Dancing Queen

Hailey had her first dance recital last Saturday, it was adorable!  She was very focused and of course had no stage fright at all.  She is quite the performer!!  She gave us not so subtle hints that she wanted flowers, Jackson was so excited to give them to herHailey, Kiara , and Emma so adorable!!

Family Visits and Minnesota

I am trying to get caught up so when the baby comes atleast I won't start out behind.

A couple of weeks ago my brother Aaron and his wife Mandie and their 2 kids came to visit with my Mom.  We had a few days before Mike and I headed to Minnesota to go to Mike's brothers residency graduation.  A big thank you to my Mom and Mandie for watching the kids for a few days!

Of course we never take enough pictures but here are a few from our adventures both here and in Minnesota.

We had not had rain for more than 2 weeks but of course when company comes it had to rain on our paradeAs part of the Rose Festival some Navy ships come and dock on the waterfront.  We went down and went on a tour, they had some serious security and we were not sure if it was going to be worth the wait but the boys loved it I had never been to Minnesota and it was fun to be able to see Dave and Ann, and Doug and Nicky.  It is always fun to see where people live.  We stopped by to see the Mall of America as I had never seen it before, if it had not been Sunday I could have done some serious damage!  As it was we just walked around for a little while until I was contracting too much so we decided to head down to Rochester to visit with doug and Nicky before his graduation shindigAnn, Dad, and I at the graduation dinnerDoug, Nicky, Mike and I.    Congrats Doug, only 2 more years and then you can finally be done!  Nicky you are wonder woman!  

It was a whirlwind trip and I don't think that I want to fly that far again as pregnant as I am but I am really thankful that we had the chance to go!

Jackson

Jackson finished preschool a couple of weeks ago, he is going to be a big kindergartener in the fall.  He is so ready!!!  He had a great year at preschool with all of his friends.  they loved playing superheroes, and "big bad jet".  This year was the year of the cape, his teacher decided to make capes for anyone who wanted one because they were so into playing with the ones at school.  I was the class rep and decided that Teacher linda needed one also.  I stitched all of the kids handprints on the cape and had "Super Teacher" embroidered on it.  It was a lot of work but she is worth it and it turned out pretty darn cute.

Jack has grown a lot this year!  He is so big, I am pretty sure that he is going to be taller than me by the time he is 10.  He is very emotional which can be great at times and not so great at other times.  He has a huge heart and loves little kids.  He loves to hold babies, this will be a huge plus in a couple of weeks!  He and Noah are becoming best buds and love to play together, this is also a great thing

Teacher Linda & JacksonThe Cape!Enjoying a popsicle on Beach Day!Best Buds!

Hailey

I can't believe that tomorrow is the last day of school and that Hailey will be a 2nd grader.  She is growing up so fast and I know before I know it she is going to be graduating!  I wish that i could make time stand still (except for the fact that would mean i would be 8 months pregnant for a long time).

Hailey is  joy!!!  She is so tenderhearted, smart, helpful, talented, obedient, and thoughtful, just to name a few of her traits.  She is going to be a big help with her new sister and she already is with her brothers.

This year she played soccer, started piano, had choir,  took jazz, learned to read proficiently, excelled in school, and just grew up way too much.

Hailey at her choir concert, she loves to sing and perform!Hailey at her first piano recital, she does not seem to have any fear of performing, which is a good thing!  She has her dance recital on Saturday so I will have to post photos of that laterFirst day of school-Sept. Last day of school-June 2009

Big Events but not pictures

So unfortunately this post will not have any pictures but I thought I would document some of our recent happenings.

I just got back from visiting my sister and her husband.  They just adopted a beautiful baby boy born Thursday May, 14th.  His name is Gage Robinson Brady and he is a cutie.  It is fun to see my sister as a Mom!  Congrats to Katie and Rick!   Being around a newborn made me excited for our new baby girl to come and also made me realize that I need to live up the time that I have left because soon it will be all about feeding, pooping, and sleeping!

While I was away Mike took the boys to the Father/Son campout at the beach.  They say they had a great time although there are not pictures to document it.  I am a little bitter because I left the camera so that Mike would take pictures, I went to look at the pictures today and there were none.  So not only do I have no camping pics but I have no pics of my new nephew or the proud new parents.  Oh well, I 'll get over it!

The funniest thing was when I got home there was a note on the counter from Hailey.  I did take a picture but it is too hard to read so I will just have to write what it said.

Dear Dad and Mom,

In my home lunch I am getting sick of P.B. and J.

P/S. Please go over this list of things I would like on my sandwich

1. turkey

2. ham

3. amirican cheese

The girl is too funny, and yes she did have a ham and cheese sandwich in her lunch today.  She had never said anything so I just figured she was fine with it.  I am happy to know that she will assert herself when needed.

Almost 30 weeks + half marathon= Great Race!

I have to admit that I was a little nervous about how this race was going to go.  I went into it with the attitude of enjoying every minute, and I did.  I did not worry about my time at all and planned on walking if I needed to.  To my amazement I did not walk at all, and I felt great the whole time.  I feel blessed that I have been able to keep running during my pregnancy.  It is a great stress relief for me and I know that it is weird to many but I enjoy it.  Now don't think that I enjoy every minute of it all the time, but there is nothing like finishing a run or having a great race.  

Mike and the kids came and cheered me on and it was fun to see them at different points along the race.  The kids always have fun coming to races probably because they get lots of post race treats.  Today there were some good ones!  Jamba juice, mini cinnabons, soup and rolls.  They were in heaven in face, Jackson ate a little too much and had a stomach ache.

The weather was beautiful, sunny and warm, but not too warm. 

My time only 14 minutes slower than my personal best, not too shabby for almost 30 weeks pregnant.  Now I am going to go lie on the coach and veg.

I don't like posting pictures of my pregnant self but at the request of a sis-in-law I will post one.  I am already wishing that I was not posting this picture!

New Kitchen

It is finally done!  Yeah!!  No grout lines!!!  I have an oven again after almost 3 weeks.  You know what that means I will be baking something yummy.  Well I better save that until after my half marathon tomorrow.  I don't think that brownies are good prerace food.  I will have to post about the race later.  I have never done a race pregnant before.  Wish me luck.  

Here are some before and after pictures.

Before: