Our Aweful Beautiful Life

This spring, a friend of mine was posting a few videos here and there of her daughter taking swim lessons in a private home pool. It was amazing to see this little 5 year old turn into a fish! Knowing that our kids typically (you know, in summers where it's not 68 degrees on July 1st)  spend a lot of time in Grandma & Grandpa's pool in the summer time -- I thought swim lessons would be a good investment. Initially I looked into taking them to TC to the school pool for lessons. I'm sure they would have learned alot, but that would have meant me taking off two weeks of work (mornings only) and having to get my 8 1/2 months pregnant body into the pool (in front of people, no less) to complete Em's lessons. The more I talked to Amanda about the private lessons, the more the convenience of them grew on me. I could go after work. Kids would get one on one attention. Yes, it's a bit more expensive, but really, when learning water safety, is there really a price? Not ...

This past week, we were blessed by both my Mom and Aunt Debbie/Great Grandma Pat to give the kids a break from daycare to have a "fun week" this summer. Each morning was spent at VBS at the Chalmers Church, while the afternoons alternated between Camp Mamps & Camp Maxwell. Our kids were beyond spoiled and we paid for that by the time we got them home each evening. TIRED kiddos! Monday was day one VBS. Although a little shy at first, both kids had a great first day. Mamps picked them up at 11am, and the spoiling began. Off to meet Grandpa and Uncle T for lunch at Bell's pizza, then home for a bit before taking off for Monticello to Holly's for swim lessons. Mom promised ice cream if the kids did well, and they must have, because they came home with ice cream filled bellies! CRASH and BURN on night number one. Well done. Snacks at VBS! Tuesday was VBS, then back to Aunt Debbie's to play with Sawyer. I believe they had a big lunch, a lot of snacks, took a...

Hi Baby #3! Only 4 more weeks (perhaps less...if you feel so inclined) until you arrive. I've not taken much time on this blog to talk about you/this pregnancy. All in all, it's been pretty much the same as before. I have had increased back pain carrying you around -- I for one like to think it's because you're destined to be a 12lb baby...but Doc Wickert says, "let's face it. It's your third baby!"....so I'll suck it up, deal with some back pain and count down the days until we will meet, and hopefully, that pain will go away. I distinctly remember leaving the office that day, thinking, "If I'm in this kind of pain on pregnancy #3...........how on EARTH did Grandma Hall survive 9 of these?". Once again ... if she can do it, I  better suck it up too, huh? I wanted to share/capture this story, because I hope that some day you can look back on this post and laugh. Although your Dad and I have created a list of potential names for you ...

Stac - this post is just for you. May you giggle as much as I did. Love listening to this little girls voice, and the funny things she says...........................and has no idea she's saying! :)

Holy cow, it's already the first day of summer. And, in just a few short days, we'll officially be 35 weeks pregnant -- just 5 more weeks to go. CRAZY! As excited as we are to meet baby number 3, we do not want to wish away a summer of fun with Colton & Emmalyn. Unfortunately, it seems like every time we blink, another week has past! I'm afraid at this pace, summer will be gone before we know it! What have we been up to -- - Tee-ball games every Saturday. Colton's got a great coach for his first year in tee-ball and he's LOVING it. Like, waking up every Saturday morning and wanting to be full-regala dressed by 8:30am LOVING it. (Games are usually at either 10:30 or 12). Sadly, we play our last game tomorrow morning -- but I know Colton's learned a lot about the basics of the game and has done a great job of hitting off the pitching machine this year. Kudos kiddo, on embracing your first year in an organized team sport. You've made new friends, learned...

So hard to believe how quickly three years has passed. Emmalyn enjoyed a birthday weekend this year, rather than just a day! She was spoiled and blessed and we had a great time. Friday night we didn't have anything planned, which was glorious. I'm fairly certain that was the first free Friday night we've had since the end of April. Life has been on the MOVE lately. We stayed home and enjoyed a quiet night. Saturday, Jason was asked to work some overtime, so although that was awesome, it stunk to have him gone all day. The kids and I made the most of our day -- we started with Birthday Pancakes for Em. Then played upstairs for a bit...Em played babies and I promised Colton we could do some carpet farming. We had a baby shower for Jason's cousin Kensie at 1pm, so about noon, I loaded the kids up and we headed to Klein Brot Haus to enjoy a free cookie Colton had earned from doing his book log at Preschool. Who doesn't eat cookies for lunch? After the showe...

This blog post won't be much, but mostly a chance for this very forgetful 7 1/2 months pregnant mother of two to document a moment in time. A small conversation on the way to a ball game that touched me and brought tears to my eyes. This past weekend, we camped in our yard...our new memorial day tradition. It was a great weekend and will likely get it's own blog post. On Sunday morning, Jenna offered to host "Sunday School" with the kiddos, since none of us made it to church. What a wonderful idea on her behalf. So...the kids rounded up, made paper airplanes that said "God loves me" and had a nice chat with Jenna. I love when the teacher comes out in her. She's truly a talented lady! Post-lesson, of course, there were funny stories to be shared. Jenna - "Colton, how many brothers/sisters do you have?" Colton - " Just a sister, her" (Pointing to Emmalyn) Emmalyn - "Na-ugh bubby, mommy's baby in hers belly" Colton -...