New Camera!!

I got a new camera this week and have been trying to learn how to use it! I've now diligently read through the instruction manual and picked my friend's brain (she has the same camera) about how to use it! I've been out practicing a bit and am loving it already! I should hopefully be able to get some really good pictures once I can figure it out some more:)

After School Snack

Since all of this "restricted activity" stuff has taken place, I have desperately been looking for fun stuff that S and I can do together before the chaos of a new baby ensues! When I pick her up from school, we usually play at the church playground for a bit and then have an entire afternoon together to kill about 3 hours before dinner. A while back, a friend told me about an after school snack time offered at a local coffee shop. I was worried that it would be packed with older kids, but we were the only ones there! S of course LOVED the cookie and devoured it in no time at all! Didn't take up quite as much time as I'd hoped, but it was still fun for both of us:)

No More Freeloading...

In the past, we have always been able to take S to places with arcade-type games and just let her mess around with the buttons and she has been perfectly content. WELL, on Saturday we took her to Chuck E. Cheese's to do just that, but to our dismay, she now knows the difference:( Sure was nice while it lasted...sigh. Time to pay up Mom and Dad!!

Yay for Art!!

We went to an AWESOME art place for kids this week! It was set up perfectly for the attention span of a toddler with about six different indoor and outdoor activities - they could even paint the house!! The lady who owns the place was fabulous and was such a help! She was extremely laid back and I loved the way she was with the kids. S had the freedom to actually do what she wanted with her art rather than have me hovering over her freaking out that she was making a mess! Better the art studio get messed up than my house:) The art that we came away with looks great - and I am serious! I plan to frame some of it and use it to decorate the nursery. I am so excited about this place and can't wait to go back:)

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1...

The countdown has begun:)

I have only TEN weeks until this little guy is due! It is hard to even imagine what are life is going to be like when he arrives and I am so very excited to meet him (just not quite yet please!).

We had the scare at about 28.5 weeks and wound up at the hospital for the day and then strict bedrest followed by "restricted activity" which we are still attempting to adhere to - easier said than done with a 2-year-old running around! But, if something good did come out of all of that, we got two extra ultrasounds done and my big baby boy is still measuring about a week big, he is head down and face down! Now he just has to stay that way which the doctor said at this point they usually do:)


So, if he is actually measuring 31 weeks right now, then he is approximately 3lb5oz and 18in long! That being said, this mommy is growing at a rapid pace as well! I feel like I will soon need a sling in which to carry this belly:)

Evening in Fingerville

Nothing is better than a beautiful spring evening spent at a fish camp on the lake and eating the freshest strawberries you've ever tasted!! That is what we did last night and we can't stop talking about how wonderful it was!:) The food was fabulous as was the view of the lake full of pontoons and wakeboarders! And, we found out that S absolutely loves fried shrimp - she devoured M's entire plate!! Getting fresh strawberries from Strawberry Hill USA afterwards was a highlight for us!

Thank you Fingerville for a great family night out:)

Poor Girl!

Since the complications with this pregnancy on Sunday, we have all been completely exhausted and thrown off schedule!!


Michael has been working like a madman all day at work, comes home to having to do the cleaning and laundry and cooking and getting S ready for bed and yard work and painting S's big girl furniture and moving furniture and after all that has had to study for some tests that he is taking. Whew - talk about a full plate! Thank goodness he is willing to step in and do all of it!


S is now in three days of "school" instead of one and is having to do everything by herself since I can not pick her up. She gets up on my bed to get her diaper and clothes changed, climbs into her car seat by herself, takes all of her dirty clothes to the laundry and throws away all her trash. She is having to grow up a bit faster than we had anticipated! With all the change, her sleep has not been exactly wonderful and she is definitely in a deficit! Today after picking her up from school, she was exhausted and fell asleep on the way home. I got home and was able to put her shoes on her and get her completely unbuckled from her car seat as she snored away. I had to wake her up, though, because I can't carry her into the house. Luckily, Grandmamma had dropped off a present at the house for her while we were gone and I used that to cheer her up while I was being so mean and making her sleepy little self walk into the house!

Garden Time

M and S have started their 2nd annual garden this weekend!! M was at it at 8:30am and S joined him after her nap today! What a special time for him to spend with her - I love it for both of them:) Granddaddy and Pearl got in on the action as well!!

And, of course, we all enjoy what will hopefully come out of the garden, YUMMM!!!!!!!

Happy Half Birthday!!

Today S is 2.5!!! WOW!

We didn't do too much to celebrate, but we did have some friends over this morning. I wasn't really planning to take pictures, but this was just too cute to pass up! One of the other little girls and S disappeared into her room and were way too quite for my liking so I went to check on them. I found S trying on shoes and jewelry while her little friend is laying around looking through the books. I just got a mental picture of the two of them doing this very thing(only with more expensive accessories and magazines instead of kid books)!!

Last night I had made S half a cake to help celebrate. The plan was to have it after dinner tonight and make a big deal about it. But, after a very frustrating dinner with her which concluded with her NOT eating (even with bribes and promises of cake if she did), she was not allowed to have her cake. I was not about to punish myself, though, and I enjoyed a very yummy slice with a glass of milk after she went to bed!!

We did get S's height measurement and she is just over 3 feet tall now! At least we know she is growing vertically even if not horizontally!!

Blooms

My tulips are blooming!!

I think I need to dig these up after this year and plant some more! Half of them are coming up but the other half don't seem to be doing so well! Plus, Abby thinks that this particular mulch bed is her napping area - grrrr!!

While we were outside, S decided to be a little daredevil and ride down our driveway in her car by herself, over and over and over again! Looks like something I would have done when I was little, but gosh it is hard to watch it as a mommy!!!

Easter Weekend

This Easter we tried a few new things with S and loved it all!

When I was studying abroad in Australia, there were hot cross buns everywhere you looked for Good Friday. They were so yummy, but I have not had them since then (that was 8 YEARS ago!!). So, I went to Publix this week thinking that they would have some pretty good ones. Well, they had them, but they weren't that good. Looked good, but definitely left something to be desired. Nonetheless, S and I had them for breakfast on Friday morning for something a little special. Next year I'll still serve hot cross buns on Good Friday, but they will not be from Publix!

Saturday morning, S and I got up and went to an Easter Egg Hunt. This was the first organized egg hunt that S has been to. Last year, we just did one for her in our backyard. We went to a local church and they did a great job with everything. They served breakfast, attempted to tell the Easter story to the kids, did TWO egg hunts for the kids, made a craft and there were prizes given out for various things. The first time around with the egg hunt, S was not really sure what the point was, and after putting one egg in her basket was so excited and proud that she came running back to show me! I tried to explain that she was suppose to pick up as many eggs as possible. We ended up with 5. The second time around, though, she had a better idea about what to do and managed to get 9. And, although I think she had fun doing the egg hunt, it was done at the church playground and she was much more interested in playing than she was collecting eggs. Oh well, as long as she had fun!!

Sunday morning while we were getting ready for church, I was trying to explain to S the meaning of Easter. I told her that Jesus died and then he rose up and went to heaven. Kinda a hard concept for a 2-year-old to digest. She just kept telling me that she wanted to see Easter. Hmmm... didn't know quite how to explain that! After a wonderful service at church and a nap, we dyed eggs and did another egg hunt in the backyard with just S. S loved dropping the eggs into the dye(they were in rough shape by the end of things) and after dinner when they had dried she was able to cover them with princess stickers. Very entertaining for her to do and for us to watch! She had a great time getting both Mommy and Daddy's full attention during the egg hunt and she kept wanting Daddy to hide them again and again!

What a great family Easter with lots of fun memories made!:)

The Rest of Our Week

We've been outside as much as possible this week!! The weather has been absolutely perfect!!