Headlands

Last Friday we took the girls over to Mentor Headlands beach. It was on my Summer Fun To-Do list and given our girls love of water and wet sand, we knew they'd love it. And love it they did. We stayed about 3 hours and if it had been up to them, we would've stayed even longer.

I do have one suggestion to the fine folks running the beach: Showers to wash all the sand off would be great. It really is no fun to strap a four-year-old and two-year-old in their car seats when they have sand everywhere. And I mean everywhere. Thanks.

Someone got stuck in the basketball hoop...

And her name is Mackenzie. We didn't see this happen, so not exactly sure how she got this way. We just heard her crying for Daddy to come help her and when I looked around the corner this is what I saw.



Oh my. We were laughing so hard. It was the funniest sight to see. The thing is, all she had to do was walk backwards and she could pull her head down and out, but instead she just stood there with this sad and pitiful look on her face. I can't help but giggle when I look at these pictures. Oh, Mackenzie, you goofy little girl.

Ten (@ Virginia Kendall) on Tuesday

1. Sunday evening we went hiking in the Virginia Kendall Park, part of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. It's not far from our house, I'd driven by it before in college, but we'd never been. Last week the paper had a picture of the Ice Box Cave there, which inspired my husband's idea for us to go check it out. Because we all know, with this summer's heat wave, the only thing I suggest is going to the pool. I'm so glad he thought of it, because we had a great time. We walked for an hour and 40 minutes. The girls never complained about being tired, they walked and climbed the entire time and never asked to be carried. In fact, they didn't want to leave. Well, not until Mackenzie fell and scraped her knee on the way out, then she was ready to go. But not Emma, she wanted to keep going on more trails. She asked today when we can go hiking again. Looks like we've found a new family activity.

2. This is my favorite shot of the evening. It was right after we started, so we were just heading into the trails. The girls wore their Dora backpacks, complete with water bottles and flashlights. Oh, and Off for me in Mackenzie's.


3. I had a walking partner in Mackenzie, since we're pretty much going at the same speed right now. Unless she runs. Then she can beat me.


3. The Ice Box Cave. Which Mac kept calling a cage. We kept having this conversation:

"When are we going to the cage?"
"It's cave, Mackenzie."
"Cage."
"No, cavvvvve," as I'd sound it out.
"Cabe."
"No! Cavvvvve."
"Cage."
"sigh...We'll be at the cage soon."

It's amazing. You walk up to it and it really feels as though you just opened your freezer. It's cold. And felt so good. It's also dark. Hence the flashlights.



4. There was a not-so-big opening to go back between these huge rocks. While Mackenzie was all about doing everything thing Michael did - the girl was fearless - Emma didn't want to go at first. She did end up changing her mind. I was going to just meet them on the other side...

...but then Michael convinced me to squeeze through here. Good thing I'm not a month further along. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have made it.

5. Our two little hikers. The girls loved it. They were so in to it.

6. Apparently these stairs were carved by hand in the 1920's. There are a lot of them. I hadn't really gotten tired until I climbed these stairs at the end. Then I had to sit for a minute. There were a lot. And they were steep. Did I mention there was a lot of them?

8. Hi Munchkin.

9. In addition to getting excited by any stairs we encountered (there were also some made out of logs) they liked the bridges.

10. This one, who never wants to pose for me, wanted her picture taken by a "2" post. Unfortunately, I didn't think of this until we'd passed the "2", so we made do with a later-photoshopped "12" post. She didn't know the difference though. She saw the 12 and started yelling "2! There's the 2!"

And with that, I'm going to attempt to get the above-pictured 2 year old to bed. She napped for 3 hours today and now at 11pm, she's playing with the train set. Pretty sure she's not tired yet. Darn.

At the red park

After ballet on Wednesday we had lunch with Missy, Maya and Laney, then headed to the park. This particular park is the Red Park, according to Emma. Emma also likes to visit the Castle Park and the Orange Park. We were there about 40 minutes, which was all I could take in the 90 degree heat.

In between trying to find shade, sweating and telling the girls it was time to go soon because Mama wasn't going to make it in the heat, I managed to get some cute pictures. This one being my favorite of the day.

I'm thinking our next trip to the park will be in the evening.

@ 29 weeks

As of today, I've hit the 29 week mark. 29 down, less than 11 to go.

(Photo taken this morning by Missy. Hi Mis!)

I think this is my new favorite pregnancy picture. Though I might just be liking it because I used PW's 70's action on it, though.

(Picture from 7/8, 28 weeks and 1 day. Taken while camping. Yes, camping. But more on that in another post. Thanks, Amanda.)

I certainly can't complain about this pregnancy. Granted, it was a bit rough in the beginning with the morning sickness. And even though I still had some days with a heck of a lot of throwing up, even while on the highest dose of Zofran I could take, it wasn't nearly as bad as it had been with the girls. For the most part, the Zofran kept the majority of puking away and left me with just constant nausea, and of course, other side effects that sucked all on their own. But, by 14 weeks it was completely gone and I felt better than I knew I could feel while pregnant. It was amazing.

And now at 29 weeks, for the most part I still feel great. Sure, there are some aches and pains, but those are to be expected at this stage - ligament stretching, hips hurting at night, some lower back/hip pain that I usually get when I've been sitting on the floor. My feet are starting to swell a bit. The Restless Leg Syndrome is back, although not to the extent it could be. The always strange skin tags. And I'm hot. The 90 degree temperatures have not helped one bit. But the pool and AC make it bearable.

I passed my glucose test, thank goodness. I don't know that I could've drank that disgusting orange beverage again.

(7/1/10)

My weight is good, although I'll admit to having 7 lb gain one month, followed by a 2lb month, then a 5.5 lb month. But I'm only at about 20.5 pounds gained right now. It's amazing how much more you can eat when you don't have to worry about throwing it back up. And I've been hungry. Really hungry. And eating lots of Tootsie Rolls. For some reason I can't resist them...although that's not so far from the norm for me!

I'm still working out, some weeks I get to the gym a lot (5 days the week before last, 3 days last week) other weeks not as much (probably only Friday and Saturday this week). Working out has been hard for me. Not so much the physical part of it (although my swelling feet making my feet go numb after too much cardio is a bit of an annoyance) but the fact that I can't work out like I want to. I actually get jealous seeing my friends really push themselves to the limit when working out, knowing I can't right now. Step class is my new best friend at the gym. I can do all of it but the ab work, and it's pretty much the best workout I can do right now. Otherwise, it's Zumba, lifting, cardio on the Precor. I quit running when my belly bouncing started bothering me. Some women run while pregnant and it doesn't bother them, but I don't love it enough to do it right now.

Baby boy is crazy active. He loves to be nestled up on my right side, right in my ribs. Which is why I often find myself stretching out to the left to get some relief. Thursday was the first time I could feel a body part poking out of my belly. He kicks a lot, most often early in the morning (7am-ish) and at night (like right now).

No name picked out yet, although we each have a name we like. The girls are still excited. Emma still randomly tells people I'm having a baby boy, even people that know (friends and family) and that she's told before. They both love to tickle the baby. So far they haven't felt him kick, but not for lack of trying. He always stops right after they put their hands on my belly.

Lastly, 28 weeks through Emma's eyes.


If you actually stuck around to read all that, thanks. Even though I swore I'd do a better job at recording this pregnancy, I haven't. So this post was my attempt to make up for my lack of memory keeping. Poor #3, already getting the shaft!

Ten on Tuesday

1. The pumpkins (minus the actual pumpkins, of course) are out of control. While common sense should have told me I didn't need to plant two whole packets of seeds in such a small area, it didn't.


2. She's cute.


3. She's in Snow White ballet camp at Missy's studio this week. And loves it. She also loves running in front of the camera, on purpose, then darting away when I try to take her picture. Fun game at four.


4. Last night was the Bon Jovi concert. It was my birthday present from my sister. She even got a parking pass which if you've ever seen a concert at Blossom you know how awesome that it. Especially pregnant. So glad we didn't have to walk 1.5 miles to the car!

5. It was Baby Boy's first concert. I saw Bon Jovi when I was 6 months pregnant with Emma, too.


6. We're not the only ones who still love Bon Jovi. It was packed. There was a couple near us who fell asleep (or passed out) for nearly an hour. Completely out of it. So out of it, one guy came over and took their picture. Then another guy came over and lay next to them and had his picture taken, then so did a girl. Then they finally woke up, oblivious to all that had happened.


7. So last week I had four moles taken off. I go back next week for a follow-up appt and get the pathology report. Thing is, I couldn't watch. I've had two c-sections and will be having another and those don't bother me at all. But watching her slice off the moles? Couldn't do it. Sat there with my eyes closed.

8.The girls like to stand by the water slide and get splashed when Michael and Tim go down. They giggle every time like it's the first time they're experiencing it.


9. Emma made this for Miss Nancy at Kid Park the other week.


10. Mackenzie's face going down the slide makes me laugh. Needless to say, she didn't want to go again.