Soccer Chick

No one ever told me that 4 was the magical age in which your kids jump head first into the world of extra curricular activities. I guess it's kind of silly to comment on because as the mother I really have complete control of it, so why am I surprised? But even though I'm the one who did all the signing up, somehow it still seemed to shock me just how quickly we've found ourselves in this world of traveling from 'lesson' to 'lesson', 'class' to 'class'.

To be clear, I am NOT complaining. I actually LOVE exposing Macy to all these different facets of activity, exercise, social interaction and skill development. It's so fun to watch her world expand, see her awareness of so many different things grow, her enjoyment multiply and her confidence blossom. And we are so lucky to have such supportive grandparents that make so much of it happen.

This year for Birthday and Christmas presents both sets of parents got Macy lessons in different things and the 'necessities' to go with them. So this Spring Macy has been doing Ballet & Tap (pics of her recital to come in July - big time people BIG time!) as well as a Soccer course and we'll probably do a T-ball mini course in the summer too. I am soo thrilled to be able to give her the opportunity to really try these mini classes in so many different areas, so that I can watch and she can see for herself what things she truly enjoys and has a knack for. Then we can calm things down and let her enjoy one or two on a more committed basis as she grows up. I really want to give my kids a chance to develop into whatever areas they truly show an interest in instead of just plopping them in the activities I did as a kid. It's so hard to not just assume your child will love and be good at the same things as you, so hard to not want to push them in that direction! This has felt like a fun way to give quite a few things a fair shot at stealing her heart :)

SO.. here's some pictures of Macy's first soccer experience.





Oh, did I mention that she gets to take it with her BFF from preschool, Olivia? Yep, talk about fun! The girls are really hilarious together.


They literally do this every time the coach lines them up, seriously, they stand there and hold hands until made to let go!

Admiring their jerseys, although they weren't too happy when they found out the different colors meant they had to be on different teams!

We've only had a few weeks of classes with a few more to go, but I will say the outlook for Soccer getting to be a repeat on our list of sports we try out is looking pretty grim. When asked if she had fun at her most recent practice, Macy thoughtfully replied...

"Well, a little bit of fun. I mean I like soccer and I love Olivia, but I don't like how much work it is. You have to run alot. I think I like Ballet."

Hmmm.

I may not get to coach that girl's softball team I've always dreamed about after all! :)

Easter

Somehow, every year, Easter and the camera seem to become enemies and I never EVER take the pictures I intend to. In all honestly Im actually getting very annoyed with this phenomenon and am going to have to come up with a fool proof plan for next year! But for now, enjoy the 3 pictures I got.

THREE.

Oh well. The kids had a total blast with all the festivities all day, I guess that's all that really matters!

The Big Reveal

The 'guessing process' was very official. Everyone had to take a white frosted cupcake and then sprinkle it with the corresponding colors accordingto their guess.

All Pink - Two Girls / All Blue - Two Boys / Pink & Blue - One of Each
(Rocket Science I know!)

Everyone made their guesses...


While the 'answers' lay on the coffee table...

And of course I have no more pictures because at this point I was shaking with anticipation and put the camera down. A friend video taped the rest, but not another single picture was taken... bummer.

But their were two people who guessed correctly that night..only two out of over 25 people in the room! Wait for it... the big reveal and the two intuition geniuses of the night...














Uncle Sean and our friend Ed... I can not be held responsible for any teeny tiny traces of resentment that may or may not be camping out in my heart towards these two. But it's fading day by day as images of twin boys flood my daydreams. We're gonna have some fun, that's for sure :)

The Ultrasound

Well, it's taken two weeks to find the time to actually post all this so the word is already out, but I still thought it'd be fun to show you all how THE Saturday went down!
Driving to the 4D Ultrasound


Macy got to join us which she was SUPER excited about. We left Carter with friends and she felt very grown up about it all! I'm not exaggerating a bit when I tell you she didNOTstoptalking the ENTIRE 30 minute drive!

We closed our eyes in the room while the tech did her searching, then she wrote the gender's down, one in each envelope I had previously made.

Then Ryan's parents took Macy for the rest of the afternoon and the two of us went to coffee to open our envelopes.




We each only opened one, so we each knew just one of the baby's genders...


Once we each knew one of the babies the mind games really set in, I immediately wanted to cave and just tell eachother, but Ryan stood strong and so we stuck to the plan!


We then walked around the mall looking for the perfect pink or blue baby item to purchase separately. When we agreed on WHAT the item would be we each told the saleslady in secret which color to wrap up. She wrapped them in the back and rung us up, so we walked out of the store with identical boxes, still each only knowing half of the 'final picture'!

Then we headed back to our house where we met up with a bunch of our family and friends for official guesses and 'the big reveal'.

Naptime.

So, nap times lately have been sucked up with insane webstore prep for Bellybou', random spurts of desperate cleaning (which you'd never be able to tell by the way the house always looks), planning of our church's women's retreat coming up next wknd, and shoveling my face with food so that I can at least eat once during the day without having to share it with my kids.

But today, I was tired and desperately wanting to relax and I couldn't do another 'purposeful' thing or I swear I'd lose my mind. So I figured I'd catch up on all the posts I'd been blogging about in my head over the past month or so. And I have to say, I do feel quite refreshed. So here comes the onslaught...

Oh! And guess what?? We find out what the babies are tomorrow... drum roll please, get ready for the big reveal. I am super excited.

Till then.

Adventures

Lately the kids have been really into going on 'adventures'. They want to 'explore' and find 'forts and hideouts'. One of the days when Ryan had the kids while I was at Bellybou' he let them ride their bikes and they went on an 'adventure'. They actually ended up being out for hours and the kids had such a blast. Just figured I'd share the pictures. Oh, and note Macy's outfit...and then read a few posts below. The 'outfit selection' gets even MORE out of hand when Daddy is in charge!

Carter's Cars

Speaking of girl's girls (see previous post). On the total opposite end of the spectrum would be my "boy's boy". Wow, does he keep me on my toes. But I thought I'd share one of his latest loves. He does have many loves, animals and tools being 1 and 2 on the list. But CARS have jumped right up the totem pole lately as well, thanks in large part to Mr. Lightening 'MaKEEN', 'Yalemma' and 'Doc'.
So the funniest thing is what Carter likes to do with his crazy collection of cars. It most often includes lines and racing, but no matter what, we find them in the strangest places. The other night this was the location of choice...

He lined them all up, sticking every 'little' car he could find under the tiny crevice between the couch and the carpet.


I realize these pictures are horrible and blurry, but I figured you could still see the general idea and the way he worked so hard made me laugh and decide it was worth posting. Running back and forth from his room with handfuls of all his tiny cars, crouching down and carefully sliding them into place.

And then he just lays there with a silly grin on his face and stares at them. So happy.

Oh Carter-Bot.

Fashion 101

Thought I'd share a little about the fashion of my four year old.

For awhile now she's had quite the opinion on what she wants to wear. So we started a little system of switching off every other day. One day (conveniently preschool and church days!) I choose, and if she has a good attitude on that day, she can choose the next day. Lately the 'outfit' has grown very specific...

Shiny shoes. These are incredibly important to her and REALLY not working for me. We have cute converse and good white sneakers and sandals...but no, wear the cheezey plastic coated black shoes with scuffed toes that are getting too small for you. Perfect.

The clip, it must be matching in color and it MUST be placed in her hair by herself. Which often leads to ineffective clipping, in ridiculous places, which requires constant biting of my tongue while I mutter something to myself about 'choosing battles'.

But of unparalleled importance, is...the skirt. Or dress. It can actually be either (but it MUST NOT be pants or shorts) as long as it does this...

And does it well... the twirling is a very integral part of what makes a skirt or dress acceptable and boy do we twirl. And feel VERY pretty I might add.

Oh goodness, could I have been given more of a girl's girl?

They're here.

Ah, Belly Pics. Always a bit awkward, but I've learned as horrid as they are at the time, I always kinda want them later.. and seeing as how this is more than likely my last pregnancy, and the fact that I'm also more than likely going to get gi-normous... I figured I should do a good job of documenting. So we've been taking pics every two weeks in close to the same spot/position/clothing etc, just cuz I think it'd be fun to see them all so similar with only the growing belly changing. It's already crazy to see how quick I'm popping out (especially between 12&14 wks.!)
Ugh. If you need explanation about the look on my face in some of these.. that should pretty much explain it, Ugh. I have to say I'm a little frightened of the size I will be at the end of this, considering I think I looked like Wk 14 when I was oh, 24 the last two times!

8 weeks - the start of a teeny bump

10 weeks - it's coming...

12 weeks - ...here it comes...

14 weeks - uh oh, it's here.