3rd Trimester!

Today marks the first day of my 3rd trimester! 12 weeks to go (or 11 if I can schedule my C-section 1 week early) I will set the date in 2 weeks at my 30 week appointment. I have 2 doctors that I really like so I'll just go with whenever one of them can do it.

I'm feeling really good overall. The beginning of the day is better than the end. I feel bad for Chris because the first thing I usually say to him after "hi" is "I'm tired!" After a hiatus from Mya's nap, she's back to napping nearly everyday so that helps. Max watches a cartoon in my bed while I take a nap. I dream about dinosaur train, but at least I'm dreaming!

Yesterday I had my regular appointment and glucose test. I passed the blood sugar and the hemoglobin tests which was a relief. I didn't have any trouble with the other two, but for some reason I felt like this time might be different. Maybe because this pregnancy has been so different! If my memory serves me correct, this baby moves 10 times more than Max and Mya. It's like baby gymnastics in my stomach 24-7. The nurse who was drawing my blood yesterday noticed it and pointed it out! If movement inside is any indication of movement on the outside, Chris and I are in real trouble. I'm measuring right at 28 weeks which was also nice to hear because I feel huge!

The kids are getting excited. Max especially. He loves to tell people that the baby will be here right after Halloween! He has been asking some funny questions lately too...like "Does the baby like that song?" "Can the baby smell my poop?" He loves to feel the baby kick, but thinks that my breathing in and out is also a kick so he gets to feel him/her kick a lot! Mya only talks about the baby when someone asks her about it or when she asks if she's hurting the baby when I'm rocking her.

It's starting to feel "real". Yesterday I filled out the pre-admission paperwork for the hospital. My feelings go from really excited to really nervous quite often. Here is a picture of my belly at 28 weeks!

big girl haircut

Mya got her first big girl haircut today! The fights had begun when it was time to put her hair up each day and I was tired of the tangles, so I decided it was time! She loves it and Max keeps telling her how pretty she looks:) Here are a couple before and after pictures!

Hula Boy

Max and Mya have been getting into hula hooping lately. After many failed attempts, we think Max got it figured out! I posted this video on facebook, but I wanted to post it here too because some bloggers are not facebookers! Enjoy!

catch up

I haven't posted in awhile so now I have lots of catching up to do! Since getting my iPad I don't come downstairs to do computer stuff as often, so it seems like I don't blog as much! I'm going to have to change some habits or I'll have some unhappy grandparents to answer to!

2 weeks ago the kids spent a few days in the twin cities going to vacation bible school at Chris' parents' church.(Amanda...can I get a grammar lesson on those apostrophes? No idea if they are correct:) They loved it. Max was absolutely in his element with being around kids and adults, singing, dancing, playing outside, doing art projects, science projects, etc. Mya enjoyed it a lot too, but wanted Grandpa to be by her side most of the time. We knew it would be tough for her to get dropped off in a strange place without mom and dad around, so I wasn't surprised. I'm just glad she did as well as she did and she talks fondly of the experience so that's a plus. Chris and I have all 6 bible school songs memorized and most of the actions as well. That's how much we listen to the CD!

After VBS was over, I went up to Wisconsin with some college friends and Chris took the kids to his cabin for a couple days. It was a great weekend for all involved. I got to spend some quality girl time with friends I don't see very often and Chris got in an extra trip to the cabin and the kids got to swim/play at the lake! I called shortly after they got to the cabin and Max didn't even want to talk to me so if that tells you how much fun he was having.... Here are a couple pictures.



We got in our last trip to the swimming pool this week. The temperatures dropped a little this week to high 70's so we only went once. I took some video as proof of the progress Max made this summer. I'm not joking...at the beginning of the summer he was unable to put his face under the water without intense pressure and bribing from his mom and dad. Then, he took swimming lessons from an amazing girl named Megan and it totally changed his view of the water. He's a little fish now and absolutely loves to swim. Mya turned 3 during lessons so they wouldn't let her enter because she had to be 3 before it started (I was not happy) but next year she will do swimming lessons too and hopefully that will help her as much as it helped Max.


Max has been really into legos for the last 6 months or so. We took down our trains and made the train table a lego table. He has been wanting me to take his picture lately with his lego creations so here's one of the hundred or so things he has built in the last week:)



Lastly....Chris has been wanting to set the tent up in the backyard for him and the kids to go camping. It seems like if we were home on a weekend, it was 90+ degrees outside or something else came up. So...last night he decided to set it up in the basement! I went to a movie with some friends and when I came home this ginormous tent was set up! The kids didn't sleep in it last night, but something tells me it will be happening soon! I'm not much for camping, but I'm probably going to have to change my ways!

Holy Moly Zucchini!

I haven't blogged much about my garden this year, but it is still going strong! My neighbor and I decided to do a little "community garden" where she plants some things and I plant others and then we share the produce. We both planted lettuce and onions. I planted green beans, cucumbers and zucchini. She planted the tomatoes and peppers. It is working out really well, so I'm sure we'll do the same next year. I'm trying to convince my wonderful, handy, hardworking husband to build me another above ground garden so we can expand a little bit and plant some peas and other veggies.

I had been pretty diligent about checking the garden for vegetables, but apparently I missed a couple days. This is the newest zucchini. I had Max hold it so you could see its size relative to a 4 year old:) Guess I need to be checking daily from now on! Apparently getting 12 inches of rain in 12 hours makes things grow quite quickly! Who knew??

New Friend!

Our good friends Ron and Maryanne recently had a new baby boy! The kids and I drove down to the Quad Cities on Monday to see baby Gavin and also hit up a Children's Museum in Bettendorf. Gavin was absoutely adorable and made me really excited for our baby to be here! I am pretty sure that our baby will not be as tiny as Gavin, but I could be wrong! It's so easy to forget how little they are! Max and Mya really enjoyed our time with them. Max was mostly into his "big" friend Ron and playing rough and tumble. Mya was more interested in the baby, but still liked to play with Ron once she warmed up a bit:)



We've known Ron for 10+ years so it was really fun to see him as a dad. Maryanne of course looked like she had never even been pregnant! Since they are frequent Dubuque visitors, hopefully we can see them often and watch Gavin grow!

Taking funny pictures with Uncle Ron:)

Chores

Lately I have been having Max do some chores around here. He actually really enjoys being useful and especially loves when there are rewards at the end. Something tells me he'll be a lot like his dad in that he is motivated by money:) One of the things he has been doing a lot is picking up his toys in the basement and picking up his room. Sometimes the clothes on the floor (dirty or not) end up in the clothes basket, but other than that it's a job well done most of the time. I now know why my mom got so irritated with us when she would wash clothes that were clean. It drives me absolutely nuts when I'm folding a pair of winter sweatpants that I am 100% sure of were not worn.

Since Max and Mya are so close in age, we pretty much make Mya do the same chores that Max is doing just with lower expectations. This is her idea of picking up her room. (see pictures below)




Everything that is on the floor goes on her chair. I have no idea who she gets that from!! The best thing is that she is so dang proud of her room and basically demands approval from Chris and I. We usually give her the approval because it's so funny to walk in and see the mound of "stuff" piled on her chair.