"It's probably a brother,"- Joel, Age 3

Well Joel was right! Baby brother is due this Thanksgiving and we couldn't be happier. Benny says he knew all along that it was a boy, and he really didn't ever mention much about it possibly being a girl. I honestly didn't have much of a hunch this time around. With Joel, I did really feel like it was a boy. This time, I think I was maybe preparing myself for it being a girl since we already have a boy- but I went back and forth as to what "feeling" I had. But on Thursday, June 27th we solved the mystery.
We went as a family to the sonogram to find out if Joel was having a brother or a sister. Everything looked good on the baby, weighing about 9 oz and all healthy organs. At the very end of the appointment we finally got to see the goods :) Henry David Del Castillo was clearly a BOY!
Joel isn't sold on the name. I think because he has a little boy at his daycare named Henry, so when we say the baby is Henry, he thinks we're saying it's that Henry. Before we found out the sex, Joel wanted to name the baby Pancake if it was a boy, and Cupcake if it was a girl. Now he says we'll just call him Baby Boy.
We came up with Henry David before we even got pregnant this time, so we haven't had to do any name searching or going back and forth. I loved the name Henry when we were pregnant with Joel, but Benny didn't like it. After Joel was born, we were talking about the possibility of baby #2 and Benny all the sudden loved the name. I think the idea of maybe calling him Hank sold him on the idea. His name is Henry, not Hank, just to be clear. David is my Dad's name and since Joel's middle name is Benjamin after Benny's dad, we thought that would work nicely.
I am so happy to be a mommy to two boys. I can't wait to see them play together and pick on each other likes brothers do. I hope they grow up to be close, best friends and always watch out for each other.
This will probably, 99% sure, be our last addition to our family- which of course is bittersweet. It's nice to know this is our family and we are set, but of course a little part of me will miss the possibility of having another baby. We were going to name the baby Mabel if it was a girl, so maybe we'll have to save that name for an addition of the four legged kind :)

Father's Day 2013

Potty woes

This is the first week of summer, which means we get to spend a lot more time with Joel! I'm not teaching summer school this year, which is for the best because I get to squeeze in some more time with my little man before baby #2 comes in the fall.
Today we worked more on potty training. Joel is getting pretty good at realizing when he has gone (if he has a diaper on) but he freaks out if he has an accident in his underwear and shorts. Makes sense because Joel doesn't like to be dirty at all. He has had two accidents so far, and now he's starting to hold in his pee, even if he has a diaper on. I think he is afraid it's going to make a mess when he goes potty, because he keeps talking about when he pee pee came out of his shorts. Poor guy. Tonight he was to the point of crying and squirming around because he was trying so hard to hold it. He finally went on our second trip to the bathroom (I had put his diaper back on in hopes he would just go). Hopefully it won't be long now until he is potty trained.
But other than that he has been a complete joy to be around. He is so talkative. Just a minute ago he told me, "Mommy, did you know you're the best?" Ahh, I love him so much. I know we'll love our kids the same, but it's going to be close ;)