Saturday after the kiddos finished with naptime, we escaped the heat by heading to the beautiful beach on Lake Michigan that is right across the street from Stephanie's parents' house. Once we got in the water, we wondered why the heck we hadn't spent the entire day there! It was so nice, and the kids all had a blast playing in the sand and splashing in the water.
Did you know that it is nearly impossible to get four small boys to all look at the camera at the same time???
Addison was smart enough to stay out of the fray. :)
Cutie pie Miles testing whether or not the sand is as tasty as it looks.
Miles, Andrew, Nathan and Austin spent some time on a collaborative sand castle project. We were all so impressed that Andrew was so willing to play with the little guys and was so patient with them.
After our fun at the beach, we headed to Stephanie's parents' house and relaxed on the patio before enjoying an absolutely delicious dinner that her parents were generous enough to make for us. It was so nice to see them and Steph's sisters, enjoy their beautiful home, and not have to worry about cooking dinner!
Two weekends ago, a group of dear college friends all gathered outside of St. Joseph with the hubbies and kids for a weekend of fun. Many thanks to Stephanie for organizing the gathering and to her very generous Aunt Cathy for allowing us all to take over her farmhouse for the weekend. Ten adults and six kids (the oldest of whom is six) in a big house for two days is a recipe for total chaos! It was good chaos though--we spent most of our time catching up in snippets as we all took turns chasing after each others' kiddos, getting them snacks, changing diapers, etc. The only negative of the weekend (other than that weekends are by their very nature entirely too short) was that the farmhouse did not have air conditioning and it was a scorcher of a weekend! Luckily all the kids slept pretty well, but it definitely made me appreciate our air conditioning!!
The farmhouse is used as a place for Aunt Cathy's children and grandchildren to stay when they're in town for holidays, so it was amazingly kid proof and full of toys. The kids had a blast playing with "new" toys. As usual, Nathan and Miles were partners in crime.
Saturday morning was threatening to be stormy, so instead of heading to the beach right away, we went just a jog up the road to Jollay Family Orchards, which is owned and operated by Stephanie's cousin and her husband. We pretty much had the place to ourselves, which was great, and the kids had fun running around like maniacs!
I am in love with the two and a half year old stage! Nathan is so incredibly funny, smart, inquisitive and stubborn these days! He is talking up a storm, and has really gotten into developing his conversational skills--every day at dinner he asks both Todd and I (while resting his chin on his hand) "Watcha fixin' on today?" He is endlessly fascinated with what cars Todd is working on at the moment, and Todd will often take pictures of his works in progress. N does humor me by listening to my stories about the students I interview, but will often lose interest when he asks me what kind of car the student drives and I'm unable to tell him (perhaps I'll have to add that question to my interview list!).
He's quite the safety officer while riding in the car, telling me when to stop b/c the light is red or to go when it's green. The other day we were stopped at a red light and I took a moment to readjust my ponytail, and was quickly admonished, "Mama, you got put your hands on the steering wheel!"
Continuing his obsession with all things automotive, Nathan can identify the make and often the model of just about every vehicle on the road, usually by looking at the badge on the front or back, but often with just a glimpse. His favorite vehicle remains the Dodge Ram, with the Jeep Wrangler/CJ coming in a close second.
Imaginative play is starting to be the name of the game with Nathan, and I absolutely love hearing the conversations that he has with Lambykins or his cars while he's playing. It's so cute! Often he will expand on/combine themes from the events of his day, sing songs, or talk about who is driving what car.
The big boy bed is going really well--I can't believe how smooth the transition was, and how much he's embraced the change. However, he still has absolutely no interest in potty training. One step at a time!
Nathan likes to surround himself with toys when he plays--his creativity cannot be contained! :)
Our local fire department has a fundraiser/neighborhood ice cream social every year. They go door-to-door selling tickets, and Nathan was completely thrilled that Fireman Tom let him climb into the fire engine!! Look at that grin! (And check out the monster truck temporary tattoo on his arm--that was a huge hit as well.)
Todd can get Nathan belly laughing like nobody else. He and Daddy have really been bonding a lot this summer. It's so cool to see! Here's a short video from bathtime last week. Todd was dumping water and making Nathan's car fall into the tub--he thought that was hilarious!
When we were up in Northport for the 4th of July, once we turned off the main road to the small one that leads to the cottage, Todd rewarded Nathan for his patience on the long drive by letting him sit on his lap and "drive" to the cottage. N was SO thrilled and overwhelmed. The video is a pretty good example of why two year olds do not qualify for a drivers license, but is also pretty funny as it looks like N is actually doing the driving!
Wow, 30 weeks pregnant already! It's hard to believe that I'm 3/4 of the way through this pregnancy--time is flying! I think part of the reason is that summer always seems to go so quickly. There are so many fun things to do and so many warm weather home projects on the never-ending to-do list. We have spent the last two weekends at home, which has been great (and unusual for us in the summer!). Todd and I have been scurrying around working on projects on the "must get done before Pepper arrives" list (my sewing room was like a little sweatshop last weekend) and still finding plenty of time to do fun things with Nathan--running in the sprinkler, taking him to his first movie in the theater (Cars 2 of course, and he loved it!), getting blueberries with Grandma Gail and Grandpa John, attending a race at the Kalamazoo Speedway with Daddy and Uncle Toby, and playing in the sandbox.
For the most part I've been feeling really good lately, even though my belly keeps getting bigger. I've had a bit more energy in the last few weeks, and have been able to do some walking and started taking a prenatal yoga class this week. The heat has been affecting me more than I expected it to--wearing me out, and also causing some beautiful heat-induced hives. Thankfully I live and work in air conditioned buildings! After suffering some pretty intense pelvic pain for about 6 weeks, I finally said something about it to my midwife at my 28 week appointment. She referred me to a physical therapist, and my work with her has made such a difference! Between her adjustments and my faithfully following the daily exercises and stretching she's prescribed I am feeling significantly better, and it's a big reason that I've been able to so some more walking and yoga.
Pepper has been getting into a bit of a predictable routine with her sleeping and waking periods. I love feeling her kick and move around. At least in utero, she is much more mellow than Nathan was. During meditation/relaxation during yoga, where Nathan would decide it was time to start a super distracting dance party, I can feel Pepper moving just a little bit and imagine that she is just focusing on relaxing her body with mine.
My midwife appointment this week went well. Pepper's heartrate was 143 BPM, and she was in the same transverse position as she was on my visit two weeks ago. She's a consistent little thing! Hopefully she will eventually decide to turn head-down, but there's still plenty of time for that. I'm measuring right on track with fundal height and have gained 16lbs total, which is well within the healthy range. I am on the home stretch with the weekly progesterone shots that I've been getting since early in the first trimester (initially to help prevent miscarriage and now to help prevent pre-term labor since N was early). Only six more injections to go! Let's hope they do the trick and keep this little one cooking to full term. It's hard to believe that I'm now meeting with the midwife every two weeks!
We took full advantage of the weather and our location this weekend, and spent a good chunk of each day on the beach. The bay was still too chilly for the grown-ups to do more than wade in, but it's getting there, and the little ones were enjoying it fully! This summer both Nathan and Miles absolutely LOVED the beach!! After a few minutes of trepidation about the water, they both had a blast digging in the sand, splashing, and exploring. It was so great to see them having fun at one of my most favorite places on earth, and nice to have them focused in such a small geographical area that we weren't constantly chasing after them in different directions--Annalee and I were actually able to have several long conversations!
The boys checking out the water... not so sure yet.
Papa helps them feel more comfortable. Oh, and can you tell that Annalee and I both shop at Target for toddler swim trunks??
Nathan and Papa, having fun at the beach!
Grandmas in the sand
Miles decided that the water is a good place to hang out.
Finding beach treasures
Playing catch
My handsome hubby
Two great friends and two great baby bellies!!
LOVE this kid!
Todd, Pepper and I (check out the 28 week belly--that baby is growing!!)
Fowles and Appledorns
Dan, Annalee, and baby Lulu
Love this perspective of both boys checking out the canoe
Hmmm... how much horsepower do you think this thing has??
One of the highlights of the weekend was going for a ride in Papa's boat. The bay was calm, and the boys loved the wind in their hair. Both of them started to get lulled to sleep by the motion of the boat though, so they quickly decided it was time to go back to the beach where they could stave off the inevitable nap time a little bit longer!
All the boys, ready to go boating. Can you tell that the little ones were a little skeptical of the life jackets?
