Wisconsin Dells at Nine Months Pregnant

I never thought I'd attempt Wisconsin Dells at nine months pregnant, but sure enough! We left on Sunday and got home Tuesday afternoon. Maybe it was a little crazy, but I figured they have hospitals there if need be. And, at this point, I may do anything to chance bringing on labor! Really, though, we had a great time. We wanted to go sometime this summer, and in all reality before baby comes is easier than after. There were some tough things of course, the biggest of which was just putting on my swim suit every day when I feel absolutely huge! I couldn't drink, couldn't go on any of the slides, didn't sleep that well. But, on the other hand, I didn't have to go on the slides and, probably because of the human thermostat keeping my temperature up, I never got cold while going into the pool or standing in the kiddie areas of the park with Max. Abby and Nolan and Dave went on all the slides there--even ones there was no way I would have went on! Max can't wait to be bigger, and was really mad when he couldn't go on all the slides with the kids. He will be just crazy... crazier than he is now.

In other news, I'm still pregnant. Oh wait, that's not news. I'm getting closer... just over two weeks left. I know that I could have this baby any day, and yet it feels like it could still be forever. I think one of the hardest things is just not knowing. Just tell me when it's going to happen! With Abby and Max it was easy. It was early and induced. I don't remember being this uncomfortable with Nolan even though he was full term. Now, I can't sleep (hence the 4 AM post!), can't eat well, can't concentrate, all those good things. Maybe I should pack my hospital bag? Maybe that will help bring on baby!

That's about all that's news (or not news!) around here. Hope all is well with you!

Pregnancy Brain

I kid you not, I had an entire paragraph typed, I tried to rearrange pictures, and now the paragraph is gone. Ugh! I know, what's a paragraph, right? Not much, really. But it did talk about my pregnancy brain. I guess that proves it. Not only am I forgetful, but I'm crabby, annoyed and tired, too. My poor kids. At least, I feel bad for them right now. Several hours ago, I felt bad for me. This summer has been the summer of I'm boreds, tattletales and fighting. Last summer we did so much stuff. This summer, the weather and my tiredness have combined to slow us down quite a bit. I'm not sure if having the baby will slow us down or speed us up!

Anyway, the rest is all randomness. I'm sure it's something you're used to by now!

I've never taken a baby belly picture before, but I got cute little tiny shoes, and I thought I'd see how they fit...

Not sure they'll fit. This baby looks BIG! I mean, look at that belly!

Here's Max with the same shoes on his ears.

Here's Max with underwear on his head... Abby's underwear specifically. But, I put it in here so I could talk about potty training. I think we're in it! Max woke up this morning and said potty! So, he sat on the potty and peed. Yeah! Then he peed in his pants an hour later. Boo. But then he peed on the potty again after that. Yeah! For some reason today I thought it would be a good idea to go to Costco and leave our house at 11:50. Nobody had eaten lunch, and Max hadn't had any nap, but I thought, whatever, let's hit it. So, we stopped first at Noodles to eat. Max was in pullups and shorts, and as soon as we got there, he said "Potty!" So, Abby took him to the bathroom, where he peed. But she also took his pullup off and didn't put it back on. Uh oh. So, we're eating lunch and I kept asking if he had to go potty. He said yes once, so we went, and he peed. Yeah! Then we were eating again, he was feeling his bottom, and I asked if he had to poop. He said yes, so we went, and he pooped on the potty. YEAH! Then we went to finish eating, I looked again, and he's feeling his bottom again. Do you have to poop? Yes, so we ran to the bathroom. Too late, pooped in his shorts. Boo. So we got it all cleaned up, and he had wet shorts. I didn't have extra with me (you'd think I never potty trained before... there's that pregnancy brain again!) so we went to Target. I let him pick out underwear and we got a pair of shorts and went into the bathroom where he put on the shorts and decided he wanted a diaper. Then off to Costco, which actually went surprisingly well, and home. Max napped on the way home, which was perfect. Then, tonight, I took his dry diaper off, and he went potty again. Then again before bed. I'm a little too optimisic over how easy this is going so far, and didn't even really want to train while having the baby. Oh well... I gues sif he wants to, who am I to complain?

Awhile back, I talked about the concrete curbs/edging we had put in at our house. Apparently the pictures were on Dave's camera... Here they are! Don't they look nice?

We had them put in during Abby's last week of school, but the boys loved watching them and all their equipment.

Not only did the guys bring Nolan and Max race cars to play with, they let them put their handprints in the cement. That was pretty cool.

Abby got to do hers when she got home from school.

Now on to sports... SOFTBALL AND TBALL ARE DONE! Not that I'm excited or anything. :) I really did like watching Nolan play. They had so much fun. Abby's games were definitely more "real" but some of those girls? Whew! That's a lot of attitude for a 9 year old. And the coaches? Yeah, clearly they're those same girls' fathers. Tomorrow Dave's taking Abby and her team, plus Nolan, to the Brewer game. He has the suite through work. I say more power to him. I'm not sure I'd want to hang out with 10 girls and the coaches, but maybe that's the pregnancy brain again.

Here's a pic from before games started on picture day. Max certainly wanted to be one of the team!

Here's Abby and part of her team after the last game... Tournament champions! They came in second in league play, but then won throughout the championship week until the final game. Abby was pretty excited to get the trophy and the shirt!

I tried to get some pics of Abby in action. They're not the greatest, but they're here anyway!

Dave got some better pics of Nolan playing...

And finally, Nolan and his lost tooth! We went to the dentist in the morning, they told him his tooth was loose, and by nighttime, it was out. The funny thing is, he lost it eating ice cream, which is exactly how Abby lost hers! I think that's strange. I mean, ice cream? I guess, whatever it takes!

That's all I got for now. I'll update as my brain permits, but if nothing else, will update when baby Paige, Ava, Holly or Natalie comes around!

By now, Max must be almost three...

It's taken me so much time to post about Max's birthday, and Fourth of July, and whatnot, that he must almost be three by now, right? Okay, maybe not that long, but seriously! When I felt like posting, my internet did not feel like working. And, of course, when my internet was working, I did not feel like posting. But, finally, I got new internet, and now all should be fine. Except I won't have anything to blame my lack of posting. Except a baby of course.

Anyway, on with the birthday! As always, we planned our annual pilgrimmage to Dave's parent's house for the Fourth of July, which now, since his birthday is on July 3, encompasses Max's birthday party, too. We're always looking for great weather to swim in the pool and hang out outside, great company, lots of kids and loads of fun, and, except for a little weather, we weren't disappointed. Because it's been so long, I'm going to tell the story through narrated pictures (hey wait, don't I usually do that??). Anyway, I got pics loaded but not in the right order. Bear with me, please!!

Here's the boys, sporting their Fourth of July best. Could Nolan be any tanner??

The Gawrych Men. We have a picture frame that says that, but the picture doesn't include Max. Now it'll have to be updated!

Jake and Nolan... Poor Jake. Nolan wouldn't give him an ounce of breathing room. If Jake was doing it, Nolan wanted to do it. In fact, Nolan wanted to do it with the same color, at the same time, in the same space, etc. It was crazy! But, Jake took it well (and maybe even liked being idolized?) :) It just so happened that they even had the same shirt (total coincidence) but in different color. I think it killed Nolan to have to have blue instead of red!

What a crew! I love these pictures, though. Because we're there every year, we have pictures of them all from each year. And each year, there's more and more kids, and they just keep getting bigger and bigger. Next year, SIX!!

The girls. They just disappear and do what they do. It's nice when they get older and can play games and do other less parent-involved activities!

Miss Max. Isn't this just mean?? He brought me Abby's suit. I put it on him. You can imagine Dave's reaction.

Happy Birthday to Max!

I'm in there? Show me more Auntie Lisa!

The girls were seeing how many ways they could carry a basketball together around the pool...

Everyone swimming! We had two out of three nice days. Friday was overcast, but warm. Saturday rained all day so Lisa and I took the kids to see Ice Age, then they came home and Abby and Max and Dave jumped into the pool with their clothes on. They had fun, then the kids swam with Dave and John in the rain. Since it wasn't lightening, why not?? Sunday was gorgeous! We planned on leaving early, but stayed until evening to take full advantage of the sun and the pool.

Max got a remote controlled boat for his birthday. I think it was a hit!

Max kills the kids with his present opening. Open one, play with it. Open another, play with it. It took him a long time to get through them all!

A big kid scooter! He loves it, and now goes back and forth between this one and the three-wheel one he got for Christmas.

And here's his wiggly thing he got. It's pretty neat, wiggle it and it goes. The bigger kids actually like it better--Max might not weigh enough yet. But soon!

He also got a basketball hoop from Dave's mom and dad, which was certainly a hit. When we got home, Jenny and Rocky next door game him a tricycle he can actually reach the pedals on, that he loves, and a small camper chair, which comes with us to all the tball and softball games. To round out the outdoor toys, which are great because that's where he always wants to be, my sister got him a new bubble mower, and he loves that. He follows me around when I'm mowing, but then gets distracted by the bubbles, which is pretty cute. My mom and dad got him Tumbles the dog, which rolls over and barks or whimpers for attention. Max (and Nolan too!) loves putting it to bed, holding it, petting it, and putting it in a corner when it bites him! (Hmmm, wonder how he knows to go to the corner when you bite??)

On Thursday night, we headed to a place called Choo Choo Johnny's, which Dave just loves (NOT!). The food is pretty bad, but comes to you on the counter off of a train. Kids of course enjoy it. Here's Megan with Max. She was great with him, playing with him and he just wanted to be with her all the time. He looks through his "Baby Who Loves You" book and goes to her picture immediately!

The night we went to the restaurant, they also had a balloon artist. It was pretty cool. They guy didn't just make animals, but very complex flowers, swords, butterflys, frogs, princesses, anything! It almost made the outing worth it, right Dave?? :)

Max loving the attention from Megan! (I told you pics were in no order!)

I have no idea what Grandma and Max are doing, but it was fun!

Peek-a-boo Megan!

The kids, as always, were fish in the pool. The great thing this time was that Nolan was all over too. The swimming lessons for him finally paid off, and he was doing flips and swimming all across the pool by the end of the weekend too. But look at that sky! A little ominous, huh?

How do you beat this? (Unless it was the grown ups with drinks in hand!)

And that's it! All in all, Max's birthday was great. I can't believe my little guy is two. And yet, in some ways he seems older. He's still a monster, but he's so much fun. Abby and Nolan have been in summer school in the morning, and I've been having a lot of fun just hanging out, me and Max. If we go grocery shopping it takes us forever, but because there's no other kids with us, we have the time. I let him look, hold stuff, put it back, move on to the next aisle. He's really been fun to watch and play with. And he's finally starting to talk! Yeah!

Other happenings and things to look forward to in future posts... Nolan lost his first tooth last night! Baby news is no news right now. My dad was in, and is now out, of the hospital (and is doing fine). I tipped Max out of the bike seat on the back of my bike. Summer school is done. My mom and dad have moved down and my mom will start work where I work on Monday (crazy!!).

I promise to come back soon!