2 Active Kids, 1 Lame Mom

Ok, I know I'm not really a lame mom, but I certainly have been feeling pretty lame lately. With just over 5 weeks to go in this pregnancy, the back pain has come on pretty strong. Since that is exactly what put me on bedrest with Leah, I have been trying to take it really easy this time around. I've been having contractions here and there as well as some back spasms, so if you think of me and could pray for both the baby and me, I would appreciate it! I am thankful to have family close by and a husband who is home during much of the morning! That has been a huge blessing when I'm feeling less than my best.

Anyway, even though I am much less active than usual, these 2 kiddos have not slowed down a bit. As a result, I've been trying to fill their days with activities that will occupy them for extended periods of time without putting too much of a toll on my back. Some days I am mightily successful. Some days I fail miserably. Here are a few of my success stories (I will spare you the failures...all you would be looking at is alligator tears and angry scowls!).

The other day Leah's crib was the place to be.

Such joy in the small things!

Then we put every stuffed animal we own in there with them. Every.single.one. They stayed in there for at least 20 mins playing. Score!

A few days ago, we did a water station in the kitchen. Not only did the kids LOVE having their swimsuits on, they loved being able to splash freely because I was in too much pain to care about a wet floor :).

Elijah was playing "sink or float"...I can't even tell you how many random objects he pulled from this apartment to test out!

And, in my opinion, the best time-filler is bath time. The kids could just play in there until kingdom come. We've needed to do lots of these recently anyway since the weather's been nice and we've been outside a lot. My kids get dirty. Really, really dirty.

I think she is going to be a swimmer at an early age. She loves to lay on her belly and kick her legs.

Lovin life (as long as I'm not washing his hair)!

Hi, cutie!

Bump Update

Here is am at 33.5 weeks. I don't think I realize how large I really am until I look at it from this angle :). We are getting VERY excited for this little girl though!

Leah wanted in on the action :).

And Elijah too...nothing flattering about this pic of me, but let's be honest, it's hard to find a flattering pose at this point!

Campbell's Princess/Super Hero Birthday Party!

Yesterday was Campbell's 4th birthday! It is amazing to me that it has been 4 years since she was born since I remember it so clearly! She is such a sweet girl and we just love her so much. It has been a total joy to be living closer to family and spending more time with these kids! Campbell is obsessed with the movie Tangled, so Jess and Kev planned a Princess/Super Hero party for her. Elijah found these masks at the dollar spot in Target and proudly announced "I will be Spider Hero and Leah will be Butterfly Princess!". It was great...we dressed Elijah all in black and put a "cape" on him (see below for what that cape actually was) and Leah just wore a pretty pink and orange dress and her butterfly mask (which was promptly removed by her within 30 seconds of entering the party).

I took some pictures before we left because they were both wearing their masks. Elijah's outfit here is quite interesting: shirt and tie from church, pajama pants because he prefers them over dress pants (I can't blame him there!) and a spider mask. His all black costume was a little more coherent :).

Very excited for the party!

Our pretty butterfly princess!

Opening presents (Elijah stayed close by).

Very excited!

Norah is the sweetest little girl. She breaks out this huge cheeser smile as soon as she sees the camera...a dream child!

Jess and Kev planned a special Rapunzel suprise for Cam...floating lanterns! We released them (sort of...they were attached to a string) at the end of the night.

Elijah was excited and holding on tight to his string (and yes, I did use a hand towel as a super hero cape).

Elijah's lantern! It was really cool!

Yes! Success! Although he did shed a few tears because he couldn't hold the fire. Makes sense.

Happy birthday, Cam! We love you so very much!

2nd Shift!

Starting today, Kirk is moving to second shift at work (3-11:30). For his first month and a half, he had normal 1st shift hours, but now that the manufacturing season is starting, he is on the 2nd shift and today will be his first day as the sole supervisor on duty during that time. I am confident he will do a great job and am excited to hear about it (I think...we will see how excited I am to hear about it when he gets home at 12:30 am :)). Whether or not the kids and I will enjoy this 2nd shift remains to be seen, but I am thinking it will be fun to have him around in the mornings, especially for the kids since they only have been seeing him for about 30 minutes every night. Today the weather is in the 60s so we decided to play outside and have a picnic.

My parents just have the perfect yard for kids. I snapped this picture from inside the apartment.

Stuffing her face...so lady-like.

Somehow, she still manages to be cute. Oh, if life were so easy as an adult!

I got Kirk mid-bite also.

Make that 3 for 3!

My parents dog Tucker waited patiently for crumbs to drop.

Bring on the spring! I just love being able to be outside!

Veggie Tales

When Elijah started potty training back in January, we told him if he kid a really good job we would take him and a friend to see Veggie Tales at a local church. He of course chose Campbell and the night finally arrived on Saturday. I really am proud of how well Elijah is doing in the potty training department, and I am glad we were able to reward him for his effort with a fun night out! Although he was a bit scared by the noise at the beginning of the show, he loosened up as it went on and both the kids really had a great time!

Anxiously waiting for the show to begin!

They were excited! Elijah was so excited he couldn't look away from the stage for a picture.

Cam and Uncle Kirk enjoying the second act.

Singing one of our favorite silly songs "I don't have a Belly Button". I love that Veggie Tales is pretty funny for adults too :).

We got each of the kids a souveneir watch: Larry for Cam and Bob for Elijah. They were excited (again too excited to look at the camera for E!).

Great job on the potty, Elijah! We are very proud of you and find it hard to believe you are growing up so quickly.

iPad Entertainment

On Saturday morning, we had the Jackson kids for a few hours while Jess had a baby shower and Kevin worked. Kirk pulled out his iPad and entertained the kids for a few minutes with some Veggie Tales videos. It was just so cute having them all piled up on the bed that I had to get the camera out and snap a few pics.

No suprise that Elijah is the one with the shortest attention span.

I love how Cam had her arm around Leah here :). Oh, and Elijah is back...just needed a quick break, I guess.

I love having such a fun husband and the kids love having such a fun uncle/daddy!

Daddy Daughter

If you know us, you know we are big fans of Chick-fil-a. Well, after last night, we are even bigger fans! Each year (or maybe several times a year, I don't know), Chick-fil-a hosts a special Daddy Daughter Date Night at several of their locations. Kirk took Leah last night and they had a blast. He said it was so cool, complete with a balloon archway, a hostess stand, tablecloths, flowers, a balloon artist, and a professional photographer! He loved it and plans to return with her (and our other baby girl!) in the future.

Leah is very resistant to me putting anything in her hair, but I was happy when my mom distracted her long enough for me to get these two little half piggy tails clipped with a pretty flower :).

Excited and ready to go!

Yay! Daddy is here and we're ready for our date :). Kirk took a picture of them at the restaurant, but for some reason my computer sometimes decide not to upload certain photos. Annoying!

They got home around 7:45 (past bedtime) and Leah was totally wired. She was in such a good mood. As Kirk was telling me about the evening, we looked over at Leah and she had gotten her hands on the iPad, turned on some music, and was dancing. She wasn't ready for the night to be over!

Cracking up.

She is just too cute!

Thank you, Chick-fil-a, for being more awesome than we even knew!