4 Weeks and Counting!

I am down to less than one hand and counting, and boy am I feeling it.  He is head down and I can feel the pressure, as evidenced by the numerous times I have to visit the ladies room.  It is getting closer!  I can't believe we are having a baby!  We continue to prepare, and my house is clean (at least for the time being).

Ultrasound number four and counting!

This child has already one-upped Lucas and isn't even born yet, at least when it comes to the number of Ultrasounds he has had.  I know that typically you have one, but my children must love the attention and think they deserve more than that.  Last Monday when we went to our scheduled doctor's appointment the doctor was concerned with how I was growing, or rather with the lack thereof.  We did inform her that this occurred with the previous pregnancy.  With Lucas I stopped growing and we had an extra ultrasound at 37 weeks which showed that he was growing and doing great.  Lucas ended up weighing 7lbs and 9 oz.  She was not convinced, however, and wanted an ultra sound.  I too would rather be safe than sorry so we went back on the next Wednesday to have the ultrasound.

I am happy to report that he is doing great.  Her guess was about 5lbs and his measurements are right on schedule, with the exception of his head, which is ahead of schedule, but are we surprised?  No!  Lucas's head is still off the charts, and has never been on the charts.  I am a little disappointed because I have some really cute beanies that I was looking forward to having him wear, but that might not happen.  I am also very aware of the fact that I am going to have to push that head out, our poor child is probably going to have to be vacuumed suction out, and is going to be a cone head for a couple days.  Oh well!

Who ever coined the phrase, "terrible twos"

Who ever came up with that phrase, "the terrible twos" has never experienced having a three year old.  With Lucas being three, things have been a little rough.  I am not sure if it is because he is starting to sense that change is upon him with a new sibling, or if it is because of summer and the heat, or his friends leaving, I just don't know, but I hope it gets better.  He regularly wanders off, and being very defiant.  At times I wonder where the manual is on how to deal with it.  I will honestly admit that there days I want to take off my parenting hat and throw in the towel, like the day that Lucas was not listening and throwing bags of M&M's around Dollar Tree while I was attempting to check out.  Good times, Good times!

The inevitable has occurred!

It finally happened.  Lucas has overcome his fear and will get out of his crib (why he is still in his crib is another story all together, but it will change shortly).  Luckily we have been proactive and put a childproof lock on the inside of his door.  So if we shut the door, he can't get out.  The first time he ended falling asleep against the door for nap time.  We still crack his door at night, but tell him that if he gets out of bed we're going to shut the door, which he knows all too well, because he will tell you that it is what we are going to do, before we even say it!  Unforunately that does not always stop him from getting out of bed, but he does quickly learn that if he gets out we shut the door, which he doesn't appreciate.  In the morning he is at his door letting us know he is up and wants out.

Lucas moments

After getting home from our morning walk Craig asked, "Lucas what have you been up to?"  Lucas, "We took a little jaunt."

Lucas, "Dad I be good like you!"

While trying to get Lucas to bed:

Craig, "Goodnight, Lucas"

Lucas, "Dad don't say goodnight, I have a question!" Pause. "Can I get out of bed?"

Craig seeing Lucas in distress, "Lucas, do you need to go potty?"
Lucas, "Yes."
Craig, "Then why don't you go?"
Lucas, "It's too dark."
Craig, "Then you should turn on the light."
Lucas, "I can't Dad! I'm holding my crotch."

Lucas loves his dad and when dad comes home Lucas is eager to see him and ask him questions!

Sibling Class

The other day I was reminded of a class that is given at the hospital to help prepare sibling for the new arrival of their brother or sister.  Unfortunately I was reminded of the class the night before the class and you had to preregister for the class.  Oops!  Luckily we were able to make it in class and I am so glad we made the effort.  I really hesitated, not thinking it would be worth it, but Lucas is still talking about what he learned from the class.  The teacher talked about how to wash the baby, while the kids washed and dressed their babies dolls, and talked about what babies can play with and what they can't.  They gave Lucas this little cup and explained that if you can fit a toy inside the cup then it is too small for the baby.  Lucas understands this and spent the next day fitting some of his toys in the cup.  They also took them upstairs to the maternity ward, were it was really busy that day.  They saw a newborn baby, which Lucas thought this was pretty neat!  He really enjoyed this class and seemed to understand more than I thought he would!

Getting Baby Ready!

We are finally coming to the realization that we will soon have a little person in our mist, we have come to the conclusion that we are not prepared and should probably start to get ready!  We have been clearing out the house of extra clutter, organizing, cleaning, and getting baby ready!  It has been exhausting and overwhelming at times, but I think we are starting to make some head way!

Craig survives Scout Camp

While Lucas and I were having a week of fun!  Craig was experiencing the outdoors at Scout Camp.   He did get to come home for one night during the week and then a night earlier than planned at the end.  Besides getting rained out on one of the nights, starting out with 13 scouts and ending the week a night early with only 2 scouts it was a successful week, in that Craig survived.

Rain, Rain, Rain and Humidity?

Though we have had several good thunderstorms and rain showers you can still feel the humidity hanging in the air  with temperatures in the mid eighties.  What is up with that!?  It figures we would have a heat wave and abnormal temperatures this summer when I am carrying around a watermelon sized mound under my shirt.

Making the most of our Summer!

We have been having lots of fun this summer!  Though we live in a small community (accentuated even more when the students are gone) , there is still a lot going on with various festivals and events!  The library has their big reading program going on.  There are free movies on a weekly basis at the theater downtown.  We have done it all and continue to play and play.

This is just a portion of the activities we have participated in this week:  We went to an activity hosted by the local professional baseball team, the State College Spikes.  Lucas talked with the players, played with water balloons, and colored a picture.

We made our weekly trek to the library and attended storytime.  Went to the theater and saw, "How to Train your Dragon" (Yes we own the movie, but Lucas loves going to the movie theater!), and then back to the library the next day to see a puppet show, which was so entertaining and fun!

Went to the 47th annual peanut festival, where you buy a bag of peanuts and use them either as payment to play a game or as the part of the games themselves and toss them through loops or what not to get treats!  Though Lucas is small he does have quite an arm on him and we were impressed with his throws.  He did struggle to get it through the actual holes, but he could toss it pretty far.

The pigs are pretty scary looking.  More like they're attacking you than inviting you to play a game.

We ended the week by dragging Lucas to the dreaded mall, where I had him try on a variety of clothes for next summer, but he was rewarded with a hamburger and ice cream, and then got to attend a birthday party!  What a week!

Goodbye James Family!!!

Our really good friends have abandoned us.  We have lived across the street from them for the past six years!  Two years in Utah and four years in Pennsylvania.  Lucas has known them his entire life.  Their two kids, Cooper and Sadie are his best friends, and are more like siblings then friends.  We have been everywhere and done everything with them!  Lucas would go anywhere with them in a heartbeat.  He has been known to get in the car and want to ride home with them rather than his own parents.

I have been prepping Lucas for their departure for the past week, trying to explain to him that they are moving to a new house far away, but in a few months we will get on a plane and go see them and their new house.  When they were packing I took him over there so he could see the boxes and the moving truck.  When their apartment was completely cleared out we went over there and I explained it to him again.   At one point I told him that he will get to go to preschool in the fall and meet new friends. Lucas responded by asking me if Cooper and Sadie were going to preschool, and I said that were going to a different preschool, far away.  He said, "I don't want to make new friends."  How do you answer that when you are feeling the same way you don't want to make new friends either.  I have had the nursery leaders at our church telling me how they don't know what Lucas is going to do without Sadie in nursery, they walk to nursery together and then they are pretty much inseperable during nursery.  Though it was tough and is still tough, a day doesn't go by without Lucas mentioning them.  "Where is Sadie and Cooper?", "Will Sadie and Cooper be there?"  "Is Sadie and Cooper eating dinner?"  Sadie and Cooper wear underwear and go potty."  "I went potty like Cooper."  We have been making a great effort to continue to take him to different activities in the community and with church members and he is doing great, though we think of and miss our friends, dearly!

People's Choice Festival

The same week of the Arts Fest, Boalsburg holds their annual People's Choice Festival.  They also have some fun things for kids to do and we don't have to mess with parking because it is within walking distance.  We fed the baby animals, which was a little traumatizing for Lucas since the animals literally maul you.  Lucas was unfortunately bit by the pony, but he managed to enjoy the experience, though he preferred petting the big horses over being bit.

They had a tent set up with different hands-on things kids could do, Lucas seemed to enjoy that!  To help him have a memorable experience, despite the animal attack, I let him ride the train.  I couldn't bring myself to let him ride the horses, it was too expensive and not worth it, especially when he has had opportunities in the past to ride a horse for free!  He loved the train, and rode it all by himself, without any hesitation.

Hill Cumorah Pagent

We throughly enjoyed the first time at the pageant and really wanted to see it one last time, but weren't sure when to go.  We thought that Lucas would enjoy the costumes and pyrotechnics, so when our really good friends were heading up for the last time, before they moved away the very next day, we decided to go with them.  It was all somewhat last minute.  We drove up the day of pageant, watched the pageant, and then headed home.  Yes, that is right, we made drove the four hours homes that same night arriving home at about three in the morning.  Was it worth it yes?  Lucas seemed to enjoy himself and the time he was able to spend with his friends.  So I would say yes.

This pageant is amazing and there is such an incredible feeling present during the production!  We also have some ward members in the pageant which adds to the excitement and fun!  Would we ever attempt to do it all in one day?  Probably not.  That was exhausting and I have to admit being seven and half months pregnant did not make it easy to sit in a car that long.  The ride up is quite beautiful, and we drove along lake Seneca for about 40 miles.  There are several vineyards along the way, and little tourists towns.  Very picturesque!

Arts Fest Children's Day

Arts Fest is a huge festival where thousands of people visit downtown State College.  They have music and hundreds of booths set up with crafts and art for sale. The first day of Arts Fest is kids day. They have booths set of with kids selling items that they have created. The University, along with businesses and organizations in the community, have booths with different activities for kids to do and see. We have attended this annually and this year was no different. In the past we have just stayed in the city and not made it up to campus, but this year we headed up there and it was lots of fun.  They had several booths set up with educational activities from several of the departments on campus. One of my favorites was headed by a lady in our church. It was entitled "Lava Lamps". They took a tube, filled it with canola oil added a few drops of water and a tablet that is similar to Alka Seltzer, but with color, the end result is similar to a lava lamp, and she also said it looks cool in the dark. It was pretty neat.

They also had booths were you could hammer holes into paper and make a constellation, use balloons to make a carbon molecule, make your own torch for the Summer Olympic Games and get a gold medal in kicking a soccer ball, and making ice cream with nitroglycerin.  They also an area set up with these buckets hanging up, filling with water and then dumping onto the kids.  Lucas really liked the this, and didn't seem intimidated by the crowd of children, though I kept holding my breath, as he scurried in and out and around the area.  It was hot and a long day, but I think Lucas had lots of fun!