A Weekend at the Lake!

Our friends invited us to their lake house last weekend and we all had a blast! 
Jeff, Steve, and Andrea all went to Texas Tech together.  Their kids are each one year younger than our kids (4 and 6!) 
The drive to Cedar Creek Lake was pretty perfect…far enough to go “away” but not too far to get sick of it (and it took one movie to get there!)

We arrived Saturday morning and let the kids play and get acquainted.  Because we live on opposite sides of the metroplex, our kids have rarely met each other.

Then, it was off on the boat!

 

A whole “guns up” crew!  (Sorry I cut Steve out of this!!)

Shelby and Coleman's first time tubing behind a boat:

Listening to instructions

I would have loved to tube but didn’t think baby P3 would like it too much!

We relaxed.

Then Daddy took a turn on the tube

And Drew with her boys!

Back on land, we fished off the dock.  Lots of fish to be caught with hot dogs!

These are the 2 “baby boys:”

and a big brother:

When everyone left the dock to play baseball in the yard, Drew was stuck with the pole and immediately caught one

Later it was smores

and Fireworks!!

The kids were worn out so at 10:00 after showers, it was the easiest bedtime ever, even with 4 kids in the same room! 

The next morning we just got around slowly, and did some 4-wheelin’ before heading out.

I’m not quite sure if Coleman is warning him of the wires or telling him to go toward them here:

It was a wonderful time!  Thank you Steve & Drew for the awesome weekend!!!

P3: 13 week Sonogram

I decided to do the NT Scan (First Trimester screening) this time simply because I wanted another look at that sweet baby, who looked like a little lima bean when we saw him/her at 8 weeks.

My how things change in 5 short weeks!  We saw arms, legs, hands, feet, head, eyes, spine, and of course that little heartbeat!  The baby flipped over and around several times during the exam.  The picture above is of the baby with the head on the right and feet to the left (but you can’t really see the legs / feet.)  The baby is facing up and that thing running into its face and tummy is the placenta, which is anterior.  This means the placenta is between the baby and my belly/skin, which really means nothing except it absorbs the blows from kicks/movement and it might take longer for me/us to feel kicks and movement.

The baby measured 13 weeks 3 days (they measure from top of head to bottom of rump to get this measurement) which is 4 days ahead of “schedule.”

There’s really nothing that the tech tells us; for the NT scan they just take pictures and measure the amount of fluid behind the baby’s neck, followed by a finger prick for blood.  They combine these things and the lab sends results about the “risk” of Down Syndrome, Trisomy 13 or Trisomy 18.

The heartbeat was 164.

El Junio

As I picked Coleman up from school last week on his last day, I was a bit teary-eyed.  But little man always knows how to cheer his Mama up (or at least make me laugh!)  The first thing he did was come up to me and loudly declare in front of his teacher, "Mama, your <<points to tummy>> is bigger than your <<points to boobs>>"  Definitely took my mind off the tears!

On the way home one day last week, the kids were talking about bullies.  The schools ingrain bully stuff into their heads from 4 years old now:
Coleman: "Well I want to be a bully in case there's a robber."
Shelby: "Coleman! Daddy will take care of that with his machete."
Coleman: "He might not have that any more."
Shelby: "He does. He'll take care of it. And you can kick the robber in the nuts."
Coleman: "No, kick him in the 'privates!'"  (correcting her from saying “nuts”)

Summer is FLYING by!  I added a countdown to the side of the blog with weeks, or days, or hours, minutes, or seconds until P3’s due date.  I like the days countdown!  191!
We are checking off our summer calendar that we made.

 

Some of the days are switching/trading, but we have done about everything we planned.  We have plenty of blanks in July to add more fun things (like ice skating at Shelby’s request) but we are having a fun summer!

The kids went to VBS at our church last week.  They had a lot of fun.  One night was silly hat night so Coleman chose to represent the Hogs!

The kids made bird houses with Daddy last week for Father’s Day (for Grandpa and Poppy.)

Coleman made his for Grandpa and Shelby’s was for Poppy:

We spent Saturday night at Gram and Grandpa’s house, and then spent Sunday at Lake Ray Roberts state park.  We did a bike ride followed by a very cloudy afternoon at the beach with swimming, frisbee, and a cook out with hot dogs wrapped in bacon.  MMmmmmmmm (thanks Nonnie!!!)

Millie and Luke left yesterday for España so we look forward to exploring new ways to communicate with Aunt Millie, like Skype!  I hope this blog will help her keep completely updated on her favorite little niece and nephew!  And she needs to blog about their adventures, too (hint, hint!)

P3: 12 Weeks

How far along?: 12 weeks

Picture at 12 weeks, 2 days.

how big is baby?: from Babycenter: From crown to rump, your baby-to-be is just over 2 inches long (about the size of a lime) and weighs half an ounce.

weight gained so far?: about 5 lbs

maternity clothes?: Yes

sleep?: Sleeping better- only getting up once to use the restroom (was 2-3 times a few weeks ago!)  I just need MORE sleep.  This being at work at 6 am to start a 10 hour work day is for the birds.  Not surprisingly, I feel much better throughout the day on the days I get more sleep (Friday, Saturday, Sunday!)

best moment of the week?: Our last Jones girls night at Painting with a Twist until Millie returns from Spain, celebrating Father’s day with a bike ride and lake cookout, hearing baby’s strong heartbeat Friday (148 bpm), seeing some glimpses of leaving that first trimester in the dust: I had some good, non-nauseous days this week!

food cravings?: Still no cravings really.  Eating is still mostly a chore.

looking forward to?: NT Scan aka an extra look at P3 this Thursday morning!  Wonder if they’ll make a guess at the gender!

I went to the Dr. on Friday and saw the NP since my dr. was delivering a baby.  I had concerns about the painful pressure I’m already feeling at the end of the days, and she said that I am going to have to wear a maternity support belt throughout this pregnancy.  Doesn’t that sound fun?  However, she checked to make sure everything was ok with the cervix and all is well!  Heartbeat was easy to find with the doppler and was 148 bpm.

One of my Favorite Notes Ever

Shelby handed this to me on the car ride home from a birthday party last weekend. 

Love my sweet girl.

The End of an Era

We started at TCC Children’s Center in August of 2007.  Tomorrow will be the last day we drop one of our kiddos off there (for a while, at least.)  We’re sure gonna miss that place and the welcoming smiles and love we get from all the wonderful ladies there.

Last week they had the annual “Family Fun Day.”  It had to take place mostly inside because of rainy weather but that didn’t hinder anything!

The kids enjoyed all the many stations set up around the center.  They were allowed to wander from room to room and participate in whatever they pleased.

There were hula hoops

2-person games to do with your best buddy

forts out of boxes

jar sand creations

Walks around their vegetable garden

Cotton Candy!

Decorate-your-own cookies

And when all else fails, go outside to find worms.

and pipe cleaner art!

We headed outside for some water balloon tossing.

Then back inside for a hot dog lunch and awards!
The pre-k grads waited patiently for their names to be called.

Coleman accepted his bubble trophy and diploma and a hug from every teacher!

Don’t they give great hugs?!

Then we snapped a few pictures with our buddies

And there he is: All done!

These are the best teachers in the world, period. :)  We will miss them very much!