Blog All Title

Aidan is learning what it means to be a boy -- like how I don't paint HIS nails pink after I clip them like I do the girls. "Just gails?" he says. "Yes, just girls," I answer.
He's also learned that girls go first, especially when we are getting into the car. "Gails first." His favorite girl/boy 'rule' however, is that boys open doors for girls. He loves to run to the door, open it, and then hold it until everyone has entered. He does this at the library, at restaurants, and especially when we get home. It's very sweet.
The only flaw in all of his gentleman actions, is that he is three and full of three-year old reasoning and temper (aka sin nature!) If the girls happen to open a door before he does, it is nothing but screaming . . . . "I DO IT! I A BOY!!!!!" And then the violence . . . . he proceeds to slam the door and demand that he be the one to open it . .. . . OH MY!

Rick here. So...my sister has started posting some old pics on her facebook. Some of these are just great. It was fun to show them to my kids the other day. They like seeing mommy and daddy when they were little. I have maybe 10 pictures from when I was little...so this is a treat of sorts to have so many pics that I thought I'd never see or be able to show again. For those that know my kids...any resemblance?

Me around 3-4 years old

Me around 1st grade or so...

I'm proud to say that I'm just about done in Juliet's room. The mobile is still immobile. But the crib -- which has been used almost non-stop for 7 years -- has been scrubbed as has the changing table I bought off of Criag's List. I was just going to touch up the paint on the shelves that I originally painted when I was pregnant with AnnaBeth. However, I had to completely repaint them after discovering that the places I'd touched up were lighter than the original paint. (I guess the paint on the furniture darkened over the years?) I didn't have the same green I'd used then, so I used the green from the girls' room -- it doesn't look so great in the pictures, but it looks OK in the room. I just finished my painting and scrubbing tonight! Here is the result:

The bed is even pulled out and ready for Meme and Papaw to come!

And here's another project I've recently finished. I'm excited to see the kiddos in them!

For those who are curious -- "Little Sister" wouldn't fit on her tiny little onesie!

I still have more to do . . . mostly cleaning things around the house. But I don't know that I'll ever be finished with that!
So baby Juliet, whenever you decide to show up, it's just fine with me!

Swimming has always been one of my very favorite activities. In fact, most of my favorite activites involve water in some fashion. I love going to the lake, water skiing, floating on a raft, playing water volleyball, . . . I could go on and on! I LOVE that our kids also love the water. Although we've been at the pool frequently for the past month they still jump up and down and cheer whenever we announce we are going swimming. It makes my heart glow warm.
Not only do they love the water . . . but their skills are improving, quickly. Which leads me to the point of this post . . . .
AnnaBeth amazed Rick and I this afternoon by mastering not one, not two, but THREE new skills in the swimming pool! First, she begged and begged to swim halfway across the width of our pool. I said she could swim it with me. And when she kept going, so did I, until we'd reached the other side! For a little bitty five year old swimming across a pool that has at least 6 swimming lanes is quite a distance! And then she proceeded to swim back. New Skill #1.
Later, she was swimming underwater and started pulling my legs apart. I was very surprised when she swam right underneath them. She didn't even warn me that this was something she wanted to try! Rick and I got to be bridges quite a bit after that (although I had to protect my big belly from little kicking feet!) New Skill #2.
And once she realized that she was actually able to swim that far underwater (she's been trying and trying to reach the bottom since last summer) she also realized that FINALLY she could grab the diving rings from the bottom of the pool -- not just from the steps. New Skill #3.
We are very proud of our little fish. Our whole school of fish for that matter!

We are getting closer and closer to the birth of baby Juliet -- a little more than 2 weeks until my due date. My doctor seems to think, in his 'medical opinion' (ha!) that she'll come early. I laugh because a)there is NO WAY he can make a prediction like that and b) because I think he secretly is wishing she'll come early because his vacation starts that day after my due date! He keeps trying to talk me into an induction . . . but I've been there and done that and will try to avoid it this time if at all possible (no matter if it does run into his vacation!) This time I am trying to go for a drug-free birth. I figure if I'm going to try it, it might as well be with the fourth! Plus, the epidural didn't work last time. So I essentially DID go drug-free, only with pitocin added -- which produces very strong and painful contractions (thus, no induction this time!)

It's always amazed me how God puts instinct into his creatures -- like how the birds know to fly south for the winter (how do they know which way south is when the sky is cloudy?!) And what's equally amazing is how he's given women closing in on giving birth the 'nesting' instinct. The last couple of weeks I've seemed to shaken off the intense fatigue I'd been experiencing and suddenly have new energy. Projects that I've been putting off for months and months now look appealing. The half-finished nursery and unwashed blankets suddenly need to be done NOW. It comes and goes . . . but here are a couple of things I've been working on:

I've been hanging family pictures in the stairway. I've probably gone through every picture we own of us. It's been fun to look at baby/toddler pics of the kids and Rick and I and imagine what new baby will look like. Not only that -- but what kind of personality is she going to have? With the other ones, it showed up the day we brought them home from the hospital!

Putting the nursery together. Although, I've run into a few snags. This picture shows the mobile that Rick is trying to fix -- it won't turn for some reason! (Not very 'mobile' at all. sigh)

So what have the kids been doing while Mommy is in project mode?

For one -- Raegan has been teaching AnnaBeth to play chess. Amazingly AB has actually won a couple of times (I secretly think it's because Rae isn't always monitoring her to make sure she's following the rules!)

Aidan meanwhile, has been 'playing' in his room. Or more like -- DESTROYING it!

(Yes . . . he IS holding a purse. But doesn't it sort of cancel out if he's also holding a batman mask?)

Once he even made his own 'snack.' That is, he opened a jar of peanut butter, inserted his entire arm, and proceeded to lick the PB that clung to him from his fingers to his elbow. Oh my! Rick was the one that caught him and was much more upset at him than I was -- I think it's because my sweet husband was the one that cleaned him up!

And finally . . . Rick has taken up a tradition that was formally done by me -- reading to the kids at night. So we are taking a pause in the Little House series (not really Rick's style!) He's chosen a book that his second grade teacher read to his class that he loved as a kid. It's called The Great Brain, by John Fitzgerald. It's a look into the mind of a little boy -- ha! The kids are loving it!

I keep hearing that my wife is taking over this blog again...but alas...this is my third post since she took it over again. Hmmm.

For those of you that don't know it, Raegan DOES want to be the next American Gladiator. She's currently in training.

Rick here. Ok...I know I'm kinda' slow to the party here, but I just registered with Skype recently and it is simply mind-blowing. Forgive my excitement (for those that are veteran skype users), but it's pretty cool that I can talk to about anyone that has a skype account in the world via webcam in real time...for free. Quality can be sketchy at times...but hey...it's FREE!!!

I was actually made aware of this technology by Nick Ostermann...a church planter in residence at CityView. He suggested we could skype a meeting instead of spending the time/gas it took to meet up downtown. So...it's free...and it saves me gas money AND travel time. Love it.

Anyway...our cityview leadership will be using it for meetings and such. So far, I've talked to a missionary friend in China...had a meeting with Nick (same guy mentioned above) and talked to my best friend from high school. Great tool...great technology. In case you're interested and in the market, you need a good web cam and then you need to download skype and register an account.

The web cam I use is the quickcam pro 9000...smooth video and great audio playback. They are on sale at Best buy as of this posting for 79.99 (regularly $99.99).

Well...we are trying to get ready for our new baby girl in a few weeks. I was in the attic earlier and retrieved the bouncy seat, the swing, and some bottles. Talk about memories. I've also been looking at pics and old vids. Here's a classic--Aidan when he first learned how to walk. Good times.

So I've decided that it's probably about time I posted a little bit. I have to admit . . what put me over the edge was the day I saw Rick had posted 'fecal contamination.' There's got to be more going on than that!

So here are a few pictures summarizing our summer so far . . . .

We were fortunate enough to score some really great seats at the Rangers game when the Royals were in town. It was a great night -- we were only 12 rows above the Royals dugout, it was dollar hotdog night (Aidan's favorite), it was a cool night (great for a pregnant lady), the Rangers hit several homeruns which meant the fireworks went off quite a bit, and the kids got to share their first ever cotton candy (Raegan says I was spoiling them!) Rick had fun, despite the final score!

Anna Beth graduated from preschool. On stage she told everyone, "My name is AnnaBeth. I am five years old. When I grow up I want to be a cowgirl." How sweet!

More pictures from graduation:

Also happening this summer . . .
Raegan lost her fourth tooth -- leaving an incredibly cute gap!

Aidan got a bike for his birthday. This was the worst kept secret ever -- he's known since February that this is what his present was going to be!
Here I come!

Pausing to pose for a picture

And there I go again!

We've spent alot of time at the pool. The kids are such great little waterbugs. And I can swim laps and not feel like a big pregnant person!

Speaking of big pregnant person -- only 3 1/2 weeks to go (more or less)
Photo by AnnaBeth!

And finally -- for Aidan's birthday we promised to take him on a train ride. Specifically the 'big train' called the tarantula that travels from the Stockyards. After 3 hours of mishaps and missing trains that had mommy almost in tears, we decided to give up for the day. We still plan to take Aidan on the 'big train', but in the meanwhile, we rode the 'little train' next to the zoo with some friends. It was alot of fun!

Aidan with his buddies

View of the train, from the train.

Waiting for popcorn at the stop.

Yup...that's what the sign said when we tried to go to the pool yesterday. There are many joys and sorrows to the community pool. When parents neglect to place swimming diapers on their children...we all experience the latter. Bummer.

Back to swimming today, though. Had a great time. Kids always have a big appetite after the swim. I think Rae just might become a swimmer. She was doing laps tonight...and she was doing a pretty good job.