4th of July Beach Trip

We now have a new tradition to celebrate July 4th at my parents’ house in the Outer Banks. It’s such a great getaway and so great to be with family for one of my favorite holidays!
We went to the ocean 3 different times. The first day, Saturday, we went with Grandma & Grandpa.



The first day Leah was totally okay with the water—not a big fan and preferred to dig in the sand, but still okay with it.


The second day, when Brett got to go with us (he drove up separately after church Sunday) she was totally NOT okay with the water. She didn’t want anything to do with the waves. She wanted to stay far away from the tide. And she wanted me or Brett with her. Which wasn’t easy considering…

 

Her little brother could not get enough of the water! He kept saying “More water!” “I get in the water!” He would have stayed all day, gladly getting washed away by the waves if we let him.

     

So we took turns taking Andrew to the water while Leah built sand castles. And buried Daddy’s feet.
  

After the beach the first day, Grandpa took us to see the fire trucks at his station. Again, my easygoing little boy LOVED sitting on the truck. He sat in every available spot. Leah liked it too.


 

Leah also liked the kiddie pool my parents had set up on their porch. Okay, well, really she (and Andrew) liked running around the porch watering all of Grandpa’s flowers with her watering can. There was probably half as much water in the pool at the end but plenty in the flowers and on the porch.

     


Apparently, big sisters also need water to grow.



And they enjoyed eating watermelon, a 4th of July requirement!

 

And discovered the thrills of talking into a fan.
 

Monday we went to Kitty Hawk Kites, a 3-story store with lots of little beach trinkets and souvenirs. There was a cool sandcastle outside.


Leah and Andrew hugged a pirate.


And we all ascended a huge flight of stairs to get to the top of the building, where there’s a flying cow. (A kite one, of course, but if you ask Andrew, he saw a flying cow.)

That evening Brett and I got to go out on our own to play putt putt while Grandma & Grandpa stayed with the sleeping kids. It was a great little date night!
Tuesday we decided to add a little education to our vacation and went to check out the Wright Brothers Monument, the site of the first successful airplane flight. I’ve been here several times, but not with the kids. They have a cool replica of the first plane.

And we made the long trek up the hill to the monument. Trust me, this is not an easy hike when it’s 100 degrees and you’re 5 months pregnant (or if you’re pushing two kids in a stroller, like Brett). But it was a neat view from the top and I’m glad we did it.

Back at the bottom, there’s another replica of the plane you can climb on and hang out with Orville Wright himself.




The statues of Orville & Wilbur and some other guys instrumental in the first flight were our favorite.


Tuesday night we enjoyed some frozen yogurt at Sweet Frog—the most amazing ice cream place you’ll ever find! Seriously—look it up!
Here is one thing we learned about our kids. Leah doesn’t like to be hot or uncomfortable. She tends to complain when she’s in a situation that’s not familiar. Andrew, on the other hand, is so easygoing and laid back. We did A LOT of walking at the monument and at the Kitty Hawk store, and he never once complained. He just takes everything in and enjoys the ride, especially if it involves being outside.

The two also shared a room the whole time we were there. And they did so great! There were only a few times Leah got up but they rarely woke each other up and I think they were so exhausted every night they just went straight to sleep. Now I'm not so worried that they'll be ready to share a room here at home in preparation for the baby!



On July 4th, we spent some more time at the beach and then went to a little carnival at my parents’ church. It was a free event they used as an evangelistic tool for tourists, since they’re right on the beach road. The kids enjoyed the water slide and had snow cones.





They also LOVED the bounce house. In the past, we have not been able to get Leah to go in one of these. But after some coaxing, she got in and then we couldn’t get her out! Apparently they both figured out how much it’s like jumping on the bed at home—one of their favorite activities!

  


We decided not to go to any fireworks this year, since last year Leah really pitched a fit, and it was just so hot outside. Instead we watched them from the comfort of our air-conditioned home, and I can honestly say I didn’t miss them much. We got to enjoy so many other treats and had so much fun. We got to spend time with family, with our kids, as a couple, and time just relaxing and enjoying God’s creation—I can’t think of a better way to spend a holiday!

Day at the Farm

 

Our MOPS group recently took a Playdate to a place called Shiloh Farms. It is a Christian ministry that allows kids, church groups, etc. to experience life a on a farm, to pet animals, ride horses, etc. It was a really neat place and the kids had so many opportunities they would not have ordinarily gotten. They both love animals and I saw a whole new side of Leah, who is normally afraid to try anything! She was so excited to do everything, especially ride the horse!

Even though she looks scared, she really wasn’t until maybe the very end when she wasn’t sure how to get off. They really only rode about a minute or two around a ring.

 

They got to take a ride around the farm on both a train and a 4-wheeler.

 

And my absolute favorite picture of the day. Leah got to hold a brand new baby goat!

Andrew pet the Daddy goat.

And they got to have Icees. You can see by how dirty his face is that they had fun! (And you can also see his new curl-less haircut in this picture.)

Baby #3- Halfway There!

Our family is now living the American dream: 2.5 children... Well, okay, we don't have a dog or a white picket fence. Are those required? Anyway, I can hardly believe this pregnancy is halfway over (I am at 20.5 weeks.) And yet I know the longest part is yet to come. So far this time around has been just as easy as the others. I haven't had many symptoms at all. There was a little nausea the first few weeks, but only when I didn't eat regularly, and nothing serious. I'm more tired now, during the 2nd trimester, than I was the 1st trimester, which is unusual, but then, I do have 2 preschoolers! I really haven't even had many cravings.

I feel like I'm showing way more than I should be at this point, and have already gained 16 pounds (which is about what I had gained with Leah by this time), but I'm not worried. I'm just this week feeling the baby move more regularly. I have been feeling it only slightly right before bedtime for a couple weeks now, but there is definitely more activity now.

We really haven't done much at all to get ready for the baby, yet, with the exception of purchasing a bigger car and a car seat for Andrew. But really we have pretty much anything a baby would need to survive around here. We have had someone offer us a toddler bed, so Andrew has a few changes coming up in the near future.

And now, finally, we reached my favorite milestone: the revealing of the baby's gender. Nothing really seems official until I know this one big question. Though many people tried to persuade us not to find out this time, I do not like to be surprised in something that requires so much planning and preparation. So I needed to know. But Brett, however, wasn't so sure he wanted to know. He knew though that it would be a hard secret for me to keep, so here's what we did:

It's a gender reveal cake. Partially in celebration of Father's Day, and partially so that I got the privilege of telling him the gender rather than the ultrasound technician, he stepped out during that portion of the ultrasound, and all day I kept the secret. I made him a cake with pink icing in the center, carefully concealed by plain white icing. So when he made the first cut, he knew right away it was a girl!

My preference for a particular gender went back and forth. At first, I really wanted a boy (and, thus, convinced myself that my instincts were saying boy), because: a) a boy would be easiest, since the nursery is already decorated for a boy, b) it would be nice to have the 2 boys close in age, c) boys are much less drama and generally less high maintenance (although Andrew as a baby was not so much!). Then, about 4 or 5 weeks ago my instincts started leaning more towards maybe I'm having a girl. I haven't felt much movement, and the baby is sitting very low, both of which happened while I was pregnant with Leah. And I started convincing myself that having a little girl to dress up again would be fun. So I realized I would be content either way! Brett was excited, too, and said girl was also his instinct.

Somehow we were lucky enough to see the ultrasound in 3-D this time-- I've never had that before, but apparently that's standard at this doctor. It was so cool to see our baby in "real life." Although she was quite shy and kept putting her hands in front of her face.

"No pictures, please!"

Drama Queen:

"Okay, I'm tired now." We caught her yawning!

She does have some sort of issue with her kidneys, where they are not functioning properly, not draining like they should be. The doctor was not too concerned at this point, it may be that they just haven't finished developing. They will monitor me and do another ultrasound in a month. If there is still an issue at that point, I will be placed in a higher risk pregnancy. We are praying none of this is necessary and everything turns out okay with our little girl's kidneys.

Our New Ride

Though we loved not having car payments for almost a year, there was no way our growing family was going to fit in either of our small vehicles. So we had to get a new one. Brett did all the research before we went out, looking on Consumer Reports and searching online. We knew we wanted a 3rd row of seats and plenty of trunk space. We really only looked at about 3 different models and finally this is what we got:

It is a 2005 Toyota Sequoia. It is taking me awhile to get used to how huge it is, but I know we will love it for longer trips, or even just short ones once the baby comes. We can easily fit all 3 car seats in the middle row and still have the whole back seat for other people or stuff! Plus my stroller fits in the trunk with room for groceries. I love that the kids can get in themselves and then I can close them in to be out of traffic. We also love the comfy leather seats and lots of storage space. We pray it lasts us a long time!

This Is What Summer's All About...

I finally decided it was warm enough (and not raining long enough) to get out our little kiddie pool. We bought this at the end of the season about 2 years ago. Last year we didn't use it at all, and now I have no idea why. The kids both loved it! It took Andrew a minute to decide to get in, but once he did, he was all over the place. He loved to splash, and every time he sat down in the water, his look was priceless, like it was freezing, even though it really was warm. Leah loved to pretend she was "swimming." We are definitely giving that girl swimming lessons this summer.

A few days later, our neighbor gave us a watermelon. Andrew thoroughly enjoyed it! And his shirt is still showing the evidence...

 Andrew has always had a fascination with the lawn mower. So when we were playing outside the other day, Brett let him push it around the yard with him (not powered on). Of course, Leah had to get in on the action.

And can you believe it's only the beginning of June? We still have 3 more months of fun!

Andrew @ 22 months

Andrew has reached the “Terrible Two’s” phase with a bang! At least 2 or 3 times a day he will have a drop-down knock-out full-on Temper Tantrum. Not to be calmed with a gentle voice, disciplined with a spanking, or even distracted. Most of the time in the midst of a Tantrum, you just have to let him be. Most of the time he will throw the Tantrums when he doesn’t get to do something he wanted to do or doesn’t get something he wanted, so I just make sure I don’t give in to his way and eventually we move on. And we pray this is a short phase.

He thinks it is so funny to spit with his tongue. All. boy.



Yet, in spite of the tantrums and the stubborn-ness, he can be so sweet, freely handing out kisses and cuddling at naptime and bedtime. He is so easy to put to bed and hardly ever protests. He doesn’t always sleep as long as we may like, sometimes only napping an hour or waking up at 6:30am, but he gets enough.



He is beginning to use full sentences a lot of the time: “Can I have that?” “Can I see it?” He can sing his ABC’s but is still clueless about colors and shapes. He can count to ten and sing tons of songs. (In fact, he will often sing us medleys of children’s songs, stringing them all together in a hilarious fashion.) He has a great sense of humor and keeps us on our toes.

(We recently went to an Agriculture Fair and Andrew loved the box of corn with toy tractors to play with. This kind of thing soothes him. He is easily entertained by driving around cars of all sizes and shapes.)


He knows how to run and jump and keeps up with his sister and the bigger kids at church pretty well. He has been known to say, “I not a baby, I big boy.”



Here's some videos I found-- not sure the exact dates on these, but it was sometime in the last month:

Field of Flowers

 

I haven’t taken any good portraits of the kids lately so today while we were outside in our yard I snapped a few. Yes, we do mow our yard on a regular basis but these wildflowers sprout up in just a day or two and we can’t get rid of them! Of course, Leah and Andrew love to pick flowers for Mommy & Daddy. The last ones were taken inside while we were working on schoolwork—I was just telling them to make different faces.