New addition

Haha!  Not the baby yet!

Sister is collecting baby doll toys that will mimic Mommy and Baby when she comes.

So far she has a baby doll pac 'n' play, stroller, high chair, bottles, diapers, cradle, potty seat, diaper bag and wearable carrier.  Her newest addition came from a yard sale today:

She likes her some baby dolls!

Cutie!

A hayride!

We went on a hayride with some of Husband's colleagues but only had our cell phone to take pictures.  I tried to upload them and they were huge....so, a hayride in words.  At least until the people with normal cameras email me any pictures they have.

Brother found us seats in the middle of the hay, which we sat in, not on, and that was an itchy experience.

Sister enjoyed being small enough to move back and forth between Mommy and Daddy and not get in trouble.  She also spent most of the ride stuffing her face with Kix with socks pulled to her knees because of the itchy hay.

Eventually, the other residents led my son astray and convinced him to bury people with hay.  I finally convinced him that burying himself might be nicer.  He made some pretty comfy chairs and nests, and was quite smug in the pictures....which you can't see!

Afterwards they sucked down apple cider like nothing, but poo-pooed the idea of s'mores.  Rather than eating them, Brother picked at sticky marshmallows that had unfortunately turned a nice toasty brown in the fire and Sister ripped her s'more open-faced and stuck it to her shirt!  After a rather lengthy session with baby wipes, they were de-stickyed and ran to play on the wooden steps we used to climb up to the hay.  This of course prompted Sister to ask for another wipe to clean with and Brother to pile up leftover hay to jump in!

Did I mention Brother appears to be allergic to hay?  That when we parked we were quite literally attacked by stink bugs?  That I saw two spiders crawling on me while sitting in the hay?  That I love doing things with my family?

7 weeks to go!

'

Mommy and Baby and wrinkled shirt!

Mommy,Big Brother and Big Sister all holding our bellies!

Unless professional photographers have super tricks, 

this is why I haven't paid one to take our picture!

All is going well, she is as healthy as a horse and kicks like one too!  No matter what my doctor husband or midwife says, I'm pretty sure she is bruising all my internal organs.  She'll give her big brother and sister a run for their money, maybe sooner then they think!

Naptime

Here's what you may not know. I left her wide awake in her room at naptime with books all over the place thinking she would read and fall asleep on her bed. She is on Brother's bed which she had to clear off. All the books are put away and she spread her own pillow and blankets out by herself! She was a busy little bee.

The drive

24+ hours in a car is not usually synonymous with fun, but our drive down south went extrememly well. Not only did the kids stay occupied in the car, they also slept well in the hotel and we didn't have a single meltdown! Mommy was very excited.

To pass the time we listened to music, watched Curious George (thanks library), colored and played legos. A particulary grand diversion was building towers, or houses or airplanes, and having mommy take a picture. I don't know what I would do without my digital camera! I had numerous pictures of the exact same thing and was able to keep just the best ones.

 

 

 

Sister took two naps a day in the car and Brother usually just took one, during the last two hours of the day. That was such a blessing because we were all ready to get out of the car but there wasn't any complaining from a sleeping child!

Sister's favorite sleep position in the car is covering herself with her blanket. Maybe she didn't want us to see her mouth hanging open like Brother!

 

Brother and Sister

 

 

The Belly

I feel huge, but after seeing these pics, I'm really not. Just after 23 weeks.

I don't have pictures of Sister this early but this is Brother at more or less the same time.



Baby Sister

 

Amazing Grace

Amazing grace
like me
I once was lost
but now I see

Children's Museum

We've discovered the Children's Museum which just opened here. I held off buying a membership until I knew if the kids would really enjoy. After an hour and a half flew by, I figured they were having fun.

They enjoyed painting very much, big smocks and all!







An awesome climbing structure is right inside where Brother loves to climb and water tables that Sister loves to splash in.





They also have train tables, gardens full of veggies to pick and cook with, a climbing wall, and nature spot. You'll be seeing pics of this place a lot I imagine. Although it sure does wear Mommy out by the end of the trip!

Potty Time

I laugh every time.

Pool

It took a few days but once they discovered how fun it is to jump in, that's about all they did!



Sister had to remind herself to wait while Brother jumped in.




Trying so hard to walk instead of run. So close to running, but saying "Walk, careful, walk, careful."

Brister

Brister is a Sister!

Turning 2

Sister is now a two year old, and 5 days into it isn't too terrible!





She did much more spitting on her cake than blowing out the candles, so Mommy pitched in to help.





She's such a girl, wiping her hands on her napkin. The girl is eating like a champ, and loves to hold her fork while eating with her fingers. Maybe soon she'll realize she can keep a whole lot cleaner using utensils.







She's my little baby doll lover. I hope a real live baby in the house will be just as exciting!

Some cute things she's been doing lately include:

-Counting, "One, two, one, two, forty, ten!"
-"Whhhhhhhhhhyyyyyyy?" Seriously, a four-seven syllable word every time.
-Potty-training herself, what a champ!
-Speaking in sentences
-Precisely pronouncing her "L" sound, especially in choc-o-late
-Body-guarding her Daddy when another little girl dared to talk to him. She was a -human shield, silent and intimidating (sorta) She does call him "My daddy" even to me.
-naming all the toddlers in her Sunday school class, too cute
-When you ask her what a horse says, she replies, "Clip Clop" while clicking her tongue, forget the neigh business. We pass a lot of buggies on our drives to and from Grammy's house. Since she can't see the horse, she only listens.
-Holds crayons and pencils and pens just like an adult and leans over to color with such care.
-Peers at the baby growing through my belly button
-Sounds out letters like Brother is learning to do except like this, "Ah, ah, ah, ah, D!"

Memorial Day

It was threatening rain but we went to the carnival anyway. We even promised Sister a pony ride!

No ponies this year. :(

They still had fun on the kiddie rides.


Brother and Cousin rode the little roller coaster. As they were being strapped in, the ride operator told them to raise their arms, so they did. As soon as it started to move, Cousin put her arms down but I'm pretty sure Brother was afraid the ride operator would disapprove, so his stayed in the air!


Ice cream rounded out the evening and since Leah is still a little short for some of the rides, she hung out on Dad's shoulders!

The budding photographer

Brother likes to grab the digital camera and wonder around his little world taking pictures. He has quite the eye for an-almost-4-year-old!







He has also asked for a new baby for his birthday. I'm so glad he seems eager about another sibling, he did not take to Sister very well. Sister, loves to play with her baby dolls, so I think a real baby will thrill her!

Crackers

Sister likes crackers, and I couldn't think of a title.

Here is possibly the only picture of Brother where his whole face is not scrunched into a monster cheesy grin.



We might have some issues when the baby comes, but her intentions are good. Our poor 8 month old friend is Sister's testing ground...a lot of smothering hugs and kisses. Sister doesn't like that real babies move when they want when her baby dolls don't move until she makes them. Her baby dolls always sleep with a blanket over their face, and if you grab them by the foot or hair or arm, then that's how you carry them! Maybe 7 months is enough time to work it out.



When quiet time was demanded by mom, we all picked a good book and got comfortable.





I've been asked what will happen when there are three and I already use Sister and Brother. For the moment we refer to it as Brister, until we know the sex. After, they will Baby to you for a while, then maybe we'll add Little to the appropriate label. I'm open to suggestions.

Tree house

Pop built Brother his very own tree house. These are some of the first pictures. The leaves have since grown in, a Red Maple, making it feel like it has walls and a roof. There has also been a slide added for a quick and safe exit (especially since Sister can't climb back down the ladder).



When Brother first saw it, he ran inside to get toys. He came out with a truck and a vacuum cleaner. He heard "house" and wanted to clean it. Not really sure what I think about that! He has since moved on to leaves, sticks, scrap wood and pine cones. The recent addition of a blue bucket and pulley assembly has really made it easy and fun to move, rearrange and build collections in the tree house.



Binochulars are very important for spying birds (or as Sister says, "boids") in the tree. Unfortunately Brother does not know which end to look through, but he has fun. When Husband first say the tree house, he climbed right up and talked over design plans with Pop for second stories. Apparently it is every boy's dream to have a tree house and Pop and Husband harbor a little jealousy that Brother actually has his as a boy!

If I remember to take the camera outside more often there will be lots of tree house pictures. Pop also thought of the girl and added a bucket swing since would live in one if she could. Adult size benches are also provided for supervising adults. It is quite the outdoor hot spot.