Baby #3: It's a Boy!

Yep, that's right. We are soon going to have yet another Walling boy in the family. This morning was my 20 week ultrasound and i was able to get a few pictures to take home. The ultrasound tech says he's going to be a big boy! In my 1st ultrasound, he was measuring 5 days ahead of my due date and now he is measuring 9 days ahead. He had a strong heartbeat of 147 bpm. He is already up to 14 ounces and has long, wide, square feet like his big brothers. The tech "didn't" do a 3D ultrasound (if anyone asks) and we were able to get a little profile pic of baby #3. It looks a little creepy, but i can already tell he has the same forehead (or should i say five head) as Ethan! Ha Ha Ha! I'm excited to see what he will look like a few months after he is born. Preston has Price's dark complexion, dark hair, an oval head and my dark eyes and Ethan has my pasty white skin, the Barrett blue eyes, a very round head and I'm still not sure where that platinum blond hair came from. So, it should be interesting to see if baby #3 "matches" one of his brothers, or is a combination all his own! Preston had told my mom "If baby is a sister, I'll keep her, but if baby is a boy, Ethan can have him. I already have a baby brother and I don't want another one." I'm interested to see how he reacts tonight when i tell him the news?!?

F.Y.I: I still do not have a working scanner, so these are pictures of pictures and really blurry. I appoligize...
Here are babies feet...

Here is his face, he was face down most of the time, so it isn't a great shot..

The 3D of his profile, yes it is kind of creepy...

Another 3D profile...

The side profile. See his spine, stomach, head and even a little ear!



Now...let me address a few of the questions i have already been asked about 100 times:
1.) "Are you disappointed it's not a girl?"
I was a little disappointed at first, but the more i think about it, the more excited i become. It is going to be hilarious to see them grow up together and rough house and bond with their daddy. PLUS, we're going to save a TON of money now that i don't need to redecorate the nursery, buy a new wardrobe, and stock up on bows, headbands and everything pink!

2.) "Are you going to try again for a girl?"
I would love to have a daughter someday and have always wanted to have a lot of kids, but i don't know what life is going to be like with 3 yet. I know parenting is expensive, and hectic and can suck the energy out of you...so I'm not ruling it out but not giving it a 100% yes yet. Plus, there is NO WAY I'm going to bring up the idea of a fourth to Price anytime soon. I think he would run screaming or have a heart attack!

3.) "Do you have a name picked out?"
Nope, we sure don't! I like Charles as a middle name. The boys both have family middle names and I'd like to stick to the tradition, but as far as 1st names go...i have no clue! I feel like in the past i was pretty pushy with my name choice, so this time i plan to sit back and allow Price the majority say in the name picking process. However, I'm happy to take any suggestions!...Sorry Karlene, i don't think Karl Ene Walling is going to make the cut though :-)

T.T.F.N.
Lots of Love and Bunches of Hugs,
XOXO Brogan Lee

Roll out the Barrels

This past weekend i made the trip to San Luis Obispo for the 3rd year in a row to attend the 21st annual Roll Out The Barrels wine tasting weekend! Unfortunately, this was the 2ND year that i was not able to enjoy the wines, but the food at each of the vineyards was delicious! We could not have asked for a more beautiful weekend, and i even got a little color (and some gnarly tan lines)!

I drove into town Thursday evening and my best friend Nicole and I headed to the downtown SLO farmers market. This was probably one of the best farmers markets i have been to in years. The smells of all the produce were so pungent. There was live music and a lot of restaurants set out booths with delicious foods. Nicole had a bowl-less teriyaki rice bowl (it was wrapped in a green tortilla) and i started with a roasted ear of corn with butter, chili, garlic and salt and pepper. Then i moved onto an authentic Philly Cheese steak sandwich...cheese whip and all. It was of AMAZING! Then, we did what girls do best, and stayed up until almost 2 am chattin' away!

Friday was a wonderfully typical girlie day...coffee, shopping, pedicures, lunch, more shopping, frozen yogurt, a delicious hors d'oeuvres dinner made with items bought at the Farmers market the night before, a chick flick, and of course, another late night chat fest.

(Can you guess which frozen yogurt was mine?!?!)


Saturday morning, we were up bright and early, Nicole made us marvelous fruit and yogurt parfaits, and her friend Kelsey came over.
This breakfast was soooo good!

The three of us ladies hit the road to start our day. I'll tell you now; because i was not sampling any wine, i took pictures of ALL the food, and instead of me telling you about the "light fruity chardonnay" at Tolosa, I'll tell you about the brownies,BBQ beef, salads and more from each of the vineyards we visited. ;-)

She was a good sport to sit in the little back seat of my car!

Coming up the driveway to our first stop of the day...

1st stop:Talley...B-E-A-tiful scenery, BBQ sirloin sandwich on a toasted garlic bread bun, served with an oriental salad and a frosting topped brownie for dessert (yes, dessert at 11am! Totally my kind of place). I did smell most of the wines, and Talley's Syrah was fantastic! I REALLY, REALLY wanted a glass!




2nd stop: Wolff... An accordion and a harmonica player, meatball sandwiches and a REALLY steep gravel driveway that was NOT fun to walk down in 4 inch wedges!





3rd stop: Baileyana... I really love this place. We have gone here every year. There is bocce ball and bean bag toss and this year they had a sparkling wine. The food was BBQ pulled pork, grits, cole slaw and spicy grilled shrimp.




4th and final stop: Tolosa... This place is my all time favorite! They have the best wine in my opinion (and endless pours), they had a man singing, playing the guitar and another on the fiddle, AND pizza was the meal served!

I was too caught up in the music, sunshine and a great conversation to take many more pictures here.

After veggin' for a while back at Nicole's place, we went to dinner in downtown SLO and then went to a very late showing of Bad Teacher. The movie was sadly not as good as i had hoped :-(




The weekend came and went and before we knew it, it was Sunday morning. We made one last stop at Salisbury winery for breakfast. We had pancakes, sausage, strawberries and blueberries with whip cream. I had coffee, but the girls had "backwards mimosas" (pinot and blood orange Italian soda).

I said my goodbyes and started my 345 mile drive home. I had a great time with my best friend (and enjoyed meeting a new friend). I can't wait until our next visit...and R.O.T.B. 2012! Hopefully next year I won't be pregnant again and all my siblings and the hubby can join us!

Lots of Love and Bunches of Hugs,
XOXO Brogan Lee

Baby #3:20 Weeks

Well, we've made it to the half way point! 20 weeks down, 20 to go! Things have been going pretty good. The baby is moving a lot more, I've started to feel hiccups and I've stopped gaining weight so quickly!! In the past 2 weeks, I've added 30 minutes of brisk walking into my routine and have started eating a salad right when i get home from work to keep myself from munching endlessly on sugar coated, carbo loaded treats! It seems to be paying off. In the last 4 weeks i have only gained 3.3 pounds as opposed to the 10 i gained between the 3rd and 4Th month. My hips are 2 inches wider :-( and my waist is 1 inch wider. So far, I'm up 20 pounds from conception, this is WAY more than I'd like to have gained but if i can stay below 35 to 40 total pounds gained, I'll be really happy.



Thursday is the next ultrasound, which means we'll finally get to find out whats cookin' in there!! I'll keep you all posted!



Lots of Love and Bunches of Hugs,
Brogan Lee

Ava Elizabeth Jay

Yesterday, Sunday June 19Th (Fathers Day) at 5:33am Ava Elizabeth Jay was born! She was 7 pounds 4 ounces and 19 inches long! My friend Anna had an extremely fast labor and an even faster delivery! She was one lucky momma! Anna kept everyone laughing through the whole process. I'm still laughing about some of the things that came out of her mouth! I felt so honored to have been part of this experience. Thank you Anna and Dustin for including me, and congratulations on your amazing daughter. I can't wait to watch this beautiful little girl grow up (but not to quickly :-) ).





Here's to happy and healthy babies! Go hug and/or kiss yours or any one you can get your hands on!

Lots of Love and Bunches of Hugs,
XOXO Brogan Lee

Cookie filled Cupcakes

A co-worker of mine, who knows how much i love to bake, gave me the GREATEST cupcake recipe the other day! I had no reason to make 2 dozen cupcakes, but HAD to try these! The idea is a cupcake with a chocolate chip cookie (or any type of cookie) baked into the center. They are SUPER easy and REALLY good...who doesn't love cupcakes and cookies?? NOBODY!! So why wouldn't the two combined be fantastic?!?

Her is what you do:

1: Make the cake batter of your choice and put into cupcake pan...


2:Make or buy cookie dough and roll into small balls (about 1/2 to 1 inch) and drop into the raw cake batter. Bake at 350 for 20-22 minutes then pull them out of the oven and let sit (in the cupcake pans) for at least another 10 minutes. The take them out and allow to cool before frosting.


3:Make your favorite frosting (i choose chocolate peanut butter frosting), and frost!!


4: I don't know why, but i LOVE piping frosting on. I think it looks so much cleaner and i think you get a little more frosting this way :-). I'm a REALLY big frosting fan!!


5: Ta DA!! The end result! A cupcake...WITH a cookie in the middle! Amazing!


I bought a cupcake tower from Michael's a few months back and i use it all the time...it saves counter space (something i don't have much of) and looks so pretty!


Preston was dieing to get his hands on a cupcake!


And...he did! Happy cupcake eating!


Lots of Love and Bunches of Hugs
XOXO Brogan Lee

Kar's Bachelorette Weekend

This past Friday, Saturday and Sunday my sister Karlene and 5 of her friends made the trip to (not so sunny) San Diego for a relaxing weekend to celebrate Karlene's departure from single-hood. The big day is July 30th! We had planned on a weekend of lounging on the beach, eating a lot of Mexican food and hopping around to a few bars in the Gaslamp.



Friday, the ladies started to arrive. We had a VERY filling lunch in Old Town. I bought an ungodly amount of candy, some of the ladies bought some cigars for their other half's, and then we (when i say we, I am referring to everyone but me) enjoyed some tequila and beers at The Agave Tequileria.



As the evening rolled on, we hung out at The Wave house, by a Bonn fire, listening to Reggae music and having a few drinks (again, not I). Karlene had an awkward conversation with the bouncer as we walked in about whether this place was a "San Diego Bro Zone" or not. The guys just gave Karlene a blank stare and Karlene proceeded to explain what a "Bro Zone" was. I don't think he ever got it, but it because a running joke for the remaining weekend.





Saturday and Sunday mornings we ate at a little place down the street from our hotel called Cafe Mono. I really liked it. It seemed healthy and fresh, very much the opposite of all the fried Mexican food we had been consuming the nights before.



Unfortunately, San Diego decided to live up to its reputation of "June gloom" and we only had a few hours each day of sunshine. This, however, did not keep the majority of us from getting a little sun burnt. All of us, except for Alex that is...she was smart and slathered on the SPF50 and sat, fully clothed, under an umbrella.



Karlene and her Red Bull shot...



Alex and her BEAUTIFUL new purse she just got while on her honeymoon in Italy!



Saturday night we had dinner at a place called South Beach. According to Google it has the worlds best fish tacos and was featured on The Food Network.



I can't vouch for the fish tacos, but i had an order of fantastic fried zucchini and a GIANT carne asada tostada.





The ladies ordered a round of oyster shots. The waiter told them that it was in vodka. They assumed it had a little vodka poured over the top. Then he walked up with shot glasses filled with vodka, some sort of red sauce and an oyster in the bottom. NOT what they had expected!! I wish i had a picture of their faces as they shot it back! I don't think any of them liked it! Ha ha ha







After dinner we hit the Gaslamp (downtown San Diego) for a little bar hopping... Kar sported her penis crown, necklace and bracelet like a champ!





Here is our group... 7 lovely ladies!





It was a nice, relaxing weekend. It seemed like everyone had a good time. Now only a few more weeks until her shower, and then a few weeks after that...THE BIG DAY!!! I can't wait! Here's to sisters (Ashlee was very missed this entire trip :-( )and good friends!

Lots of Love and Bunches of Hugs
XOXO Brogan Lee