Staying Busy

I've been staying busy this week, and we took a 1 night trip to Lake Geneva.  Katie and I planned this for Greg and Ray as their father's day gift.  We went to Timber Ridge Thursday morning and took the kids to the waterpark and then went to a nice dinner.  Friday morning the guys golfed, and Katie and I spent the whole morning back at the waterpark.  We had a great time, and it was Kayla's first little vacation.  Kenley went on the biggest waterslide there accompanied by all of the adults at one time or another.  Yes, I was 8-1/2 months pregnant going on a raft waterslide, but don't worry, it wasn't too crazy, and I only did it once.  (Mainly because I didn't have the energy to climb all those stairs again.) I was also hoping that maybe it would jump start labor.

Ray and I had a little date night and went to a nice dinner.  We don't know if we will have a chance to celebrate our anniversary, so it was kind of a pre-celebration.  Then, we went to a little street fest on Sunday, which was fun, but I didn't last very long walking around in the hot sun.  We also bought a new couch for our upstairs, which is being delivered on Friday!  I like our couch we have, but it is SO hard to keep clean with kids and pets, so we are going with leather.

I know it's probably pretty wierd that I keep blogging about cleaning my house, but for some reason I feel like that has been taking up so much of my time!  I really do think this is part of nesting because I have done some wierd things that I have never done before.  Today, I replaced all of the felt scratch-resistant backings on the bottoms of our chairs on the hardwood floor.  I guess it was something good since I have never done that since we moved here 3 years ago, but I just had an impulse that I had to get it done.  I have also been washing anything and everything that will fit into our washing machine.  Every blanket, towel, shower curtain, even some cloth bags.  No idea why these things seem so important to me right now. 

That's all I'm up to right now.  I'm kind of just making plans day to day right now, and hoping that my next post will include a picture of my son!  Trying to be patient......

Summer Lovin!

Today is Ray's 32nd Birthday!  We are heading out for lunch soon.  We had a wedding last night, so Kenley slept over at Go-Go's house  I have been trying to take advantage of the morning/early afternoon to relax, but of course I ended up going shopping, pulling some weeds, and doing 3 loads of laundry!  So now, I can officially relax.

The last few weeks have finally felt like summer! I'm enjoying the warm weather and have been outside a lot. I'm glad that being 8 months pregnant hasn't stopped me from that, but obviously I am not doing anything strenuous other than playing with Kenley or water activities, but a few days even that has been tiring on my body by the end of the day.  We have had such a fun few weeks with the fourth of July, which we spent swimming at my sister's in-laws house.  We spend a day at my Aunt and Uncle's lake house and had a great time enjoying the beautiful weather, swimming, and Papa taught Kenley how to fish! We have also had a few play dates, visited the farmer's market a few times, went to the splash pad, and enjoyed a few days in our backyard with all of our backyard water toys and pool. 

 

 

 I'm starting to get very anxious/excited about having this baby!! I am feeling ready and by the end of the week I am planning on having my hospital bags packed. I really hope that I either go into labor a bit early, or that I am induced a week early like I was with Kenley. Even though my actual due date is 3weeks away, I don't know if I can take being pregnant that much longer. I've been having so much trouble sleeping, and by the end off the day all of my muscles tense up and it's hard to move. I know this is pretty normal at this stage and my body's way of telling me to slow down.  I am very grateful that I am not working right now, but it's hard to just relax. I'm trying to do as many fun things with Kenley as I can, and we have had such a fun time these last few weeks.  I've also been trying to finish the last few details in the baby's room and make sure our house is as organized and as clean as possible since I know that will be neglected those first few weeks.  I know I will be able to enjoy those first few days more being home if I have most of that in order.  It's getting very close, and I am on baby watch!  Until then, I will TRY to relax!

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!