Little "Dora the Explorer" Fans

Fun Little Ride

About a week or so ago, I took the kids with me to purchase some necessities for the baby. We went to Baby's 'R' Us, and they spied this funky little car. I told them that I'd let them ride it, if they had good attitudes and obeyed mommy the whole time we were in the store. They quickly agreed, and amazingly enough they kept their end of the bargain... so they got to ride the car on our way out to the car. Who knew that 50 cents could purchase so much fun?

Charlie's Performance at Church

Two weeks ago, we made it to church after not having been there for about a month and a half. Well, that Sunday was Charlie's Sunday school class' performance of a song they all (not Charlie, though) had been practicing each week for about a month or so. Charlie had no idea what the words were, had no idea what the tune was, but went along with the show anyway. I felt so badly for him, but it didn't seem to phase him one bit. Because he acted very proud of himself afterward, as though he was the lead in a play or something! So... here's the performance! (Oh yeah... he's the one on the far right.)

Baby Update - 36 Weeks

A few nights ago, David and I were laying there in bed. My mind was drifting from thought to thought, and apparently his was too. He broke the silence, "I wonder what this baby is going to look like." That started a whole string of "wondering" type thoughts about the baby. "I wonder what it's going to be like with three little ones in our family." "I wonder when the baby is going to arrive." "I wonder whether the baby will be a boy or a girl." "I wonder how Charlie and Sydney will react to and behave around the baby." "I wonder..." "I wonder..." "I wonder..." This night of "wonders" all of a sudden made the reality of this baby's upcoming entrance into our lives soooooo real! And I've been getting more and more excited about meeting our little one!!

Now that I'm 36 weeks along, I'm in the legal zone for a home birth! Yay! Ever since tackling my "blacking-out" problem from about four to six weeks ago, I've been feeling great. Now that I'm taking an extra iron supplement and eating every 2 hours (which is quite the challenge, I must say), I'm not dizzy or blacking out anymore! So that's nice. I was pretty stressed out over the scare of being at random places, and having to hold on for dear life to something near me... or just get on all fours in the middle of the grocery store. It was stressful AND embarrassing, I must say, and I'm glad that's no longer happening!

This baby is sooooo active, though! Oh my gosh... sooooooo much kicking! Before Charlie's bed time tonight, he was giggling at how much the baby was kicking him. After feeling the baby move and kick for about 15 minutes straight, he said, " Mommy... I LOVE feeling the baby move... It's my favorite!" Then after he moved away from my tummy, we both saw the baby push out toward the side of my stomach that Charlie was sitting next to, and Charlie said, "The baby's saying, 'Wait! Where's did my hug go?'" And then he giggled again. It's so much fun being pregnant when I see these kinds of reactions from Charlie. Sydney, on the other hand, doesn't really understand what's going on. Although, at least she now knows the difference between "boo boos" and "baby" bumps! But now I believe she thinks that everyone's tummies are also called "babies". It cracks me up! The other day she said pointing at her own parts, "Mommy, boo boos up high. Baby down low." Yep. She's got the picture (lol)

Well, we'll see WHEN this baby decides to comes. I'm predicting sometime in September, but I really would LOVE to be wrong and get to meet him/her in August. I'm sure this baby will come when the time is right, though. And we'll all welcome him/her with lots of loving arms!

These pics were actually taken today... please ignore the stretch marks (lol)

Independence Day 2010

This Independence Day was very mellow for me, which is what I think our family needed. We had a nice easy morning, a trip to Target, followed by a trip to IKEA. We came home after that, and we all took a short nap. After that I went to the grocery store to buy some items for a barbecue, and had a really nice visit over the phone with Noelle while food shopping. When I arrived home, my parents, Barbara, and our good friends (Nate and Robin) were already there for the meal we had yet to prepare. We were kind of behind schedule, but everyone seemed to be in the laid-back mood we were, so it was no problem. We had a wonderful time visiting! Nate and Robin had to leave for another engagement for fireworks, but my parents and Barbara stayed.

The fireworks were great! Charlie and Sydney had about fifty sparklers to share between them, and enjoyed every moment of each sparklers life (which spanned about a minute). Charlie ran all over the driveway with great enthusiasm, while Sydney stood in one spot making round circles with her's. It was lot's of fun! We even were able to see some bigger fireworks, which was a treat, too.

December '09

Random Pictures Again

Some of these pictures are quite a few months old. The first one is from Easter at our house... along with the "food" one later. The pregnant picture of me was sometime around the 3-month mark (Charlie and Sydney's birthday party). Just thought it'd been too long since posting any pictures, so here ya go... in a very disorganized fashion! Haha!