My babies...

One more week.... it's so crazy. I don't know if it's really *real* to me yet. It sinks in a little more every day that I'm going to have another little one to take care of.



I keep thinking about him, what he will look like- if he will look like the other boys or have his own look... same with his personality. Ben was really calm and very small (not even 7 lbs) and just so sweet and cute....

While Christopher was a fussy little guy, not so good with sleep, and big (almost 9 lbs)... but soo soo cute, look at those cheeks!

I can't believe those little babies are now these funny little guys. They have been so cute lately, they get along really well for the most part. They make each other mad, but they have also been so nice to each other. They love to help each other and play together. Their conversations just crack me up, just because they're so little. Chris is growing up so much lately, and he really tries to be like Ben.

When I get them out of the bath, I wrap them up and say, "oh my baby!" and take them into their room and lay them on the floor together, and they look at each other and say "ohhh, baby!!" This has been our little game for a while now. They were being so cute the other day I had to grab the camera....

Last week, Ben wanted to wrap his Doggy in a blanket (Big Doggy has been his friend since he was a baby, and especially since around a year and a half, he always wants him when he sleeps)... he wanted Doggy to be his baby... so I've been swaddling Doggy "just like the baby is going to be wrapped up in a blankie" ever since, and he carries him around, and says to us "look how CUTE my baby is!"

Today, he got out another blankie for "Little Doggy" (Chris' smaller version of Big Doggy) and we wrapped him up too. Chris is not as into it, but off and on he has to have his "baby" too...

Maybe the next post you'll see will be announcing our newest arrival =) We'll see. I do have one more week. Ben came two days early because I got scared into having my labor induced. I felt like I was going to have contractions forever and never go into real labor.... With Chris, I decided that's just how my labors were going to be, and waited it out (never wanted the Pitocin the first time)- he came barely two days after his due date. So I kind of think this one will be around his date too--- but you never know!! He's going to come out when he's good and ready. I'm getting tired of all these early contractions.... but feeling calm and patient so far. Just keeping busy and enjoying the time before life is turned upside-down!

The nursery....

I'll try to show more pics of how the house looks now inside, but for now I'll start with the baby's room. Even though he'll be in our room for the first little while, it was still fun to get his room all ready for his arrival. I was lucky enough to be able to get a new crib and changing table this time around, and I love how everything is so bright and soft and cozy in there. Like the rest of the house, this room is in need of wall decor, but I'm still working on that!!! Someday....

In the meantime, I think it's pretty cute in there. I wish the pictures could better show the whole room, so you can see it all together, but these will have to do until you come visit us =)

What we've done on our summer vacation (so far)

So here's a little more catching up. Just trying to highlight a few things with some cute pics since I've been pretty MIA in bloggerland. Sorry for the crappy pictures. I have no patience for editing and I've been lazy when taking pics. I figure it's better than nothing... trying not to stress over it ;)

We've really been enjoying the new house and yard. Dave doesn't even mind the mowing, since now he gets to do it on a riding mower. The boys LOVE to ride on the "tractor" with Daddy. This is their first time going for rides, not long after we moved in....

When Chris gets on, he grabs the steering wheel, ready to be the driver, it's so cute.

We got a new sprinkler, which I think I kind of broke... but the first time running in it, they sure loved it. Chris was the brave one, going right up to it and getting soaked. Ben, as usual, is a little more cautious, but really got in there and was loving it. They were just laughing and running around. It was really cute.





We went to the Nashville Zoo with the extended family, and the boys loved it. It was sooo soo hot and I was so very pregnant, but we made it through. The boys loved the animals and riding in the wagon, and especially riding the Carousel.

Ben and his cool sunglasses with Papa....

Chris and his water bottle, he loved that thing...




They were pretty wiped out when we left-- luckily it was a couple hours to get home!



And of course we've been doing a lot of swimming. They started out a little timid, and we had some floating things they could sit in, but they have since become brave little fish- they just want to jump out of your arms and go swim. We have little swim vests for them and they just love it.

Bad news is, the pool has a leak. We need to get it fixed... we haven't been able to swim in a week or two. Pools are a pain, but so fun!

And one weird occurance, one evening while swimming, Chris got a mosquito bite (apparently) on his ear (or behind it) and his ear the next morning was huge, swollen, and red. We thought he had some kind of infection, or swimmer's ear... we took him to the doctor, only to find out that it was a bug bite (you couldn't see any evidence of a bite, it was weird). After a day or so of Benadryl, all was well. Luckily, it didn't seem to hurt or bother him, it just looked crazy! Poor little wonky-eared dude!

Well, there's your little update on kind of what we've been up to =)

Catching up- we had some birthdays...

So, all of our birthdays come within a little over two months of each other, so I'll start with that. It's been fun, because that's how we've been giving Ben a timeline for the baby. First, everyone has a birthday, then the baby comes after that. Last week, I said something to Dave about how my tummy felt like the baby was going to push out of my belly button he was pushing so hard, and Ben said- "No, he can't come out yet, not till after Mommy's birthday!"

Anyway, first one was Ben's... He turned three on April 19th. We were just over a week away from closing on our house and another week after that we would be moving, so his birthday party was at the park (he LOVES the park). We don't do big shindigs with a million kids and friends, just the family. We had a fun time. He picked out Spongebob party supplies and chocolate cake with Neopolitan ice cream. He was so cute opening up his presents. As he opened them, he would say "wow, did you make this?" (to everything). It was so dang cute. He loved every bit of the evening, especially the cake and ice cream. He gets sooo excited when someone is having a birthday because he gets to have cake and ice cream. Silly kid.

Here are a few pics:
Playing on the playground....

The cake, the cake!!!! (Is it time for cake yet, is time, is it time???)
Chris stood up on the bench next to Ben while everyone sang "Happy Birthday" and from the look on his face, you woulda thought they were singing to him!
Mmmmm....
Opening gifts...

Then there was Dave's birthday on May 8th. I don't think I have any pictures from that day. We had just moved into the new house, so we didn't even get to have a thing with cake and ice cream (sorry honey!) BUT we surprised Daddy at work with a yummy lunch that we made (complete with a Spongebob balloon that they picked out for him). Dave said it was going to be a busy day, so we just brought him lunch rather than going out with him. For dinner, we tried a cool little casual steakhouse out here in our new area, it was really good and the kids loved it. That was pretty much the day.

Christopher was next, on June 14th. Two is a big birthday at our house- it's exciting because it's really the first time they "get it". For Ben, we did a big "Blue's Clues" party last year, so for Chris, we did it up big again. He got the Wiggles- he LOVES the Wiggles... loves loves loves.... so we ordered some Wiggles stuff and they loved it, especially the huge Mylar balloon that plays "Wiggly Party". It's still playing "Wiggly Party"... He was so cute about everything, and he was totally excited to get a bike and a sandbox!

Here are some pics from that party:
The Wiggly banner...
Dorothy holding the balloons...
Party hats! (Chris looks so serious, but really he was excited- he had fun)
I brought out the bike and said "what's this" and he got a big smile and said "a biiiike...." like he was in awe! So cute...
Playing in the sandbox with no sand...
The Wiggly cake with the Big Red Car....
Sharing Daddy's cake after having his own, and being pretty cute...

So, then mine was yesterday. Dave was cute, he got up (unusual for him to get up out of bed first) and I heard him outside our door whispering to the kids and I heard Ben say (loudly) "I'm NOT going to tell her". hehe. Then he brought me some breakfast in bed and brought up some breakfast for the kids (they get up first in the mornings and play and watch tv in the bonus room out in the middle of all the bedrooms while we try to wake up). It was nice. We had a fun/normal day together, and then when Dave got home, he arrived with roses and a card and we all went out to a yummy Chinese buffet that we discovered out here a few weeks ago. It was SO good, I have been so hungry lately. I guess that's what happens when you are 38 weeks pregnant! After dinner, we took the kids to a little playground in this wooded area up on the "mountain". Then we enjoyed the cupcakes that Rachel brought over- they were yum! It was a nice day.

Here's a shot of my birthday roses:

and Chris enjoying a cupcake:

And that's it... next up for a birthday-- "Baby Brother"... he still isn't 100% named. I think at this point, we'll just tell y'all when he gets here ;) He is due in 13 days.

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I like to put a post so I can look back and see all the different headers, also to alert those who are viewing in a feed reader (but not opening my blog to comment, ahem) so they can see the new stuff =)

Still here! Somewhere...

I keep thinking I'll post when I have some pictures. I finally got some pictures loaded up on our server, but I just don't have much time to edit or anything, because my old laptop is not good for that. So you get the new picture at the top of the blog, which I threw together tonight on Dave's computer, because I was so tired of the St. Patty's day header :) I guess that will have to do for now. The boys have been LOVING the pool. Ben has gotten so much braver in the water, he really wants to swim on his own. He's been doing really well with swim wings. Christopher just loves being in there. He wants to just do his own thing (and us leave him alone) but that can't happen, so he's been a little cranky about it, but he loves playing and especially splashing people. Dave and I are loving it to, especially since it has been getting HOT! It was up to 90 on Saturday, and this is just the beginning.

The house is great, we are loving it. Still a lot going on around here. A million things to worry about for Dave with work and everything else, poor guy. I'm trying to get this house unpacked because this baby is due in just FIVE WEEKS! I keep feeling like I have a lot done, but I can't keep up with the mess and the rest of the unpacking and of course the things that still need to be fixed to move on- like the kids' bathtub drain--I need Dave to figure out how to get the old one out. All the sink aerators are driving me nuts.... I need to get some anchors to get the pantry door rack up so I can unpack the last of the kitchen stuff..... and on and on and on. I'm hoping this baby stays put like the other boys did, so I can have enough time.

We found out today that the new insurance that Dave was promised at this new job is not going to be in effect until July 1st (we were told 2 months which would be June 1st) which is 1 week before the baby is due. The current insurance is crappy, which is why the change was a big deal, and they said for sure it would be in effect before the baby-- I found out a couple weeks ago that the current plan would cost us over $1000 out of pocket to have the baby... still no info about the cost on the new plan - only the promise that this new insurance will be "really good" ... sooooo ... yeah, insurance. Stay in there little buddy- you can't come out until July! The other boys were "free"... nothing out of pocket to have either of them, so the thought of having to pay a bunch is no fun!! We had awesome insurance at the other company...

Anyone want to come over and potty train Ben so I don't have three in diapers? I know I need to get moving on this, but the thought of it just makes me tired. I said I would try once we were moved.... we've dabbled in it here and there, but I just need to really reinforce the idea, and hopefully he'll get excited about it this time. He just doesn't seem to care that much, and I hate having to keep taking him over and over all day long for him to get the idea... he does love the M&M's as a reward though ;)

Hopefully I can get lots done in the next week or so and share some pics of the new place. It's so bright and colorful. I love all the big windows. I want to get stuff up on the walls so bad, but that feels like it should be AFTER I clean up the piles of boxes and other messes.... but soon. I will try hard to get some pics up! For now all you get is the little peek of the pool in the header picture. :P I'll write more soon, even if there are still no pics. (I know, boooooring!)

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