Special Daddy Time

This week, despite Hubby being incredibly busy with his school Homecoming events, he managed to arrange to spend some one on one special Daddy time with each of our big kids.

His initial plan was to take each of them to Glenwood Caverns with him, but then it was going to close too early to take Tracey after school so he ended up with three different adventures.

He took Tracey out to dinner at Chilis and then they went to PetCo where a sales lady let her touch a number of reptiles and amphibians.  Lastly they had ice cream on the way home.

He took Caroline to Glenwood Caverns where they got to ride some roller coasters together, and toured a fairy cave.

Finally, he and Howard went hunting this morning, which was a really big deal for both father and son -- first hunting adventure together.

No Lap

When you want to listen to a story on your Mama's lap... but your Mama no longer has a lap...

 

Petting Lex...

The other day, I saw Lexie laying down right by the back door and Addallee really gently running her hand over Lexie's back over and over.  Addallee was beaming and Lexie was tolerating the interaction just fine.

I walked over to them and commented to Lee Lee how well she was doing petting Lexie so gently and that Lexie seemed to really like that.

That's when I noticed that Addallee had an open tube of chap stick in her hand, and she was gently applying stroke after stroke of chap stick on Lexie's back.

Training

I have some training to do on the how to courteously share a bed before Howard gets married...

 

Introductions

Last night the littles and I headed up to Hubby's new school for their homecoming parade and bon fire.  It was a lot of excitement for our little ones on a Wednesday night when they have two more days of school this week... but we packed a picnic dinner and decided to give it a shot.  It was the first school event the children and I have attended, so we really wanted to support the school and participate in the Homecoming event.

Our little Lee Lee -- who talks ALL THE TIME these days surprised Hubby and me, when he and I were greeting a family that we hadn't seen in awhile and I was introducing the mom "Mrs. Whatshername" and Addallee just looked right up at her and said, "I'm Lee Lee."

This, of course, sounded more like, "I'm Yee Yee," but both Hubby and I looked at each other with surprise admitted that we didn't know she knew how to introduce herself.  She is not even two.

For the rest of the night, every new person that came over to greet our family, Addallee piped right up, "I'm Lee Lee.  I'm Lee Lee.  I'm Lee Lee" until the new party acknowledged her. 

 

 

Preggers V: 32 Weeks

How far along?  32 weeks, 3 days

Pictures taken in Colorado Springs -- I'm not a fan of the overhead lighting but at least I remembered to take the picture.

 

 

Comparisons:

 

 32 Weeks with Tracey

32 Weeks with the Twins

32 Weeks with Baby Number 4

 

How I am feeling? 

Honestly... pregnant.  I'm feeling like I should be getting near the end and knowing that I have two more months is a little overwhelming sometimes.  I've noticed I'm more emotional this week, and I think I am getting easily discouraged.  I know it won't last... but this week its how I'm feeling.

 

How big is the baby?  The size of a squash... 16.6 inches, 3.75 pounds

 

Sleep: I love sleep.  I have been trying to steal extra sleep by not getting out of bed for my morning workouts... which is not good, but sleep is so wonderful and feels so rare.

Boy/Girl Predictions: Last night Tracey announced out of the blue that she knew the baby is a boy... this is after she spent all day talking about how she wants only sisters.

Baby Nicknames: Baby

 

  Best moment this week: We had fun at the North Pole as a family... but honestly, the best moment of the week might be every night when I get to read some of a Little House on the Prairie book to the kids and then GO TO BED.

 

Food cravings:  Nothing in particular.

Missing:  My usual level of energy.

 

Movements:  Yes, and I love them.  Last week the baby had the hiccups, and Tracey was able to feel the consistent hiccups... the twins tried to feel, but still say they can't really feel anything.

Labor Signs:  Not yet, thankfully.

General Attitude: Like I'm in the home stretch.  I want to pack my hospital bag, and I need to sort through the kids' clothes because they have WAY TOO MANY.  I need to decide what stays for hand-me-downs, and what can go... and I need to do that before I can really prepare for the baby... but I just don't know when I will be able to do it.  By the way, can I just take a nap?
 What I am looking forward to this week:  Having a better week than last week.  Last week the kids were really hard.  I think it might have been almost a full-moon hangover, but this week is going to be better.

Milestones: Thirty-two weeks means I can deliver in Glenwood, which is always a good milestone when you live where we do in the mountains.

North Pole Weekend

Last weekend, Hubby and I took the kids to the North Pole -- the North Pole in Colorado Springs, that is.

This is an amusement park outside of Colorado Springs where Santa lives year round.  They have half-priced tickets a few weekends a year and this past weekend was one of those.  We went two years ago and found that the rides were perfect for our kids because the twins were tall enough to ride nearly every ride as young as 20 months of age.  This year, Lee Lee was tall enough to ride nearly everything -- and Tracey was almost too tall for a few.

We had a great time.

Our Michigan did not help Michigan to win that day... but we had fun at the North Pole.

On the way home, we stopped at a Visitor's Center in the mountains and met a mountain man who played guitar.  Our girls had fun singing along to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and then he taught us a song about a moose that loved to eat marshmallows.