LIttle Surprises

It's nice to come to my blog and see that I am actually a week farther in my pregnancy than I had been thinking. It's all about the little things, right?

It's Offical

July 2011 Colin will be an ER doctor at Deaconess Hospital in Spokane, WA. The contract has been signed and sent back. We couldn't be happier to be going to the Inland Northwest. I'm going back home and it feels good. We are truly blessed and I am incredibly grateful for Colin's hard work and efforts. There are so many great places to live in and near Spokane I am not sure how we will decide. Our biggest dilemma is where to rent/live for a year while we save for a house. I know moving will be hard on the kids, I really worry about Mia, but I really would like it if we didn't have to get them settled in one school only to move again to possibly another area and another school. I am sure if we pray for guidance that we will receive it. It is hard to believe this chapter of our lives is coming to a close but we certainly are looking forward to the next. The hand of the Lord has certainly led us in every aspect of our lives. Thankfully, He knows the big picture and knows me and my family better than I ever could.

Nesting

So, I have been blessed with early nesting symptoms and am very happy about it. I am pretty sure I would have no motivation otherwise. Maybe it is because I want all the things in the house DONE before the baby comes and the list is so long I should have started last year. I want to enjoy the time after the baby and not have to worry about painting and de-junking/deep cleaning and organizing. I want it DONE, DONE, DONE! A few weeks ago I wrangled Colin into the storage side of the basement for some organizing. I think I told him I just wanted to move around a few boxes and get to the baby things but I knew he wouldn't stop until it was organized and clean. I was right. We threw things out and cleaned things up. It looks so nice. It is so nice to go in there now. We separated all the baby boy and girl things that were mostly in random diaper boxes so I could go through them. What I thought might take me a week took me two days. I just couldn't leave it until later. It's all done and all the diaper boxes are GONE. Well, they are still in the van to go to recycling but that is beside the point.

The playroom half of the basement was quite a sight also. Toys everywhere and it really needed the painting finished. It's all cleaned, vacuumed and painting has resumed. It's slow but there is not a lot to finish.

The next job will be the dining room. It has been painted twice since we moved in but I have never felt settled on the colors. I am going to just paint it neutral, like the rest of the house, and be done with it. Too bad I won't be done with it all. There is lots of trim painting to be done which I hope to work on consistently over the next 4 months as well as getting rid of stuff and preparing to move. After that, well, I just don't know. My biggest fear is that this baby would come early. There is no reason for that at this point. In fact, my doctor told me to come back in 5 weeks instead of 4 since I am so low risk. It's just so they can do the glucose test at the same time.

I hope at this rate I can accomplish all that needs to be done at a reasonable rate. If anyone feels so inclined you can come over and paint with me.

Baby #4

We had our ultrasound today and things look great. Apparently, according to the doctor, "I am a joy to scan." Time to get out all those girl clothes I've been hanging on to.

Mia's First Day of First Grade

Mia and I were so excited for the first day of school. She didn't get the teacher she initially wanted but she got the teacher that I wanted. I would have been happy with either. We have butted heads for the past few weeks and were both in need for school to begin. I just can't get over how cute she is and how much she has grown. That short and sassy haircut suits her personality just right. It was a HOT morning and I had Jackson and Cole with me. They just wanted to go play on the playground. I think she wanted to be nervous and have me go in with her but she was too excited. I love her independence. It has been pretty darn quiet here the past few days and I am loving it! Now if the weather would cool back down. We had 70 degree weather last week and even though it felt chilly in the mornings it was so welcome. There is not A/C at school and I have no idea how kids can learn in humid 90 degree weather. I love you Mia and am so proud of you! I am sure you will have a great year!

Jackson's First Day of Pre-K

Jackson was aksing to go to school at least a week before it started. This was a great surprise for us because last year I think every school day he said he didn't want to go. This year he is with friends from church and his class is all boys. The other day he said, "There are no girls allowed at my school. It's just for boys." I think it is just like a two hour play-date for him. He loves his friends and his teacher. I am so happy that he is happy there. One of the best parts for me is that it is not more than 5 minutes away. I take Jackson to school, make the loop back towards home and drop Mia off at her school. It probably takes me 15-20 minutes. It's great! He brings home homework and is so anxious to get it done. He is learning fine motor skills and is eager to color. When we bought Mia's school supplies it was BOGO so Jackson got his own box of crayons, scissors, markers and a notebook. He really felt special and a bit more grown-up, I think. He's just growing up so fast.

Cannonball!

Here's more on Jack's new favorite thing to do at the pool. They would do this all day if we let them.

Happy Birthday Mommy!

Happy birthday. We love you very much. We all rely on you so much and are so grateful for you. You are always there to help us out, snuggle with us, break up our fights, play with us, or take us to the pool. You are the best.
We don't always tell you so, but you mean everything to us. We hope you have a good day and that we all have fun together at the beach.
We love you,
Mia, Jack, and Cole

A great day with Cole

I have to blog this day. I may eat my words tomorrow but for now I am going to revel in my hard work as a parent. Cole has been crazy lately, driving me crazy from the moment he gets up. He usually cries and whines until I feed him a massive breakfast. We are talking at least two bowls of cereal equal to my one, milk or juice and a few bites of my breakfast and probably a Go-gurt. The kid loves his breakfast. Mostly because he refuses to eat dinner. After breakfast he was still whining and I thought I was in for a fun day with the little dude. I decided to organize toys, I think the nesting is kicking in, it's about time, and I dumped the bucket of toys out. Why this is magic for my kids I just don't know. They go crazy with the thought of toys they haven't seen in a few weeks. Cole loved it! He played and played so well with Jack, Mia and by himself. We were upstairs and in the basement for a few hours. It was great. Cole ate lunch and went down without a fuss. He slept until almost 4pm. We went to get some school supplies and he always wants to walk. He hates the cart. I told him that he had to stay by Mommy and if he walked off he would have to get in the shopping cart. I had some serious doubts because we were in Toys R Us. He proved me wrong over and over again! It was so great!!! He followed me around the store and never ran off! I had to coax him away from a few things but it was really was impressive. I guess I have followed through enough times he knew I was serious. He was the same great listening child in Target. We came home, had dinner, which he ate, we all colored then up to bed. No fighting me or crying. I just felt so blessed or lucky or fortunate. I guess all three. Thanks for a great day my Bubba! We are making progress. Let's keep it up, okay?

Kamikaze!

Jack is one determined boy. He can't jump off the diving board until he passes the deep water test, which means he has to swim the entire length of the pool in the deep end on his own. Tonight he really wanted to jump off the diving board. So I had him try it when we got there but forgot to tell the lifeguard, so it didn't count. The second time the lifeguard was watching but he inhaled some water half way there and started coughing. A while later he tried it one more time and passed.

Of course that means DIVING BOARD! Jack, Mia, and I spent the rest of the time doing tricks. Mia's favorite is the cannonball. Jack's last jump he told me he was going to do a karate chop. I thought he just meant jumping off and karate chopping the air, but he had a different idea. He jumped off and dove straight off the diving board and karate chopped the water, belly flop and all.

Way to go Jackie boy!

Side note - while we are saying prayers with the kids before bed, Jack is so tired. He hadn't said a word in about 5 minutes. Bailey was standing next to Jack, and right at the end of the prayer Jack says, "nip, nip, nipple" and squeezes one of them. Never a dull moment with that kid.