4th of July

The fourth of July just isn't the same here. 

 Obviously, we're in Australia. 

They don't care about America's independence. 

It floats by like a normal day.

It's always peculiar when people ask the date and there's no spark when they hear, "the fourth of July."

Beyond that it's winter.

The 4th in winter?.............. That's like Christmas in summer.
Tax season in July.......... Halloween in Spring!
SNAP!

Hold Up
That has been our world for the past couple of years.
Oh well
 It's fun to scramble things up a bit.
Having my fall birthday in spring is enteraining I have to admit.
(although I prefer an autumn birthday)

 

 The picture above is from last year when they were in prep/kindergarten.  

I've kept it because when it was first brought home I looked at it and thought,

 Wow, they are going to be so confused when we move back to the states.  

The picture below is the back of our calendar.  I love how it properly depicts the Australian seasons.

I also love how the family of 4 perfectly matches ours.

It's fitting that this calendar will be out of date come January.

The 4th of July that I will always remember most vividly was in 2006.
Not because we went to some great Barbeque or parade.
It started because I was feeling unusually grumpy.
Ryan suggested I grab a pregnancy test while I was out shopping.
I grabbed the cheap one because I didn't want to spend money to find out I wasn't pregnant.  

We were hanging curtains while Reed napped when I suddenly remembered I bought it.
I casually took it. Mostly to humor Ryan.
When I saw that second pink line I ran out of the bathroom and threw the test across the kitchen table.
We looked at the test & instructions from every angle. 
How could this be?
 We must have missed something.
Off I went to buy a 3 pack of the expensive tests.
Thankfully everyone of them showed those 2 pink lines.
And that's how we found out about Fiona.

Despite being in OZ, this fourth will be a memorable one as well.

We had our second ultrasound for baby #3.

This time Reed and Fiona joined us.

{sucking it's little thumb}

When it started I said to Reed, "Look at the baby on the screen buddy!"

You know what that little bugger said to me? ....

"Yeah I know, we have this app."

What?!?

I could not stop laughing.

(it IS a good app though)

The final report... Our baby looks healthy. 

 Down Syndrome is not likely. 

 The heart looks like it's forming/working properly. 

Brain looks superior. (wink)

 Ten fingers, ten toes... the whole shebang looks in proper order.

 We couldn't be happier.

What did leave me a little worried... it looks like we have a stubborn one on our hands.

 (I blame it's father) :)

When it came time for 4D pictures bub was not playing.

 The tech tried everything to get him/her to show it's face.  This is all we got...

Every time I go to open the fridge and see this picture (and the other two identical to it) I giggle to myself.
I imagine a very vain baby thinking, "Don't look at me, I'm not finished!!"
Of course our little sweetie will not be stubborn or vain
 but I'm certain this is just the start of the smiles it will cause. 

We've also set the date to (hopefully) find out the gender.
August 26th!

We did spring for the DVD of the ultrasound and I hope to one day find the time to post parts of it.
 {I highly suggest getting the video to anyone having a baby. It's a different experience when you watch it at home}

We hope you had a wonderful, if not memorable, 4th!!