Congratulations Everyone

Today is Kevin's parents 35th wedding anniversary, and the birth of my new niece Lila Margurite!  That is a pretty memorable anniversary present!

We survived!

After a week with work, I am done, Kevin is back from St. Louis, and we all survived!  At this point of my life, with the two kids, work was a break for me.  Some days coming home to the kids was harder than what I did during the day, but it was good to mix things up a little and come back together stronger.

My hat goes off to all of you working women out there, it is hard to do both.  I also noticed that the work environment has changed since I had worked, contracts change, jobs get lost and found, people are concerned about the economy.  That doesn't really affect me as a stay at home mom.  I did miss aspects of working, but overall I was thankful for the opportunity, and am thankful to be home.  

I also know that I need to change things with Daniel, I know all are learning in the journey of parenthood, but with my sister watching the kids for a little she helped me see a few things that may work better for Daniel than I had been doing, and I appreciated that.  It is fun being a part of Michael's life as well, and being his aunt "Mimi", is cool to have a special name from him.

And now I am down to the final weeks of pregnancy, and I still have to slow down a little bit more, my body is hurts if I overexert myself.  My sister leaves on Monday, but will be back in a few weeks to help out with the birth, thanks again Beau!  As for now, we are going to have a relaxing weekend.

A taste of things to come

My sister and nephew have been in this week, and I am very happy to have them around for another week at least.  It has been a taste of having three kids in the house, and the pace really does pick up.  I am thankful we got the mini-van when we did, and watching the kids interact has been a treat.  Oh yes, there are the occasional wrestling matches, a three year old really can evaluate the situation and know how to get under the skin of the next person, and Rachel can boss some boys around quite a bit, but the week really went by quickly!

Kevin got back Friday night and will be in St. Louis on Monday for a conference.  There are plans to watch a Cardinals game while being there, but he says it is just a bunch of financial analysts getting together and talking numbers and statistics, maybe he says those things just to make me feel better.  

Daniel had his first dentist appointment today, and Kevin got a chance to take him.  He did really good, no cavities, and he got all this cool stuff from the office.  I don't remember balloons or dinosaur toothbrushes when I was a kid. 

So I am off to be a very pregnant working woman next week.  I am happy to be connecting with folks I used to work with, although it is sad how things have changed on base after a few years, I guess you expect things to be the same as you left them.  Welcome June, a month of many birthdays and preparation for more to come.  

Memorial Day weekend

Here's to the start of the summer season!  We had a great time in NY this weekend, it was pretty relaxing for me.  It was nice to have the kids play outdoors, enjoy family time, and just get plain tired out.  My grandmother, who is 90, was able to make the trip up and we had a little get together with a few family members and friends on Sunday.  Here is a picture of all of my immediate family:

So we did give the boys a good summer haircut, looks a lot like their grandpa "Buddy".  Here they are recharging from all the outdoor and pool time.  
Kevin got in on some of the action, here he is helping clear some of the land.  My brother is making an orchard and gardens on the property, and it is a lot of work to get land ready.  I think Kevin enjoyed this type of work.  
Dirt, all you need is boys and dirt.  They were able to play in the back yard a lot and just run around.  
We drove back yesterday, and Kevin is getting ready for his first of two consecutive trips tomorrow.  I called in the support, my sister and nephew are in for a little, and I am getting things ready for my work week.  I had a teleweb conference today that I was able to take at home, and I just prayed that my kids wouldn't scream or get into a fight for an hour, it worked pretty good for the most part.  

I am starting to feel very pregnant, and am getting nervous a little for June.  I think I will be early, he is moving around so much, but I am not sure how early.  We are starting to get some invites for July activities, and I am realizing by then we will have a third child.  Oh well, I am very excited to see Noah and that he is going to be a part of our lives.  

Beautiful Day

I wanted to put a post up before we head out for Memorial Day weekend.  We are heading to upstate NY for the weekend on Thursday, and I am looking forward to being back for a few days, I was thinking it has been over a year since we have been back.  My grandmother and aunt will be up from North Carolina, so it will be a little family get together at the same time.  

In the mean time, here are some things we have been up to.  The kids have been finger painting, and both have been loving it.  We have gotten Daniel to nap again, just need to keep him up a little later, and make sure it is not too long, but I need to get my nap in too!

Here is a funny position we found Daniel sleeping in.  
Today Kevin's work had a little lunch burger burn, and I took the kids, but first we went to the little farm next to the base and got the kids to feed the goats.  Well goaks, as Rachel now calls them.  Daniel is getting more brave around the animals, Rachel still get excited until she gets too close.  

We will hit the ground running when we get back, Kevin will be gone for a few days next week, and the first week of June I will be working while Kevin is away for a conference, but my sister will be here helping me hold down the fort for that time, so I hope to get some good pictures of the cousins.  I am happy the weather will be nice for the weekend, and hope you all are able to enjoy the Memorial Day weekend!

Kids and cats

After a very relaxing Mother's Day weekend, this week has been moving right along, footloose and fancy free (sorry that was a song).  But as for the feet, I painted Rachel's toenails this week and it is so funny that she loved it.  If I wear a necklace, she wants one, if I paint my toenails, she wants hers painted, what a little girl she is!  

As for Daniel, you can't really hide much from him.  Kevin took Saturday afternoon while I was away as an opportunity to make a Mother's day card for me from the kids.  He wanted it to be a secret, and when I got home we asked Daniel what they did while I was gone.  Daniel said they made a card, love the honesty.  

I have tried to be out of the house for most of the time this week, and it is for a reason.  Daniel has seemed to drop his nap, and only really naps if he falls asleep in the car.  I think I am ok with it, I just need some quiet time to let Rachel sleep her few hours, and to sit and rest.  We also did gymnastics this week, and it was a little rough for Daniel, he still gets so excited with all the fun things in the room and has a hard time listening, but I am sure after a few weeks that will settle down for him.

Things have been busy with me trying to get all the paperwork in for the week of work coming up, and Kevin has been pretty busy with work and refinancing our house.  We faced a little hiccup this week, and it is being taken care of, we just have to go up to NH this weekend to meet with our renter and get a few things signed.  Maybe we will make a little family trip of it, it is still hard to make trips up there without remembering all the difficulty we have had.  

Well, as for the cat's part of the title, here is a video of the famous Rachel Meow.  I am glad I caught it on tape, I think one day she is going to need a real cat of her own, but until then I like the stuffed ones!

Great Cape Escape

For a few months now we have been planning a trip to the Cape, and I joked that it would be the first, and last one, of just the four of us.  The weather was a little overcast the whole weekend, but we were very blessed that it didn't dampen our family time.  There were a few things we got to that we wanted to hit.  

When Kevin was growing up, his family would drive to New England to visit with family, and they experienced a lot of beach time.  His most memorable one was called Skaket beach, where when the tide went out, you could walk on the sand bar for a very good distance.  We were able to see that beach in the two photo's below, and it was really neat to see that little critters and walk out with only the water up to your ankles.

The kids found some hermit crabs and put them in the buckets, and just enjoyed playing in all the sand.

Here are Kevin and Daniel with their nets ready to catch some other things.  Kevin said he saw a huge horseshoe crab out in the water, and he went way out in the cold water to find some cool things.  
Here is Daniel taking the ferry to Martha's Vineyard, we only spent the day out there.  He was very funny saying that our gray car was very happy to be riding the boat, and was very interested in the map of the island and in helping us find the different lighthouses.  He thought there would be buried treasure in the lighthouses, but they were locked, so we didn't find any treasure chests.  
I needed to include at least one photo of me...
Here is a good one of the men...
So for the rest of the time we were able to just enjoy the little cottage, "Daniel's Little house", visit with Kevin's grandmother, go to the indoor swimming pool almost every day, and on the rainy morning we went to a Children's museum that was just a few minutes away.  Another big thing we learned is to not tell Daniel what exciting thing we would be doing the next day, because he would wake up very early talking about it.  Having a mini-van, GPS, and a DVD player also really help on these types of trips!

Now it is back to reality and washing all the clothes.  I am thankful for the time we had, and I think with all the rain the trees are looking a lot greener.