SUNNY FLORIDA!

About two weeks ago, I was starting to feel a little "trapped". Knowing that I shouldn't travel too much during my third trimester of pregnancy, and then moving immediately after this guy is born, I needed to plan a trip or we were going to go stir-crazy in this house! Adam couldn't get away from work, so I packed up the girls, hopped in the new (to us) mini-van (Yep, I now drive a Honda Odyssey and I'm not ashamed to say I LOVE IT!), and headed to visit my mom down in the panhandle of Florida. Pretty last minute, but we had a window of opportunity, and thought it would be a good change of pace. And maybe even fun!
The drive was pretty brutal on me at 9.5 hours, but the girls were GREAT! We only stopped TWICE on the way there, watched about 4 hours of movies, played ENDLESS games of "I Spy" and "What Rhymes with ____?". I'm so thankful that it went quickly and that the girls were so happy. Phew.
The week at the beach was so good, too. Everyone slept well. ate well (including my favorite restaurant in the world!), had tons of time at the beach and pool, and enjoyed time with "Mimi".
Turns out, Elise loves the beach! She had a blast with my mom playing in the water and sand, collecting shells, and attempting to build sandcastles. She also loved the pool and is totally fearless by jumping in, trying to swim on her own, and wearing herself out daily.
Ainsley also loved the pool. She really enjoyed playing on the steps, splashing in my arms, and just loving the sun and water. She, however, HATED the beach. From the second we got to the beach, she cried/screamed/whined until we left...she didn't enjoy the water, was overwhelmed by the noise of the ocean, and was positively terrified of the sand on her hands, feet, face, etc...she literally wailed the whole time until I got her back on solid ground. We attempted it twice and then gave up. The rest of the week, my mom took Elise to the beach by herself so they could enjoy it and I didn't have to hold Ainsley for an hour straight in the 100 degree weather... we had a lot of fun overall and are so thankful that we were able to get away for the week!
Now, Elise is in summer camp this week at church, then we have family coming in town, then swim lessons, etc...and before we know it, it'll be August and I'll be at the end of this pregnancy. Woo hoo!

One day was OVER 100 degrees, so we to an indoor "jumpy house" thing...great for all of us to have a break from the sun and heat...

Elise loved the "climbing wall" part of it. She was so strong it surprised us all!
We headed to a great park one morning...and it ended up 104 degrees! Unbearable!
Good thing the park had a good set of water fountains next to it. Who needs swimsuits?! They just needed to be cooled off and both girls loved it!

That smile is so precious...

Boating Fun

Over the weekend, our friends Rob and Allyson invited us to spend a few hours on their boat with them on one of the big rivers here in town. I wasn't sure how Ainsley would do, but we assumed Elise would LOVE the adventure, the speed, etc...and we were right! Ainsley was pretty timid for the first hour or so and just wouldn't leave my lap- I think it was just the wind that was scaring her a little. It was pretty bumpy and windy. Elise, on the other hand, LOVED every second of it! We had to frequently hold onto the back of her PFD b/c she was leaning so far over the edge...NO FEAR for that kid. Ainsley got used to it later and had a lot of fun, too. We're so thankful for Rob and Allyson and the ways the love our kids- and we hope to have more water adventures with them as the summer goes on! =)

Elise thought she was cool when she got to go to the bathroom over the side of the boat (#1 and #2, if you wanted details!!!)
Pure Joy!


Ainsley loved sitting in the "Captain's Seat" with Rob.

Sometimes I kind of forget...

that I'm pregnant. Maybe because I'm running around with the other two kiddos- picking them up, constantly playing on the floor with them, etc...that I forget I'm 6.5 months pregnant. I know it sounds insane, and by the end of most days when my legs are killing me, I'm exhausted beyond belief, and there's no forgetting the facts. But, last night I said something to Adam along the lines of..."Sometimes I think I'm still in that 'awkward-is-she-really-pregnant' stage when I'm at a store or something. I wonder why a salesperson is staring at my abdomen- "can they really tell already that I'm going to have another kid?". Adam stopped in his tracks and looked at me with a "Are you absolutely joking?!?" look. I guess it's more obvious than I realize sometimes. Here's a picture from this morning. You can see why Adam laughed.


Ainsley is starting to learn "body parts" and she loves "find Mommy's Tummy"...that's what she was doing here...so sweet.

Sweet picture

I took this of Elise yesterday while we were just playing around the house...she really has developed the cutest smile and I love how this captured her freckles, too! She used to smile with SO MUCH effort that her eyes were pretty much closed, but her 'developing smile' is now so adorable...even with the dead tooth. =) If you click on the picture of Elise and blow it up a little, you can see that she only has freckles on the left side (her left side) of her face. I don't know why, but I think that's the cutest thing ever...

This was Ainsley around the same time yesterday...she was actually trying to walk around in my shoes and it was hilarious. She fell a few times and just giggled, but my big old clunky shoes on her little 1 year old feet were adorable. I'll find another cute one to post.

I'm also finally updating their profile pictures on the right of the blog...it's been about 6 months.

Random stuff...

I can't really think of much to blog about these days...but I've gotten a few complaints about not having a recent blog up here...uh, sorry. Let's see, what's going on?
*Elise's "dead tooth" (as you can see in ANY picture we have of her on here- she smashed it against the rail of her crib when she was 2 and it's been a dead black tooth since.) Anyway, she's had a few infections show up in the gum around that tooth lately, so we got a referral to a pediatric oral surgeon. He was GREAT and we're heading back in 2 weeks for some minor surgery for her. They'll do some stuff under a heavy sedative (but not general anesthesia) and it'll be able to save the tooth, 'whiten' it some, and prevent further infections. So that's good. I'm not excited about any type of sedation or surgery for her, but I think it'll be good in the long run.
*I'm 25 weeks pregnant and feel HUGE. Seriously, I have no idea how I'll last until late August/early Sept at this rate. This pregnancy has definitely been the hardest on my body, but I don't know if I can blame that on the fact that I got pregnant before Ainsley was even a YEAR old, maybe b/c it's a boy and that's just different, or b/c we live in a hot, sticky, humid swamp and this is the only "end" of the pregnancy of mine during the summertime. Whatever the cause, it's been a little rough. But we're very excited that baby is healthy and growing well...it's just me that's suffering a bit. I guess that's the price we pay to be a mommy.
*It's almost time to start seriously considering houses in our next city, Roanoke, VA. We've got a great Realtor there who's sending us listings weekly, but it's always tough to find a house via pictures and MLS descriptions. Plus, we have to decide what to do with our current home and the one we own and are renting in Florida. Hmmmm...anyone moving to JAX and want a great little house to rent/buy?!
*Ok, my girls are both waking up a little early this morning, so I should go and get the day started...see, I told you our lives are pretty boring. That's why I haven't blogged lately. You probably just wasted 4 minutes of your life reading this and are dying of boredom. Sorry. Here's a couple cute pictures to redeem the posting a little:

Elise's last day of preschool as a "Monkey"...she wanted to pose with Ainsley and then Gus...they weren't as excited as she was!

Happy Mother's Day to Me!

We kept Mother's Day pretty low-key (as we do most holidays) and it was a lot of fun. I got to sleep in a little, opened two fun presents from Adam and the girls, and then we all headed to Wal-Mart. I despise Wal-Mart, by the way. I hate the crowds, a lot of not-so-smart people all together in one place, the always-busy parking lot, etc....but sometimes you have to go there when you live in a relatively small town in the South. The "BIG" present for Mother's Day was a decent backyard kiddie pool. Doesn't sound all that exciting at first, I know, but it really will be "the gift that keeps on giving" around here. Being about 6 months pregnant now, having a 3 and 1 yr old, and just starting the insanely hot and humid SC summer, I had to have something easy to entertain the kiddos all summer long. So, we opted to move the patio furniture off the deck, put down the carpet squares that covered our floors in Japan, and turn the backyard into the main play area. I'm SOOOO pleased with the result! Elise loves playing in the water, but the other little pools we had required inflating and deflating each day, they got filled with grass in the front yard that they were disgusting, and they kept getting holes in them (probably b/c they were $12 pools...). It was exhausting to spend 1/2 of the girls' naptimes inflating, filling with water, dragging chairs out front, etc...and then sitting in the 100 degree afternoon heat on the front of the house! So this was our great solution! I feel very blessed being a mom to these girls (and the little boy in utero!)! It was a great Mother's Day.

Daddy and the girls working hard to set it up. Adam calls this Ainsley's "Jane Fonda" look.

Elise LOVES to use Adam's air compressor air gun to inflate things.

We even "splurged" on the $15 Little Tikes slide to go inside the pool! They love it.

It only took Elise about 10 minutes to figure out she could do this! She is my kid after all...

Gymnastics, con't...

Elise's second gymnastics class at the YMCA was today and she was, once again, on cloud nine afterwards. So, we came home and made our own balance beams in the front yard. Good thing Adam keeps some 2x4's around...Elise and Kristina each had one (equal lengths so nobody got upset!) and then Ainsley needed one. Hilarious. So, I found a shorter 2x4 in Adam's scrap pile...they all loved it! We did side-stepping, marching, jumping, walking on toes, etc...In the top picture below, Elise is showing her "finish" pose. I'm not sure if we have the next Shawn Johnson or not, but she did have a lot of fun.