Puppy Party

We went to a friend's birthday party today. The theme was Puppies and it was basically a giant birthday puppy carnival! It was a blast! Among games, crafts and a puppy blow-up jumpy house, the kids got their faces painted like puppies!

The transformation...

The precious pups...

Animal Safari

Today the kids went on an animal safari. I hid the stuffed animals and they looked for them. We learned about camouflage (which Emmett already knew) and the kids had a blast! The best part...this game works even better the messier your house is! A definite plus for me!

Do you see the mountain goat camouflaged in the duvet and the tiger is hiding on top of the speaker tucked behind the DVD case.

HOT

My poor little girl learned the hard way what "hot" is today. She pulled up a stool to the stove while I was making dinner. I warned her very sternly not to touch the stove, as it is hot. As I looked down, I saw her little finger tips right on the burner as she said, "hot!" Well, she said "hot" the rest of the night as she showed me her "owie finger". This is the resulting blister a couple days later.

Pajama Dress Up

I would love some boy dress-up clothes, but I found out today I don't really NEED them. Pajamas work great as dress up clothes!!

Eisley is Super Frog (frog pants) and Emmett is Superman.

Eisley is an athlete and Emmett is a T-Rex.

Snowman. Watch out, if you lay in the sun too long you'll melt!

Jet plane.

This picture cracks me up...look at Emmett in the background!

Yes, we made a huge mess, but all the jammies got folded and the ones that were too small got packed away. So overall, it was a very productive mess.

Pregnancy thoughts

Just a few random pregnancy thoughts for documentation purposes. I had my almost 34 week check up today which reminded me I wanted to jot some things down. Maybe I've already written some of these in previous posts. Oh well, here I go again.

• Due date ranges from 9/5 (20 week US), 9/9 (LMP) and 9/12 (5 week US). The doctor is officially going by the 12th.
• At 16 weeks the first stranger acknowledged that I was pregnant. I LOVE it the first time that happens cause it means I no longer look just chubby! She even said, "I normally don't say anything, but it's so obvious."
• 10 lbs weight gain to date
• Measuring big or right on. The doctor thinks the "big" weeks are not due to his size, but just his position.
• No stretch marks yet, here's to hoping!
• Least favorite part: pelvic pressure and right leg/hip pain (most likely sciatic) - still!
• Favorite part: LOVE feeling the baby move and also, honestly, firm stomach and perky boobs - the things I miss when I'm not prego!
• I'm just now starting to get hot - I think. I've just noticed this in the last couple days. At first I thought it was just the weather, or I needed to turn down the AC or because I was assembling a book case... but then I thought, maybe I'm always sweaty because I'm pregnant!
• That's all the random thoughts my tired brain can come up with right now.

Emmett's mom

I was always proud to be "Joanne's daughter" or "Elias's sister." It's quite common I'm referred to as "Eric's wife" (or Skeeter's wife, or Captain Barnacle's wife). In the past couple years it's becoming more and more likely that I hear, "You must be Emmett's mom!" It's music to my ears, I'm so proud to be that kid's mother.

Today after church we went to our little downtown to "River City Days" where we ate breakfast and listened to our favorite local worship band perform.

I am not kidding, at least 3 people came up to Emmett and said hello and then said hi to me, "You must be Emmett's mom!" How he knows so many people I have no clue!

There's just something about that kid.

Until it rains

This little boy LOVES to write!

And writing big, in chalk, on the drive way is even more fun than just using a paper and pencil!

Every name in our family is now graffitied onto our driveway until it rains.

(Please excuse the overflowing garage. But please admire the progress being made in the now primed bunk beds!)

My handsome young man wearing his Spiderman Underoos.

And Eisley pointing to her name.

Childless me

Most days I wonder what our childless neighbors must think of the craziness at our house.

And then most days I don't worry about it, because...

...the childless-me would have been thinking what they're thinking...

... and I had absolutely no idea how much I was missing out on.

Stroller

After playing at the beach this morning, we stayed home this afternoon and started doing some baby prep. Not really baby prep, just reorganizing of stuff that is distantly related to the baby's arrival. Anyway, while I was boxing up books and such, the kids kept themselves busy. One of Eisley's favorite things to play with is the stroller. Everyone once in a while she puts a baby in the stroller, but most often, it is herself she puts in the stroller. Then she straps herself in and can't get out. "Help me Mommy! Help me Mommy!"

Last minute play dates!

How I love last minute playdates and get-togethers! Today my friend facebooked me and invited me to stop by her garage sale. With nothing better to do, I loaded up the 4 kids and we drive 5 minutes to her house. After spending hours hanging out at her house, we left with a bag full of new clothes for Eisley, 4 sopping wet half dressed children, and lifted spirits. It was fabulous!

Bunk Bed!

This is the kids' new bunk bed.

My husband is a visionary and my son is wearing Batman boots.

Breakfast?

Breakfast. I'm embarrassed to say.

We rode...

We rode...

...across bridges.

(photo taken moments before Emmett careened towards the edge of the bridge towards the water luckilyy to be stopped by the metal bars).

...over trees.

...while getting bitten by mosquitoes.

...in the sunshine.

...through puddles.

...Burley style.

...along train tracks.

..., smiled, survived and lived to blog about it.