What else we've been doing (in pictures)

The kids LOVE Marbles, the kids' museum in Raleigh. And they love it even more when I take them after school so that the crowd is small! Here are two trips of pictures...the latter from "Twilight Thursday" when the museum stays open a bit later and Daddy joined us.

Their two favorite exhibits are the power exhibit (sponsored by Nicholas's company ABB) and...

the exercise exhibit! Leo was literally on that surfboard for fifteen minutes straight!

I see a toolbench in our future for Leo!

Playing hockey with Dad since Mom is too fat!

Every morning, Leo helps me pack everyone's lunch. This morning, he said, "I want a wholesome lunch," and proceeded to put holes in his bread. That kid!

We walk the 3/4 mile to the park next to us in the afternoon when the weather is good and I am feeling well enough. Olivia just conquered the rock climbing recently!

Leo and I often go to a playground on our own on the days when Olivia is in school and he isn't. I think he likes the Mommy time, but he misses Sis, too!

This is Olivia drawing Daddy's work. Ha!

We met Daddy at the mall this week for lunch. They had a little play area the kids enjoyed! It was kind of strange, I thought!

Nicholas came home from work early yesterday because he went in so early, and played soccer with the kids at the afore-mentioned park.

In the afternoons, Olivia often gets into her pajamas for "quiet time" and doesn't take them off. I know this is because she dresses so fancily to school that she is uncomfortable when she gets home, but she would never admit that to me! We've been doing a little Halloween decorating! (See the painted magnets in the foreground. The kids proceeded to stamp all over themselves, of course!)

Plus, we had to bake a "Halloween cake" the next day. Olivia was proud of her design!

And I wish I had taken a video, but the kids are getting along SO WELL! And coming up with THE FUNNIEST activities! They often are astronauts and play in the top bunk of Leo's bed, they play baby in our bedroom, and here they are having a Halloween dance contest while I was making dinner! Ha!

A big shout out to Mutti for the Halloween decorations!! Olivia LOVES opening that box! When I got this kitchen towel out, Leo shouted, "Look! Astronauts!!" Ha!

Oh, these days are going by fast!

Beach weekend!!

We hit the beach last weekend for first time since our move! Despite very windy weather and cloudy skies, we had a blast! Olivia woke up Monday morning and told me she was "Beach sick...you know like home sick but for the beach!" Ha! Here's how the weekend unfolded:

Everyone said it is about an hour and a half to the beach, and we chose the closest one: Carolina Beach near Wilmington, but the drive ended up taking more like three and a half hours due to traffic and stops. So, we didn't get there until around dinner time on Friday evening. We told the kids we could put our feet in the water...but that, of course, let to getting shorts wet and they wanted to take them off. It's good to be a two year old or a four year old when that is still acceptable!

We ate in, enjoyed the condo, and played board games that were there--Cars Monopoly and Candy Land. We went to bed early and got up early. The kids slept better than I expected, but not as well as I had hoped! We hit the beach early because it was threatening rain. They loved building sand castles and the sand was perfect for it. Of course, they liked building sand castles for different reasons!

We went back in for breakfast and then back out before lunch for more running in the ocean--there really wasn't much swimming--finding shells, and building sand castles. Then we went to the aquarium (NC Fort Fisher, which was just a few miles from our hotel)...partly because I couldn't get Leo to take a nap and we needed a distraction. He wasn't in the best of moods...

 until we found the playground!

The butterflies in the butterfly house loved Nicholas! Olivia loved that stop, too! I ushered Leo out to the car, where he did take a nap. He slept so well that I took him from the car to the tenth floor of our building without waking him! Score!

While Leo and I napped, Nicholas and Olivia hit the indoor pool. Then we headed back to the beach one more time after dinner. It never did rain (much) and we got to see a wedding on the beach. The bride was very gracious about us building sand castles near her pictures!

Sunday morning, of course, the sun came out! It was glorious!! And it made us all want to stay another night! 

While Leo and I waited for Nicholas and Olivia to wake, we did puzzles (the second picture is Leo's "silly face"), read books, and ...

Surfed! There were some guys surfing in the ocean, so Leo had to emulate!

 The kids and I hit the beach one more time while Nicholas got us packed up to go. That was the best beach part of the trip--the wind had died down, the water felt good, and we got as close to swimming as we could--all the way in jumping over waves! Ahh! It was fun and made me nostalgic for the beach with my Dad from way back when!

We had so much fun! The kids had a blast! Thanks, Nicholas, for taking us and being a great sport even though the beach isn't really your thing! Until next year.... (I guess we will see how Baby is...)

The playroom (by IKEA)

Nicholas put together and mounted everything from IKEA that I picked up a week and a half ago. Check it out! Looking good! I LOVE the bench/desks and the cabinets. I wish we would have bought a blue-fronted drawer, but that thing is perfect for holding games and puzzles. The bins on the wall make great places to organized other toys. I am stoked for the transformation! The little pink kitchen is going to a good home soon, so there will be room for Santa to bring a toolbench!

Next up: get the office stuff out of baby's room and get baby's room ready!

The first week of school

On Monday the kids went back to school! The pre-going-to-school pictures were a hoot. Olivia picked out her own outfit and hair style and was proud of them! We bought that dress on clearance at Kohl's and she thought it was perfect! Ha! Leo, on the other hand, would not put on the "Boy Genius" shirt I had planned for him that I thought he would love because it had a cartoon character he loves on it. He insisted on wearing "an orange shirt." And he had to be bribed with a jelly bean to get a picture with him looking at the camera. That boy!

Olivia and Leo did FABULOUSLY at drop-off! Olivia gave me a high five, told me she loved me, and went it. Leo hugged me and was ready to play trains! It was wonderful to have a couple of hours on my own to work! Their programs are 9:15-12:15. Olivia's is five mornings a week, but Leo's is only two. That's why I have a babysitter for him one more morning a week so that I can work. My afternoon twice a week babysitter quit because she made the soccer team. The kids have been going through so much change that I am loathe to go through the babysitter-interviewing process again. The sleep disruption alone makes me cringe to think of it....so we are getting by.

Olivia was happy at the end of the day Monday. She said, "I had so much fun that I didn't even have time to miss you, Mom!" But Leo was done and the teachers skipped the pick up line to bring him to me before he completely melted down. Olivia continued to do great at drop off and pick up the whole week, has told us lots of fun things they have done--used pipets in science class, rang bells in music, shared their family placemats we did as homework ahead of time, played with a different toy/activity set out on their tables at the beginning of each day, worked on lots of learning activities involving writing and drawing--and has brought home lots of stuff to prove it! I am impressed with how well she is doing with the five morning a week schedule.

Leo has had a bit of a harder time. Wednesday he had to walk into a classroom full of crying kids, which set the stage for a bad day. His teachers said he rebounded after about an hour and a half of being sad and refusing to play or crying. I am really hoping that next week goes better. Leo's sleep has been very, very bad since Sunday, too.  (It was only very bad before that.) That is probably part of the reason he didn't have a great time Wednesday.

Leo also has had a bit of a hard time when Olivia goes to school and he doesn't. (I TRIED hard to get him enrolled more than two days, but they won't do it as the two year old classes meet two days a week and they wouldn't let me put him in both.) Today he said several times after dropping off sister, "I miss my super girl. I am Super Man and I call my Olivia Super Girl." But, I think he has enjoyed some Mama time doing Legos and hitting the playground.

I am looking forward to a great year!! I believe that the teachers (two in Olivia's classroom of ten and three in Leo's classroom of twelve) are very prepared. Leo's teachers really seem to be on it as far as communication with the parents, a routine for the kids, and a vision of how to do things. Olivia's teachers wrote on the first day that the class was record-breaking because NO ONE got upset on the first day. Lori and Amy said they are thrilled to have such a small and enthusiastic class (there are five classes of four year olds that meet on slightly different schedules), and feel that they can go far this year! Wow! Getting ready for Kindergarten!

The end of summer

In pictures

The babysitter who didn't quit...Olivia strolled her baby girl Rosy while Savannah strolled Leo. This is my view from my office/soon-to-be the baby's room.

More Lake Wheeler! This is funny because Olivia's teacher told me today that Olivia told the class today about Lake Wheeler and all it has to offer! Ha! We've been there a lot as it is ten minutes from our house and lots of fun! 

A crazy trip to IKEA to buy loads of organizing stuff. Hopefully we will get things organized soon so the baby room can become a baby room! We bought the desk x 2 below and one of those bins for the playroom so that the kids have more room for working on coloring, Legos, puzzles, etc. Pics to follow.

 A classroom visit for both kids to their potential classrooms. They mostly just played with each other, which worried me a little, but their teachers were super great and the administration was super organized, so those were huge plusses.

And me getting fatter...right before heading to Lake Wheeler last Saturday. I have gained more so far in this pregnancy than in my previous two combined at the same point. Blah. I feel fat. Since I am having contractions already--almost everyday--I just don't care! 

Leo has named our baby McQueen now. Olivia calls him Dexter (from a book we read about a princess with a baby brother named Dexter). Olivia told her teachers on the preview day that she has a baby boy in her tummy. Oh, my!

And just like that, summer was over!

We're having a boy!!

We're having a boy!! Wednesday morning we found out at my level two scan--a benefit of my advanced maternal age at delivery. More importantly we were able to see that all his little organs are developing well, his hands and feet are there and kicking, he is fat--measuring about a week ahead, and he seems to be as healthy as we can hope for!

When we found out the baby is a boy, Olivia cried. Poor thing. Leo announced, "Guess what, Mom?! We're having a baby after Christmas!" The sonogram tech thought that was hilarious!

The only hiccup is that the doctor showed us that I have marginal placenta previa. This clears up on its own in most cases, so they just plan to do a recheck in about eight weeks. If the placenta doesn't move, though, I'll have to have a c-section. I am praying not to for all the obvious reasons, but also because we just have too many stairs in our house for me to deal with that! Ha!

Nicholas and I are thrilled to be having another healthy baby! I am trying not to expect another Leo since I know that each baby is different. Leo is so different from Olivia not just because he is a boy, but because he is the second and he is Leo. I am excited to meet this baby who will be different and fun in lots of ways that I am haven't even imagined yet! And Olivia, I know, will love this sweet boy when he comes! Leo, of course, is excited to name him Dumbo Junior!