Making the Most of It

It's just about that time to add another little one to our family. The past few weeks I have been trying to cherish every little baby kick, every little episode of hiccups because I know the end is near. I'm well past 39 weeks now, and getting so anxious to meet this little one that I am already totally and completely in love with. I'm so eager to find out if this is a little brother or sister for my two sweet girls whose lives are about to be turned upside down. Sometimes I think that they are almost as excited as I am, but don't fully grasp what is about to happen. We've been reading lots of books...a favorite it the Berenstein Bears - New Baby. And Leah asks lots of questions about how the baby is going to get out, so we have a book for that too! Both the girls have been enjoying looking through their baby albums, at pictures of them as newborns. They love to see pictures of them in the bath, on trips, and with other family members. It's sweet and makes me wish that they weren't growing up so fast. But as for this new arrival, we are ready...as ready as we can be.

We are also trying to spend time doing more special things with the girls. Friday night we took them out to dinner...which we NEVER do. We went to Olive Garden. Gigi takes us there sometimes and the girls love the salad and macaroni and cheese. Sunday we went swimming at Mattoon Country Club. Yesterday Mitch got up and made pancakes for breakfast with the girls. They LOVE to cook with daddy, and he makes special PINK pancakes that they think are just the bees knees. They love to add ingredients to the bowl and stir and do a good job taking turns. I gave them pedicures, resulting in some pretty purple toes. These are all things that we did with Leah before Kiersten came and so I thought it would be nice to make it a "tradition" so someday they can see these pictures in the baby book. Yesterday afternoon my mom came for lunch. After Leah was picked up from VBS Mitch ran through the Dairy Queen drive-thru and got the girls another favorite for lunch...hot dogs, YES, hot dogs. After lunch they kissed my belly and snuggled the new baby. We took a picture for the last time as a family of four. Mom loaded up the girls and took them to Charleston and Mitch and I headed to St. Mary's Hospital in Decatur. Yes, I am in labor...TO BE CONTINUED!!!

SKY VBS

My LeeLee is just growing up too fast! This week she has been enjoying Vacation Bible School at our church, St. Paul's Lutheran. I'm so happy that she has something to do this week, and even happier that she is enjoying it! Girl is super excited to get up and moving in the morning!!! The theme is "SKY" so everyday they have different "SKY" characters. There has been a Bat, a Pilot, an Eagle and even a Pig with wings...For when Pigs fly, I'm assuming. The church is decorated so nice and both the girls love pointing out all the different decorations. There is a particularly spectacular hot air balloon in the lobby of the church, it's in one of the pictures with Leah standing near by. Every day Leah comes home with artwork matching the theme and a story or two of all the fun she is having. It helps too that she is seeing familiar faces. Poor girl, has been so bored since preschool ended. There are 2 little friends from school that she sees there. Plus, Taryn our babysitter is volunteering. Every morning at drop off and pick-up at noon, Leah AND Kiersten have to get their hugs in with Taryn. I'm sad that VBS only lasts one week. Now I will be in search of our next adventure.

Happy Father's Day!

There is nothing more beautiful to me than seeing my husband holding our children and I'm excited about the fact that in a week (give or take) I will see him holding the final addition to our family. We are almost complete, and I hope he knows how amazing his contributions to our family are. He is an awesome husband, friend and father. The girls are so lucky to have him and they know it, me too. They BOTH are Daddy's girl...I originally had hoped that since Leah was such a Daddy's girl, that Kiersten would be a mommy's girl  but no such luck. They are so smitten with him. At least once a week they cry in the morning because they didn't want their Daddy to be gone to work in the morning. In the afternoon they count down until he gets home, and they love helping him in the garden. So for Father's Day we got him so accessories to go along with their garden hobby. Our garden doubled in size this year. We have green beans, corn, carrots, zucchini, acorn squash, butternut squash, asparagus, brussel sprouts, spinach, sweet peppers, banana peppers, a array of cucumbers, some herbs, watermelon and canteloupe...oh, and several variety of tomatoes. I think that about covers it. Daddy has some plans to do some canning with all our fantastic produce so we got him a canning guide/recipe book and a canning kit. A couple of dress shirts for work too, but that's boring.

Of course, I have to add this little tid bit...First thing this morning I remided Kiersten that it was Father's Day. She went down the hall and said "Happy Father's Day for Uncle Matt." I had to laugh, she had recalled me putting a card in the mail to him is all I can think would prompt her to say that. I told her she needed to say Happy Father's Day to her Daddy. She said "OH, Happy Father's Day Daddy!" It was so funny. I made Daddy one of his favorites for lunch, bisquits with homemade sausage gravy and then we headed to Mattoon Country Club for a few hours relaxing and cooling off at the pool. Mitch and I were able to finish off the night with a date out for Indian Food. YUM! Thanks for babysitting, Ellen. Anyway, we sure do love our Daddy and hope he had a VERY Happy Father's Day!

Tadpoles and Pikes

Last week the girls started swim lessons at the YMCA! To say they were excited would be an understatement. They love the water, and wasted no time jumping right in. Kiersten is in the Tadpoles class, which mean that a parent has to swim with her. Obviously it is Mitch. I'm not into swim lessons right now being 39 weeks pregnant and all. She is the youngest in her class, but seems to be the most comfortable in the water. I'm not really surprised. After our trip to the Dells this past April, it was pretty clear she had no fear when it came to the water. She would get in and out, jump up and put her head under with out any hesitation. Leah is a little more apprehensive. It's good that she is with a teacher. She did a good job, listening and following instructions. They did a lot of floating on their tummies, floating on their backs, and practicing their kicking. 

This past Thursday I was having some serious Mommy guilt. We haven't been doing a whole lot this summer with me being HUGE. I decided to venture to the pool with the girls and was lucky enough that my mom was willing to join me. We went to Mattoon Country Club, and the girls couldn't wait. They were so good while we were there. Kiersten of course was jumping right in. Leah on the other hand took a while to warm up. She wanted to be held the entire time. But it didn't take long for her to find some bravery when some "big girls" were around. There were two young teen girls who kept encouraging her to kick and paddle on her own, and she loved swimming back and forth to them. It was great to see her find a little courage. When we went to swim lessons this week they were even more comfortable than the time before and I think by the end they will both be like a fish in water.

PINK, PINK, PINK

We were counting down the days for weeks for PINKALICOUS! Ever since Gigi took us to see Pinkalicious on Broadway in Chicago, it has been one of the girls favorite books. We have the soundtrack that we listen to in the car and the Macy and Leah even got "couture" Pinkalicious American Girl Doll dresses. We took Gigi to see the "Wizard of Oz" in March at the Little Theatre on the Square in Sullivan and saw that they would be doing Pinkalicious this summer and knew that we had to get tickets. Actually mom got tickets to all 3 of the Children's summer shows but this was the big kick-off for the season. All three of the girls put on their best pink dresses, and even Colby wore a pink polo shirt. He wanted no part of the girl picture before the show, but I was fortunate enough to snap one of him and Kiersten inside.

The kids loved the show, yes...even Colby. Kiersten and Leah were singing along to a few parts. After the show we waited patiently outside and got Pinkalicious to autograph our program. Gigi bought some pink cupcakes for a special treat and then we headed to Wyman Park for lunch. It's a great park right next to Sullivan Community Center where Mitch had his triathlon. I had packed some pringles, grapes, carrots and juice boxes and Mom and Cynthia ran through McDonald's drive through and grabbed some chicken nuggets and burgers. We enjoyed a beautiful picnic and some playtime in the park followed by the delicious pink cupcakes...to which the kids replied "Just one more???" Thank you for such a fun time, Gigi. We can't wait to go see "How I Became a Pirate" in July and "The Princess and the Frog" in August.

The Potty Pro

I don't mean to brag but my girl is super smart!!! And for some of you this post may be a little bit too much information...after all, it is about potty training. But I have to share. Shortly after Kiersten's 2nd birthday in March we pulled out our little princess potty to start getting her used to the idea. Occasionally, between diaper changes we would encourage her to sit on the potty and what not, but never really pushed potty training on her. I just felt like we were on the go too much. I figured we would start sticking closer to home the closer my due date got and we would give it a go then. May 17th was Leah's final day of preschool for the year. It seemed like as good a time as any, so on May 18th we woke up and went for it. I decided that I was going to put her in summer dresses with nothing on the bottom, that way it would be simple for her starting out. I had no idea it would be SOOO simple. She didn't have any accidents that day. Having Bowel Movements was a little tricky and she was scared at first and would want her diaper on, but we stayed in the bathroom and persevered through it. Of course the sensation was a bit overwhelming for her and she would come and go to the bathroom 4 or 5 times before actually going, but it was a work in progress and she quickly figured it out.  

On Saturday I showed her some of the Elmo underpants that Gigi got her for her birthday and explained that we didn't want to "pee-pee on Elmo" and I think she got it. She kept saying all day long "I no pee-pee on Elmo." and she didn't! I couldn't believe it. Furthermore over the course of the next few days, when I would try to put her in a diaper to run errands or for her nap she would cry and scream "I don't want a baby diaper, I want my Elmo's." So she decided she was done and we went with it. After four days accident free I took her to the store and told her she could pick out new underpants...of course she wanted Dora, and Minnie Mouse and Tinkerbell but finally decided that Tinkerbell was the way to go. Now she looks at her underpants every morning and tells me who she ISN'T going to pee-pee on....whatever works. Way to go Bug!

Colby's Par-TEE!

Wow, I'm seeing a bit of a theme in my posting today...can you say "GOLF FAMILY". Today is my nephew Colby's 3rd birthday. I love that little squirt. He is a handful and then some but he makes me laugh. He has become an avid golfer...well, for 3 anyway. Matt plays with him in the yard at home and takes him to the club often and of course he got a set from Gigi and Papa for his birthday too! So golf seemed like the logical choice. Cynthia did a great job getting all the party decor items on Etsy and I just love his little golf shirt and hat combo. Too Cute! The cupcakes were adorable, with flag pins that had the #3 on them and little pearl "golf balls" on the green icing. It was all so adorable. And not a theme that you see used for little boys too often. The party was on Sunday afternoon at Sister City Park in Charleston. It was a gorgeous day for the kids to play at the park. A few of his little pre-school friends were there and lots of family. Tiffany came with Parker and Brooklyn. Tara came with Jameson and Liam. David and Sanya were there with Amelia and Ryan...what fun, and always good to see all of them. We had a great time and hope that our favorite little golfer did too!

Tee it Up!

Just what every girl dreams of, right?!?! Well, we knew the time would come eventually, and this year for birthday gifts Gigi and Papa did not disappoint. Gigi always gets the kids ALL their summer clothes and swimsuits and shoes for their birthday's. It works out perfect since they have March, May and June birthday's. My girls actually get REALLY excited for new clothes, especially dresses. But this year there was a bit of an added bonus. Mother's Day Weekend we went to Charleston to have lunch and Papa busted out the golf bag. Leah was super excited. She's been giving them a little bit of a work out in our backyard, but it took us a while to get there. At first she kept telling me "NO, Papa is going to come teach me." Well, she finally let Mitch start helping her out a little.

This past Sunday was my birthday, and let me tell you...the greatest gift is having Gigi and Papa close by to take the kids for the weekend. Although the hematite and DIAMOND earrings from my husband are pretty awesome too! Anyway, my mom took the girls on Saturday morning, so Mitch and I could have a break. We had to go to Charleston on Sunday for Colby's birthday party so it was the perfect arrangement. Since Leah was going to Charleston we packed up her clubs (one driver, one iron and a putter) so maybe Papa could take her out to the club. She told me all about it on Sunday when we got to town. Papa drover her in the cart that goes really fast, Papa showed her how to use the funny club (putter) and it was really hard. And Colby was being naughty at the golf club, throwing golf balls...oh yes, have to tell on someone a little bit :)
Overall, it was a success. She had fun with Papa and her clubs. Now we just have to keep working on it here at home. Hopefully someday she will be able to Hit'em Straight!