Kings Island!

Here are some pictures from our fun day at Kings Island! We spent most of the day in Nickelodean Zone and some time at the water park. We got there around 10, packed a picnic lunch, and left a little after 7pm. Wilson's favorite ride was the Scooby Doo ride. He also rode several slides at the water park! They were perfect ages for riding most all the rides in the kids area. It was a long day but it was worth it! On the way home we stopped for pizza at La Rosa's, we couldn't find a Pizza Hut. It was yummy!

A baby shower!

Last night, my SIL Stephanie and Heather, a friend from church threw me a baby shower! It was fabulous! I was shocked when they said they wanted to have a shower for me - I mean this is baby #3 and another boy! But it was perfect. They planned the shower at PF Chang's for dinner. It was just my style- casual and not too many people! We ate lots of yummy food and Heather made the cutest bear cake which was delicious. Our waiter even had a piece! I felt very loved and that was such a good feeling from so many women that are important to me. My mom, sister, and Ma-Maw were there along with Heather, Stephanie, 3 ladies from my small group at church, and 3 other special friends from church. Ty received several new outfits which will be good for him (not being born in January like the other 2 and all!), new washcloths, diapers, gift cards, and a special blanket made by my Ma-maw. She has been making baby blankets for a long time, I still have the one she made me so this was a very special gift. And I was surprised that she already had it finished! I was able to pass around the new ultrasound pictures of Tyler and enjoy some girl time over great food. What more can a pregnant lady ask for?! Thank you so much to Stephanie and Heather for planning such a wonderful shower for me! Love you!

*Check out lots more pics here!

Ty = Baby #3 = HUGE

Had my 32 week OB visit today to check on baby #3 or I guess I should said Tyler! I had an ultrasound since Dr. S was worried about the size of the baby at my appointment last time. Well, turns out Ty is huge. After my ultrasound Dr. S walked in my room and said "the baby is huge!". Those were the first words out of her mouth after reading the ultrasound report. I said "I know, I'm feeling it!". So, lets get technical.
I'm offically 31 weeks, 4 days pregnant.
According to Ty's measurements on the ultrasound baby is 34 week 2 days.

That is a difference of 19 days people. NINETEEN DAYS. Let me break that down for you. He's measuring about 2 1/2 weeks bigger than he should be. He weighs about 5 lbs right now from their measurements. Might not sound big to you. BUT babies put on the bulk of their weight at the end, like a pound a week or something. So does this explain the cramping in my lower right side? Yes, Dr. S said this is from stretching. To make room for more baby in my belly. "HEY TY, THERE IS NO MORE ROOM!!" Does this explain my backaches? Yes. Why I became worn out after supervising the set up of my classroom with Andy doing 90% of the work? Yes. Why I'm getting worn down emotionally? Yes. Why I feel like I can't get any bigger or carry any more baby weight? Yes. Getting the picture? I'm feeling a little fragile right now! I think I could have burst into tears 3-4 times today. But I only did once.

Dr. S wants to keep a close eye on the size of Ty so I have another ultrasound in 4 weeks. I have a dr appt every two weeks now. My doctor said "I'm worried about you working. I don't usually worry about people continuing to work, I usually tell them to tough it out. But your baby is huge and you will be on your feet all day. I'm worried." OK. This doens't make me feel good. If my DOCTOR is worried about me then that ups the anxiety level. I already knew it was going to be really hard. I go in for 2 hours to set up my classroom and my back hurts so bad...How am I going to teach all day? I'm definitely worried. She did say she didn't want me to go past 37 weeks. So I'm guessing that means my due date has changed? I was due on September 26th. If you push that up 3 weeks then that is September 5th. That means I have 6 weeks to get ready for Ty- his room, his clothes, his baby stuff- My classroom, my math units for my team while I'm on maternity leave, call and meet with my long term sub, SURVIVE...I have to stop there before I panic.
Good news- got great pics of Ty on the ultrasound including a few in 3D! I've never had 3D ultrasound pics before. He looks so cute and he will be here before we know it to complete our family! Looking very much forward to meeting our newest addition it is just so overwhelming and hard right now and there is SO much to do.
Jenn & Sarah- show me the silver lining!

Cincinatti Fire Museum

What a cool place! Our boys thought the museum was awesome. They were both free so it only cost us $14 to get in. I went in to get change for the meter and the guy working said they weren't expecting any more groups/buses so we were able to park right out front for free! There are 2 floors at the museum. The first floor has many antique fire trucks. Lots of tools, masks, helmets, hoses, etc from fire stations. It is housed in an old fire station too. This floor also has a cab of a fire truck for playing in- the boys turned on a siren, the lights and sat in the driver's seat. Downstairs is information on how fires were faught in the pioneer days and a pretend house to teach you about fire safety in the home. Enjoy the pictures! And notice that the boys are wearing their fire truck shirts- I couldn't resist! I couldn't ge them to load onto slide.com tonight. Sorry for the length!

Ikea

Ok, here is what we bought at IKEA. I would have liked to have gotten more but we weren't even expecting to go to the store! It kind of found us, 3 exits away from our hotel. I definitely want to plan to go back and have more time and money set aside to shop with!
3 stools (one for each of the boys!)- $7.99 each
1 plastic table for the kitchen- $34.99
6 plastic stacking cups- $1.99
6 plastic stacking plates- $1.99
6 blastic stacking bowls- $1.99
Then Wilson used his $10 from Uncle Bill and bought the toolbox. It came with parts and pieces to make a motorcycle, helicopter, etc. He really likes it!

The other thing I really wanted to buy was a piece of artwork- it was a framed painting on canvas that I really liked and thought it would have looked great over the couch but it was a little pricey. It's a tree and honestly I liked it better in person than the picture linked above. I'd love to go back when we're ready to replace our coffee/end tables. I hate ours and Ikea has them very cheap. Cool store! Just don't get lost from your husband whose cell phone was in the van...

We're Back!

We took a mini-vacation on Thursday and Friday to Cincinatti. We had a really fun time! There will be several posts with pictures to come but wanted to let you know some highlights.
* Our new van was fabulous for our trip! Tons of space, comfortable, etc. We love it!!
* We ate at Frisch's on Thursday for lunch. For some reason I have been wanting to eat at Frisch's since I was about 3-4 months pregnant. Weird, I know!
* We took the boys to a Fire Museum and they thought it was the best place ever. They slid down a pole, saw tons of antique fire trucks, and had a blast playing in the cab of a fire truck.
* We had a nice hotel with an indoor pool and free breakfast! We had fun swimming Thursday night.
* Ate dinner at Maggiano's. It was so yummy- I had Fettucine Alfredo with broccoli. It was so good!
* Realized our hotel was 3 exits away from IKEA!! I'd always wanted to go there and we did! I'll post about what we bought. Store was HUGE. I got lost from Andy and almost stood in the middle of the floor crying but he showed up just in time (I'm pregnant=emotional).
* Had a good day at King's Island even though my body was sooo tired. The boys loved it. More details and pics to come.

Now it is time to face the dreaded back to school...

Big Boy Bedroom

Well, we did it! Yesterday, we moved all the toys from Wilson's room out except for the train table. Then we rearranged the furniture and moved in Luke's bed and bookcase. We still need to move out the small desk and move in Luke's dresser. I went to Walmart and bought a new laundry hamper and 6 rubbermaid tubs that fit under their beds to store toys. We're really pleased with how the room is looking! Wilson is handling his new roommate well so far. We're really working on changing his thinking from "my room" to "our room". I know it is an adjustment. Thankfully the room is big and they have plenty of space. As for the multitude of toys that are still sitting in the living room (it is obscene- to embarrased to post a pic of it!) hopefully we'll be able to go through them and give some away or pack some up for storage or something... Last night they were a little silly going to bed, we had to go back in a few times and tell them to be quiet but overall the first night was a success! I think this arrangement is going to work out just fine. Here is a picture of the nameplates my mom makes each grandchild for their door- Wilson thought they should be side by side!

The Bathroom

Just about done! Still need to install the new tp holder, towel bar and buy a cabinet for over the toilet! Here is the inspiration piece- the shower curtain! Then a close up of the cute shower curtain rings.

Now notice the rug and trashcan!

And finally, the toothbrush holder. The boys love this and the trashcan the most!

Siding :)

We met with a siding guy today and in 7-9 weeks they'll be here installing new siding, soffit, gutters, and shutters! I'm so excited. We picked out Pebblestone Clay, which is a dark shade of khaki. The shutters will be vinyl in Classic Blue which is an exact match to the front door I just painted. It is a navy blue.

I think I'm going to wash the cabinets in the kitchen today if Wilson quits whining and fussing. Andy is gone for a guys only movie and dinner! He's going to see One Dark Night and then out to dinner with Jason and my dad.

My New Bag

I love bags and purses. I have for as long as I can remember. I had tons of purses growing up and changed my purses a lot. I remember my mom and sister not understanding why I was using my birthday money (or Christmas money etc) to get another purse! I don't buy near as many bags and purses as I used to but believe me, I still see tons that I like! And no, they're not all expensive either...this one was a mere $.99! I think it is cool. So there. Aren't I just helping the Earth and environment and all? Gosh, I'm so "green"! Just kidding!

Crazy...Good! and other things

Remember this post? Well turns out a NEW '08 Sienna has cheaper insurance rates than my '02 Jetta! We got a check in the mail yesterday for $35. That means our mini-van's insurance is $70 less a year!! And it is 6 years newer. Go figure that! Maybe they think drivers of mini-van's are generally driving safer than drivers of Jetta's due to the number of children inside???

Oh- we have a name picked out- Tyler! Ty for short.Still deciding on the middle name, it is narrowed down to two choices. We'll let you know what we decide!

Painting in the bathroom is done. Tomorrow I need to clean it and decorate! Today my body refused to do any work. I was just plain exhausted. I took the boys to a carnival tonight at a church. My dad's new band Big City Groove was playing. They are SOO good! The boys and I listened to the music and played carnival games. They also did inflatables OVER and OVER and ate a snow cone. We had a great time. Then afterwards we ate at Qdoba with my mom, dad, and Terry. Have I told you how much I love their rice (on a naked burrito) and their chips? Both have a hint of lime flavoring and GOSH I've craved them! Go try 'em!

I'm getting ready to enjoy my last week of summer vacation. Next week I'll be in setting up my room and getting ready for parent orientation on August 5th. I can't believe the summer is almost over. Please start praying now about how I'll be able to handle working, two kids, and being 8 months pregnant. Things are getting hard. I still get that weird dull pain in my lower right side. I'm definitely ready for next week's ultrasound. Setting up for back to school is a lot of work and then back to school itself is always draining. I've never done it 8 months pregnant and I'm starting to get worried about that. I could go on but I don't want to get myself panicked. I've got better things to do right now, like go watch a movie with Andy!

First Coat is Finished!

Then...

Now...

Can't wait to show you the finished project! Andy did all the cutting in and I did the rolling. It needs another coat so maybe we'll get to that after the boys are in bed!

Our Big Boy!!

Luke is doing so well with his potty training!! Today, for example, he went #2 in the potty one time and went #1 in the potty all day (except for 1 partial accident-he started going in his undies and finished in the potty). He had undies on all day at home today. While we were out running errands I put a diaper on him just in case. When we got home he was dry so he went potty then! Same with his nap, put him in a diaper and he woke up dry. Then used the bathroom when he woke up! I've kept his potty in the living room so he wouldn't feel like he was "missing out" on anything while in the bathroom. It just kind of happened that way when we started working on the bathroom and I left it out there since potty training has been going so well. Yesterday he did really well too. He had 1 wet accident but wore undies the rest of the day and used his potty all day! He really likes earning his 1 skittle/m&m/chocolate chip after going potty. It will be so nice to have him potty trained before baby #3 arrives! The best news is he is even telling us sometimes "I need go potty." He can pull down his undies by himself and sit on the potty. Sometimes he only has a few drips and he says "I go little bit". I think he wants to make sure he still gets his treat!!

Today I took it easy in the morning. I think I've been pushing myself too hard. I've been having a weird pain on the right side above my hip bone under the protruding baby belly. It hurt a lot yesterday, last night, and again today. Andy and I just finished cleaning the walls in the bathroom. He repaired several holes in the walls from nails, a shelf, and the door handle. The putty was finally dry enough for him to sand and prime today. Have you heard of TSP cleaner? My mom let us borrow it to clean the wall and it works wonders! It cleaned the wallpaper paste residue and all the dirt/grime off the walls, doors, and trim. I'm definitely going to use it on my kitchen cabinets while we have it! Hopefully we'll get to start painting tomorrow. Oh and we decided to hold off on painting the shutters. Instead of only getting the soffit/fascia replaced with vinyl we're going to do the gable ends and the wood that is on the front of the house (on 1 side of the garage). That way it will all match and look nice. We were going to paint the wood ends and garage side because the wood was still good but that just too much right now. So I'm going to wait and see about the shutters!

House Project Update

*Disclaimer- I'm terrible at taking pictures. Bear with me!

This morning we went to Lowe's and bought the front door/shutter paint and a light fixture for the back door. I liked the one we bought for the back door better than the one we had on the front door so Andy switched the old one to the back door and the new one out front. The picture on the left is the back door and its ugly light bulbs.

Here is the old light fixture with the front door (that is now in the back).

Here on the left you see the back door with a nice looking fixture! Looks much better than the plain light bulbs!

Now on the right you see the front door with the cute new light fixture! Thanks for switching them for me, Andy!!

I painted the front door today! It looks good! Andy is putting the hardware back on the door in this picture! He did NOT want to smile. He doesn't like working in the heat. He had been working outside on the lights and all, but I sweetly reminded him that he is inside air conditioning here. :)

So, update on Lowe's wishlist: new oven, plantation blinds for boys bedrooms, and a new back door. We're doing good!

Mini Cheesecakes

2- 8oz pkgs cream cheese, softened (I use lowfat)

3/4 cup sugar

3 eggs, beaten

1 tsp. vanilla

24 vanilla wafers (I use lowfat)

cupcake liners

cherry pie filling

Beat cream cheese with mixer. Add sugar, vanilla, and beaten eggs. Place cupcake papers in muffin pans. Put 1 vanilla wafer in the bottom of each cup. (Wilson and Luke are GREAT at these two steps!) Pour each cup half full of mixture. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Top each with cherry pie filling (or flavor of your choice) while still warm. Refrigerate.

* The bedroom door is finished!

* The wallpaper border in the hallway bathroom is stripped! My neck and shoulders and back hurt...
* Mini-cheesecakes cooking in the oven! Yummy!
* Lowe's wishlist up on the refrigerator (2 new plantation blinds for boys rooms, paint for shutters and front door, light fixture for back porch-it is just a bulb, new oven, and Andy wants me to add a new back door to the list). I'm keeping focused! Still feeling positive about staying here and fixing this up to continue enjoy our home.
* My ankles are swollen a little bit today- first time I've noticed swelling. Probably because I was standing on a little ladder stripping wallpaper border all morning.

What we consider FUN!

Yesterday when I picked my mom up to go to Lowe's, we noticed the neighbors were getting a new driveway. Wilson was immediately interested and had to know what was going on. They were breaking up the old concrete etc. My mom was telling him what Mr. Bob was doing at his house and how they'd be putting new concrete in and everything. We went to Lowe's. When we dropped Mom off, she asked the men when they would be pouring the concrete. They said around 4:30. So with a promise to bring the boys back we went home for lunch and naps. We went back to Mom's and pulled up right after the concrete truck had arrived. Perfect timing! The boys sat and watched for at least an hour before dinner. The watched the concrete being poured, spread, smoothed, etc. They were entranced. After dinner Luke looked outside and said "They still here!". So we got the chairs out again and spent another 30 minutes watching the final stages of brushing and curing the concrete. They were in heaven! We thanked the men for letting us watched and thanked Mr. Bob for the highlight of the boys day!

A New Focus

We looked at 2 homes yesterday- they were ok, just not the one for us. Like Andy said, if we could have combined parts from both to make one we'd have been really happy! One was out right away because there was only 1 bathroom upstairs- I don't want to be sharing a bathroom with 3 sons! The other full bath was downstairs even though there wasn't a bedroom down there. Plus the basement was really small. The other house was good but we weren't very impressed with the kitchen. It had less cabinets than our current house and you had to walk out into the hallway to get to the pantry. We liked the basement there and it had 2 baths upstairs and a 1/2 bath downstairs. The current owners smoke in it so that was a negative as well. Plus the shower in the master bath was a little weird. SO, we came home and I thought we'd look at the 3rd home we were interested in still later this week.


But today I woke up and had this feeling- that maybe my mom is right :), and maybe we should just stay where we are for our sanity at this point. Especially since the other house didn't work out. Maybe this just ISN'T the time for us to move. The baby will be here before we know it, school will be starting very soon, and our house would still need a lot of work to put it up on the market. Mom has been very supportive about the house hunt but she has also been reminding me that we can make it work here at our house. It might be easier to have less house to keep up with when we're so busy with 3 boys under age 5. Plus, we got our NEW van! So we can at least get around town with 3 kids- ha ha. So, are you ready for my new focus? - If you know me very well, you know how I almost always have something I'm focused on and can't get it out of my mind until it's done. It was the house. Then the van. Slightly still holding onto a new house. Now it is fixing up our house so we can continue to enjoy it! Here is what I want to do:


1. Paint the new door to my bedroom that has been the natural wood color (it was new) for MONTHS. Andy replaced the jamb and door so it would close. Today, I have primed it and painted it! Might still need a 2nd coat.

2. Redo the bathroom in the hall so it can be the boys' bathroom using all the cute new bathroom stuff I bought them at Target. Read about that here. Mom and I went to Lowe's and I got GREEN paint (for the top half above the white wainscoating), a roller, a new switchplate (white), and a new light fixture. This requires stripping wallpaper border, Andy repairing a small hole in the wall, prepping the walls for painting, etc.

3. Paint the shutters and the front door. Mom and I picked up some samples at Lowe's. I want to keep it the same color because we love it but it seriously needs a fresh coat of paint. We've never painted them and we've lived here 7 years. I found a perfect match!

4. Get the soffit that is rotting replaced with siding!

5. Before mid-September move Wilson and Luke into the same bedroom and de-clutter the toys. (That is the one I'm worried about. )

I'm sure there will be more so I'll keep you posted!

It's THESE moments...

and MANY others that make the hard work of parenting so worthwhile! This helps me forget about the multiple spankings Wilson had yesterday, the many time outs he had, the dessert he lost, the whining, and me being at the end of my rope, etc. He is sitting in Luke's room right now reading library books to him. I tried to sneak a picture but they both saw me and went right back to reading! They are precious even though they can be so difficult!

Potty training update- Luke pooped twice in his potty yesterday! First time to go #2! We were so proud of him. He's gone #1 in it twice today, but still refuses to wear undies.

House update- We're going to look at 2 homes today. There's one more we want to see but the owners just got home from vacation and weren't up for showing their house.

Life with 2 boys is hard.

Ohmygosh there's going to be 3 soon!

Okay. Wilson is 4 1/2. Luke is 2 1/2. They have gotten to the age where they finally play together which in turn means that they are fighting. I'm glad that they can play together and enjoy each other but oh my gosh! I hate when they fight. This morning they were "playing" Don't Spill the Beans. But Wilson had a different idea of how he wanted to play than Luke. Fighting ensued. Beans everywhere. Timeout for both. Start over with trying to get them to clean-up. They come out and start cleaning up and next thing I know Wilson is squeezing Luke's chin and then Luke hits Wilson. AHHH! What do I do? Time-out didn't seem to work for more than 2 minutes. They even had a spanking this morning. Andy and I feel like all we do is tell them not to do this or that. I want them to have fun and make their own choices but they don't make good choices! I can't leave them in a room together alone for more than a minute before something happens. Not always physical fighting but picking on each other or something. This is hard! It's like one day you feel like you're doing okay at this whole parenting thing and the next day you think you don't know how to do this at all. Am I doing something wrong? How can I make it better? It's summer so our schedule isn't the same everyday but I don't know if that is why. Help! Is this what my life is going to be like for the next 15 years?

My Momma

My mom had surgery yesterday on her knee. She had a tear in her meniscus. My mom is a trooper! She squeezed this in after keeping the girls for the two weeks Cara and Jason were in China. She had the girls until 10:30 Wednesday night, went to the airport with them to meet Silas, woke up bright and early on Thursday to clean her house from keeping the girls and at 8 AM that morning went to her surgery appointment. Meanwhile my dad was getting ready to drive Cara & Co. to Minneapolis for Jason's sister's wedding this weekend. We wanted them to arrive safely to MN after 24+ hours of travelling home from China. So mom was flying solo. Her parents took her to her surgery and brought her home and took care of her. I came over when they got home to visit and check on her. Then Terry came over and spent the night with her so she could have help. Terry and Ma-Maw were with her today at home. My dad flies home tonight, leaving Cara & Co. at the wedding. We're hoping they'll be enough rested to make the trip home on their own on Sun/Mon! I went over to visit today and am bringing dinner to her, dad, and Terry tonight. (Chicken Quesadillas, corn on the cob, and chips/salsa). Mom is doing really well- she is able to walk around carefully with her crutches, putting just a little weight on the bad leg. She even walked out of the house yesterday to take a ride in the new van! She is exercising her leg per dr. orders and icing it as well. Hopefully this will repair her knee so she doesn't have so much trouble with it anymore! Love you, mom!

We have good news!

Thank goodness, some things have worked out for the good as of yesterday! I do not have gestational diabetes. Yea! And...

Good-bye Jetta...

Hello mini-van!