Summer Lovin' {Kids Edition}

I tried not to schedule too many activities for the kids, but I did put them in a few camps in July.  One was a two day mini dance/magic camp.  She loved creating a wand to cast spells and wearing this silly mask.  She kept trying to turn Bradley into different animals.

Our babysitter cancelled one Friday so we had to break off into teams. Brooke went with Joe to go to one of the houses. Bradley accompanied me to a few appointments. 

Baby girl wasn't feeling too hot, and she wanted a nice warm drink to sip on.

She did get well enough to attend her last day at Fairy Camp--they marched in a little parade around the school in their wings, crown & with a wand.

I felt bad her wings didn't have any glitter because she missed 2 days when she was sick. :(  Brother wanted to be a part of the parade too!

We were able to sped a Sunday at Grandma's. The kids just loved feeding the chickens.

Mr. Bradley had a 3 day mini camp as well!  He was so excited to put on a little backpack and "go to school."

Brooke was an excellent big sister and told him how much fun he'd have.

He did pretty well!! The teacher said Monday he got a little teary halfway through asking for "Brookie" and that he missed her.   Wednesday was water day and he didn't want to play in the water, but he loved being outside.

Friday came and he cried when I dropped him off, but the teachers said he was totally fine 5 minutes later and had a ball playing with other kids.  He made 3 pieces of art work and still shows them off to me, as they hang on our fridge.

Brooke went to Nana & Papa's so I had the boys all to myself one evening!

We stopped for burgers and fries down in Sea Breeze.

Joe took us to this adorable little beach.

Bradley just loved throwing stones & sand.

It's nice to not have a baby eating sand at a beach, I must say! I miss the squish of a baby, but having little kids is really fun.

And of course laying in it and rolling around.

Summer is slipping away and I feel Autumn trying to sneak up on us.  We've been able to do a few more fun activities, so I'll be sharing those as well.

Baby Boy!

I cannot tell you how nervous and excited I was to go to our anatomy scan for baby number two.  I don't remember being this nervous for Brooke.  I could hardly sleep last night and as I re-cap today, I am just exhausted!! It's funny how much our emotions can wear us out.  In a good way, of course!

Before we went into our appointment!

I don't know when exactly I started thinking it was a boy… I never wanted to really admit it out loud because I thought Brooke was a boy, and well I was totally wrong!  I want to say it was when I started feeling super nauseous (like I did with Brooke) first trimester, but this time was worse. I still didn't throw up, but man I felt horrible and just different. I seemed to feel my best in the morning and worse at night.  I also thought I was carrying a little different, but I also was thinner this time around when I got pregnant.

Other signs? I craved lemons/lemonade anything sour!  I still like sweets, but don't crave them like I did with Brooke. I really could take them or leave them and I really try to leave them!  I also want cheeseburgers and fried chicken, which again, I try not to indulge in very much, if at all!

Silly signs--

I did the baking soda/pee in the cup---it totally fizzed really fast but then disappeared. We weren't sure what the heck that meant!

Chinese gender chart said boy!

When we asked Brooke, "Girl or boy?" She always said, "BOY!" Until today when I went to go leave for the ultrasound she said, "Girl."  Trickster!

I bought a little frog sleeper and stuck it my hope chest shortly after finding out that I was expecting.  We also picked out a "harbor blue" paint color that we liked, if it so happened to be a boy.  Joe was convinced it was another girl, so that was the only time he really put forth anything for a boy.  The rest of the time he has told me, don't expect it to be a boy…



But it is!!

I know I would be happy with two little girls, but I just really wanted to experience both! I also thought it would be perfect, since I only had sisters and Joe has a brother--it broke the mold!  How cool!?  I also worried that since their birthdays are so close, it might cause competition or hurt feelings…but I have pretty good idea that a little boy will be totally fine with whenever his birthday falls.  I think girls are more dramatic like that.   I also think a sister/brother relationship is different than same sex ones. I don't know (obviously) but I just think it would be.

Because I'm all cheesy like that, I of course have "a song" to play.  Last time I kept playing a few songs over and over about a girl, and now I keep ballin my eyes out over this one.

I played it this morning before we went, and cried a little. I was going to send it to Joe, but thought, no I won't.  On the way to the Dr's I asked to send me a sign.  Another Brad Paisley song came on the radio and I thought, "ok…"  Sign acknowledged, thank you!

Our little man flexing his muscles!!

Our, "OMG WE GOT A BOY" faces…and all my makeup cried off.

I still can't believe it and I don't even know where to start. It's funny how finding out the gender makes everything seem so real.  I can envision the room and what he may look like and how he will fit right into our lives.  Ahhh! I am just so excited and filled with joy.  We are so very blessed and I know that these next 20 weeks will fly right by.  

Father's Day

As I sit and finalize this post, I just have to comment how warm and nice it is! I can hear the PE class out back (we live near a high school) and they must be doing the mini ropes course.  Pretty soon we won't hear anything, as school will be out.  But I remember the moments between now and then; the longing to be on vacation, while finalizing another in the books.  

But now my days consist of playing with blocks, choo-choo, wiping dirty hands, singing nursery rhymes, and cleaning up the endless random toys and things strewn about my house.  Right now it's the bucket of K-cups she found in the cupboard.

I love it.

Anyway…my post for today.

Father's Day is a little tricky.  

It's the "last day" of the tent sale shenans, and basically Joe gets up super early to go move cars and put his store office back together.  I would much prefer wake up and make a lazy breakfast, full of applewood smoked bacon, muffins, sausage, eggs and blueberry pancakes, but that will just have to be for another random Sunday. 

For now?  We get all of Joe's gifts and cards ready and impatiently wait for him to return.  

This year it was a pair of Under Armor shorts [similar to the pair Brooke got him last year] some big league chew, and a homemade desk calendar I did on Snapfish.  

Oh, and baby #2 got him a picture frame to be properly displayed in the home!

To say he liked the calendar, is an understatement.  I try to match up the pictures from the previous year (or two) and it's just a cool reflection of how big Brooke's gotten and some wonderful memories that were made.

The silly burger card? Brooke picked that out all by herself!!

She wrote on the envelope.

And diligently signed her card.

Little miss decides to start doing cute poses for the camera! "Cheese", as she shovels cheese in her mouth!

After the unveiling of the gifts, Joe really wanted to go checkout the latest fixer upper that is ready to be rented out!  My man just loves to work, and it was "his day" so off we went.

Prior to leaving, I made sure to say, "Brooke and I will need to eat within the hour, as it's around noon. Should I make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?"

"No, no we will just grab a bite."

"OK."

3 1/2 hours later…

I tell myself and my mother in law, next time I will make the damn sandwiches!! I was so hungry and Brooke missed her nap, but we made it through the day.

I vowed not to bitch, since it was Father's Day, but I know better than to not eat a meal or bring one along!!

Some shots of the rental.

I think it has a lot of potential and tons of charm.

My father in law and brother in law did a lot of the work and they did so great!

It's so awesome to see a complete dump turn into a cute home for a new family to rent.


Snacking on the last bits of treats I brought…

Monkey See Monkey Do.

I'm not sure if we have ever all been together on Father's Day, so it was nice to see everyone.

Oh yeah, do you see what I see?  My belly is already huge. ::: cue the next long 30 weeks of, "Oh wow you're gonna have a big baby!" Yes, it's already been said to me, and yes I am going to give birth to a big baby.

My belly just loves to grow, what can I say? C'est la vie.

Joe's eyes are shut for most of the photos, and Brooke lasted only a few...

Brooke and Grandma: Belly button!

She's starting to imitate what we do, so that was pretty cute.

We ran for burgers for a late lunch, came home and tried relax a bit.  It was almost weird having Joe home, as it's been so long since he's been here in day light!  

While it wasn't picturesque, it was perfect for us.  Seeing him at all, even if for only part of the day, was worth it.   I won't lie; I look forward to some lazy summer Sundays head though!  I see beach trips, walks in the park, and lounging on our back deck in our future.

The Day our Dogs Failed an Interview

Last Friday Holly and Sadie had an interview.  Ya heard correctly.  An interview.  There is a kennel not too far from here that everyone raves about. The dogs are free to run around in a room/outdoor pen with other dogs during the day. It's like  a day camp for dogs.  However, the dogs need to get along and pass the interview.

Now mind you, I know our dogs; I know our dogs VERY well. I love them dearly, but sometimes they can be rather high maintenance. And while running around with other dogs is great in theory, I just knew it wasn't in the cards for our pups.

I got there and realized I hand't filled out the damn applications, so that took some time.  Meanwhile, Holly got kind of nervous and pooped right there on the floor.  I stepped in it since I was busy filling out the forms, and the girl didn't say anything until I realized what happened.

Awesome.

I had to put new collars on them that "breakaway"…[luckily I did not have to pay for them]

The dogs get separated small is under 35 pounds and large is over.

Sadie did okay; they introduce dogs one at a time and her hair stood up and then went down.  She walked around and was like "whatever".  No biggie.

Holly on the hand, is just a freakshow.  I thought she would be aggressive or naughty, but she was actually so so nervous.  She paced back and forth and ran laps…it was not good.  She got the other dogs wound up, but never settled down.

Sorry I failed mama!!

They took her out and back in again on a leash, but she still was not happy.  Since they're all animal behavior specialists, they don't like the dogs getting stressed out etc.  So they said we could try again another day, but in so many words, our dog failed the interview.

They then proceeded to let me know that Sadie was licking the ear of another dog: a German Shepherd.  I sheepishly smiled and said, "No, I am sure she was licking the AIR next to the other dog." You know, because it's normal for dogs to lick the air. Incessantly. Not kidding.

"You're kidding me with that place, right?!"

The lady gave me a weird look and I just tried to get out of there as fast as I possibly could.

I was supposed to drop them off for the day and then go get my skin consultation done by Joe's cousin Mary at this beautiful little European-like spa.

Instead I had to call and reschedule {explaining my fabulous morning} and they got quite a kick out of it!!  I brought the dogs home and counted down the minutes until 4:00.

I LOVED Waterlily.  It was so nice to learn about some anti-aging processes and newer skin care lines. I was so relaxed and happy…{the goodies I bought are an entire different blog post!}

Only to come home to find out little miss Brooke gave Dada a run for his money! They went to the mall and walked around; and she pooped. Normally not a big deal, but Dada doesn't deal well with poo and he didn't bring the diaper bag. {I know, right?!}

So he got her home and by that time it was all over her diaper and she must have eaten something that didn't agree because it was the third time that day and not quite normal.  All I know is that her clothes were in the tub, poo everywhere and she was running around buck naked.

She then proceeded to dump the dog water all over the floor.

I may have ended the day with a glass of Pinot or two  and started really counting down the days until St. Martin.  It's all funny looking back on it, but seriously?! What a day.

Gotta love life with animals and kids!!

Needless to say, I will be boarding our dogs at our traditional kennel (which they love and do well at) and I will stay out longer than 2 hours next time…so that all is cleaned up and well when I get home! LOL