Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Memorial Day Weekend 2014

We didn't plan anything too exciting for this weekend because I'm only 2 1/2 weeks from having this baby. Chloe had a fever off and on all weekend too, so we stayed close to home most of the time.
 
  We started our weekend on Thursday after school when I got out our new water slide.
David and I took Friday off from work but still sent the kids to school so we could get some stuff done around the house and run some errands. We even got to go out to lunch together and I took a nap!
 
We had our usual Saturday morning donuts and played a little outside while David went to play golf.
After our nap, we went back outside to eat popsicles.
Chloe was over her popsicle when it started melting.
 
We also watched Daddy work in the yard.
And Connor even got to drive the tractor!
Then we played on the water slide again.
Chloe has been letting me take her picture a lot lately. When I tell her I want to take her picture, she will stop and smile and say cheese, most of the time.
After they decided they were done with the water slide and wanted to take off their wet swimsuits, we colored on the back porch with chalk. I know it looks like we do a lot but the reality is that I think we just have a short attention span and it wears me out!
Sunday morning, we stayed around the house because Chloe woke up with a fever, but they both played fine the whole morning. After our nap, and when Chloe woke up feeling fine with no fever, we went to a birthday party for a boy in their class at the splash pad.
 It was our first birthday party where we knew no one, but it ended up being fun for the kids to see their friends from their class and for us to see them at the splash pad for the first time.
They weren't too sure about it at first and would NOT let go of me and David. It was also a little cold, so I don't blame them! But once they touched one of the sprayers for the first time, they had a lot of fun, especially Connor.
 
Monday morning, we played on the back porch and blew bubbles.
 
Then it started raining and never stopped, so we spent the rest of the day watching movies and playing inside.
 
It's very different from how we used to spend Memorial Day Weekend, but I wouldn't change it for anything. I was a little sad that we didn't get to go to the lake with the kids because I think they would have enjoyed it, but being pregnant is only temporary and there's plenty of summer left!
 
On another note...It ended up that Chloe has an ear infection, most likely due to allergies.  So we've been home snuggling today.

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Big Day

We had a big day yesterday with lots of important things going on.
 
  First up, we had our 36 week doctor's appointment with a new growth scan to check the baby's growth.
I was so nervous because if it went down again, there was a possibility of having the C-section earlier than planned.
But all of those nerves when away when the ultrasound tech told us that the baby weighs about 6 pounds 7 ounces now and is 68th percentile! That's a huge jump from the 18th percentile just 3 weeks ago. It had a BIG growth spurt. She measured everything 3 times to get a good average and came back with the same results each time. The baby as a whole is measuring at around 37 weeks 2 days! And I was only 35 weeks 6 days at the appointment.
 
This is a picture of the cheeks.  The cheek is right in the middle and the eyes are on the right.
The nose and lips.
It has chubby cheeks and big lips and lots of hair!
All of those features sound a lot like what Connor was like in all of the twins' ultrasounds and I'm still guessing this is a boy. I used to kind of think girl because it was so small, but now with the big growth spurt, chubbiness, full lips, and hair are making me think I'm going to have a little Connor.  We even felt like we had to sit down and really go over our boy names because I'm so sure of it.
 But who knows. My doctor keeps telling me that every kid is different so you never know.
 
Later in the day, we had our storm shelter installed!
We originally planned to do this over a year ago but when they came out to install it they hit a lot of rock and couldn't dig down far enough. But they recently got something to break through the rock, so that's what they did.
We have solid bedrock under our entire lot so it's hard to bury or install anything, even our fence. But it's done (we just always have to pay extra to do it because of the rock), and I feel so much better about this storm season.
 
Then it was dinner time and bath time where Connor pooped in my hand!
 
We have a new night time routine now. The kids love reading books and love being read to. So every night after bath, we head to Chloe's room where the kids pick out a book (it's usually the same 2 books every night) and they have me read through it one time and then they read it by themselves. Then when one is finished they say "the end" and then want me to rock them, in the baby's room, in their old rocker and we sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" one time and then they tell me it's time for bed. I'm not sure how this is going to work out when there is a baby in there, but that's what we do for now.
Well, last night, I finished reading and Connor wanted to go rock and Chloe told me "I stay here and read". So after I rocked Connor, I found her like this on the bed, with her little feet crossed, reading about dinosaurs.

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Spring School Pictures 2014

Again, it's so cheesy, but that's what school pictures are all about! But I love this picture because of how sweet they look together! Connor's hair is a mess, but I'm looking past that and right at his sweet little hand on Chloe's leg.
 
This is so Connor. I can tell it took him a while to look at the camera and smile. He always puts his head down and looks up when he is around people he doesn't know.
 
And this is so Chloe. She was BORN ready for these pictures! HA! She really did practice her smile in the mirror that morning so I know she was ready when they told her to say cheese or whatever they do. The teacher even told me that she was a pro and she was ready to go when it was her turn. Now if she would only sit still let me take her picture all the time!
 
Here are all of there school pictures together so far. They have changed so much from this time last year!

Monday, May 12, 2014

Mother's Day Weekend 2014

We started the weekend off with going to a local carnival on Friday night. It wasn't the greatest idea because the kids aren't quite tall enough to ride any of the rides. Connor was just the right height at 36 inches but Chloe is only 34 inches so she couldn't ride anything except this huge slide that David had to ride with them and the carousel. I couldn't let Connor ride the rides and not her!
 
 
Saturday morning, we got up and headed to the zoo! There's a new special exhibit of dinosaurs called Zoorassic Park that's only there for a short time and Connor is super into dinosaurs right now, so we thought it would be fun!
 
Well, they weren't as excited about it when we actually saw the dinosaurs and they moved and started to "ROAR!"
They wouldn't even get out of the wagon and for sure didn't want to take their picture next to them. Chloe teared up a few times and would say "I scared".
But they did relax a little when we saw a group of baby dinosaurs. They thought they were cute.
Connor telling us about the dinosaurs.
Their favorite dinosaur is the T-Rex. I don't know if it's just the easiest to recognize or the most common or what, but the whole time, Connor was looking for a T-Rex. And it was at the very end and it was the biggest. He was all about it...
Until it let out a giant "ROAR!!!" Then this happened...
He cried for a good 5 minutes even after we left the dinosaurs. But then would ask to go back and see them again the rest of the day. We never did because it was a one time walk through with a ticket.
Chloe loves looking at all of the animals but when she's close to them and they get up and start to move around, she gets freaked out and scared.
 
Their favorite part of the zoo is always riding the train and the carousel.
We took a nap after the zoo and then played outside in the backyard and even ate our dinner out there while the kids played.
They love playing in the back yard and were even playing really good with each other. They talk to each other more and more now.
  Connor would say "Chloe ride in back?", which means he was asking her if she wanted to ride in the back of his truck while he drove around the porch. He usually doesn't let her do this so it was really sweet. She replied with "yeah, ok" and Connor said "Let's go".
Then she would ask him "Go play that?" and point to the swing set and he said "ok" and she said "Let's go Connor". It was really cute.
She follows him everywhere and plays whatever he plays and every once in a while she will come back and sit in my lap and tell me about what they have been doing and then she is off to find her "brodder".
 
Sunday, David went and got us all donuts and we ate breakfast out on the back porch and then the kids played some more before we had to get ready to go to lunch at David's parents' house.
 
Chloe said "take my picture" and climbed up on her 4-wheeler.
And then of course Connor wanted me to take his picture.
We came back, Chloe had no nap but Connor and David did, played some more, then went out to eat with my mom.
 
Even though I feel huge, and it was so hot, I really wanted to be in some pictures with the kids for Mother's Day.

They are the whole reason I am a mother. I'm so lucky that I get to hug them and kiss them any time I want and I get to watch them grow and become little people.
I get to see them interact with each other and become closer and closer friends each day. I get to catch them holding hands in the back seat of the car and laughing so hard at each other for things they only understand.
  I get to hear them tell me about their days at school and who they played with and listen to how smart they are when they tell me about rockets going into space and counting to 13.
I'm willing to listen to every Frozen song a million times just to hear them sing the words in their sweet little voices on our way home from school.
I get to kiss their boo boos and read their stories to them and rock them and sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" every night before bed.
They are my biggest fans even when I don't know what the heck I'm doing and even when I loose my patience with them.
  The best feeling in the world is when they look at me and say "I love you momma" or when Chloe nuzzles her head into my chest and says "My momma".
David also is a huge part of my Mother's Day. He helped make me a momma after all and he tries so hard to make the whole weekend special for me and I appreciate that so much.