Visiting Friends and the Mudhens

                                                

The Malones came up for a visit from Columbus this past weekend... my dear childhood friend Sarah, her daughter Riley, and son Kellen (daddy was visiting with college friends and couldn't make the trip).

Elise had a good lesson in sharing her toys... getting ready for the twins!

(Why did my camera make Kellen's picture look like a special effect?!)

Of course no evening is complete in our house without some dancing in pajamas!

Jeff read good night stories to both girls. While they didn't stay in the same room, maybe next time we'll  brace ourselves for an official sleepover!

For some reason I forgot to post pictures from our evening at the Mudhens baseball game.  On a Sunday evening a few weeks ago, we headed downtown for dinner and a game. While I had no problem eating several hot dogs, Elise focused her dinner on peanuts and soft pretzels.

The highlight of the evening was Elise's dancing. Maybe next time she'll make it up on the scoreboard with her dancing moves.

Taste of Maumee and River Walking

Last weekend was the Taste of Maumee and Bow Wow Bash. Of course we couldn't leave the doggies at home. It wouldn't be fair. So, we dressed Demi and Garth up in red and black bandannas and set off to Maumee to walk around, eat, and enjoy the morning parade.

              

                                                
Elise would say that the highlight of the parade was any float that threw those cheap dum-dum lollipops. The dogs would say the highlight was any float that threw dog bones. Garth, especially, was happy since he's on his kidney happy diet and doesn't get to partake in many treats.

It got pretty warm but the dogs insisted on snuggling during a band concert. Demi and Garth have gotten to be great companions.

When we were leaving, a local church was doing free face painting. Elise opted for a rainbow butterfly-- she was disappointed to learn that most of it rubbed off during naptime.

                                             

Not sure if this is good or bad but Elise can now fill up her own water glass. Ironically, we have all been drinking more water since she tends to enjoy the process rather than the drink!

Elise and I took a second class through the Metroparks in Waterville. We got to learn all about the Maumee River. About 12 other 3-5 year-olds joined us as we walked through the river with nets. If we happened to catch anything, we got to put our find into a large bucket. At the end, all the creatures were put into smaller Tupperware containers for the children to look at with magnifiers.

We gathered 2 fish, 1 clam, 1 crayfish and a few bugs. Oh yeah, and lots of seaweed slime.

Summer is almost over.Elise starts preschool in less than 2 weeks! She's super excited... as am I!

Brutus' Flashlight

When there is a big thunderstorm, we all like to sit in our living room and watch the storm roll in. Recently, Elise asked us where lightning comes from. We told her that lightning and thunder come from heaven. She wanted to know if lightning was like a 'flashlight'. We said yes as what 3 year old wants to hear how storms develop.

To make a long story short, Elise put it together that it was probably Brutus who was shining a flashlight down to us from heaven. The visual is enough to put a smile on my face. 

The last time it rained, Elise wanted a flashlight so she could shine it back to Brutus. I'm sure he's happy to know that we still think of him....

More Summer Fun

We've done a couple fun activities this past month. First we spent several Tuesday evenings at the Toledo zoo taking a class. We learned about different animals (even got to pet a green-eyed tree frog and a hissing cockroach-- Elise loved it!) and learned about their special talents. 

 The day we learned about birds and their eyesight, we made and decorated our own binoculars.

Then all the kids lined up and tried them out. They sure worked well even though they looked a bit like toilet paper rolls.

 Elise and I also took a Bug Walk class at our local metropark. We walked through the woods and a meadow collecting bugs in our bug jar. We collected 5 beetles and one fuzzy caterpillar.  It was a great day for bugs!

 Afterwards we made a lady bug out of modeling clay to take home and had a yummy snack that looked like a bug. The class was mostly filled with little boys but Elise seemed the most interested picking up bugs and sharing them with the naturalist.

And of course our garden is still growing like crazy!

 Grandmas scored some bikes from a local thrift store so we've been upgraded in the biking department. About 2 seconds after this picture was taken, we had a big wipe out complete with a scabbed knee.

 Elise and Jeff went and picked out her helmet. It was such a hit that she wore it out of the store complete with cardboard and price tags. She even wore it through dinner and most of the evening too. By the time she took it off, her head was soooo sweaty!

Here we are sporting our new helmet plus a bug we found.

 Even Garth looks good in it too! He doesn't mind the pink owls one bit.

Big Sister Elise

The news is out. Elise is going to be a big sister on January 17th (assuming I can make it the 38 weeks for my c-section date). She's going to have double the amount of work as we will be having twins.

We told Elise and our parents as an early Father's Day gift back at the beginning of June and then waited almost another month before we told the rest of our family, friends and co-workers. We had our parents over for dinner and had Elise come out wearing a 'Big Sister' shirt. It took the grandmas 0.001 seconds to figure things out.

First Ultrasound at 6.5 weeks

Elise has been filled with questions. "How do those babies eat?","Where do those babies sleep?", "How big are those babies?".... all in relation to them in my belly.  My favorite is "Did you have those babies yet?". She gives my belly tons of hugs and kisses and commonly refers to them as 'babes'. She even slathers Belly Butter Lotion on her own stomach each night after our shower so she can be like me. I have no doubt she'll be an excellent big sister. Elise tells us that she will help with diapers, feeding, and will even do crazy dances for her new siblings. Crazy dancing is exactly how it sounds....

We have a month or so left before we find out the sexes but Elise and I are both convinced we have one girl and one boy. Time will tell. I'm not sure if Jeff has weighed in on the subject yet.

I've been trying to take it extra easy... per Jeff and my doctors suggestions. I have my first (and hopefully last) bout of bed rest right now to help reduce some cramping and bleeding. I've been on my best behavior and appreciate all the love and extra support everyone is giving me. It helps to know the guys are growing and doing well.

Baby 'A' at 12 weeks
My guess: Girl

Baby 'B'- at 12 weeks
My guess: Boy (he's always crazy)

Probably the funniest thing is that Elise assumes that all pregnant women may have any number of babies in their tummies. She was quite perplexed when she asked our neighbor's daughter (who is 8 months pregnant) 'How many babies are in your belly?". She replied that she was have one baby. Obviously Elise was wondering how that could be when her stomach was so big!