Day 3 of Babymoon

This day was not what we planned it to be, but fun nonetheless. We had planned to make it a beach day, but it just wasn't warm enough and the girls didn't get a nap early enough.

We had blueberry pancakes for breakfast (of course!) and then left for a walk. We went to Ferry Park by the waterfront, then decided to continue down the bike path to another park with a larger playground. It was quite a long walk for me, but I need to be getting as much exercise as I can throughout these days since I haven't done as good a job at getting regular exercise with this pregnancy as I did with my other two.

We got home barely ten minutes before Patrice, Barb, and Amanda arrived for our home visit prenatal. We get along with these ladies so well - I am so glad that we have decided to come here again to deliver with them. We had lunch together (Pruebelo!) and checked out the bumperoo. Everything looks great; baby is head down, not posterior, and has great hearttones and movement. No trip to this town is complete without seeing "The World's Largest Musical Fountain", so we dutifully packed up the girls and brought them to the waterfront to pay our dues this evening. As always, the fountain proved to be a very impressive show of synchronized water, lights, and music, and it held the attention of a 1 and 2 year old for about 18 seconds. We spent most of the time laughing at Eliza's attempts to walk on the somewhat steep hill we were viewing the fountain from. She would get up and fall over and over and take off running down the hill, screaming with laughter, knowing that her Daddy would catch up with her and scoop her up before she got to the pavement. These girls are so fun - I just love 'em :).

Our Day in Pictures

Are these not the cutest little bloomers? I hope I'll be able to get out the blueberries that Theia managed to emblazon across her seat today.

"Just park us right here, Daddy. Yeah, that's good."

The theme of this picture is "Blue"

Eliza was happy to be liberated from the stroller finally. This was posed; we didn't really trust Theia

to carry around a bucket that full.

Eliza discovers the most direct route of picking blueberries.

Oh, wait, this is even better!

This requires both hands.

Dull as Tombs Around Here...

Eliza checking out the slide in the backyard

Not really, but nothing to report, other than feeling pressure and having more regular braxton hicks. We all know that can go on for days, or forever (I know, not really). I just heard tonight that a friend of mine from church who was due a whole month after me just gave birth to her firstborn! I was shocked, I just talked to her yesterday and nothing was going on at that time.

Dave even has bikes for the girs to ride here!

We are planning on taking the girls blueberry picking tomorrow morning. Theia loved picking raspberries when we went to PA earlier this summer. I don't expect her to contribute much to the bucket though, she's a hand-to-mouth picker. I am really grateful that both of our girls still take naps, but at times like these I really wish they didn't. There are so many things we'd like to do with them before the baby comes, but there's only so much fun you can fit in between naps.

The lake at the end of our street - plus, a really adorable 2 year old

We went to church this morning and then had lunch with Scott and Christine (and kids). I was really quite proud of the group of us; for having six kids under the age of 6 in tow we were remarkably non-disruptive. Of course everyone near us in church were distracted anyway because our children are all so incredibly good-looking, but you can't hardly blame them for that. After the girls napped we packed them up and went to the pier for a walk. Unfortunately we didn't discover that our camera battery was dead until we were already there. Crud. So no beach pictures tonight. I'm sure we'll be back several times though, I didn't bring their "baby soups" (as Theia calls them) and sand pails for nothing.

This is just a cute video of Theia talking about my coffee while we sit on the porch. I love how she calls it "foffee".

Home-away-from-Homebirth

We have arrived at our "babymoon resort" where we will remain until this baby decides to make its appearance. If you're going to use up all your vacation days for childbirth anyways, this is definitely the way to do it! Our midwife really should use us as her poster child family - this is the second time (in 13 months) that we have travelled across our state to use her services. We are so comfortable with her and her associates that we've hardly given finding another midwife a second thought. If you are going to give birth at home it is so important that you have absolute confidence in your attendant's ability to assess a situation and address it appropriately, and we've just never found anyone whose experience comes close to ours. Plus, we just like them!

We are staying at a summer rental home that belongs to a friend of ours. It is right down the street from a beautiful lake, just a couple blocks from our friends (on the street where we used to live) and only 3 miles from Lake Michigan! Hopefully tomorrow we will get to spend some time lakeside. We'll be posting a lot this week so we can keep family and friends back home up to date with events. We are loving this house so far, and so are the girls! It is so relaxing to be here. In a few days we will be joined by my mom and three of my brothers, aged 17, 15, and 11. The girls will be thrilled to have their uncles to "play" with.

Here are some indoor pictures of the house:

Theia likes her little trundle bed. Well see how well she stays put while we're here. Her latest trick is climbing into the crib or pack n play with Eliza as soon as I leave the room.

These cuties will be Theia and Eliza's playmates while we're here. Sharon, 5, Katie, 4, Josiah, 3, and Wesley, 19mos. They're our kind of people!

They were so kind to share their stash of recently captured toads with Theia.

Overheard:

Jessie: I need to change! Theia: Yeah, Daddy's stinky!

Wordless Wednesday

What More can I say?

Objects in Photos are SMALLER than they Appear...

*Haha, I just had to change the title of this post because I realized I had said larger, not smaller. That is most certainly NOT what I meant!* That is the disclaimer I wish I could post before every picture of myself taken after 32 weeks or so, but I have this sneaking suspicion that its not true. Oh well, only 10 days left, give or take a few. Increasingly, I'm wishing I could say this about my daughters too. I was looking through the pictures we took of them at the park last night and thinking, "Those just can't be MY daughters!" Theia especially looks so mature with her pigtails (I know, maturity and pigtails don't usually fit in the same sentence, but for a 2 year old, it works).

Eliza likes climbing the stairs to the slide, she's just puzzled about what to do at the top; and when we try to show her, she is less than thrilled.

"Why do they think I want to do these things?"

If you ever really want to feel fat, just try sitting on a swing and let it ever so gently remind you that it was designed for heinies much smaller than your own (this is assuming that you are a 9 months pregnant woman, if you're not, deepest apologies). I don't really feel that I need this daily reminder, but Theia apparently does. I let her sit on my lap for a ride a while ago and now she insists on it every time. This is growing increasingly difficult as my lap is already almost entirely monopolized. However, we manage, and Theia loves it!

"Mama, we goed high!"

Eliza takes a tamer turn with Daddy - Daddy gets motion sickness on swings!

Cute little bean...