Big 6 and 18 Months

I am always curious how much my kids have grown from one month or year to the next. It makes me so giddy to discover that they are growing and healthy. As they have gotten bigger it is easier for me to tell that they are growing or have grown because all of a sudden they will eat a ton, sleep a ton and clothing that looked fine just days before will be too short or tight.

Andrew and Lucy both had their checkups today. Andrew is always thrilled to have his doctors appointment. I think he finds it as much fun as I do! Here are his latest stats!

Height: 48" 89%
Weight: 48# 6 oz 65%

Tracking about the same from last year. Although it is really hard for me to believe that my baby is now 4 feet tall! I knew he was close but it still is slightly unbelievable to me! This year he grew almost 3 inches and gained about 6 pounds. Not bad!

Miss Lucy was in a foul mood this morning when we went to the doctors. We got to the office and Eric tucked the tag in on her dress and she threw an enormous tantrum. Oh the joy of being 18 months. I think the funniest part was that she was a holy terror for Andrew's whole exam and then when her turn came she was silent as a mouse. Totally unexpected but a welcome unexpected. Lucy had two shots today and now she is done until her kindergarten boosters. I love how fast that goes! The shots went about as well as I expected. Eric and I both commented that this was the appointment when Zane ripped the needles out of his leg while he was getting his shots. Since Lucy has a temperament about the same as Zane, I wisely told Eric he could hold her. She screamed so long and hard after the shots that I think she stopped breathing for about 20 seconds. The nurse and Eric both said "Breathe!" And then she wailed for about 5 minutes. Fortunately we had dressed her in a dress before the shots so we didn't have to try and wrangle her into her clothing while she was so upset. Score some thinking points for us! Here are Lucy's newest stats!

Height: 32.75" 81%
Weight: 24# 9 oz 55%

Pretty close to normal I think. She is still kinda tall for her age but maybe she will take after Eric in that way. I think he would enjoy a little girl basketball player. In the past three months she has grown almost 2 inches and gained a pound and a half. She is certainly falling off the boys curve with height but staying kinda close to Andrew's curve with weight. We won't compare her to Zane though. That just might be mean!

I just had to throw a picture of Zane in too. He has been so fun lately and busy doing cute little dances and comedy routines for us. He has a ridiculously good imagination and some of the funniest things come out of his mouth. Some of the most terrible things come out of his mouth too but we are trying to work on that. In so many ways he reminds me of my brother. Anyway, this morning Eric got Lucy dressed in the dress you see above. Well, I don't know what wild bug crawled up Zane's buns but he decided that he wanted to wear a dress too. And not just a dress, a pink and purple dress. I have one that would fit him that someone had given me for Lucy so in an attempt to appease him (and show him how silly he looked) I put it on him. Eric was not around for this adventure, it would have been completely disapproved. In fact, if he reads this post I am expecting a nasty comment. Anyway, the little turkey looked at himself in the mirror, called himself pretty and then wanted to wear it. Hmmmm.... that backfired big time. I did get the dress off him and I did not take any pictures. But man he looked adorable with his chubby cheeks! How much trouble am I going to be in when Eric reads about this do you think?


Zane's appointment is at the end of August and I can't wait to see how much he has grown. I think he is going to like an appointment all to himself where he is the center of attention. We shall see though!

Lucy's New Room- Finished!

Well, I still have some stuff to put up on the walls but the majority of the work is done. The curtains are up and I intend to move her stuff into the dresser and have her start sleeping there so in my book the room is done.

The arch window in the room has always been a problem. When Crystal was staying in that room we looked into buying a shade for it. We were quoted around $600 and I imagine you can visualize the heart attack that about gave Eric. After a lot of thought and brainstorming my mom came up with the plan to put a big piece of cardboard in the window that kinda resembled a pillow. I think it looks adorable and it certainly keeps out most of the light. The sun rises on that side of the house and Lucy is already an early riser. The best part of this solution was the cardboard was free and the fabric was the bottom of the curtains that my mom cut off and rehemmed. It is sooooooo nice to have a crafty mom!

The missy princess on her new bed. Hopefully bedtime tonight will go well! I had Eric try to put her down in there last night just to try it and she threw a shrieking tantrum for him. I will give it a go tonight though. Sometimes it just needs a momma's touch!

Zane has been DYING for Lucy to sleep in her new room. I don't really know why but he thinks it is pretty cool that she has some new digs. Obviously someone needs to be enjoying them!

Now just to finish re-infant-izing the baby room. Once I am sure Lucy is good in her new room I will raise the mattress back up and get all the baby stuff back out. It is so much fun getting ready for a new little one!

Alomst 37 Weeks!

I am giving you all a new picture of the baby belly. I decided to dress like a cat burglar today. It may not be the cutest look but it certainly was comfortable! The little missy and I are doing fine. I have another appointment on Wednesday that will hopefully be full of good news. And by good news I mean you can have this baby any time news. Unlikely? Yes. But acceptable to me? Definitely. Anyway, I thought I would open up the poll for birthdate, height and weight.

My predictions are:

July 29
19"
8# 10 oz

She just doesn't feel as big as Lucy. Hopefully that doesn't mean late though!

Day Out with Thomas

Day Out with Thomas is something that I have known I wanted to do with Zane for about a year. We didn't go last year because, well, I don't really remember. I just know that we didn't go. However I have a feeling this will be the last year Zane is truly into Thomas and I knew we needed to go this year. We went when Andrew was just turned 4 and since Zane will be 4 this year it just made sense.

The tickets for Thomas are kinda spendy and honestly I don't know they are worth it for the activities but the look on my little man's face was absolutely priceless so maybe it was worth the over inflated price.

Lucy had a good time with the day too. It was kinda hot and right in the middle of nap time that we were there but she was a fabulous sport about the whole thing. Andrew on the other hand was wearing his "this is for babies" face most of the day. Fortunately it didn't seem to rain on Zane's parade at all. Still working on that joy sharing thing with Andrew for sure.

This year we got up close and personal with Thomas for a picture. Last time we went I thought it cost money. Which it does if you want to buy a photo from the photographer at the venue. But they are very good about letting you use your own camera.

All throughout the area there were big canvases of Thomas and sheds and other characters. The kids got tattoos, coloring pages and stamped a big page of Thomas. They also have a huge set up of tracks that the kids can play with for as long as they want.

All in all it was a great day. Zane didn't want to leave (but this hugely prego momma was absolutely DONE!) and wants to go back again. Maybe next year. We will have to see where the Thomas obsession is when summer rolls around next time.

Lucy's New Room

Today we got the second coat of paint on Lucy's new room. Mom was so kind to come and help me paint (ok, she did almost all of the work) but since the room had never been painted before the walls soaked it up big time and we had to do a quick second coat this afternoon. And by we, I mean Eric :) We are still working on the curtains and the covering for the arch window but all that is going to require is a big piece of cardboard. I already got the curtain rod and the finial (butterflies) so it is just a matter of getting them up on the wall. Eric will be working on that in the next couple days. I just had no patience for putting the room together. Maybe it is a nesting thing!

Zane was very, very sweet. We started putting the sheets on the bed and he got very serious and excited and told me that Lucy needed some friends for her bed so he kindly brought in his little piglet stuffed animal and his orca. I think he was afraid she would be lonely. Such a nice big brother!

I will post more pictures when I get all of the stuff up on the walls. I was just too excited to share how it looks so far!

In case you can't tell from the pictures the walls are a nice pale purple called Whipped Plum. I think it is perfectly girly!

36 Week Checkup

Just a quick update on the newest little blessing to join our family. I am officially 36 weeks pregnant now which means that they will let me go into labor and deliver any time from now on. Sounds perfect to me! I don't have much hope for at least another 3 weeks though so don't go holding your breath. At my appointment today I got checked out and tested for Group B Strep. I am kinda strange in that I REALLY like getting checked out. I think it gives me hope that I will not be pregnant forever. I do NOT like getting the GBS test done though. I will not explain it. Just feel violated afterward. Anyway. Today the ARNP that I saw told me I am 3 cm dilated for the external cervix and 0 cm dilated for the internal cervix. Kinda volcano cone shaped. But I am softened which is good. So progress is being made and I like that a lot. I am getting excited to see this new little one. Can't wait for her to get here!

Pool Time!!!

When the temperature gets into the mid 80's there is only one option in my opinion. Time to get into the pool and cool off. Especially for my pregnant belly the kiddie pool is a must. Usually I get the pool out in the morning and fill it up with the hose so that by the time I actually want to get into it in the afternoon it is no longer an arctic ice floe. Didn't think about it this morning though and so when Eric filled it up this afternoon I was unpleasantly surprised to find it icy cold. The kids however had no such issue with the water and spent the better part of an hour splashing and playing. A very nice way to cool off and kill a HOT afternoon!

Zane has been very loving toward Lucy lately and it is wonderful to see. He seems to think that she is a lot of fun to play with and will spend time with her as long as she is doing what he wants to do!

My water lovin' crew!

Andrew got done with the pool first. He seemed to run out of ways to play the quickest. Lucy and Zane had a blast outside the pool with a bucket of water that they would fill up (Zane helped Lucy) and dump on top of their heads. I tossed a bucket of water at Andrew and he burst into tears. The rest of them looked like they were having a blast though and I thought he might enjoy it. Not so much apparently!

Eric and I have both come to the conclusion that Lucy is our most water loving kid yet. She was in the pool chattering like chipmunk but you couldn't get her out of the water to save her life. She will be one I have to watch around the water for sure. She just has no fear and that of course means that I have to have the fear for her. Not in a paranoid way though. Just in a so you don't drown kinda way.

Maybe the pool will be a smidgen warmer tomorrow. I think the weather is supposed to be cooler but the kids probably won't even notice. Man I love summer!

Temper, Temper, Missy Ma'am!

Andrew is now officially a big 6 year old. Shockingly and sadly I did not get a single picture of him today. Hmmmm... that wasn't super great momminess now was it? Anyway, to celebrate his special day we went out to Red Robin for lunch and then to Toys R Us to use a gift card that he had gotten for his birthday. We got to the restaurant kinda late for us. We usually do lunch right around 11 and it was almost 12:30 by the time we got to eat. Not a huge problem for me but the kids were kinda whiny and super hungry. Well, as usual, we ate lunch and then the kids got their free balloon. Lucy even got one this time which was super exciting for her. She just adores balloons and steals the boys when they are laying around the house. Into the van we go and over to Toys R Us. (In case you don't know it is just across the parking lot but I am too prego to walk it and it would have been quite the stroll there and back for the kids) Once we got there the boys piled out and headed with me to the store. We left all the balloons in the car and let me tell you Miss Ma'am Lucy was having none of it! She started screaming and kicking and throwing the biggest fit I have ever seen her throw. There was absolutely nothing cute or adorable about it. She did not want to sit in the cart and she did not want to be held. She was more furious than I have ever seen her. Which is saying a lot because I have seen her pretty ticked. Lucy continued to carry on with her tantrum the ENTIRE time we were in the store. It was almost 20 minutes of shrieking screaming. Not good. Finally Eric took her to the van. Apparently once she got back her balloon she was happy again. My, my, my does she have a hot little temper though. I see a repeat of some Zane tantrums in my future. And that is not a great thing!

On a positive note Andrew got a very cool Lego set and two Cars cars. He was very excited about them and spent the afternoon putting together the Lego set. It is very nice that he has some type of project that he really enjoys!