25, 26 & 27

Week 25

This was quite the week!  My poison ivy was TERRIBLE - so very, very, very, very itchy right on my belly!  Between when I started the medicine Saturday to Wednesday it had gotten much worse so I called my doctor. He prescribed a tapering dose at a much higher rate.  It helped, but was still awful this week!  Otherwise, I was feeling good!  Getting big - some of my smaller maternity shirts started to get snug (already!!) and I get lots of comments from strangers about my belly.  Baby boy likes to be on the move which is lots of fun to feel!  Mark has been able to feel him move lots of times - very easily this week!  I also experienced my first charlie horse cramp this week in the middle of the night. I remember these pains with both of my other pregnancies and really, really hoped they would not show up for this one, but it wasn't the case.  After about 15 minutes the cramping was gone and I was able to go back to sleep, but did have a sore leg for several days afterwards - I have been trying to drink lots more water as I read this can really help with these pregnancy leg cramps.  Hopefully that will be the only one this time around!!  

Week 26

Another good week - still feeling pretty rested and well.  Baby is moving like crazy this week!  Mark and I were laying in bed one night and my belly just happened to be right at his tush, I felt him move several times and then Mark says, "is our baby kicking me in the butt?" and he was - even before he was born he was kicking his daddy's butt haha.  it was pretty funny.  I've noticed my belly move from the outside a couple times this week so I know his kicks are getting much stronger.  Levi started talking to the baby this week.  He said to my belly one day, "hi in there you goo goo baby."  Isaiah really hasn't shown too much interest in my belly, but knows to be careful with it.  My poison ivy was still very, very itchy this week, but has faded quite a bit - I am so ready for it to be gone!  My maternity pants make it itch more so I've been squeezing my belly in my regular jeans and they do fit - just a bit tight - by the end of the day I end up unbuttoning them! :) 

Week 27

Still feeling good, but I can tell I'm a bit more tired this week.  I even caught a nap one afternoon!  Baby continues to move like CRAZY and has kept me up late a few nights - he really likes to kick and kick and kick hard at like 11pm.  I had a doctor's appointment this week (my 26 week appointment, but it worked out to have it this week at the same time as Levi's 3 year appointment).  This was the week with the glucose test and go figure I failed.  The maximum passing level was 140 and I was 147.  I failed miserably with Levi (if I remember right like 180) and did the 3 hour test and failed all 3 hourly checks, so failing this time was no surprise.  My doctor told me ahead of time that if I failed (which is to be expected) we wouldn't take the time to do the 3 hour test I would just begin checking my blood 4 times a day.  I go back in 2 weeks so we will see what my sugar levels do.  With Levi I took my blood 4 times a day for several weeks and it was well under the 140 limit every.single.time except one shortly after I ate an entire large strawberry shake with no diet change at all!  So I'm hoping for the same results this time around!  I did gain 4-5 pounds since my last appointment at 22 weeks which brings me to a total gain of 11 - I'm good with that! Baby's heart was beating strong at 152 bpm and his head was down so the doctor has no concerns about me or the baby!  I am so blessed to have such a healthy pregnancy!

Farewell 4 ... UNI Volleyball game

On September 10, the night before Isaiah turned 5, Mark took Isaiah to the UNI volleyball game.  It was a fun way for Isaiah to spend some alone time with daddy and celebrate his last night as a 4 year old.  It sounds like Isaiah had a great time and enjoyed every minute of it!  He got to watch the girls play volleyball, eat some yummy snacks, play with TC and he even check out his loot that we brought home for him from the Adrenaline X birthday party we had earlier that day (the mom of the party was so nice and made extra birthday bags for our boys - they were army themed and both boys loved them!) that he had stashed away in his pocket.  I can see many more UNI events in their future!  (It was also a nice night for Levi and me to hang out and make Isaiah's birthday cake!) To top off the night the Panthers won the volleyball game!  Go Panthers!

Click on the collage to enlarge.

University Avenue Cruise

On Sunday of Labor Day weekend the 5th annual University Avenue Cruise was going on and I knew the boys would LOVE it so we made sure to go.  We parked the truck along University and sat in the back in our lawn chairs, but first we stopped at Wal-Greens and each picked a yummy treat for the show.  I'm not sure if you have to enter to be in the show or if anyone with a car they want to show off just joins in, but  there were TONS of cars.  The boys were amazed with all of the cars driving by.  And of course things couldn't go without something crazy happening to Levi - he grabbed the handle for the tailgate and pulled up on it - flew out of the truck and did a complete flip in the air and landed on the grass in front of us!  He was definitely startled and sat on my lap for about 5 minutes, but then was up and jumping again enjoying the show! :)  I could have taken a picture of just about every car because the boys loved them all, but here are a few of their favorites! 

What a fun event - I can't wait to do it again next year!

my bday

My birthday was on August 31.  Mark and I had already celebrated in Chicago a few weeks earlier so my plan for the day was to simply enjoy my family.   My dad surprised me first thing in the morning on his way to work with some pretty flowers and some fresh cherry tomatoes from his garden (yumm!!)

 Then we decided to head outside to go geocaching and enjoy the weather (looking back we may not have made this choice!!  all 4 of us plus Caiden ended up with TERRIBLE poison ivy!)  Our first stop was a park close to our house - while looking for the geocache Isaiah spotted this:

 and then we found it - so high up that Mark had to lift Levi as high as he could to get it! 

 Then we headed to the next geocache - the one that caused all the trouble - that we never even found!  bummer!!

 We headed home to have lunch - the kids ate mac&cheese and Mark went to get me one of my favorites - Pitta Pit!  We took the big boys to school and put Levi down for a nap and Mark and I had some time just together.  Then he had to go to work - :(  So the boys and I took off for Kammy's to go swimming in her pool!  It was a hot day and I figured probably one of the last opportunities we'd get to go swimming.  The boys had a blast -- I did too - if only the water had been 10 degrees warmer!! :)

 We got home to play and my mom and LeAnna (Caiden's mom) came to celebrate with me.  

We had another favorite of mine for dinner - taco pizza from God Father's pizza and then we went on a walk to River Hills Park where we saw many deer walking around.  They were very pretty! 

 Then it was home for desert -- THANK YOU LEANNA! and my dad joined us too.  My parents gave me their gift - Crocs - something I've been wanting - everyone else in my family has them and they are so comfortable, convenient to wear and easy to clean up - THANK YOU MOM & DAD!!  

Then it was time for stories and bed.  

What a great day!  

Preschool: Round 2

Isaiah started his second year of preschool on August 29.  He was technically old enough to start kindergarten this year, but we made the decision to hold off just one more year, so instead he is attending the same preschool as last year only 5 afternoons a week (rather than 3 mornings).  I feel good about our decision and think it will be a great transition for him to start kindergarten next fall.  He's already loving it and his teacher Mrs. Blough has been great so far!   Caiden is joining Isaiah in the same preschool class this year so we get to have Caiden at our house every morning, take him to preschool, and have him in the afternoons until his mom or dad get off work.  It's fun to have another boy in the house and the kids love to play with him too!  

Both boys got new backpacks this year - transformers!  Their new favorite characters - they each picked out the backpacks on their own - Isaiah picked Optimus Prime and Caiden picked Bumblee. 

Such a big boy excited to go right in! 

but I had him stop and wait for me!! :)

On the first day Caiden's mom LeAnna got to take Caiden.

We are here!! I'm so ready!

Isaiah with his new teacher Mrs. Blough

After school we took the boys out for ice cream at 4 Queens to celebrate.  This made their day too! 

But rather than eating it there, we went to the park!  What a perfect way to end the afternoon!

So far preschool has been going great - Isaiah loves to go every day and is so happy when I pick him up.  I can tell he's already learning a lot and making many new friends.  His class this year is much smaller - 13 little 4 & 5 year olds - 10 of which are boys! 

Happy Birthday Mom!

My mom's birthday was Sunday August 28 and we had a fun little family birthday party to celebrate.  A day for the cousins to play, a family meal and cake!!  

The weather was nice so we spent some time relaxing outside while the kids played horseshoes - their own way.  

After about 25 times, my mom decided to let the kids play without the poles - Levi or Liahna kept pulling the pole out immediately after she got it pounded in and walked away - I think they thought it was a pretty funny game! haha

Flash was around to celebrate too - I don't have too many pictures of him recently!  This one isn't very good, but better than nothing, right?

And baby Elise was pretty content to sit back and watch it all. 

Happy Birthday Mom!  Hope you enjoyed your day!

Small Group at Palmer's

As I've mentioned before, our small group took this summer to do fun family adventures.  One Sunday evening we took a trip to Palmer's (the old Airline Highway Miniature Golf) to golf, jump and go-kart.  It was such a fun outing!  We started out with the kids on the new jumpy pillow - like a huge trampoline.  They all loved it.

 Then we moved on to minature golf.  We divided up to try to keep things moving - Mark, Chad, Caleb, Isaiah, Levi and I went on one track and Mindy, Brian, Lilian, Aaron, Erica and Elise went on the other.  The boys had fun together and Isaiah even got a hole in one!!! After just a couple holes Levi was done and by hole 7 Levi said he just didn't want to do it anymore.  So we went and jumped on the jumpy just the two of us!

 After the rest of the crew finished up golfing, we got in line for the go-karts.  Unfortunately they didn't have enough double seaters for us all to go together as none of the kids were old enough to drive themselves.  But it worked out just fine.Isaiah and I rode together and Levi and Mark rode together - we were really hoping they'd let Levi go on because I don't think he technically met the requirements, but they didn't question him and he loved it!

 The kids wanted to jump again so we made it back to the pillow.  This time things had slowed down enough and the parents were ready for a jump too so we all got on the pillow together - it was so much fun.  Check out how high Brian made it off the pillow!  I'm not sure who had more fun, the kids or the parents!  

What a fun, fun night!  If you haven't made it out there, I'd suggest you do! 

Sweet Corn Days & church picnic

A few weeks ago we joined our friends at Lime Springs Sweet Corn Days after church.  We knew the kids would love a summer afternoon parade that is known for lots of candy - and of course the sweet corn and watermelon sounded good too.  

We arrived in town shortly before the parade started and found a good front row spot. 

The kids couldn't wait for the parade to start and once it did we had to keep reminding them to stay back in front of our spots rather than in front of the older people sitting next to us.  For some reason the candy was all being thrown closer to them! 

The kids ended up with a large back full of candy!  

and the daddy's were both pretty happy with their treat from the parade too - a can of beer (or 2 for Chad).  I will say I've never been to a parade that hands out free beer!

We then went on a hunt for the free sweet corn and watermelon.  

and ran into free ice cream too!  And a jumpy house to play in!

Then it was time to head home, but not without a walk through (what was left) of the car show.  Isaiah was pretty impressed with the brand new bright red Corvette.

We made it back in town just in time to make it to our church picnic.  More free food - fried chicken and fun at the park!

And of course we had to go find the geocache that was at the park we were at. 

The kids had lots of fun running around the baseball diamonds while the daddy's looked.

What a summer day full of fun!