Garden Party

This past weekend, we went to my aunt and uncles 25th wedding anniversary party. Brooke had a blast at the 'Garden.' For those non-family members that are reading this, the Garden is a huge house about 30 minutes away from us that is owned by my aunt and uncles family. There is a swing set, sand pit, four-wheelers and the obvious garden. My large extended family tends to hold our get-togethers there as it is getting hard to accommodate a group our size. This past Saturday, there were lots of kids to play with and tons of toys, swings and music to dance to-Brooke was in heaven.

I was exhausted. Gary was not able to come with us and it is hard to chase a little one around with 20 extra pounds sticking straight out in front of you. Luckily, Amy and Joe along with Grandma & Grandpa J were there to assist :)

Sweet Lannah giving Brooke a little love :)

Trying to get the girls to smile and pose with little success.

First Day of School

Today was Brooke's first day of school...well, Kids Day Out, but we have been getting her all pumped up about 'school' for a few weeks now and today was the big day!! I think that I was more nervous then she was. When we arrived, we sat in the car just for a few minutes as I was getting myself ready to officially leave her for the day. When we got inside, she did a GREAT job-amazing in fact. She jumped right into the group and started playing away with toys. I held off giving her huge hugs and kisses before leaving so as not to upset her and left quickly. I did find myself tearing up a bit on the way out-it was totally worse for me.


When I picked her up, the teachers said that she did a great job! The only not-so-good part of the day was that Brooke did not nap-at all. They tried to rock her, give her a pacifier, etc-but nothing worked. They said that she just talked and talked-totally chatty..WHAT?? Brooke is a talker, but she usually takes some time to warm up to you first! I guess I am glad that she is so social-it will be a joy in gradeschool.

In the car on our way to school-so excited :)

A little nervous when we first arrived. There was an adorable little boy that kept coming over to say hi-she was a little shy :)

Celebrating at home with an ice cream cone-Bella was also getting in on the action.

Baby "E" Update

We had an ultrasound appointment this morning to check on baby girl and all is well! We are completely 'average' which is a great thing. She is right on target in terms of growth and measures in at a solid 2 lbs 9 oz. My doctor thinks that she will (most likely) be a little bit larger then Brooke was (7 lbs 7 oz) but more in the 8 lb range. We got lots of pictures, but she is starting to get too big to fit on the small screen. We check back in with yet another ultrasound on October 14th. At that point I will be 32 weeks and will begin getting monitored weekly. For those of you not familiar, us 'lucky ladies' that are high risk get to go to the doctor every week for 7-8 weeks and sit in a chair for 3o minutes to perform stress test on the baby. It is crazy fun :) Since we are still planning on a scheduled c-section (we may even find out our actual schedule date next Tuesday), this will most likely be done for 7 weeks in my case. Things are going to start getting pretty busy around here!

Oh...and Yes-I am personally now referring to the baby as baby "E" since I am completely locked in on our name choice (Gary has yet to be convinced...but I sign the birth certificate first right??!!). Has anyone seen the commercial for Jennifer Aniston's new movie Love Happens?? Well-watch for it-her characters name...Eloise. Just saying-I picked it first.

Crazy Boring

Well, I haven't posted in almost a week. It has been totally crazy, yet totally dull. We are trying to get (what feels like) a million things done around the house before Brooke's 2nd Birthday Party. These include the bathroom (promising updated photos this week) and Brooke's new bedroom. On top of that, I am attempting to get organized for Brooke's b-day party and make list(s) of things that we need for the new baby. It is a bit hectic around here!

Oh-and did I mention that Brooke starts her new 1 day a week school program on Thursday? I have been talking it up and she seems excited (she has no clue what to expect of course) but I am a total nervous wreck! We will see how this week goes...

Brooke is working on her piano skills. According to Gary, this will be the first musical instrument that she will play. She will then move onto the drums so that she and Gary can have a band together. Not going to happen.

Brooke has been rocking the full pony tail lately. Her hair is finally starting to get long enough! when I do her hair in the morning, she will say, "pony?" Such a big girl :)

All right, well I am off to go grocery shopping at the grand opening of our new grocery store. Yes-it is totally lame-but I have been looking forward to this. There are going to be contest and live radio broadcast-my life cannot get more lame can it?

Naps

Napping and Kelly do not go well together. I have never (in my life) been a good napper. When I was little, my mom and older sister would nap together on the couch. After they were good and asleep, I would leave them there and go play somewhere else in the house. My naps throughout adulthood have been no different-I should not even try and take them.

Today, for example, Brooke went down for her usual nap and I felt a little more tired then usual. I thought I would take a short nap on the couch. Bad idea. You see, when I take naps during the middle of the day-my body does not adjust to a napping schedule. It wants a full 6-8 hours-no exceptions. So, when the phone, dog, door, child, TV-you name it-wakes me up..it is not good. The rest of my day (and anyones I encounter for that matter) is ruined. I am not a nice person to be around (Gary will fully back me up on this). You think that kids are bad when they wake up...try a pregnant 28 year old who still needs 7 more hours of rest!! I really should just stay indoors for the rest of the day and not bother anyone else. It is not to be, though-we have errands to run and it is not going to be pretty :) Wish us luck....

Labor Day Weekend

Our Labor Day weekend was pretty filled. We had a 1st Birthday Party to attend on Saturday-which was SO much fun! Elmo himself made an appearance and I think that Brooke about lost it. What a fun time!

Sunday we really didn't have anything going on and it was yet another rainy day. Gary was trying to accomplish more in the bathroom so I thought I would get Brooke out of the house so he could work. We met Uncle Joe, Aunt Mimi, Aunt Tracie, Jack & Lily at The Science Center. There currently is a special exhibit on dinosaurs that we all thought Jack would love..and hoped the girls would like to. All I can say is I am SO glad that Amy had free tickets for all of us because had I paid the $8.00 for an adult and the $6.00 for a child I wold have been mighty angry. I mean, all that it consisted of was a T-Rex fossil and coloring books-not too great if you ask me.

Brooke-future archaeologist?- searching for dinosaur bones.

We also thought it would be 'so fun' for the kids to go across the highway bridge to see all the cars going by! After all, it was one of our favorite parts of The Science Center growing up. I guess we all forgot that with the highway being closed, the bridge is just not as fun :(

Brooke still checked out the awesome pavement below...I think that Aunt Tracie was afraid to step on the plexiglass window-I am too..

One of Brooke's favorite parts of the day-the red dots on the wall. I am not kidding when I say that 90% of all of the exhibits are under construction right now. There was not a lot to do and red dots on the wall = pretty spectacular.

Real highlight of the day?? A trip to McDonald's with the cousins. Who doesn't like chicken nuggets dipped in carmel and apple dippers dipped in ketchup?? I think she has inherited Gary's unique food tastes.

The bathroom is still coming along-thank goodness. Gary finished laying the tile and the grout this weekend. Tomorrow he will finish up on the floor and start to put the wainscoting up. I cannot wait to have our bathroom back-pictures to come by mid-week.

Double Digits

Today we officially mark the double digit countdown. If you would kindly direct your eyes to the left of your screen, you will see that the 'creepy' baby avatar (that Maggie & Bethany so adore) is now onto two numbers instead of three. I consider this to be a milestone. Double digits seem so much more real then triple. I feel like we are finally turning a corner and getting close to meeting this new baby.

There is SO much to do before she arrives and we have 99 days (or less) to make it happen. This month brings lots of activity-weddings, birthday parties and anniversary's. Tons of things to keep us busy and help this 30 day month pass by quickly. While I am so excited for our daughter to make her grand entrance (and I am sure it will be grand..she is already one for drama right??!!) I am starting to get nervous that I am taking on too many things before her homecoming. We are still working on the bathroom-more drama yesterday. Lets just say that the 'official' tile work will begin tomorrow afternoon. There is still prep work to be done today. After the bathroom is complete, we will move on to Brooke's new bedroom. Following Brooke's room, there is touch up work to be done around the house, but for the most part, we will be complete... for now....Gary is already talking about putting new tile in the kitchen...one step at a time...

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday. No ultrasound, just a check up. Everything looks good! I asked the DR if i am now in a 'normal' risk category since we have not seen the clot and/or had any problems since week 18. He said that my risk is VERY low, but there is still a slight chance of slowed growth (towards the end of pregnancy) and a few other things. So, we will continue to monitor this little gal with monthly ultrasounds and weekly u/s plus fetal monitoring in the last 3-4 weeks of pregnancy. Really, that is nothing different then I did with Brooke. More pictures to share :) We go back in two weeks for an u/s and three weeks for another doctors appointment (and the diabetes test-always a good time).

The other thing in double digits?? My weight gain. I have officially gained 18 pounds and I am 26 weeks pregnant. I am not too upset about this either. I feel that I am well on my way to gain 30 pounds and that is a-o-k with me. I am sure that I will just walk out of the hospital in a swimsuit right?? Yeah :)