Saturday, June 22, 2013

Our Summmer Has Begun.

We jumped right into summer vacation with 2 feet.  We are keeping things calm and quiet- as much as we can!  The kids sleep in each morning, I enjoy a quiet cup of coffee before they wake, and for the most part we have just played out our days with whatever we want.
We've been filling our vases with fresh cut flowers.  Eli acts like it's his job to keep the flowers fresh in the house.

We've been squeezing in lots of bike rides and walks. 

We planted flowers in our window boxes and pots.

This is Eli's window box on his toy shed.  He picks out the flowers and takes care of them and waters them.

And we have spent lots of time on the slip-n-slides!




The kids love eating fresh watermelon!





And Mama has spent lots of time keeping this house cleaned and organized, putting my feet up, and enjoying some good books while we patiently (or not so patiently.....) wait for this baby to arrive!

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Closing the doors on another school year.

Yes- I closed the doors to my classroom for the summer, also, but this is all about the kids.  They both had wonderful experiences in their schools the past year, and it was hard to say good-bye. 

Adi was lucky enough to continue on in ECFE with Ms. Marge just like Eli had.  We love her.  She loves our kids, and we are excited that Adi will be with her another year starting this fall.  And when Adi is done, our new baby will be at the age to start!  We aren't done with Ms. Marge yet!

They had a little good-bye 'ceremony' in the gym of the elementary school on the last night.  Along with an ice cream party for the the families.  It's always nice when Adi gets to bring the whole family along, and Eli loves another chance to get to ECFE to see old friends and teachers.  Ms. Marge called out the names, and gave out awards and big hugs.

She has been asking about school a bit this summer, so I know when the fall comes she'll be ready to jump right back into it.  She's a big girl at school, and says that she is Ms. Marge's 'helper'.  I'm so proud of her independence!


Of course Eli couldn't sneak out without hugs from Ms. Marge too!  She will always be considered his first teacher!

Chad's cousin, Ms. Lynn, was the helper in Adi's class.  Sometimes Mrs. Lynn's daughter even came to help!  How fun!


And then we had another big day....Eli's last day of pre-school.  This day made me a little emotional.  The same way I felt on his first day of pre-school.  Where has my baby gone?!  He is such a big boy now!

It seems like just yesterday that I was dropping him off for his first day....

And fighting back tears as I had to say good-bye and leave him behind.

And he was so big and independent.  Gave me a quick hug and a kiss, and was right into what he needed to be doing.


I took the day off from work so that I could spend his last day with him.  He is always so proud to have his Mom come to school with him!  I love to see him interacting with the other kids, and following directions from other adults.  He makes me awfully proud!


We loved his teachers this year.  They made the experience so positive for him!  I love that Ms. Mary took the time to send me little notes and updates on how well he was doing.  She shared with me again on the final day how impressed she is with his literacy skills.  I love to hear that. 

And Eli got lucky enough to have Ms. Lynn as the helper in his pre-school class too!  We love Ms. Lynn and are happy that she was a part of making his first year in school so great!

Ms. Judith did a wonderful job with this little guy.  He has grown and matured, and developed a love of learning.  Setting the stage for Kindergarten this fall....He's ready, but I don't know that I can say the same for myself....

Friday, June 14, 2013

A Shared Space...And Loving It!

We live in an older home, with limited space.  But, we didn't want that to be the deciding factor in how large our family would be.  One of the main questions we were asked when we announced that #3 was on the way was where we were going to put the little babe.  We played out some scenarios, and decided that a home remodel was not in the cards at the moment.  The cabin needed a little roofing and siding work this year, and home remodel is going to be down the road a bit.  We decided that we were going to have to make due with what we had, and we would all fit nice and cozy in the little space we have.

Eli and Adi were going to share a room!  This seemed like a great idea at the time we made the decision, but, let me tell you- it was no easy feat trying to figure out how we were going to combine 2 completely filled bedrooms into one.  His closet and dresser were already filled with all of his things, and she also had a dresser and closet that were full.  We don't have a toy room in our house, so their toys were also going to be an issue.  Most of their things are housed in their rooms, other than what is in the basement family room.

I was also a little nervous as to how they would adjust to this.  Adi loved her bedroom.  She spent lots of time in there, and it was perfect for her.  She had a very girly space filled with all of her favorite things.  And he loved his.  It's where he would go to chill out and have some alone time when he needed it.  I didn't know how/or if their relationship would change if they were always together!

Well, we worked hard, and were determined, and somehow it all came together!  I have to say, other than the van, this is one of the better decisions we have made!

Here's a little tour of their space and how we made it work.  Never mind the un-made bed, and other normal out-of-place things.  This is life in our home.


*****

I was finally able to frame their interviews that I took of them.  They are so fun to read...and I'm hoping I can stay on top of updating these each year!

I pulled most of the decor out of her room and put it together in one corner.  We also solved the clothing dilemma buy purchasing this great free-standing wardrobe from IKEA.  The only thing we did to it was update the knobs to these cute little crystal pulls.  All of her clothes fit inside, other than her jammies.  I was so happy with this purchase- it is perfect for the space!

Eli is in the top bunk.  We already had the bunk beds down in storage, so we pulled them out and I painted them.  We realized when we put them together that there was no guard rail, and we needed to fix that!  I still need to give the rail another coat of paint...I'll add that to my list:)  Eli is very into the day of the week and the date, so we put his calendar right by his bed so he can check it out whenever he needs to know the day.  I had ordered a set of the chicken wire baskets a while back, and wasn't sure what to do with 2 of them.  One holds mail by our phone, but I was waiting for the perfect place for the others.  This was it!  They love having a basket of their favorites right by their bed.  The Easter Bunny brought them each a book light, and it has been perfect for them to read stories right before bed each night!

And her little cozy space.

We combined pits and pieces from each bedroom and put it all together on his dresser.  This dresser is also now home to an ant farm....oh boy!!

Not knowing what are having,  I wanted to be sure to get all of the cute pink things out of her old room.  I also didn't want to just throw it all in storage.  We made it all work, even if it is packed in there wall-to-wall!  The little shoes on the frame are one of my favorites!  Sweet memories of when she wore those:)

We've used Papa Neal's expert carpentry skills quite a bit lately.  Here is the big shelf he made for Eli a couple of years back.  It's perfect to hold his very special books, and also hang jackets, robes, and bags.

And I had him make another one for Adi.  This is mostly just to hold all of those big and fluffy dress-up dresses!  And, yes, we added the 4th hook since the picture and it is also filled.

Eli has a keyboard, and they love to play around on it.  We wanted to make sure to have a spot for it since the plan is to get him started in lessons soon.  The picture board is also a fun way to display pictures and invite from friends and family.

They each have a bin at the end of their bunk beds to hold toys.

This was our answer to storing her jammies and his train set.  Originally the bunk beds were not tall enough to slide these bins under, but Chad came through and solved that problem.  Now we have all kinds of storage, and more painting to finish up!


And I was so excited while we were walking through Aldi a few weeks back and I found a set of these great, wire planters for very cheap!  I found the idea on Pinterest to use them for stuffed animal storage, and was anxious to try this.  My kids love their stuffed animals and have way too many of them.  This is a good answer for what to do with them all.  They each have a basket on a wall by their bed, and they are both filled to the top!

And that's it!  It's not perfect, and could use a little more work, but for now it works!  They are enjoying their space together, and the Baby's room is completely set up and ready for the new little bundle!

Thursday, June 13, 2013

The Bump.

Here it is...all 34 weeks of it.  And now we are ready for it.  
Come on out Baby, we can't wait to meet you!










Baby Bump #3 Update- and Baby Prep.

Well, we made it to our goal of 34 weeks, and are well beyond that at this point.  Baby has had lots of extra time to cook and add ounces.  For this we are thanking God.  What a blessing to move us through the scare of pre-term labor.  We can now rest assured that we will have a full-term, healthy newborn in the very near future! 
I went in for an appointment yesterday.  I am currently 36 1/2 weeks.  The exact point that I delivered Eliott.  He was a healthy 7 lb 13 oz, 21 1/2 in baby 3 1/2 weeks early.  I was hoping I would get so lucky with this one, also.  I thought maybe today would be my lucky day and we would finally get to meet this new little one that we have been so anxiously waiting for.  The day isn't over yet- maybe we will get our wish:)  When my Dr. measured my belly he said, "Yep- you can be done!" I am measuring 37 weeks- typical for me.  He understands how uncomfortable I am, and was willing to "move things along" a bit for me.  We'll see if it works!  I'm hoping I don't need to keep my appointment that is scheduled for Tuesday.
I've been trying to pass the time as patiently as I can.  Everything is ready and in place.  The house is cleaned, organized, and waiting for a new little one to come and fill it up.  I don't think I've ever had my home in such a state.  I guess nesting will do that.  That and summer vacation where I have all kinds of time to clean and organize.  I know it won't be the case once the baby arrives, so I'm trying to enjoy it while I can!  I also made some decorations for Baby's room.  I made the cutest pennant banner that we draped from the ceiling.  After it was up I loved the fabrics so much that I decided I wanted to make a matching quilt to go with it.  I loved this little project, and I can't wait to wrap it around the baby.  I'm so proud that it's something I made myself with love for this little one.

I just have some random bumps posted here.  Yes- I'm well aware that it looks like there is a basketball in my shirt.  I can't even tell you how many times I have heard it!  I'm just amazed at the comments that come from complete strangers!  Yes- I know my belly is big, Yes- I am ready to have this one, and YES- I am sure there are not twins in there!!!!  I won't miss that part of being pregnant at all!
We had some professional Baby Bump pictures taken last week.  I'm getting very anxious to see them!  My sister-in-law has informed me that they are looking great!  Hopefully I will have those to share very soon!
This quilt took a bit of time, but it is finally finished and packed up in the hospital bag!
Along with some treasures for Big Brother and Big Sister.  I'm excited for them to meet the new little one- They are as anxious as Chad and I are for this little one to arrive.  I will miss them always rubbing and kissing my belly and saying, "I really love the baby."


 We spent some time last weekend cleaning out the van.  I Love, Love, Love the amount of space we have in here!  One of the best moves we ever made was deciding to buy a van.  I was so opposed to the idea.....So glad I changed my mind!  The kids were a great help, and we now have the carseat strapped in and ready for the little one!

I'm trying to be patient and go day-by-day right now.  I'm trying to spend as much quality time with Eli and Adi before this little one comes and takes up most of my time and attention.  I'm currently riding around with all of our hospital bags packed in the vehicle.  Never knowing when we will need them is the hardest part!  I'm thankful for close family, one huge stress that we won't have to worry about.  No matter the time or day, I know that a couple of phone calls will have these 2 in great hands!

Hoping to post some baby pictures soon:)

And with all of this baby talk, I have a special request.  My sister-in-law's cousin has a very sick little baby right now.  They found out on Monday that she is in desperate need of a heart transplant.  Please, please, say some extra prayers for this sweet little girl and her family.  Check out her Caringbridge site, and stay updated on her condition:
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/myleescapanski

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