Busy Times

The last couple of weeks seemed so busy just because of swim lessons every day. I am not used to getting out every day. :) Hunter and Lily did so much better at swim lessons this year. I never thought Hunter would agree to try a back float (after the summer with the teacher who forced him and scared him to death) and he did great. Lily did everything she was asked and loved showing their teacher her skills. :) It was a lot of fun and Samuel was so good!! I thought he'd run around crazy the whole time but we both sat on the sidewalk every day, eating our snack. There was one day that he locked himself in the bathroom stall, though.

Parents are only allowed pictures on the last day of lessons and they don't do normal things so I don't have great pictures--plus my battery died early. This year, they put life jackets on and hung out in 2 different deep ends. It was a lot of fun for them!

Other than that, the last two weeks have just been busy. There are two highlights, though. My 16 week appointment where we heard the heartbeat immediately and it was loud and clear. What a relief. Brian and I didn't say anything beforehand but afterwards we both said how stressful it is to go to these appointments. The fun has been lost but we are looking forward to my ultrasound next month. The other highlight was a shopping trip my Mom and I took to Des Moines. We got school and fall outfits for the kids and I got maternity clothes that I desperately needed. It was an all day trip and when we were done, I could barely walk. It was worth it, of course.

Life Got Better

Today we received a brand new portable dishwasher. We are so ready to make one thing in our lives easier. The dishes stack up way fast in a small kitchen. We can't wait to use it repeatedly. I should have taken a picture of it, I know. :)

In a totally different direction, I had the longest afternoon ever. I had to go back to the PCI building. The place where time stands still. I used to take Lily there when she was a baby for her broken arm and now I am taking Hunter for his broken foot. The radiologist that looked at his x-ray from the urgent care site was unable to tell if there was a break so we were referred to the ortho place of doom. Seriously, I was there for 2 hours today. With a 5 year old boy. I was trying to decide if it was worse with a screaming newborn or with my 5 year old who, after hour 1, lost patience and all self-control. And they want me to come back!! Ha! I am wiped out. Anyway, there is a fracture in his foot but he walks fine now and doesn't feel pain so we are just letting him do his thing and rechecking it in 3 weeks. I'm trying to talk Brian into taking that appointment.

Go Figure

I had such a classic moment today. I was feeling pretty good today (I have learned that I must eat a bagel in the morning if I want to feel good) so I decided to tackle a home project. Yes, my house is a total disaster and yes, I should have picked up something. That's not my gift, though. :) So instead I decided to organize something and the boys' room was really bugging me. I emptied the 2 toy bins in the "toy room" and pushed them into the boys' room. So there were toys all over. The so called toy room is pretty much an extension of our living room so the mess is out there for everyone to see. And it was a mess before I emptied 2 gigantic toy bins.

Then I get a phone call. It's my friend Karen and she says, "Can I come over?". Go figure. I wanted to say yes because I hadn't seen her in a month or so and I wasn't that worried about her freaking out but it did give me a moment of panic. I had the kids help me clear a path before she got here. Plus, I had warned her ahead of time. We had a fun time catching up but while she was here AND she put away movies, books and blocks for me. What did I do while she was here? Sit on the couch and eat an apple and granola bar. :) Oh, I am thankful for good friends.

I didn't get back to the boys' room until after supper but it now looks great. I am proud. The rest of the house doesn't look any better but I can walk in one room and feel good.

Holiday Weekend

I don't have any pictures for this post--how sad. I might get my Mom's camera later and add some but we'll see!!

*Samuel went to his first fireworks on the 4th. I guess I had high expectations but he didn't seem that impressed. He was getting tired by the time they started and he watched for a bit but then checked out Uncle Steve and moved to Brian's lap and put his head down. I guess he takes after me--I don't care if I see fireworks or not! :)

*We survived a family reunion yesterday!! Poor Hunter had quite the time hopping around and wanting to be carried--which wasn't fun in the heat! He said he had fun but I felt bad for him. Lily spent most of her time with the 2 dogs that live there and those poor dogs were getting tired, I am sure. My Aunt told Lily she could keep the little dog but Lily's mean parents said no. :) Samuel got used to all the people and animals and eventually got off Papa's lap and roamed around so I think he had a good time. Brian was the one that held us up. I told him I was going to blog about him. I was ready to go an hour or so we were able to leave because Brian was in a beanbag tournament. He said he had a lot of fun doing that. Whatever. :)

Boys

Samuel's first night in a toddler bed was brutal. We just kept putting him back (well, Brian kept putting him back) and he stayed at 10:45 pm. It was miserable. Last night, however, he was asleep at 8:45 pm!! Real progress. This is how I found him, though. I had to snap a picture before Brian moved him to his bed. So reminiscent of my other toddlers. :)

Our 4th of July has been busy with an injury. The night before, Hunter had jumped off the roof of the play house and landed on the empty pool. He was unable to walk on his foot. We gave it tons of time, iced it, elevated it but finally took him to the urgent care clinic this afternoon. The x-ray didn't show an obvious break but it didn't look "normal" so we have to wait until someone else can review it. In the meantime, he's supposed to stay off it. He will be hopping along or Brian will be carrying him. Poor guy--there's not a lot to do without using that foot!

Big Boy Bed!

We finally changed Samuel's crib into a toddler bed today. Brian was still resisting but I convinced him we should do it before school starts in case there are late nights that would interfere with Hunter's sleep. Good argument, huh? I was proud. Samuel was so proud of his new Mickey Mouse bedding!! The twins were so excited to tell Samuel that he can now get in and out of bed. Uh-oh. :) We'll see how the 1st night goes tonight. I am expecting nothing but good things.

Picnic!

On Wednesday, we walked over to the school by my parents' house with Papa and Anden to play and have a picnic. It was a lot of fun and the perfect weather--nice and cool!!

Having fun on the playground equipment.

Picnic time!

Picking and eating gooseberries with Papa.

Do you see three kids in the tree? Actually, Lily got up there by herself and Papa helped the boys up. My girl is "freakishly strong", as her doctor put it. :)

My Tuesday

Nichole (Aunt Nikki) came for a visit Tuesday evening. I really should have taken some pictures but I was going downhill by evening and spent most the evening on the couch. The kids, on the other hand, played princess (Hunter and Samuel get swords and are knights!), hide and seek, airplane, school, read tons of books and even got outside. Even Samuel was chanting "Nikki" the whole evening long and was ready to leave with her. It was a good time for the kids and a good break for the parents. :)

After Nikki left, we decided to tell the kids that we'll be having a baby. We had kind of planned on waiting even longer but we have a family reunion this weekend and I didn't know if it would come up there. Samuel wanted to lift my shirt and take a look at this baby. He also said "Boy!". Hunter and Lily were both very nonchalant about it but they seemed excited and have already chosen the gender they prefer (boy for Hunter, girl for Lily, of course). They both were kissing my tummy before bed. It was very sweet. I think adding another person to the family can be a little scary. I remember when I was pregnant with Samuel all the concerns I had about it. I was starting to feel that again. Most important to me is that everyone feels loved and cared for but it's hard to be the "big kid", I think. I am sure it will be GREAT, though. :)

*I really don't plan on a post every day this week but it's been so eventful!*