Making Progress

We found the nursery decor that we liked a couple of weeks ago and were trying to find it in the store. I had a 20% off coupon that was good instore only, so I was hoping to use that on the 4 piece bedding. We just hadn't found it at any of the stores in our area. However, last weekend, while I planning (looking at baby things online) I noticed that the particular nursery set we wanted was on clearance. So, I ordered the bedding. Didn't get to use my coupon (darn!) but we will have the bedding this weekend and I don't have to worry about picking something else out. Our plan is to purchase bunk beds at Thanksgiving so the girls can get "moved in" during that week. We will paint the nursery over the december weekends (and winter break) and get everything ready to go. I'll need to order the wall paper border before we paint, but that requires figuring out how big the room is. On the to do list is also clean our Shelby's closet, but that can wait until November. I've got a big bucket for her clothes and she's old enough to help out now, so I hope it can be done in one day. I'd like to have a garage sale with all of the girl baby clothes that I don't need, but I'm not sure that will happen any time soon. That takes lots of planning, preparation, extra time, etc and I seem to have misplaced all of that stuff. :) The spring might be a great time for that. I'll have 6 weeks of maternity leave to plan, take a nap, prepare, label, take a nap, feed a newborn, wash clothes, take a nap, change diapers and take a nap. On second thought, I can dress boys in pink these days. Right??

Sydneyisms

Sydney has figured out that snorting makes me laugh. She can snort about 5 times in a row without stopping and she does it all the time. Last week I laughed so hard I thought I was going to pee in my pants. Unfortunately we were in the car! Shelby figured the snort thing out at the same age and used to do the same thing. However, Sydney also teaches everyone she knows how to snort. I think it's really funny and crack up every time.

Last week, I came home and put on shorts and a spaghetti strap tank top since most of my other afterschool tops were in the laundry. After coming downstairs and doing some things in the kitchen, Sydney came to ask me for milk and exclaimed "Mama! Why is there naked on your shirt?" I laugh every time I think about that. She was so concerned.

She's very excited about the baby. She carries her doll around all the time and calls it her baby. It's really cute. We taught both of the girls how to spell their name by making it into a song. Today, Sydney wanted to sing "Sebastian's song". I hadn't even thought about it!

She still has her moments - like refusing to take a nap all weekend - but there's a big difference between her at 2 and her at 3. She asked to go to dance class two weeks ago and I said that was fine, but mom wasn't going in there this year. She had no problem with it. She's still in the 2.5-3 year old class, but she's doing so much better. It's also a different teacher and that makes a huge difference. I don't mind getting up at 7 on Saturday morning to get every one fed and her to dance if she's going to be happy about it. :) (Especially since I can read for the entire class without interuption!)

It's a BOY!

My doctor's appointment today went well and everything looks great. Sebastian had a great heart rate - once we got him to hold still so we could hear it. He was moving around a bunch, so it looks like he will be just as active as his older sisters. Right now I'm going to say that's a blessing, ask me again in 3 years and the answer might change. :)
I've found that if I go to sleep about 9pm I can function decently in the mornings. I've also found that a serving of mashed potatos and gravy from the school cafeteria help improve my mood every afternoon. I don't get the food every day, but try to get to sleep early most weekdays.

The weather is still beautiful here. I think it will be in the mid to upper 80s this weekend, but the evenings have been wonderful. I open the windows up when I get home and let the fresh air in for a while. This weekend I might even go looking for some fall flowers to plant.

The zoo has more horned frogs!

The Fort Worth Zoo had 32 horned frogs hatch recently. The Dallas Morning News has a 40 second clip about them here:
http://www.dallasnews.com/video/dallasnews/hp/index.html?nvid=283642&she=1

I'm going to take the girls by to see them next time we're at the zoo. It's really exciting!

The first game

I thought I'd share a few pictures from the first football game. I'll remember to take some better ones at the next game - in October. :) This week Sean and dad are going to the game and Mom and I are going to tailgate from my house. What a wonderful thing!

Fall Weather

We missed the TCU game on Saturday and opted to watch it from my parents house because of Ike. We got rain most of the day, but it stopped by the time we headed home (around 7pm). The cool thing was standing outside watching the clouds move in a circular pattern.
Today we've had beautiful blue skies and temps in the low 80s. This morning I opened the windows up downstairs since it was so nice. According to the weatherman, we're going to have a week of nice weather. One night even has a low of 58! It feels like fall - and it's only mid September! I really wanted to get out the pumpkin decorations today and get ready for fall. I always hold off until after Sean's b-day, but I'm not sure how I'm going to last if we continue to have nice weather like this. I'm sure it will get warm again, but I'm enjoying it while it's here.

We've had a few busy weeks. A week and three days ago I got a phone call to come get Shelby, she had a fever. Mom came to the rescue and picked her up so I could finish my day. Shelby had an intestinal bug and was out of school for two days. This past Thursday (one week later) I got a phone call to come get Sydney. She had the same thing, only no fever. Mom came up once again and stayed with Syd on Friday too. I feel great and don't think I'll get it. Sean hurt his back the other day, so that should be his "illness" for this go round. :) Hopefully we can all be well for a long time.

Shelby is loving school. She had her start of the year reading test this past week and did great. She's reading independently with an average of 65 words per minute. They want 60 wpm by the end of the year, so I think she'll be ok there. :) The two big things for 1st grade are reading and writing. She has 15-20 minutes of reading every night for home work and I'm going to start working in some writing. Her hand writing could be much better if we practice, although it's much nicer than her father's. :)

Sydney is enjoying her school also. They worked on shapes (circle, square and triangle) last week and she can look at an object and tell us which one it is. She's also gotten better at naming the correct color. I know that she has known her colors, but she just hasn't wanted to bother with naming them for me. She's made several friends at school and enjoys it.

My classes are back in full swing and it's nice to have that extra few minutes at the end of the day to gather my thoughts, rather than rush out the door to pick up a kid. I really need a nap around 1 every afternoon and my brain almost shuts down. It's hard to keep it going, but I've managed so far.
My 18 week appointment is this week and we'll know for sure if it's a boy. I've done a little bit of shopping, but not a ton. Sean and I have decided on a nursery theme if it's a boy. We like the Turtle Bay (http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2546949) bedding and will paint the walls blue and green if it's really a boy. Sydney is very excited about moving in with her sister. Shelby is excited that she doesn't have to move out of the room with the walk in closet, even if she will have to share it with her sister. It's all about priorities! The girls know that they'll be getting bunk beds around Christmas and are looking forward to picking out their own bedding.
I'm looking forward to having another baby around the house. Last weekend we saw Chris and Joanna's little girl Ava for the first time and she's so cute! Chris has always been great with our girls, but it was cool to see him with a little one of his own. Maybe next game I'll get a picture. :)

The last weekend

So this was the last weekend for the community activity center outside pool to be open. The indoor pool will be open year round and we'll take the kids there, but it's not as much fun as the outdoor pool. I understand that they are closing it because the lifeguards are high school/college kids, but you know that we're going to have several more weeks (at least) of warm weather.

Anyway, so here are a few pictures from the last weekend at the pool.

Notice the little dot on the stairs? That's my big kid. She's on her way up to do the green slide. (by herself!) I've never been down the slide, but Shelby says it's lots of fun. I might try it next summer.

Here Sydney is playing with the "water fountain". She loves to push the slides up and down and watch the water fill up the different areas. The next photo is the rest of that same play area. Sydney loves to do the slide almost as much as Shelby likes that big green slide. :)

We put both of the kids in swim lessons earlier in the summer and they've had lots of fun practicing their swimming. Shelby is swimming underwater much better and Sydney has even taught herself to swim underwater with some kicking. We'll continue to take them to the indoor pool every now and then just to keep their skills up. However, I must say that I'm glad the olympics are only every 4 years. This is want happens when we let Sydney watch some of the swimming events on tv. :)

That's some great backwards diving for a three year old! I caught Sydney watching some of the bigger kids jumping of the diving board inside with a big smile on her face. Do you think she's going to try it before she turns 4? I didn't get it on camera, but Shelby has even been working on the dophin kick. I'm just amazed at my two kids. I still can't go underwater without holding my nose or wearing a snorkel and the two of them look like they have been swimming for years!