Stuffed Animals, Zoo, and a New Baby Cousin

My mom and sister, Artea, came for a visit last week. Mom wanted to relax and have fun so we decided to go to Build-A-Bear, where we had never been before. For those of you who have not heard of this store it is quite an experience. First, you pick an un-stuffed animal. Second, you stuff the animal, give it a heart then sew it up. Third, you give it a "bath" by brushing it under a stream of air. Fourth, you pick out an outfit and shoes and dress it. Last, you name it and get its birth certificate.

Now for Alaina (who is 3) this was an experience she enjoyed from beginning to end, however, Will (who is 1) was ready to leave after 5 minutes. In the end we brought home two new members of the family. Will's new pal is Chip, a monkey in a NBA basketball uniform and tennis shoes. Alaina's new friend is Ella, a unicorn wearing a Cinderella dress and glass slippers. They are cute and we had a lot fun. Thanks Meemaw!

So the next day we headed to the Richmond Metro Zoo for a day of animal seeing and feeding. The highlight for me is always the giraffes, they eat right out of your hand, or cup if you don't want to get slimy from their long tongues. This time there were two new things to do, so of course we had to try them out. We got to go into an enclosed bird area and have them land on our fingers and popsicle sticks of food to watch them eat. Then we hopped onto a train to tour around the Africa Area of the zoo. This by far was Will's favorite part. He was saying, "Chugga chugga choo choo" all the way around the area. We also watched the penguin feeding time. So the whole day was a huge success!!

On Wednesday we got the call from Aunt B and found out that she was going to be induced the next day and we would be meeting our new baby cousin soon. We decided to go that very night to Winchester. We spent the next several days at their house in West Virginia with Parker and Camden. Thursday night at 7:22 Baylee Joy entered the world weighing 8.8 lbs and stretching out to be 20 3/4 inches long. Friday morning we got to meet her and she is absolutely beautiful! Congrats Beth!!

This was very exciting for all of us, especially since we found out on Tuesday of last week that we were also expecting a baby girl in January! Even though when we ask Will, "what's in mommy's belly?" He still says, "baby boy" about 90% of the time. Alaina, on the other hand is so incredibly thrilled that we will have another girl joining our family. Now the name choice begins...