The Power of New Shoes

As we were wandering through Target today, Cambrie saw some teal canvas shoes and immediately fell in love.  She simply could not live without the teal shoes.  The only problem was that they have shoelaces...and Cambrie hasn't learned how to tie shoelaces yet.  We decided that the only way she could have the new shoes, was that if she learned how to tie them.  Miraculously it only took two tries before she could tie her new shoes.  Who new teal shoes could have so much power!

38 Weeks

Can I just say that I am starting to go crazy?  I am feeling very ready for this little guy to make his appearance.  There are a couple of reasons that I cannot wait for him to be out instead of in:

Number 1-I cannot get comfortable.  Sitting is uncomfortable because he is up under my ribcage.  Standing is uncomfortable because he is heavy and my feet get tired.  Laying down is uncomfortable because I start to go numb.

Number 2-It is hot!  I don't remember being a human furnace with my other girls, but this boy has raised my internal temperature at least five degrees.  It doesn't help that our AC has been out for the last three weeks and the temperatures has been in the 90's daily.  We have spent a lot of time at stores and at the pool trying to escape the heat.  Unfortunately it gets the worst in the evenings around dinner and bed time.  It's hard to escape when you are trying to feed your family and get the girls ready for bed.

Number 3-I am emotionally exhausted.  Every time I feel a contraction my hopes go sky high anticipating the labor and craziness that is sure to follow. But once that contraction stops without another one on its way, I become super down realizing that it's not quite time for him yet.  The continuous up and down is wearing me out.

Number 4-I just want to meet him!  After nine months of waiting I am simply done being pregnant and want to know exactly what the little guy looks like that has been causing all of this joy and discomfort in my life.


On the flip side however, I know that once he is born our lives are going to change drastically.  So the reasons that I am hesitant for him to be out instead of in:

Number 1-My girls are at a fairly simple stage.  They are fairly independent and I am able to ask them to clean up, get dressed, and find food for themselves.  They go to the bathroom on their own and are able to draw up the bath tub.  They will also play together for hours with little intervention from me.  Once this baby is born I am going to have a little soul who is dependent on me for everything.  I have to feed, dress, and clean this baby all the time.  Free time is basically going to be nonexistent for awhile.

Number 2-I am going to be very tired.  I won't be getting a full night's sleep any longer and will be begging for opportunities to nap.  I have really enjoyed sleeping through the night for the last three years.

Number 3-At least for the first little while, I am going to be in pain.  Childbirth and breastfeeding hurt!  It will be another solid two months of discomfort before I'll be close to my normal self.  (As long as you can count being a human milk machine normal). 

Number 4-My wardrobe is going to have to change again as I dress for feeding this kid.  Hmmm...

Number 5-I am going to have to start carrying a diaper bag...and a baby carrier...and blankets....and burp clothes...and nursing pads...and diapers...and wipes...and eventually containers of baby food...  Life is not going to be simple more.


Ultimately what is driving me the most crazy at this stage in my pregnancy is the not knowing.  I don't know if I'll go into labor today or if it will take another two weeks.  At my doctor's appointment yesterday I found that I was dilated to a 1 1/2 and was 50% effaced.  For me, that is really progressed.  I normally don't show any of those signs until I am fully in labor.  But it is my third child so things move at a different rate. I have also demanded more of my body this pregnancy that any other so it's hard to say if those numbers mean anything at all.  If someone could just tell me that he will be here by Friday, then great.  If that same someone told me that he wouldn't be here until his due date in July, then fine, I will settle in for the wait until July.  I just really, really, don't like waiting.  I'm not very patient am I? 

In the mean time, this is probably the last picture I will take of my profile before the baby is born.  You can tell he has dropped and is totally in position.  Luckily he has only really added size to my stomach and not much else.  I gained 30 pounds this pregnancy and am going to count that as a success.  We can probably attribute that to the fact that all I want to eat is fruit!  I cannot get enough watermelon, peaches, strawberries, or bananas.  Who knew I could go through so many Jamba Juices?  For the sake of my "craving errand-running husband", come quickly little guy!

Dance Recital

To give the girls something to do this summer without the routine of school, I've signed them up for a couple different activities.  One of them was a three week dance class with a laurel named Sharon.  She occasionally teaches small classes from her home and it seemed like a nice fit with our empty schedule.  McKenzie couldn't get enough of ballet and was thrilled whenever I told her it was time to go to class.  One afternoon she came down to my sewing room to show me that she had been learning pliets in class.  So stinkin' cute!  I think I may have to sign her up for a more permanent class.  Yesterday the girls had their final class and recital.  They each performed one song showcasing the moves they had been taught.  McKenzie was so distracted by the cameras and the parents watching that she was a little lost during the performance, although I could tell that she really did know what she was doing. 

 

Cambrie did better with stage fright and did her routine well.  I had the video camera rolling during their performances which meant the girls each took a turn with the camera taking pictures of their sister during their performance.  I'm surprised we actually got some good ones :)

 

Great job my two little ballerinas!

 

 

Sand in the City

While deciding what to do with the girls on this summer Saturday, Jeremy suggested Sand in the City down in Arvada.  We looked it up, saw that it involved a sand sculpting competition, sand boxes to play in, food, games, and decided it looked like fun.  There weren't many sand sculptures, but some of them were pretty well done.  This antique car was really sleek. 

The teddy bear playing in the sand was fun and playful. 

But my favorite was the Despicable Me minions.  They were both cute and well done. 

After we had admired the artwork for a bit, the girls had a chance to play in a giant sand box.  They love sand any day of the week and were quite happy simply digging and filling their buckets. 

Once Jeremy joined the fun they were able to produce a sand castle of sorts until other wandering children played destruct-o with it and then it was time to move on. 

We found some giant bubbles to blow. 

And then moved onto the inflatable toys.  The girls were able to climb in a hamster ball.  I wanted to desperately because it looked like so much fun, but alas....  McKenzie surprised me by asking to go on it twice and had a blast in there.  She needed Jeremy to keep her moving, but that was to be expected of her munchkin size. 

Both girls, and Jeremy, loved running through the obstacle course.  And Cambrie enjoyed the climbing wall.  She made it high enough that she became quite nervous and with only one hand hold to go from the top she called it quits and lowered herself down.  I was impressed she made it as high as she did. 

Unfortunately our fun came to an abrupt end as McKenzie received a bloody nose on the bounce castle.  Her little nose wouldn't stop bleeding and we quickly went through our stash of tissues, strangers wipes, and moved on to rolls of toilet paper from the porta-potties.  Needless to say it was time to calm things down.  We found some free snow cones and pizza samples then headed home.  The girls were filthy and exhausted, but Cambrie thanked us for a fun day so at least we all had a good time.  

Lemonade Stand Success

Cambrie always wants to have a lemonade stand, whether there is snow on the ground, a fierce wind blowing, or in the blazing heat.  I don't like selling things and have always had an excuse ready to postpone her lemonade stand to another day.  On Thursday when she asked I had originally said no, then realized that it truly was a perfect day for her to have her stand out front.  Our neighborhood has food trucks come in every couple of weeks in an effort to get the neighborhood together for a party.  As luck would have it, they park right outside our house so we can participate in the fun without much effort at all.  As soon as Cambrie set up her lemonade stand we knew it was going to be a profitable night since most of the neighborhood was walking by with the intent of buying food.  The evening began well with a couple of customers and Cambrie was so thrilled with the success of her stand....until it started to rain.  It was a quick passing storm but it was enough to dampen her spirits and cut back on her business.  The sun came back, the customers returned, and Cambrie cheered right up when more people came to buy her delicious strawberry lemonade.  She sat outside for an hour and half selling lemonade and otter pops for a quarter and made $13.26.  I couldn't believe how much she made.  She also benefited from the fact that many people paid with dollar bills and didn't ask for change.  I'm just glad that she had such a great time and that it was such a huge success.  I told her that next time the food trucks are out she should set up her stand again and make it a permanent part of the party. 

Bunnies in spring

One surprise about living here in Colorado has been the amount of bunnies running around.  My girls love chasing them and watching them hop around.  I like watching them as long as they aren't spending time in our garden.  Today when we came home from swimming lessons we were surprised to find a baby bunny in our garage.  We ob
viously couldn't leave it there but I didn't want to return it to the nearest burrow....because we just found one in our garden.  So we moved it to some tall grass nearby and are hoping that it will be okay.  The girls have already named it Cottontail, taken some carrots over, and have colored a dozen pictures of the cute little bunny.  I admit, it is a cutie...  Good luck little guy.

Bike Park

We made some new friends last month who told us about a bike park out in Superior that enjoy going to as a family.  Their kids are exactly the same age as ours so we decided it was worth checking out.  We found the park and I wasn't sure what the girls were going to think about it.  There was a dirt track with a lot of little hills for them to ride up and down.  It looked like fun, if the girls were feeling adventurous. 

McKenzie climbed to the top of the first hill and before she realized what she was doing, started zooming around the track.  Her face looked very nervous, but before long she was all smiles.  That girl just kept cruising around and around that track.  I didn't know how well her strider could handle the terrain, but it worked great.  She ran up each hill and zipped down the back side without fear. 

Cambrie had a little tougher of a time at first simply because her legs have never had to push herself up such a steep hill before.  Each time she fell it was when she lost momentum on the uphill instead of cruising too fast on a downhill.  But towards the end she figured out that speed is important and was flying around the track.

Jeremy was thoroughly enjoying himself too.  There was a larger track next to the one the girls were riding on and he was determined to catch air on the jumps.  He couldn't get the speed he needed but still enjoyed the track.  There was a small pump track in the middle of the larger trail and he spent a lot of time on that. 

When he came back over all three of the bike riders were all tuckered out.  I was able to sit and enjoy them enjoying themselves.  It will be a perfect daddy-daughter outing when I need to catch up on some inevitable post-baby zzzz's. 

 

Butterfly Pavilion

My brother, Ryan, was sweet enough to drive out from Utah with me after I picked up the girls.  Once he was here we tried to keep things interesting and decided to go to the Butterfly Pavilion so he could hole Rosie the tarantula.  For some reason we didn't get to hold her for very long but I think he still thought it was kind of cool.  I have never taken McKenzie to the Butterfly Pavilion and it was neat to see how totally entranced she was by everything; the bees, the spiders, the centipedes, the beetles, and of course...the butterflies.  I absolutely love butterfly pavilions.  I think it is so cool watching them float around completely trusting you. 

We hadn't been in the butterfly room long when Cambrie and Ryan came running back to find McKenzie and me, saying that a butterfly had landing on her hip!  Shoot!  Where was I with the camera?  After that piece of news the girls tried walking around very slowly and standing still for long periods of time hoping that another butterfly would land on them.  Geesh, I was hoping for the same thing. 

 

Once they felt satisfied looking at the butterflies we wandered into the hands-on exhibits.  The girls ran through a maze, climbed the spiderweb, and watched a movie about how spiders eat their prey and mate....that was interesting to watch with two young girls.  All in all we had fun and I have to say that it was a pretty successful outing.