A Relaxing Weekend

We had a great relaxing weekend at home!

A lot of time was spent outside. In fact, Sunday we were outside for nearly 5 hours between playing soccer, playing with the water table, the pool, Luke's pool, eating lunch, etc.

Saturday was warmer than we expected it to be so we gave the pool a whirl, but the water was freezing! Luke really wanted to go in, but then proceeded to scream bloody murder once he did. I was afraid this was going to be the end of the pool fun for the summer. Once Luke is "traumatized" it is hard for him to rebound; however, he surprised me on Sunday by jumping right in!

He thought floating, 'surfing', 'fishing', and 'napping' on this raft was the best!

38 Weeks

We are definitely in the home stretch!

I had my weekly doctor's appointment Friday morning and was told that I have made no progress - nada! I'm ok with that...I thought I was getting to the point where I just felt READY to have this baby, but I have been really hoping for a July baby!

My doctor mentioned that she will be out of town from July 1st through the 4th so now I am REALLY hoping the Little Miss stays put until at least the 5th! Doctor said she thinks I will go pretty close to my due date (the 9th) so hopefully that is the case. I guess you never know and the little one will come when she is good and ready :)

I go next Thursday so that my doctor can see me before she leaves, but I doubt she will check me again. Fingers and toes crossed that this little girl stays nice and comfy cozy and maybe the fireworks on July 4th will get her going again!

So here I am...38 weeks!

My Little Golfer

So most everyone knows that Wally LOVES golf! And I have posted on here before that Luke has been golfing with his Daddy before and seems to enjoy it as well!

On Wednesday evening Luke went to the range with Wally and when they got back, Wally was literally raving about how 'good' Luke is. He even went as far as saying that "grown men were coming out of the clubhouse to watch Luke". I know Wally's stories are always a bit exaggerated so I needed to see for myself...on a cool Friday evening we headed to the range.

Luke was showing me where we had to go!


Getting set up...


and here we go...




What a cute little golfer!


Don't forget to clean your clubs when you are done! It is so funny because Luke does everything Wally does. He cleans his clubs, he uses the brush, and then he towels them off!




My favorite picture of the day :)


After practicing driving, it was time to practice putting for a bit!






So I will say that Wally was definitely exaggerating a bit [although Wally will tell you that Luke just had an off day :) ]. While Luke gets what he needs to do, he is by no means showing signs of being a #1 golfer on the PGA Tour at the age of 2 1/2; however, time will tell :) He really does enjoy it though and poor Wally can rarely spend some time alone on the golf course because Luke ALWAYS wants to go with him.

I took some video too!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Dear Luke,

The days of you being an only child are drawing to a close. And what terrifies me more than anything about bringing another child into our family isn't whether or not it is possible to love another being as much as you - I know my heart will continue to grow, but what bringing another person into our family does to the little world within which you currently exist.

I worry that by bringing your baby sister into this world, we will somehow lose a bit of you along the way. I know that is a ridiculous thought, but it scares me to think that you might feel some bit of pain/hurt in not being the only child anymore.

For the last 2 1/2 years, our world has existed completely around you. And that will continue on, I promise! The only difference is that that world will be expanding to make room for your sister. Our hearts and minds will expand so that both of you fit just as comfortably in our arms and world as you have always felt.

You have amazed me from the second I held you in my arms on December 11th, 2008, and I know you will not seize to amaze me once your sister arrives. So I wonder why I worry so much about disrupting your little life. You have adapted to everything we have thrown at you, and I know that this will be the same. You have shown me no reason, thus far, as to why I should even worry. You give kisses to your baby sister in my belly, you refer to her by name, you tell us about all of the things you will teach to her, you know exactly where she is going to sit at the kitchen table when she is bigger, you seem excited to be a big brother. I know you have no idea as to what is really coming, but I have very high hopes that everything you feel and talk about now will continue once we bring your sister home.

I am so excited for you to have a sibling because in my life and in your Daddy's life, most of our very best memories from childhood are with our siblings. They certainly make life that much more fun and the love that you have for your sister will be unconditional. You will be a wonderful big brother and will watch over your little sister for the rest of your life [no matter how much she frustrates you :) ].

You made me a Mommy and because of you I learned more about myself than I ever could have imagined. You are the reason for everything that we do, even bringing another child into our family. You have showed me how wonderful the life of a Mommy can be!

Your Daddy and I love you so much and that will never change. We will work hard every.single.day to make sure that you always know how much you are loved because you deserve to know.

We are looking forward to what the future holds with you and your baby sister, and I have no doubts that you will relish in the role of big brother!

I love you to the moon and back a gazillion times,

Mommy

Father's Day 2011

We celebrated Father's Day by enjoying a very relaxing day! Well, Wally relaxed as much as he can. He gets bored easily whereas I can sit and do nothing for hours :)

The morning started off with some pancakes and eggs and then church. There is a park right next to the church so we of course had to make a stop there (as we do just about every week!).











After a REALLY long nap for Luke, it was time to go swimming for the first time this summer! The pool is finally ready! Luke has never been a huge fan of our pool, but I was hoping this summer would be different....I think it is going to be!!! He happily put on the floaties and went right in!









Look at that smile! He was loving it!




Floating all by himself! He did a really great job of kicking his legs to get around the pool - I was seriously so proud of him!


He also just hung out on the steps too.


And of course did some cleaning!


What was the temperature? Per the penguin, it was a fairly comfortable 74 degrees.


There was more fun to be had once he got out too!


Happy Father's Day to the best daddy Luke and Baby Z. could ask for!

Happy Father's Day to the best dad I could ask for!

Happy Father's Day to the best father-in-law too!

Another Week Come and Gone

A bit of a random post about all things pregnancy and baby...

Tomorrow I will be 37 weeks pregnant - that is full term!!! Woo hoo! I had Luke at 39w2d. I am not sure what the Little Miss' plan is, but we will find out soon enough!

I have to tell you though that I have had 2 dreams on 2 consecutive nights that Little Miss was a Little Mister! The first night I cried in my dream - not because I was upset that the baby was a boy but because I had a closet full of pink clothes at home that wouldn't be worn. The second night Wally was in the dream with me and we both just started laughing - we couldn't believe it. So at this point, I have NOT taken any tags off of the clothes (except for a few sleepers and a going home outfit). Our ultrasound tech was very certain it was a girl and the picture we have is pretty clear, but I guess you never truly know!

How am I feeling? Well, I feel like I am 37 weeks pregnant. When the back pain is here, it is killer, but when there is no back pain, I actually feel pretty good! The sleep is getting worse, not to mention I had a good old-fashioned cold this week which certainly didn't help matters.

Starting yesterday afternoon (after I told a co-worker that I felt nothing going on lately - except the baby moving of course), I began having a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions and pressure. Nothing painful, but enough to remind you that this baby will be here very soon!

I had my now weekly doctor's appointment this morning and all is good. She is going to 'check' me next week to see if there is any progress. I go back and forth on these cervical checks...on one hand it is nice to know if anything is happening, but on the other hand, when you believe there is something happening and you get the news that there is no progress so far it can be disappointing.

I would say our house is ready for this addition! Luke has helped Wally put the pack-n-play/bassinet in our room, the car seats were installed this week, and the necessities have been bought. I think I will start to put together my hospital bag this weekend. Luke talks a lot about his 'baby sister'. I can't wait to see how he really reacts once she is here - it should be interesting!

Here are some pictures from last Sunday (36w1d).

One quick story about this dress I am wearing. Luke was already downstairs ready for church and when I came down wearing this dress, he so sweetly came over and touched it and said, "pretty mommy". That is always nice to hear, but especially when you are 9 months pregnant! Seriously, the sweetest boy ever!

Celebrating 2 1/2 at the Zoo

Luke turned the big 2 1/2 last Saturday - can you believe it? 2 1/2! We spent the day at Brookfield Zoo and had a blast. All of the animals were awake which never happens when we go! I have to tell you though that by hour 4, I was beat and walking VERY slowly.

Checking out the lions.












It was the Hamill Family Play Zoo's 10th Anniversary so they had some extra events going on.

Luke 'signed' his name on the birthday banner!


Luke loves all characters!


And then he got to play doctor for a bit.


He loved the baboons!




But he told us his favorite was the giraffes. He also said he is going to ride a giraffe when he is older - ha!


Fishy face




And of course a stop at the carousel on our way out!


Another wonderful time at the zoo with my now 2 1/2 year old!!!