First few weeks of summer

These first few weeks of summer have been very busy! My mom officially retired and completed her last week of school after 34 years of teaching at the same high school.  We surprised her at Francescas and celebrated with my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  I truly give my mom credit for her work ethic.  All those years of teaching, and she still managed to look on the bright side of her job and never complain.  Most days I think she truly enjoyed her job, her co-workers, and students. I truly mean it when I say that my mom always put 100% into her job and 110% into our family. I know my mom being a teacher was the main influence in my sister and I becoming teachers.  (Or, maybe it was just the summers off...ha,ha..)  CONGRATS MOM!!

On that note, I officially finished the school year! It was a great feeling to pack up my classroom knowing that I will be off for the whole year. I know it probably won't really hit me until the fall when school is starting again.  Here is a picture of me on the last day of school.  Ray had flowers and a balloon waiting for me when I got home.  So sweet!

I have been really busy these first few weeks.  I had a garage sale which went really well.  I really cleared out a lot of things that I wanted to get rid of, made some money, and donated the rest!  I planned to have my garage sale on  Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and I was happy because the first two days went great and then it rained on Saturday.  It was a lot of work, and I was so happy to have my mom's help, but it was worth it!

Last week, Ray and I took Kenley to Wisconsin Dells for 4 nights.  We had a great time and were going non-stop the whole time we were there.  I don't know how Kenley kept up without any naps during those few days.  I was exhausted by the time we went to bed each night!  We went to the water parks, the deer park, the little zoo, exploratory museum, mini-golfing, and on the duck boats.  I think Kenley was at the perfect age to start being able to enjoy these things and the highlights for her (and us) were anything to do with the water and feeding the deer and a giraffe.  It was a really nice little get-away for the three of us.  I was so happy that we got some time together before the baby is born.  Next time our family vacation will be for four!

 

 

 

 

 

We started Mom-and-Tot swim lessons this week with Katie and Kayla. Unfortunately, they have already been cancelled 2 days because of the weather, but we are hoping to be able to finish out the week. I'm enjoying my days off so far, but I think I over-estimated how much I would be able to do each day with having a toddler and being 8 months pregnant! Things are getting tougher physically and I'm really tired even though I have been able to sleep in. Can't believe less then 6 weeks until I meet the new man in my life!

Room Reveals

I mentioned Kenley's transition to her new Big Girl Room a while ago, and I finally have pictures to post!  Kenley has been doing really well transitioning from a crib to a bed, and she has only gotten out of bed once or twice in the middle of the night.  There have been a few times that I've had to sleep with her, but mostly because of thunderstorms, or a few days when she was sick.  I think she really likes her new room, and she has been spending more time playing in it lately.

As for the baby's room, I love the way it is turning out. I will take some pictures when it's finished. I didn't think I would like a "boy" room as much as I loved Kenley's room, but I do!  I think it is so cute and perfect for our baby boy.  I love the neutral colors, and a combination between an animal, abc, and number theme.  I love how involved Ray has been with making the kid's rooms perfect. There is something really cute about seeing your husband get excited about a pink ceiling fan, and spending hours looking at crib bedding sets until we both agreed on the perfect one.

We also turned our laundry room into a laundry room, office, work-out room, and pet room.  How the smallest room in our whole house got turned into accomodating so much seemed impossible, but we made it work!  It might not seem very impressive, but it's fuctional and works for what we need it to.  We are happy with the results, and we have done a lot of clearing out and re-organizing to make it work.

We even managed to clean out our garage a few weeks ago, and I am planning to have another garage sale soon.  I am planning on selling a lot of Kenley's baby stuff even though it makes me really sad.  We just don't have room to be storing everything forever for the "what if" of having a 3rd child.  Which, I realize could lead me to a whole new post, so I will leave it at that for today!

Babymoon

We were so lucky to go on a little "babymoon" a few weeks ago, and we were very greatful that our friends, Jim and Melissa invited us to go on a trip to Naples, Florida with them for Jim's 30th b-day. We stayed at Melissa's parent's house, and it was beautiful. It was right on a golf course, with a private pool and hot tub, and all the country club ammenities just minutes away.   It was one of the most relaxing trips I have been on!  Melissa and I slept in and then spent the mornings/early

afternoons at the pool while the guys golfed.  We also went to the beach one day, got massages and pedicures one day.  At night we went to nice dinners, walked around the town, and then spent some time back at the house in the hot tub.

It was a great trip, and I am really glad that we went

before it gets too late for me to be flying or going far away from home.  Of course, we all missed our kids, and we all spent a lot of time taking about them. Ray and I are still hoping to take Kenley somewhere for a few days in June for our last little trip before the baby is born. 

Right now, I am gearing up for summer!  It is finally starting to feel like summer is approaching!  I am finishing up my last few weeks of school, and I have just

started packing up my classroom.  It still doesn't feel real that  I will not be coming back in the fall, butI couldn't be happier about it. I have lots of things planned for the first 6-8 weeks once school ends because then I will be on baby watch!  I want to squeeze in as much as I can those weeks and spend as much fun, one-on-one time with Kenley as possible.  And, I am going to try my hardest to work on potty training! 

I'm wondering how different it will be having a baby in the summer vs. winter.  I am not the type of person that just likes to stay home and do nothing very often.  Even in the dead of winter, when Kenley was just a week or two old, I would bundle her up and head out of the house, even if it was just to Target or something.  I'm hoping that we are still able to enjoy time outside toward the end of summer with both kids.  Hopefully, he will be a water baby just like Kenley.  I need to find some newborn size swim trunks!

Celebrations!

Wrote this post almost 2 weeks ago, but never posted because I was late updating the pictures!  Better late than never!

It's been a week of celebrations!  This week was my sister's birthday, my mom's retirement banquet, Kyle and Jordans 5th birthday, and my cousin's daughter's baptism.  Whew!  Lots of parties!

We started our celebrations on Wednesday by going to dinner for my sister's b-day.  I am wishing her a year of HEALTH and happiness!    

My mom's work had a nice retirement banquet that we attended.  We are so proud and happy for her, and I know she will be greatly missed by her co-workers and students. I can't believe my mom is retiring after 34 years of teaching.  She deserves it, and I know she will make the most of her retirement and keep herself busy!

 Kyle and Jordan's b-day party was at a bowling alley, and the adults had as much fun bowling as the kids!  Kenley was really having fun trying to keep up with the big kids, and she did a pretty good job!  She was determined to carry that bowling ball all by herself!

Rachel's baptism was Sunday, and it was a nice day out so we were able to be outside.  It was nice to see my cousins Darcie and Carri since they both live out of state, and it was fun to see all the kids of the cousins in our family together again! 

So, that was our weekend!  Busy, but fun!

Getting Ready for #2

The past few weeks I have been doing a bit more to get ready for our baby boy!  We finally agreed on a bedding set, which is a mix of animals, and abc's, and earth tones.  It shocked me that my husband didn't want to go all sports themed!  He just didn't like any of them.  I think it is a lot harder picking out boy stuff then girl stuff.  Maybe just because I am a girl, but I just don't like a lot of the boy stuff.  But, we are happy with our choice, and Ray even surprised me by painting the whole room with Kenley's help while I was at a baby shower!  We got the furniture in, and now we just need to buy some decorations to really personalize the room.  It made things feel "real" getting the furniture in and having a new crib up.

The past 3-4 weeks I feel like I am getting BIG!  I don't remember feeling this big this early in the pregnancy with Kenley, but I really do think it's because it's the 2nd time around.  I was starting to try on some of my Spring/Summer clothes (non-maternity) just to see what would still fit, and I was amazed that most things didn't fit!  I think I was kind of delusional about what I might still be able to wear once it warms up.  Even my flowy tank-tops and shirts were way too tight and too short with this belly poppin out! I did get some cute new maternity stuff to wear, so I'll mostly be sticking with that. Here I am at 24 & 25 weeks!

We are also trying our best to prepare Kenley and keep her involved and excited about her new role as Big Sister.  I also visited several of the 2-3 year old pre-schools in our area and signed Kenley up to attend 2 mornings a week staarting in August.  It was a strange experience to be the "mom"  touring a school for her child. First, it was wierd because I used to work in daycares/pre-schools during high school and college.  Also, it was hard not to look at the schools from a teacher's perspective.  I visited one school that had 2 cameras in every classroom so that parents could pay a monthly fee to log on and watch at any time!  As a parent that might sound great, but I couldn't help but think how much I would hate it if I had a camera on me all the time at my school. But, all in all I am really happy with the choice we made.  I think she is going to have so much fun and I know it will be great for her to spend time with other kids her age in a school environment.  Plus, it will give me a little time with just the baby, and maybe a chance to nap...(wishful thinking??)

It's been a wierd week with the sadness of the bombing of the Boston Marathon, and all of the crazy rain here in Chicago.  I know a ton of people who had flooding at their homes.  I know it makes me appreciate the little things even a little bit more, and be greatful for what I have. Hope you all were able to stay dry!

Grand Bear Lodge

We went back to the Grand Bear Lodge the weekend before Easter and had a fanastic time.  Kenley absolutely loved the waterpark, and she was able to go on two of the little waterslides all by herself this year.  She loves the water!  It took a little more convincing to get her to go on the rides in their amusement park area, but by the second day she was the best costumer of the 3 kid rides.  It was even nice enough that we were able to take her to the park for a little while too. 

We stayed in one of the Villas again, so Kenley had her own bedroom. Unfortunately, it didn't get much use. She was a little nervous about sleeping in her own room in an unfamiliar place. I still loved having the space in the Villa, and we all got a lot of use out of the whirlpool tub. I hope we continue going back there, and next year we will be able to bring our baby boy!

 I couldn't believe how big Kenley has gotten in the past year and was comparing some of the pictures from Easter weekend last year to this year.  Crazy how fast time goes and how big she is getting!

                 2012                                                                                  2013

 

     

We also had a great Easter weekend, complete with an egg hunt in our pj's and spending time with the family.  I enjoyed my week off for my Spring Break and got a lot of stuff done around the house and enjoyed an amazing Spa Day!  I enjoyed being home with Kenley every morning, and we did something fun every day.  She started asking me when she woke up, "What are we doing today?  Where are we going?"  We are hoping for more Spring-like weather coming up just like everyone in Chicago!

 

March Happenings

Still waiting to get my desktop computer hooked up, so again it's been a few weeks since I posted. I might be one of the only ones who still likes to sit at a desk and use my regular computer over our laptop or Ipad.  Plus, that is where I save all my pictures. But, anyway here is what has been happening in March.

Congratulations goes out to the newlyweds Ken & Alison! We knew for a few weeks before, but they mostly kept it a secret until they got home! They got married in Vegas a few weeks ago, and they are now on their honeymoon on a cruise. We are so happy for them, and wish them a lifetime of happiness!

I am now in the 4th quarter of school, and I know that June will be here before I know it. It is kind of unreal because it just became official that I am taking the whole year off next year to be home with the kids. (Woah, typing kid(s) plural is crazy! As in, I will have 2 kids next year!) I am so happy that I have the opportunity to take this time off of work, and I can't wait!  If you have read my blog in the past, you know that I have really struggled with being away from Kenley so much. I know it will be a whole different ball game having two, but I am so grateful that I will have the chance to spend this precious time with both of them. 

Even though we are still waiting for Spring weather, we have gotten to do a few fun things getting ready for Easter including dyeing eggs and going to our town egg hunt. We also attempted to see the Easter bunny, but Kenley only wanted to see him from a safe distance away from about 3feet away. This weekend we are going back to Grizzly Jack's resort again. It was one of my favorite things we did last year, and I have been looking forward to going again.

Friday is the start of my Spring Break, and I am planning on catching up with 2 of my best friends who just had babies, Cheryl and Ashlee, trying to get our baby's room ready to be painted, organizing the house, getting a massage & manicure, and just spending some quality time with Kenley.  I had my 20 week ultrasound a few days ago, and everything is going really well.  I think I am showing a lot more this time then I was with Kenley, but I know that is typical with your second child.  The other day I was wearing a hoodie and Kenley came up and unzipped it, peeked in, and said, "where's my baby brother?" I think she believes if she looks far enough into my bellybutton she might see him!  Ha!

Happy Easter Weekend Everyone!

Updates

It has been a few weeks since I have blogged mostly because my home computer is disconnected. We moved along full speed with moving Kenley into her new room and moving our office. I will try to post some pictures as soon as everything is finished and up and running. But, since then I have some important updates!

My sister's surgery went great! The follow up tests came back great, and she is regaining some of her strength and working her way up to eating. She is still recovering, but hoping to be home by the end of the week. Katie has been really strong through all of this, and we all just hope for her to stay healthy after these hard several months. Thanks for everyone keeping her in your thoughts and prayers.

In another update, we found out a few weeks ago that we are having a boy! Ray and I both had a feeling that it was a boy, but in some way I think we were both surprised to hear it was true!  I really can't believe we will have one girl and one boy, and I am so excited for Kenley to have a little brother.  We already picked out the furniture, and we are going to start getting the room together once   our office is done.  Time to switch gears a bit and get some boy stuff around here!

So, it is March and we are supposed to be getting a snow storm tomorrow:( I hope Spring is around the corner. I'm ready to trade sweaters and boots for short sleeves and sandals.

Sick day

I am at home sick today with Kenley.  I knew it was only a matter of time until one of us got some type of bug this winter.  Luckily, it just seems to be a little virus, and I hope it goes away soon.  I took her to the doctor today, so those meds should kick in soon! 

I don't know if it is the idea of Spring Cleaning, or just really early "nesting,"but I have been in a mode to clean out/clear out the house!  I have probably done more work in my mind than actually being productive, but I have grand plans to get organized!  We just made the decision to redo our laundry room/storage so that we can kind of make it into a little home office.  So, Kenley is going to move into her big girl room as soon as the room gets done and we get the computer desk moved.  We bought her a bed this weekend, so it looks like we are finally (almost) ready to make the transition out of the crib.  I'm a bit nervous about this because I envision her sneaking into our room at night.  And, it makes me sad to think that it is really the last thing to go other than diapers to get out of the baby stage.  Potty training is going to be coming up really soon too!

I'm starting to think about all the things I want to get done before this baby comes, and I know I still have a while, but I also know it will go by fast!  I really need to clean out all of our closets.  When we moved into this house I remember being a bit sad about giving up my huge walk-in closet in the condo, but also thought we would still have soooo much space to store stuff with 6 closets and a garage.  I have no idea how every space got so filled up within less than 3 years.  I have also already been putting stuff away for a garage sale, and hoping I am still up for having one even when it's hot and I'm huge over the summer.

I am looking forward to this weekend and having a night away with Ray.  It is a needed date-night to do some shopping, go out to a nice dinner, and stay in a hotel to celebrate Valentine's Day.  Hope you all enjoy it with your loved ones!

+1

In August we will be +1 because we are expecting baby #2!  We are so excited!  I found out the week after Thanksgiving.  I had been thinking about it during the week, but finally decided that Friday that I would take a pregnancy test.  As soon as I got home from work I took 2 tests.  They both looked positive, but they were the cheaper ones that I had laying around, so I just HAD to be sure.  I got Kenley back in the car and made a quick trip to Target.  The whole time I was thinking about how to tell Ray in a fun way.  I decided that I would have to get her a "Big Sister" shirt, and since I didn't feel like stopping back home and then heading out again, I took the test at Target. Classy, right?  I didn't even look at the test until I had Kenley strapped in her carseat and took it out of my purse to see a big Plus sign.  I teared up a little bit knowing that this test was one I could trust, and we headed off to find Kenley a shirt. 

I was counting down the seconds until Ray got home, and it just so happened to be a day that he had to stay at work a little later, so it seemed to take forever!  He walked in the door, and said hi to us.  I waited for him to kiss and hug Kenley...and nothing!  He didn't notice!  So, I said, "did you see Kenley's shirt?" and he looked at it and then just gave me a wierd look, and I started laughing.  It took him a few seconds to figure it out, but he was really surprised.  I'm happy I had a little bit of time to tell him in a fun way, instead of last time just blurting it out when he was in the middle of painting our house we had just moved into the day before.

We are too impatient, and not good secret keepers, so our immediate families knew within 24 hours.  We told the rest of our families on Christmas Eve/Day. I think Kenley kind of gets it.  She will point to my stomache when we ask her where the baby is, and she will go back and forth when we ask her if it's a boy or a girl.  I am very excited for her to have a sibling, and I think she will be really good with the baby because she loves her cousin, Kayla.

I am so happy that I just started feeling better this past week.  I was not nearly as tired and sick when I was pregnant the first time. Maybe it's a boy?  I have not been myself lately, and I have been such a homebody.  I am so happy this weekend that I had energy to have a fun time shopping, going out to lunch, and being at my sister-in-law's birthday party yesterday!  We had a really fun day.  Today, Ray and I took Kenley sledding for the first time ever.  I had so much fun going down the hill with her.  She was fearless and loved it.  We couldn't stay out too long because it is still so cold out, but I'm glad we got the chance to go.

Thanks again to everyone who talked to me about my sister.  She is doing well, and is having her surgery at the end of the month. 

Happy February Everyone!  Spring is around the corner!