!

 We got our picture taken at Chuck E Cheese too! I think it is a cute one of her!

Zoe wouldn't go near Chuck E Cheese. But when we went up to cash our tickets in for her prize the nice guy gave her a bunch of prizes because it was her birthday. I forgot to take a picture of her and her prizes but she got a balloon, 2 lip gloss bracelets, and a purple ball. I loved seeing her big smiles. After Chuck E Cheese we did go to the mall and pick out some new hair pretties and she loves looking at the water fountain and throwing money in. And then it was time to head home. She was out cold within 5 minutes in the car. Which was good because we had a hour drive home so she had her nap still. But that was our day. And all her smiles were worth it!

Zoe's 3 year old birthday party!

For Zoe's birthday party we just invited her Mimi and Papa Lewis (My parents) and Bubba  and Gummy Brinkerhoff (Alex's parents). So it was a very small party. But I asked her what kind of party did she want and I gave her a few choices of things I notice she was into lately like fishes, Rapunzel, or Owl's. And she picked owls. Then she added that she wanted purple owls. So I went to Pinterest and started planning and this is what I did....

I made 3 of these owls out of paper lanterns and it took me over 3 hours to make just the 3. Good thing I love her so much because I wouldn't have done this for anyone.

 Zoe was very excited about her cupcakes.

 They are vegan except for the beak and the dot for the eyes.

 I was really happy how they turned out! I think they are cute!

Here is the dinner table. Zoe loves straws so I found the paper straws that are purple and white to go with the color she wanted. And she was soooooooo excited about them. The food turned out great! We had pork roast, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce. I forgot to pick some rolls....oops! 

After dinner Zoe was ready to open her presents! 

 The bags were almost as big as she was! 

 Zoe opening her card from Bubba and Gummy.

 Zoe got spoiled. I tried to get pictures of her with every present she got but she was so excited that she was moving all over the place so the pictures were really blurry so I am only sharing the good pictures I got of her..... She got this really cute Peter Rabbit tea set!

 She also got some outfits from both grandparents

She loves this ballerina pajamas

 Zoe forgot to open her card from Mimi and Papa Lewis

 She got a owl plate and cup. Now she will ask me to use them for all her meals

 Uncle Nate sent up his gift with Bubba and Gummy. She loves her Anna doll and was so excited that Olaf came with the doll too!

 After gifts we sang " Happy Birthday to Zoe"

 Then it was time to eat the cupcakes of coarse! She was enjoying them so much that mommy couldn't get a great picture of her. She just wanted to be left alone with her cupcake....lol

Zoe had a great day! She was exhausted by the end of the night. She had so much fun and she had so many hugs and kisses from everyone that was there! 

Random pictures in March

Zoe and our dog Riley play so well together. We really couldn't ask for a better family dog. I was a little nervous when we found out we were pregnant with Zoe that our rat terrier Riley would get jealous or wouldn't have patience with her. But he is such a good laid back dog. He is awesome with her and always has been. He will let her do anything to him. Zoe plays with him all the time. Now that Zoe is older and he can understand what she wants him to do he listens to her very well. She will tell him to lay down and he will and she will lay blankets on him and he will just lay there. One time he laid  there  for over 10 minutes just letting her put the blankets on and off of him and then she was play veterinarian with him. It was so cute. Here is a picture of her wrapping a blanket around him because he is "cold"

 Obviously you can see Riley isn't far from Zoe. He loves to follow her a round. So when Zoe fell a sleep on the couch while eating her lunch Riley had be close and sleep on top of the sofa.

 She is so cute all the time but I love seeing her sleep

 Isn't she cute???

 Zoe had a bath and I finally decided to try to do a french braid in her hair for the first time. It's not perfect but she was very proud that I could put a braid in her hair

 I can't believe her hair is finally long enough for a french braid!! I have been waiting for this moment once I found out I was having a girl. So I was excited too

 We went over my friend Sarah's  house to play and  Zoe was trying to put Madalyn's braid  in the back pocket of Madalyn's jeans. It was funny to watch.

Baby Brinkerhoff #2

I planned my gender ultrasound on the 28th of March. Which turned out great! Alex had off that Friday and I wanted my parents to come in for a visit so we can celebrate Zoe 3rd birthday. So my appointment was at 10:30 a.m and we arrived a little early because I had to do some paper work. In the waiting room I had to take a letter for my turn because it was busy and I got the letter "B" which I thought was funny because I started thinking in my head things that started with "B" like......baby.....baby Brinkerhoff.....or was it for Baby boy Brinkerhoff???? I guess stupid things like that go through my head when I am board..lol. My guess was girl and my hubby was guessing boy. If you asked Zoe if she was going to have a brother or sister she would say brother but if you asked her if the baby was a girl or boy she would say girl. We have tried to explain it to her but she doesn't get it...lol.  Zoe is very excited about being a big sister and I know she will be a great big sister. She loves babies. She points them out when we are at the store or at church. And she tries to say "hi" to them and she gets disappointed when they don't say "hi" back. 

So this is my paper work for the ultrasound and the the letter "B" I had for registration.

Papa and Mimi bought her a balloon and she loved it!

We are waiting for my name to be called. 

Well I will tell you right now that the baby wouldn't cooperate and tell us if the it was a boy or a girl. It was being a little stinker. I left the ultrasound crying (I know I am pregnant so my emotions were high) but the tech was not very nice. She said I had a 45 minute slot but I don't think we were there that long. I could be wrong I wasn't timing it but she wouldn't tilt the screen and let me see the baby the whole time until the end I got to see the baby maybe for a minute. I don't even think it was that long. And the tech didn't let me hear the heartbeat. She measured it and said it was 141 but she didn't let me hear it. So that's why I left the ultrasound crying. Yes I was disappointed that we didn't find out the gender but I was soooooooooooooooooooo looking forward to seeing my baby and hearing that beautiful sound of the baby's heartbeat. But what I have to keep telling myself as long as the baby is healthy that is what matters most. We really don't care if the baby is a girl or boy as long as the baby is healthy that is what matters the most. I have a doctors appointment next week to talk to my doctor about the ultrasound and I am hoping she reschedules a new one but if she doesn't we have an appointment for a elective ultrasound on April 19th. I will be drinking a lot of orange juice before my ultra sound to make sure that baby is moving and not sleeping next time. But here is a picture of our beautiful baby! It stayed in this position the whole time. It's hand did move a little but that is it. I can't wait to hold this baby and give it lots and lots of kisses.