We love the BEACH...

Just like last year, our wonderful friends invited us to spend the weekend with them at Fenniwick beach in Delaware. We added 4 more adults and 3 more kids to the group this year, making a total of 8 adults and 8 kids ages 4 and under! Because it was September, the crowds were s p a r s e and the water was warm. We loved every second of it -- enjoying the beach, the beach house, and mostly spending time with wonderful friends.

Nothing entertained the kids (and the dads, too) like sand and water. Nick even ventured into the water this year and Chase got much nearer to it this year than last.

 When we moved away from family we had a lot of people tell us that our friends would become our family, and how right they were! Katie, Alyssa, and Becky have been such a blessing in my life.

 Sand castle/boat/whale...you decide...

 Chase was so happy just to sit and watch the water, especially when Brad was out body boarding

 This was Nick's attempt to join in Brad's (and Craig's and Spencer's and the other Brad's) fun!

 Nick and Chase being chased by the sea monster that the tide washed in...

It was such a beautiful weekend! We'll miss our friends Brad and Becky when they move next month, and we'll especially miss them when September comes next year! :) We'll do it again, someday...

6 hours to myself for 6 more weeks (and 5 days, but who's counting?)...

My boys started preschool last week. Nick goes 3 days and week and Chase goes 2 days a week. Do you understand what this means? Seriously? It means that for 6 hours each week I do whatever I want to. I have yet to take a nap or just relax and read a book, but I have big plans, I tell you. Big plans. So far I've been attending institute class, running errands, and getting the baby's room ready. I'm also excited to have some alone time with my daughter (my daughter? I don't think I've ever thought or written that out yet.) once she arrives. Anyway, the boys love their classes and teachers (and I do, too). Here they are on the first day:

We have a tradition of going out for lunch on the first day of school after I pick them up. They chose Panera Bread this year...yummy!

I really can't believe how big these two are getting. Makes me more determined to slow down and enjoy them more, and worry about cleaning and other insignificant duties less...

They sure do love their dad (as do I)...

We're big fans of silly faces around here...

Happy Fall, everyone!

30 weeks (2 weeks ago)

These are from 2 weeks ago on my 30 week mark. 7 weeks to go! Hallelujah (better out than in I always say)!

Summer Shmummer...

 As much as I was looking forward to summer, I was a bit nervous about having enough energy to do everything I knew that I (and the kids) would want to do (remember I'm a wimpy, tired pregnant lady). So my parents hired a nanny to help me! Here she is...

 

And by 'hired' I of course mean free, because she's nice like that and because she loves my kids. Meet my 18 year old sister, Mara. She came for 6 weeks this summer and was a life-saver in every way. We took the boys to Whipple Dam every week, swimming at a local community pool for Nick's swimming lessons each week, as well as other various summer activities that I would have been to tired and overwhelmed to try on my own. One day my kids will understand how much they owe her. I already do! :) She also watched the boys while I went to girls camp for a week and while Brad and I went to youth conference in Palmyra for 3 days. Plus it was so great to have another adult to hang out with all day. I love my sister!

I haven't posted pictures of the boys in awhile, so here are a few...

Nick has always loved working out with me and I always like having a partner. Here he is in his "exercise clothes", showing off his big muscles. And here is Chase showing off a major goose egg he got when he ran into the wall.

 

Chase has grown out of his nap (meaning that if I let him take one he's up until 11:00pm or later), but every now and then I find him all tuckered out in the middle of play time.

One thing we love about living in this part of the country is the lightning bugs. I had never seen one until I went to OH for the first time, and this was Mara's first time seeing them, too. We let the boys stay up late enough a couple of times to catch some and keep them in a jar for the night...

 

Every summer our town hosts a "Touch a Truck" day in the parking lot of the local high school. This was our 3rd time going and it seems that the boys like it more and more the older they get. Every kind of truck is there and open for the kids to crawl around in, honk the horns, and pretend to drive. It's little boy heaven!

 

A while ago I walked downstairs to see Chase like this --

 

this little random guy cracks me up and keeps my on my toes -- love this face!

Pregnancy update: With 8.5 weeks left of this pregnancy I'm getting more and more excited to meet this little girl (if it really is a girl...I still don't quite believe it). Induction date is set for 11/11. Wahoo!

You'll never guess where I went last week...

Are you one of those people that loved high school? You know, those people? :)

I am not. I loved junior high, but high school just didn't do it for me. I had great friends, I was involved, but I do believe that there was no one happier than I was on graduation day. I even remember, on said graduation day, thinking that I would never go to a reunion, trusting myself to keep in contact with those I wanted to keep in contact with. This resolve went even deeper in February, when I found out I was pregnant. Who goes to their reunion 6 months pregnant? 

Well folks, never say never.

Everything changed when I found out that this lovely lady (aka, my best friend and sister-in-law) was put in charge of the reunion...

And my resolve was further broken when I found out some of my best friends from high school were going to be there (whom I don't get to see very often because most of us live out of state)...

Soooo, to the reunion I went, in all my pregnant, puffy-bodied glory. And it was lovely. The venue was awesome, the food was great, and Katie and Syd (her co-chair) and their committee did a great job.

(this is Tim's hairy arm, not mine -- just in case you were worried)

Photos, of course, by Kate.

It's a girl. A GIRL! G.I.R.L. A pink-and-princess-loving, cause-me-lots-of-drama-as-a-teenager, call-me-everyday-when-you-move-away-from-home, be-my-best-friend-once-you-decide-you-don't-hate-me, shopping-loving, Jane-Austen-adoring, paint-my-nails-and-do-my-hair GIRL (my expectations aren't too high, are they?) :)!

Yes, we are all excited. Now let the name battles commence! :)

It's 1:38am. I had been asleep for two hours when my eyes popped open. I am totally awake and my mind is going 100 miles an hour, while my legs feel like they could go run a marathon. This happens a lot when I'm pregnant. And by a lot I mean every night since I was 6 weeks along. Sometimes I go back to sleep within a matter of minutes, and sometimes -- like tonight -- I don't. I will admit that I don't like being pregnant. Besides feeling the baby move, I don't miss it when I'm not. Sleep is just one of my issues. I don't feel well, I don't like the way I look, and my emotions are completely out of wack. But as I laid there, almost enveloped in self-pity, a new list came to my mind.

Since I had Chase, the following things have happened:

-I've had 2 cousins whose babies have died.
-I've had multiple friends and cousins "come out" with the fact that they have been struggling with infertility, mostly silently, for years.
- I've had other friends suffer multiple miscarriages in a row
- My friends 5 month old niece died of SIDS

Luckily, some of these cases have resolved themselves, through the miracles of invitro, adoption, ect. But some have not.

Ahhhhhh, perspective. I can live through my minor complaints. Because I'm pregnant. I already have two healthy kids. And that, in and of itself, is a miracle.