35 weeks large

It's getting close!  Can't you tell by the big belly?

So what's new?  Nothing much I guess.  Little man is pretty low in there and so I am starting to really worry about delivery time and how much time I have to get to the hospital.  That's what I get for using a far hospital, but I refuse to change!  He is running out of room in there, that's for sure.  He is still a big mover, which ends up being rather uncomfortable for me.  His head is very low and so my poor bladder is taking quite the beating and my sleep is very affected.  I have started having braxton hicks contractions now.  They let me know when I have done too much and need to relax for a bit.  I definitely have to listen to my body more this time around and can't push things like I could with the others.  My rib has at long last gone out.  Depending on what I do that day it can bother me or not.  When I say out I mean it actually dislocates in the back where it connects to my spine.  Fun, right?  Yeah, I can't complain too much since it waiting until I was in the 30 some week spectrum to start up.  With the boys I dealt with it from pretty early on.  With both previous pregnancies I have ended up getting a third ultrasound around this point if not a little earlier due to  measuring too small.  This time I have been right on track the whole time so I haven't gotten an extra sneak peek.  I really enjoy that extra peek at them and it's nice to get a little weight prediction on them too.  But I might be without that this time!  

In my pre baby worry I have gotten the baby room all ready.  You can see it a little behind me on the right there in the picture.  All the baby clothes are organized and in the drawers, the pads for the car seat is washed and it is assembled again for little baby.  I have even packed all our clothes for the hospital already.  Judge me if you will!  I don't have anything else in there, but all our clothes are ready.  Just not the baby clothes yet because I am still deciding if I am making an alteration to the one onesie.  I still need to make the burp cloths/blankies too.  You'd think I'd have that done with all the worry I have going on over here!  I'll get there this week, I have to.  

I really can't believe we are only a month out from meeting our new little guy and starting a new phase of life. We should probably name him too.  How will it be with three little boys in the house?  My answer is, noisy.  It's already loud around here, I can only imagine the sound level will rise quite a bit.  I love my family and am blessed by all of my beautiful children.  

Oh Lando

This evening Landon and Will snuck outside after dinner. John peeked out and informed me that Will was in the pool,again. I had taken off his clothes right before dinner due to him playing in the pool. But he was back in. After a minute or two I stepped out to wrangle them in for jammies. What did I find? Will was indeed in the pool again, removing grass pieces one by one by hand. And where was Landon? He appeared around the corner stark naked. He had stripped off all his clothes and was about to join his brother in the pool, which I had forbidden both of them to do. See how well that works? I asked him what he thought he was doing. "I was getting in to save Will. I'm rescue guy Landon!" So, rescue guys now work in the buff? I'm not sure how I feel about that, but I think it's mostly unsettled and frightened.

A few minutes before that John and I were sitting on the couch enjoying the recap of the World Cup games we missed today. We heard the toilet seat flip and shortly after heard this lovely song, courtesy of Landon. "Poop comes out of your bum! Pee comes out your peep!" John looked at me and said, "well, he's right." Yes, yes he is. My ever curious boy when it comes to the workings of the human body. 

He has currently taken to asking me to scratch his back for him. He goes through spurts of this. He lifts up his shirt in the back and tells me exactly where I need to be scratching. Over, up, down, etc. The other day I was missing the mark,I guess, when he exclaimed, "no, mom! Over here on my scapula!" Yes, he knows what and where his scapula is and was telling me the correct thing. He learned about them long ago and loves to use the proper terminology. When your mom is an x-ray tech you will learn the correct word for them. None of this shoulder blade stuff!

Some days I wonder why he says some things when he does.  A few weeks ago we were in a jewelry store and the woman behind the counter said hi to him.  I told him to talk to her, my mistake.  He immediately said, "Do you want to see my teeth?"  She looked as shocked as I was and started to laugh, but said sure.  He smiled real big and showed her his teeth, "are they sparkly?" he asked.  Ever since he had his teeth cleaned at the dentist and was given sparkly toothpaste he is always asking if his teeth are sparkly.  But to ask a random stranger if they want to see his teeth was a new one.

His other favorite thing to do is tell people they are doing a good job while they are doing something.  If you could hear how he says it it's hilarious.  We had a new dishwasher installed and he was out in the kitchen watching.  Asking a million questions about their tools and what they were doing.  After a while he says, "you guys are doing a good job with that dishwasher.  A real good job."   This child is a goofball. I have no idea why. 

Fun with friends

We love having friends over to play!  Last night we had friends over for grilled goodies and fun.  We had brats and sausages and grilled veggies for dinner.  We followed that up with a big old watermelon.  All the boys had striped down to protect their clothes from all the food in the garden.  The kids were seen picking the bolted broccoli and munching on it, eating strawberries, and sucking on honeysuckle.  After all those treats they enjoyed tons and tons of watermelon.  By the time they were done they were sticky messes.

What a cute line up!  I can't believe I'll be adding another little dude of my own to this line up of boys.

Since they were all sticky they got a quick bath before they had to head home.  They all partook in the new bathtub finger paints and being goofy.  It was Elijah's first time taking a bath with other kids.  He seriously enjoyed all the splashing and painting.

We can't wait to play again!

Staycation

On our last day of our mini staycation we decided to change our plans.  Originally we were thinking of going to the aquarium, but the boys have had either no naps, or no normal naps, and haven't been to bed on time either.  So we decided to stay in town and get normal naps and normal bedtime.  We went to Hickory Falls, a local game center.  We played mini golf, John and Landon rode go karts, and the boys played duck pin bowling.  Afterwards we had Sweet Frog ice cream as a treat, and finished the day with Chinese food. What a full and fun afternoon!

 Landon was a wild man with the club.  He nailed John pretty hard in the ribs on the first hole.  We learned to stay clear of him while he took his turn.  But he did a pretty good job.

 Will LOVED golfing.  He was a big fan of picking up the ball and putting it right next to the hole and hitting it in, or retrieving everyone's balls for them before they ever finished the hole.  But every time he hit the ball he would yell happily.  You couldn't get mad at that!

 This was Landon's favorite part of the day.  He was a huge fan and would tell daddy to hit the boost button to go faster.

 We played one round of duck pin with the boys sharing the round.  That was definitely enough time, and they both really enjoyed it.  Will would roll the ball and then yell, "go go!" and do a happy dance every time he hit the pins.  Landon wanted to take every turn and did a really good job rolling it down the lane.

The boys were allowed to pick their flavors and their toppings.  They ended up with cotton candy and vanilla ice cream and various toppings.  They were very happy with that surprise.

And to end the night, Chinese food!  We gave Landon the choice of Chinese or pizza, and this was his choice.  Will liked to pick out the peas from his fried rice and holler, "ball!" and then eat it.  

It was a great day, the boys went to bed easily and I think they will sleep soundly tonight!  

Graduation time!

I can't believe it, my oldest niece graduated from high school this weekend!  This makes me feel very old.  I am so proud of her, for the amazing woman she has become, and the plans she has for her future.  For unknown reasons, they moved it indoors.  I was going to attend the graduation ceremony when it was outside, but to go indoors you had to have a ticket.  All the tickets allotted to Lauren were already taken, so I was going to miss out.  So John and I went over to see her while she was hurrying to get ready so we could give her her gift and say congrats.  As I was walking out of the door she stopped me because one of her friends had an extra ticket!  So I was able to go after all!  Hooray!  The ceremony was held in the school gymnasium.  It was over crowded, and there was no where to sit.  We ended up sitting on the stairs of the bleachers...oh so very comfy.  But it was worth it to see her graduate!

The graduate!  Waiting in line.

Receiving her diploma

 Lauren and I after graduation. 

 A mother daughter moment.   She's a proud mom!

 MaMa and her oldest grandchild

 Lauren and her cousin

 Proud parents

 My gorgeous nieces.  Can you believe how beautiful they are?

Best friends

I taught Michelle how selfies were done before they had a name and before cell phones with cool cameras.  

I love my nieces.

Campfires, critters, and the lake

We took another trip to the cabin this week!  Just our little family.  John has several days off, so we enjoyed three days at the cabin.  One day was spent at the beach at Raystown Lake.  

 There were lots of tree snails this time.  The boys found one big empty one, and one big live one.  Bottom right are the boys waiting for "Dave" the snail to emerge.  They waited for a long time, he finally peeked out and after we all went into prepare dinner he came out and climbed under the arm of the chair.  

 The view from our fire pit.  I love this view.

 1. The boys relaxing with Daddy while cooking dinner

2. Landon and daddy being twins. I didn't even tell them to sit the same.

3. Will giggling about a moth

4. The white blur on his arm is the moth.  They found a broken moth that was fluttering everywhere.  Will was able to get him to climb up on him repeatedly.  

5. Cooking our tin foil dinners.

 The dog found a turtle next to the cabin, he really wanted to eat it.  John rescued the turtle and brought him inside to meet the boys.  Will wasn't too sure about him, but we got Landon to touch him.

Beach day!  We enjoyed the day.  We spent three hours in the sun and sand and "waves".  The boats on the lake do make a wake so there are little waves, which made Will unsure about the whole experience.  Will just sat on the beach most of the time, digging in the sand and relaxing on the towel.  A real beach bum.  Landon surprised us by going in the water up to his armpits, even without a parent around!  Brave move for that kid!  He found a little girl next to us with beach toys he thought were pretty cool.  The two of them played together until she found someone her age, she was older than him.  He was a little upset when he was ditched for older kids, but he still enjoyed the water.  Everyone came home browned up, and ready for dinner, bath, and bed.  It was a good kick off to our little family vacation.

Play time at the park

We have driven past this little park in the woods, right off the road, for years and never stopped.  My mom and I met there a few weeks ago to exchange some things and found it was a great place for kids.  A nice creek for kiddos to splash in, and some playground equipment.  So we planned a date and met there again. We took lunch and the kids played in the creek and John fished (what else would he do near water?).  The water was pretty cold, but Landon eventually got over it and was wading in up to his butt to play.

The wonderful view 

 1. Landon found out he could work the water pump

2.Will didn't want to touch the water, so we found a rock in the middle for him

3. John caught three fish

4. MaMa and Landon trying to convince Will to walk into the water

 1 & 2. Showing off their big rocks, they HAD to find the biggest ones to throw in

3. They also had to both be shirtless

4. Giving Buddy (my parent's dog) a bath in the pump

These are my favorite.  Checking out all the fun stuff in the creek with Daddy.  This little man is going to be our outdoors man.  

We can't wait to go back when it's hotter and we can really enjoy the cool creek.