Mountain Adventure 2012

 

This past week the kids and I got to take a little mini vacation to visit my friend Sarah who lives in the mountains. My best friend Elizabeth drove there from the opposite direction to meet us—a fun girls’ weekend! Her kids are 2 and 7 months old so we definitely had our hands full, but it was still a lot of fun.

The first day we went to where Sarah’s husband Ben works. It’s on a farm with cows. The cows weren’t too sure about us.

   

Leah and Andrew pretended to be cows.

Later we played in the river beside Sarah’s house. Out of both my kids, I would have thought Andrew would have been the one to jump in up to his waist, but my normally adventurous little boy preferred to stay on the shore to throw his rocks in. On the other hand, my prissy little girl was completely unafraid to get wet and dirty. She was in up to her knees, bending over to pick up rocks to throw in. All the kids would have loved to stay and do this for hours if we would have let them!

  

Amelia accidentally got all wet. She wasn’t happy. It was fun watching Andrew and Amelia together. Amelia is only about 5 months older than he is. Let’s say two 2-year-olds together makes for an interesting time!

 

   

Of course, then they needed a bath.

That night we cooked hot dogs on the campfire. Sarah has a cute little patch of wildflowers in her yard—great for some photo ops, although my kids are cheeseballs.

    

The second day we went to play at a park in Asheville. After we wore the kids out, we let them sleep in the car while us girls enjoyed a drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

  

Wednesday before Elizabeth had to leave, we took some group photos by the River. It’s a little difficult to get 4 kids all looking at the camera, let alone smiling, so you take what you can get!

 

   

And then there were a few shots when the kids were just playing around right before we left. These were some of my favorites!

I must say, these little kids are becoming so much more fun to be around. They were—for the most part—pretty good little travelers, adjusted well to all the different situations they were put in, and, even though there was a little whining and maybe a couple tantrums, I really enjoyed their company. I no longer dread going places because I’ll have to put them to bed in a strange place or because they may not have all their usual comforts. (Now let’s add a newborn into our mix just to make things exciting!)

 

  

Leah’s Water Fun Birthday Party

 

Last Saturday, the 18th, Leah had a super-fun 4th birthday party with all her friends from church. I wanted low-key but still memorable, so we set up a kiddie pool, slip ‘n' slide & sprinkler in our backyard. I had planned some games, as well, but really they just enjoyed playing around in the water all afternoon. We had a total of 6 kids, mostly 4 year olds, along with Andrew & one big sister. I think they all had a blast!

 

 

This whole tub of water balloons was gone in seconds. Who needs organized games when you can just throw them at your feet?

 

Not all of them enjoyed the slip ‘n slide, but it definitely got some use!

  

We set up the food outside. I wanted somewhat of a princess theme, but not overboard. Mostly just girly. I kept the cake simple and sweet, with a princess crown and wand.

     

The candles had a hard time staying lit outside, but she loved being sung to. And they all loved the food!

  

The birthday girl had no problem being the star of the show. She talked non-stop the whole time, telling her friends what to do and telling all kinds of stories about her day. I have no doubt she enjoyed being the Princess.

Time for presents! She got fairy wings with a wand, 2 versions of the Candy Land game, a doll whose hair you can style, some puzzles, and dance leotards. Andrew even got a present! Someone brought him a dump truck—he was in heaven!

 

 

 

After it was all over, this little girl was ready to go inside and play with her new things. She said the presents were her favorite part. She and Andrew snuggled up on their new bean bag chairs from Grandma.

 

29 Weeks Pregnant

 

Monday I had a check up for little baby Abigail. (Although we were attempting to keep her name a secret from everyone but family, it’s slowly getting revealed and will probably not be a secret much longer. After all, Leah knows it, and she has no concept of secret, although her daddy is the one that’s let it slipped!) The last ultrasound showed some issues with her kidneys, so they did another to see if anything had changed. And they were perfectly normal! I even passed my glucose test for gestational diabetes. The only issue with the baby was that she was stubborn and wouldn’t move her arms out from in front of her face. So dramatic!

This pregnancy seems to be flying by. It seems like a long time to say I have 2 1/2 months left, but when it boils down to it, that’s 12 weeks—less if she comes early like her brother & sister! I’m not stressing like I did with the others. She has a place to sleep, clothes to wear, milk to eat. She doesn’t have a room set up yet, but I’m not in a hurry to move her big brother and give him more freedom at night. We only lack a few baby necessities (and I’d really like to get Andrew out of diapers so we don’t have 2 sets again!) but I’m really not so worried about that. I’m ready for her to be here.

I have heard people say that the third-born child is usually laid back and just “fits right in.” Well, I don’t know about the laid back part, but if this little girl is at all as active on the outside as she has been in the womb, then she will definitely fit right in with her two busy, active siblings! She seems to be my most active baby yet, although it could be because I’ve been stretched around in there by 2 previous pregnancies and I’m just more aware of the movements. She is most active between 8-11pm, when I can usually see her moving around on the outside. Either she can’t get comfortable in there or she’s practicing to be an Olympic gymnast! I fear that my third-born will not be low-maintenance and will be a busy little bee!

Now to compare: on the left I was 27 weeks pregnant with Leah (June 2008). I had gained about 17 lbs. The one on the right is today, 29 weeks pregnant with Abigail. I have gained 22 lbs.

   

And on the left is 29 weeks with Leah and then on the right is today again. Hmmm, Leah looks like she’s a little lower in there?