Do you know what I miss most during the winters? Besides sun, of course. I miss being able to stop at the playground on a whim. Being able to kill 20 minutes (or an hour!) at a playground instead of driving around or going somewhere to eat. We went grocery shopping today and my un-napped, crazy energy, boy chose to ride in the cart the whole time. I had promised him a show after grocery shopping (a new DVD from the library), but by the time we got done shopping he was bouncing. Then I had a brilliant idea… the playground!!! It was 55° at 5:30pm and the sun was still shining. What a day! We stopped at a nearby playground and I ran them! They wanted to sit in the sandbox and I said no way! They climbed and slid, and swung, and we ran and ran. It was great!
Quick checkup
We had our first baby checkup today. Mostly a meet-n-greet with the midwife. Eve was nervous that the appointment was for her, but got very happy when I told her it was for the new baby :) All is good. I’m going in next week for an early ultrasound to try and more precisely date the baby, since I was a week and a half late before finally (FINALLY!) getting a positive pregnancy test and since both of the other kids were overdue, the midwife thought it would be good to try an early ultrasound. They did the same thing with Eve, settled on the original due date, and she came 6 days late anyway :) We’ll see if the date changes with this little bean. Not much else to report. I scheduled my next two appointments (early ultrasound and first exam with heart beat) for afternoons so Lex can come too. He was very pleased when I told him. I love how excited they are :) How excited we all are!
Dry nights
I’m a little nervous to write this and jinx us, but Lex has now gone six nights in a row without wetting the bed! Could he possibly be done with diapers? He has been marking D on his calendar each morning that he wakes up with a dry diaper and Alan told him that when he gets four Ds in a row he can try sleeping with no diaper. This week that happened! And then two dry, diaper-free nights followed! Yesterday Alan promised Lex a trip to the playground today if he had another dry night. This morning Lex was dry but the weather outside was most certainly not. Somehow, in Lex’s mind, that reward trip to the playground morphed into a trip to the “ice cream store” (the village store) and then when Alan woke up the plan became lunch at Friendly’s with ice cream to follow. I suggested a trip to the science museum afterwards to burn off the ice cream! The boys went out and had a great time! Eve wanted to go, but Lex decided this was his special treat (which was fine because she really needed a nap anyway). She was sad to see them go. Here’s a little video. Sorry again for the sideways.

Eve watching the boys drive away. She decided she need to wear Lex's hat and mittens to wave goodbye :)
We had fun, somewhat, at home without them. I was pretty tired so we ended up cuddling in the big bed and taking a nap together. Morning sickness and exhaustion both hit this week and I’ve been happily napping with the kids each day. I love naptime! I woke up and exercised and Eve woke up an hour later in tears because I wasn’t in bed with her anymore. Oops! A few cuddles later she was fine.
Anyway, back to Lex… done with diapers? I’ll keep you posted! (and I’m sure I’m ruining it just by writing this!)
Strong daddy
A magical birthday party
Silly girl
Alan brought in Eve’s spare carseat from his car yesterday and she has been having a blast playing in it. Doesn’t she look like such a big girl!?!? This was her baby car seat that she technically still fits in, but we moved her up to a different one in the primary car.
Sorry this is sideways. I thought I could rotate it, but now I can’t figure out how!
Goodbye Weight Watchers… at least for now.
It’s with mixed emotions that I said goodbye to Weight Watchers today. I’m really, REALLY tired of doing it. I’m so close to my goal (only 5lbs!) but it occured to me the other day that I’ve been so close to my goal since mid-summer! Ugh. I’m so tired of it. I was hoping that maybe a little morning sickness would help me lose the last few pounds, but 5lbs is a lot to expect. I lost about 3lbs from morning sickness with both kids. I started getting nausea on Thursday and Friday, all day, and so far what keeps it at bay is a small, but steady supply of food. Eek! I’ve been eating a ton of bananas and apples, but at 2pts each even they can throw off your daily points allotment. I went to the meeting today and gained a bit and decided it was time to call it quits. I feel like a bit of a failure because I’ve been unable to shed these last few pounds for SO long. I’ve been doing WW for almost 2 years now (seriously!!) and I have lost a lot of weight, so maybe (this is what I tell myself) I just need a break. Maybe I’ll be able to come back and reach goal after this next pregnancy. Hopefully!! For now I’m going try to keep eating healthly, but stop stressing and agonizing over food. I’m really tired of it!
(Today I celebrated with a big piece of birthday cake and it was GOOD!)
A quiet afternoon at home
After Tuesday’s disastrous trip to the toy store and yesterday’s swim adventures we decided a quiet afternoon at home was in order. We built giant block towers (I tried to get a picture of a great one Eve built, but she knocked it over before I got the camera!), flew and crashed Alan’s fancy Lego spaceships, and played games on the Doodle Pro. That thing is on it’s last leg and still a favorite toy in this house. Thanks Joyce! The kids loved hangman (though I confused Lex when I drew flowers instead of gallows) and then we played the box drawing game. Anyone know what this is really called? You start with a bunch of dots and take turns connecting them to build boxes. Whoever makes the most wins. Know what I mean? Lex likes the game a lot and today Eve decided to play too. She was surprisingly good at it! All of that followed by a nice dinner (mine was awesome and theirs was even moderately healthy!), happy bath, and easy bedtime. Life is good.
Back in the pool
Lex had his first lesson today. He loved it, of course. His teacher said he did great. He has three other kids in his class and told me afterwards that he made a new friend. :) We swam for two hours and they had a blast. Eve did so much excited underwater dives that she made herself throw up! Fun, huh? Luckily I pulled her up and managed to catch it all on her belly and swimsuit. Time to wash that thing! I made her stay out of the water for five minutes afterwards and keep her head above water for the rest of the time we were there. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen again.
Reading
Lex has started reading out loud again. That makes me happy. He has been shy about it for awhile now, even going so far as to tell me that he doesn’t read in school, he only looks at the pictures. I’m curious if he’s starting to notice that other kids his age can’t read. I was happy this morning to hear him reading to Eve again. They were supposed to be getting dressed, but reading is so adorable I grabbed the camera and let them keep going.
After school Lex got in the car and said, “I’m not very tired from school so I think I’ll read Eve a story on the way home today.” He grabbed a book (we ALWAYS have a stack of books in the car) and read to her the whole way home. Notice how he holds the book so she can see the pictures? He did that in the car too :) Such a sweet big brother.










