THE MALL...

Bailey loves to shop. She gets this from her YiaYia. I mean... what other 4 year old do you know will ask you, "want to go to the mall?" :)

She also loves to pose for pictures. Here she is posing with the manikins inside Macy's last night after gymnastics.

Oh...she loves to shop AND she loves to eat the samples (any food really) at the food court. That she gets from her Popo :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!

Happy Birthday Babe! I love that Boo gets so much of her silliness from you :) Here's to another 43 years. We love you!

PRETTY NAILS...

Last Saturday, Bailey went to a friend's birthday party. At that party, they painted the girls nails...now this is her "new thing". Since the party she's been asking me to buy her some nail polish so I could paint her fingers and toes ("because toes have nails too Mommy", she told me :). Today we were able to find the PERFECT set for her....a Disney Princess set: nail file and 5 little bottles of polish. I put the yellow on her nails and much to my (happy) surprise, the color is a VERY light yellow... mostly just shiny/glitter. I hoping the other colors are equally as light because, in the bottles, they look kind-of dark. I guess we'll see!

Either way...Boo loved them :)

PAINTING AND 26 WEEKS....

Bailey and I did some painting a couple of weeks ago (she's a much better painter than I :). As always, she was silly and we had a great time!

I'm now 26 weeks along...next week I actually start my seventh month and enter into the third trimester! My next ultrasound is in two weeks (you get lots of these when you get old); hopefully we'll get a couple of good pics and I'll post them online. Here's some information with respect to week 26:

The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. He may now be able to hear both your voice and your husband's as you chat with each other. He's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of his lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when he's born and takes that first gulp of air. And he's continuing to put on baby fat. He now weighs about 1.5 to 2 pounds and measures 14 inches from head to heel.

PRESCHOOL!

Boo is an offical "preschooler". She went to what is called Pre-K 3 last year but...I guess I would be a traditionalist because, for me, preschool is the year before kindergarten which, for us, is this year. Bailey went back to the same school (at a local church) and we LOVE her teacher! I'm really excited for both this year and next year as I really like both teachers.

Boo was SOOO excited for school! This past weekend she kept saying, "I'm so excited for my first day of school!" :) Monday morning when I woke her up, she rolls over and in this incredibly adorable half asleep voice she says, "first day of school...here I come". TOO CUTE!

We are technically paying for 5 mornings a week however, for now she's only going 3 (MWF). I'm not ready to give up my time with her. I guess is that traditional/old fashion way of thinking but I always pictured my children in preschool 2-3 mornings a week, kindergarten 5 mornings a week and then first grade their first year of all-day school. Either that...or maybe after so many years of praying...no begging God for a baby, I'm just not ready to let go. Good thing she's only 4! :)

After the first of the year, if she wants to go 5 mornings a week I might make that offer simply because the baby will be here and I think she might have more fun at school then at home while the baby is (God-willing) napping. Right now we're able to go fun places on the two mornings that she's home but...I know this will change once baby brother is born. For now...she's having a great time with the new experience of PK4. She has 2 girls from last years class and 1 boy from our church and all this (plus being familiar with the building) seems to have made her much more comfortable in the classroom. The difference between this year and last year is very noticeable. I really think it's going to be a great year :)



She would have wore sandles, but the school asks that
they wear tennis shoes (the playground has wood chips).

SILLY STRING....

This past weekend we celebrated Quinn's (Evan's little sister) birthday...we had a great time! As we were leaving, Glenna gave Bailey a cute bag full of goodies. One of the goodies was silly string. As in most cases, Boo was a bit apprehensive because she didn't want to get dirty but...after a couple of squirts, she warmed up and thought the fun stuff was pretty great! Thanks G!

TENNIS AND 24 WEEKS...

Last week Bailey had tennis camp (1 hour for 4 days). As with most sports, she thought it was "okay" but...she did her best! I'm thankful that it was at 9am each day because we've had some really warm temps these past few weeks. It was hard for me to be too frustrated, when she didn't run all that fast (or at all really :) when the coach asked them to. After all, it may have only been 9am but it was already 80-85 degrees outside and very humid!

I hit 24 weeks yesterday. I am now in my 6th month and starting to feel uncomfortable by the end of the day (for some reason, my belly is 3" larger at night!). Baby moves a lot and he is very strong. With Boo...I remember some really good kicks around 19-21 weeks, but she didn't "roll" my stomach until around 28. With him, I've seen my stomach "roll" since 21 weeks. He obviously has my sweet tooth already because he wakes up and gets very excited after I eat dessert at night (yes, that's at night...most every night. Of course, for me, sadly that's not a pregnancy thing :). Here's some amazing information that I found online about 24 weeks:

Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

WHY IS IT....

Why is it that my beautiful 4 year old refuses to take a nap...unless it's too late in the day to do so? Boo has what we call "quiet time" each afternoon. It typically starts between 1:30p and 2p (after she's finished lunch) and goes for 45+ minutes. Once every 4-6 weeks, she'll tell me she's tired (or she realizes she's tired once in there) and she'll take a snooze. However...most days, she simply plays.

BUT...give her the chance and 50% of the time, she'll fall asleep between 3:30p and 4p. The problem with that is, if she takes a snooze that late...then she doesn't fall asleep (that night) until 10p or later. UGGH!

The two photos below are from this week....dang, she's so darn cute and (poor baby) sooo tired! Now, if only she would do this at 1p or 2p!


Monday and....

Tuesday....