Is Deb Pregnant or What?

After 40 fast, but sometimes long weeks, we have reached the projected due date, April 21st, for the last baby to enter this family. However, as of this morning, the baby is still firmly packed inside mom's tummy. Alan, Deb, and all the girls are anxiously awaiting the baby's arrival, as is Papa, who is still with us after two weeks, and will stay until the baby makes its appearance known to the outside world. Here are some pictures as the pregnancy has progressed.

Wow! It's Been 3 Months!!

Where in the world has the time flown? We intended to post an update after Jenna's birthday, which was March 20th, but that doesn't even begin to account for the two months prior. Sometimes, life really does get in the way!

So, we'll start with Jenna's birthday anyhow. She turned two back in March. We celebrated with a small family party and a "kitty cat" cake (orange, to look like our cats Blaze and Tom). Jenna couldn't quite figure out the blowing out candles bit, but she had no trouble unwrapping presents.

This was a big milestone birthday for all of us, considering she was born ten weeks preemie. She had her 2-year physical and was on all the charts, with her highest marks going to her head size. (Pretty normal for all the Bice girls.) She's talking now in near sentences. She loves puzzles. But the favorite pastime for her and especially her two big sisters is to ride bikes.

Yes, Mason has learned to ride her bike without training wheels. Hurray! The freedom it has given her is absolutely amazing. She can ride in sharp circles, up and down bumps, pretty much anywhere we let her go. Her only downfall is when she hits water in the road. She had a pretty good fall this past week on some water, but we hope to get her back on her bike quickly. She's asking for a kickstand now, so we don't think she's been deterred. She took her first "bike ride" with her dad. It was about a half mile to a friend's house. She did great! Since then, she's been riding longer and longer rides with her Papa, who is here helping with the kids (who had a two-week long spring break). Mom needed lots of help, as the due date for Bice Baby #4 has rapidly approached.

Mackenzie is also a pro on the bicycles. We purchased a bigger bike for Mason, and gave Mackenzie Mason's first two-wheel bike, putting the training wheels back onto it. She motors around the neighborhood like it's second nature, although she gets nervous going down hills. Up hills, however, she has the endurance of a true athlete. She has learned to pedal faster and can motor right up a hill like it's effortless. Maybe we'll take the training wheels off even earlier for her.

Lest we forget, Jenna attended her very first day of preschool, with big sister, Mackenzie, just before spring break. She was a little confused that she didn't just drop off Mackenzie and leave with mom, but in the end, the teachers reported that both girls had a great day! They played together, ate together, there was no crying from Jenna, and it was deemed a success. Jenna is returning to school today, with Mackenzie, for the first day back after the break. Hopefully, it will be another success.

With that said, we've added some photos for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

Catchup Time

Gosh! Has it been months since we posted anything here? Let's see, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, New Year's. Yikes! Thanksgiving was quiet. We celebrated at home, with just the five of us. I guess you couldn't really call that quiet, but we relaxed, and enjoyed our favorite feast of the year!

Hanukkah arrived, and for the first year, all of the girls were interested in lighting the candles and singing the peppy little Hanukkah song that has become our song of choice for the holiday. Of course, a visit from Santa was what really got to the girls. They were all excited about him coming, but Mackenzie was petrified that he might actually come INTO the house. You see, Mackenzie saw Santa one night, visiting a neighborhood home that was lavishly decorated. He invited her to sit with him and she freaked. She didn't want to be anywhere near him. He is a scary guy to a two-year old! Jenna wasn't too thrilled either, but we did manage to get her in his lap, although she was whining and reaching for daddy the whole time. Mason did not see Santa, because she went to a nativity slide thing (whatever that means) with some friends.

When push came to shove, the Christmas tree was small, not much bigger than the menorah, but the girls were happily rewarded with presents from Santa. Jenna was a pro at unwrapping. Mackenzie still asked for help. Their personalities are definitely blossoming.

On New Year's Eve, we went to a friend's house for a small party. There were seven children and ten adults. Not bad numbers. The girls tried their hardest to stay awake, just for the fun of staying awake (since they didn't really understand New Year's Eve). We ended up leaving before midnight, after the younger two passed out between 10:30 and 11 PM. What troopers! Mason was in bed and asleep by 11:45 PM. Just missed it! The two of us finished folding laundry at 11:55 PM, chatted, looked at the clock, smooched, and said "time for bed!" We feel so old some days!

Finally, after a long winter break and lots of sleeping in, we had to resume our daily routine. The older two went back to school, Alan went back to work, and Deb and Jenna went back to running errands and dropping everyone off/picking them up each day. Amazing where the time goes.

Anyhow, enjoy all the pics until next time!

Baby Bice Four

For anyone who is remotely interested, this is one of the best ultrasound pictures we've ever seen for any of our children. This one, of course, is still cooking, but should arrive mid-late April. ACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Word Play

Last week, I (Deb) was in the car with Mackenzie and Jenna. I had just picked up Mackenzie from preschool, and we were on the highway, headed down to Mason's school for the next pickup. On the shoulder of the road was a truck (a tow truck, I think). From the back seat, I hear, "Mommy, is that a *uck?"
"Oh! A teh-RUCK?" I asked.
"Yes. A *UCK!!" (said much louder)
"A TEH-RUCK!"
"Oh-KAY!" said with emphasis from the back seat.
Turns out, Mackenzie doesn't pronounce "tr" words very well. She substitutes an "f." You can't be angry, because she believes she's saying it properly. It's also hard not to laugh.
A couple days later, Alan was home with Mackenzie and Jenna. He was reorganizing a bottom drawer in the kitchen, full of kid-friendly dishes. Jenna, in her usual form, was foiling him every step of the way.
"You're getting on my fricking nerves!" said Alan playfully to Jenna.
Mackenzie, who was at the table, heard this and said, "Daddy, is Jenna getting on your *ucking nerves?"
What's a dad to do? Keep laughing. We are!

Halloween

The leadup to Halloween was definitely most exciting for Mason this year. We contemplated her costume for more than a month. At one point, she said she would like to be R2D2. We thought that was cool. But then, she decided on Ariel the Mermaid. Much more conventional. After a couple weeks insistence, we purchased Ariel the Mermaid, with hair and shoes, to boot. A couple weeks before Halloween, Mason went to a birthday party and needed a costume. We found her devil costume, complete with horns and pitchfork. She had worn it two (?) years ago in Germany. It still fits. Imagine that, for our little pipsqueak. From that point on, we were informed that she would wear the Ariel red hair with her devil costume for Halloween. Fine fine fine. But, on Halloween day, Mason's school said they could come with funny hair. She planned to wear her wig, but at the last minute said no. We put eight ponytails in her hair instead. That night, she also opted out of the wig. I told her she would have to make next year's Halloween costume, because the outlay of money was a bit much for a costume that was never worn. Fortunately, it can still become dressup clothes.

As for Mackenzie, she was not at all interested in dressing up for Halloween. We asked her if she would like to wear a fairy dress. She said, "Oh, yeah!" Then she followed that with, "No. I can't." What????? For school, the best we managed was an orange Halloween bat shirt. For trick-or-treating, she refused to remove the bat shirt, but Alan successfully got the fairy dress (sans wings) over the shirt, so she could join in the fun.

Jenna was agreeable to most everything. For the afternoon, she was a ladybug. By evening, she was a turtle, and a real ham about it! Jenna fell asleep on Alan's shoulder while out trick-or-treating, but fun was had by all. Enjoy the pics.

One last note - Mason entered a coloring contest for the first time. It was held at the local library. Her pumpkin picture won her a real pumpkin. The pictures were voted on by age group. Our little girl has won her first contest! Yay! They equated her rendition of the pumpkin to Indian corn. We're certain that wasn't her intent, but she was excited. So, here's a picture of the winning pumpkin, as well as our carved pumpkins. The skeleton face was on the pumpkin she won.

We Voted!

Today, the Bice adults took part in what will no doubt be a historic election. We cast our ballots for the 2008 presidential election, and most significantly in California, for the Proposition 8 measure about equal rights. While standing side-by-side at the foldout cardboard booths (no curtains), with Jenna in Alan's arms, we were gripped by laughter as we heard a little "toot." Alan said to Jenna, "did you toot?" She said slyly, "yeeaaaahhh." Fun fun fun! Happy voting to all! We'll blog with our Halloween photo shoot later today (if possible).

P.S. It's raining in CA. What a great day for elections! We haven't had rain in months!!!