preschool princess

My little buddy started preschool today. I love this kid and I missed her sweet smile today, but she really needs some social interaction with someone other than her mother. It must've worn her out today because they go down for rest time at 12:30 and she was still sound asleep at 2...and kept sleeping until we got home from picking up Aubrey, around 3!! She had a great day!

KINDERGARTEN ROCKS!

Aubrey seems to think so, which made the transition really easy for everyone this morning! Everyone except Addy, who was a little distraught about losing her best friend for the day. Dave and I took her to McDonald's afterward, and on our way home (around 9:30) she asked if we were going to pick up Aubrey. Poor baby! Aubrey did great. No tears were shed, even by my pregnant self. It was awesome. She might have pushed us out the door if we had stayed any longer!

"Where did she get that RED hair?"

is a question that I am asked almost daily.

Answer: dave.

losing it.

So, I have this Willow Tree pregnant figurine. Got it as a gift when I was pregnant with Aubrey. Love it. Put it on the end table in the living room 2 days ago. Yesterday, I lost track of how many times I told Addy not to touch it. Her hearing must be impaired. This is what it looks like now:


A couple things.
1. I hope this is not a bad omen.
2. I KNOW this represents Addy's potential to make me lose my head on occasion!

Baby update

I had an appointment yesterday at S&W for the first time. Dave's insurance at the hospital had a 30 day lag from his start date, so yesterday was the first day it kicked in. I had to meet with the intake nurse first, even though it is very apparent that I am pregnant! She had concerns with my blood pressure situation (I've been on meds for that since about 18 weeks) and my low lying placenta that was noted on my first ultrasound. Dave said that has gotten better, but we all know about Dave's OB ultrasound skills, LOL! Just kidding, honey. Anyway, she found the doctor to ask him about those things, and he came right over to meet me. His name is Dr. Handcock. I loved him instantly and felt really comfortable with my choice. He was so concerned and ordered an ultrasound and a non-stress test right away. He said that because of my elevated BP I would have to come in once a week from here on out for an NST just to make sure the baby isn't under stress. Then as it gets closer to my due date, I will have to come twice a week. He also ordered another ultrasound because he said the medicine I am taking could affect Blake's growth, so he wants to check that out. I can't believe it's already so close to my due date that I'll be having weekly appointments. That seems crazy to me. I had to go over to Labor and Delivery after my appointment with the nurse, and they hooked me up to the monitors for my NST. They said everything looked perfect with the baby. I am so excited to deliver at that hospital! Everyone is so friendly and helpful, and the actual facility is awesome. It will be so much nicer than the old S&W hospital in Temple. I will labor, deliver, and recover all in one room, so no rolling around the hospital to separate rooms. Only 7 weeks left till my due date! Whoa, baby!

Quote of the day

Saw some friends in Temple today. Owen is four. He was very interested in my belly. Went to eat.

Owen: Is baby Blake kicking?
Me: Not right now, but he might start after I eat.
{Five minutes pass.}
Owen: Is Baby Blake kicking?
Me: Not yet, but give it a few minutes.
Owen: Maybe you should eat something hot and that would make him move.
{Five minutes pass.}
Owen: Is he kicking yet?
Me: Not yet.
Owen: Maybe he's sleeping.
Me: That might be it.
Owen: Or maybe he's just lazy.

replay!

I missed some definite highlights on my update because I was using my camera pictures as a means to remembering everything that took place this summer...then I was watching Dora with Addy this morning and realized I had forgotten about Dora Live with Nanny and GGDada! I only have pictures from my camera phone, and the one indoors got me into trouble with an usher! We had a great time, and I'm pretty sure Addy talked about it for about 3 weeks afterward!


I also had pictures of Aubrey getting her ears pierced...Dave and I were with her one day when we saw a little baby getting her ears pierced in the mall. We joked with her because she was looking on in terror as the baby started screaming from the pain...we asked her if she wanted to get hers pierced and she promptly responded with a "NO, but maybe when I'm seven." We told her to just tell us when she was ready, so one day a couple of weeks ago she woke up and told me she wanted to get hers done. We went to Claire's and she was so brave. She was a little unsure when the lady pierced the first ear, but she just held tight to Mimi's hand and she was ok. I think I wanted to cry more than her. She's getting soooo big!



Another highlight has been going to lunch with Nawnee once a week. The girls love their Nawnee! On random mornings, they ask me if we're going to pick up Nawnee for lunch that day.

Still happy that I chose the camera phone! It does come in handy.

long overdue UPdate.

I think today is the first day since we've been back that there hasn't been something written on the calendar for us to do! And it feels nice to still be in my PJ's at 10:30. Let's start from the beginning...(if I can remember everything)

June 6--Bink graduated from high school. Dave, the girls, and I packed up the Tahoe and drove down from Iowa. We found a house to rent in the school zone where we wanted Aubrey to start kinder, so we had to start our lease at the beginning of June. The girls and I decided to stay in Round Rock while Dave went back to Iowa to finish out his fellowship. Here are some cute pics from Bink's graduation day:








Dave flew back to Iowa after the graduation party, and the girls and I were left with a big empty house for the rest of June. I called our movers to see if they could move us sooner, but they were completely booked for the month. It's amazing how little voices echo when there is no furniture to soak up the noise! We lived on air mattresses and ate off a card table for a few weeks, but the girls and I had a lot of fun! We made a couple trips to the Dollar Store for dress up supplies and coloring books:

Then Mimi made the ultimate discovery...all my old costumes from my dancing days:




Next on the agenda was to bid farewell to our good friends, the Hogg's, from Temple. They were moving back to Louisiana, so we spent as many days as we could with them before they left:

Aubrey attended a Princess dance camp at Tinka's for a week in June. They had a performance at the end of the week. My favorite part was the "Little Mermaid" dance. At the end, the girls were supposed to dance with their dads, so Pops had to fill in since Dave was in Iowa:



The following week came Vacation Bible School...Addy cried during Princess Camp week because she wanted to go too, so I tried to find something they could both attend. Technically, the kids were supposed to be three, but I volunteered to help with the elementary kids so Addy could go too. She ended up being in my friend, Karen's class, and she instantly fell in love with her. By the end of the week, she was calling her "My Karen". That gives me hope that she will enjoy her preschool teacher here soon.

I think that pretty much sums up June. At the end of the month, I flew back to Iowa to help Dave with the movers and tie up loose ends. It was nice to spend a few days as a couple. I had to visit the doctor for the last time before our Iowa insurance ended because I knew our S&W insurance takes 30 days to kick in from Dave's start date (yeah, still haven't seen a doctor here). We drove back together, our stuff arrived July 2, and our first weekend back was July 4th. We spent that day at home with the girls and my family came over to cook for us. Dresses and glasses courtesy of Mimi:






On July 5th, we helped host an engagement party on Lake Travis for our friends, Houston and Katy. We had a blast!



Dave spent the next three weeks at home before starting work at S&W. We thought about taking a trip, but then we decided to stay around the house and unpack. We took the girls to the Austin Zoo one day and they really enjoyed feeding the goats and deer. I still can't get over the ginormous lion and tiger that inhabit that place. All that separates them from us in a flimsy little chain-link fence....hmmm.







We spent the rest of Dave's time off relaxing and unpacking and eating lots of Mexican food. We've spent lots of time with family and friends, and we realize that we made the best decision by coming back to this area. I've been to a wedding shower for my good friend Allison, been to Canton with my mom, been to Build-a-Bear with the girls and my mother-in-law, been to lunch with old friends, been shopping at the oh-so-awesome Austin stores, been to TWO movies with my husband, been to several little kid birthday parties, and the list goes on and on.... It's been even better than we thought it would be. Dave and I have had time to ourselves and the girls have had time to spend with their grandparents (great grandma Nawnee included) and uncles. Everyone is happy.

And through all that, I've continued to grow....

Hard to believe I have LESS THAN 8 WEEKS before Blake joins us! Here is a shot of his nursery in progress...if we weren't renting, those walls would be painted! The theme came from a signed Kevin Durant Sonics basketball jersey that Dave received for Christmas from his parents. I didn't exactly know where to hang it, so I was pumped when we found out we were having a boy so I could hang it in his room!


The craziness continues this next week with a baby shower tomorrow, both girls starting gymnastics, meeting Aubrey's teacher, and an orientation at Aubrey's school. Now that we are settled, I'll be better about posting. Especially since this update took me two hours to complete....