Three weeks to go!

The summer is drawing to a close.  Probably a bit quicker than I would like, but as far as time-off from work goes, I have a very bright light (perhaps blindingly so) at the end of a very short tunnel: I have about a week and a half before I go back to school, then we'll have four in-service days, (a weekend) and then four days with kids...and then...I'll be off again.  For about 11 weeks.  I had to have a c-section with the girls (they were both breech), and after discussing it with our doctor, we decided it makes sense for us to have another c-section with this one. We have it scheduled for August 27th - exactly three weeks from today.  Of course, I'm well aware that things might not go exactly as planned...I've heard that babies sometimes come early :)  But I'm really hoping that it does - I can't help but think how nice it will be to just get up the morning of the 27th and go and...have a baby.  Laid back, no panic, no rush...just routine.

I've realized that I've said very little about my pregnancy on here, and to tell the truth, this pregnancy has been very under-the-radar for me for most of the last eight months.  A huge difference from last time around.  I think in part because it is the second pregnancy, everything was so new and novel the first time around...and I've got two little three and half year olds to chase around, which keeps me busy - a lot busier than I was with the twins, anyway.  I also think that its because, comparatively, this one has been so uneventful.  At this point last time I had carpal tunnel in both wrists, had been on bed rest for 10 weeks, had been in the hospital with preeclampsia for almost two weeks, and was mere days away from going into labor (one day, by the way, earlier than my scheduled c-section).

This time, I've gotten by pretty easy.  No major concerns that would be out of the ordinary of any typical pregnancy.  Sure, I can't sleep at night (I either can't get to sleep or wake up at 4:30 and can't fall back asleep); my feet swell up like Fred Flintstone's by the end of the day; I'm beginning to waddle like a penguin when I walk; I seem to have lost my mind - well, at least my short-term memory; I can barely move from a sitting or laying position to standing without excessive effort (Ian has described me as looking like a beached whale flailing around trying to get back in the water); and every time I shift positions I have to pee.  But, I'm pretty sure that all that is regular-old-ninth-month stuff.

Even though its been a relatively easy pregnancy...I'm ready for it to be over.  Pregnancy really has no glamour for me.  I had thought that maybe this time around I would be able to sit back and enjoy being pregnant, since there was just one and all.  But...to be completely honest, I haven't found all that much to enjoy about it.  Really and truly...I just want it done.

I had several goals that I wanted to accomplish this summer, things to get done before the baby came; and not all of them are complete...but I still want it done.  I wanted to have all of my plans for the trimester finished - a challenge since I'll be teaching a new class and don't have anything to "fall-back" on.  I don't have that completed.  I have all my plans for my World History class, but only plans through September for my AP US class.  But, I do still have about two weeks before the kids come.

I also wanted to get Cora and Evaline's room finished.  And I have it almost done.  I took their old receiving blankets from when they were babies and made them into quilts, and decorated the room around that.  I have the tops of the quilts done, but still have a little bit of work left to do on those.  They will be done before I return to work after maternity leave.  I'll post pictures then.

One thing that I have finished, that was a goal - and a priority - was to get the nursery finished.  I finished that about a week and half ago, and am very happy with the results.  I found some fabric, and my mom and I made curtains, my mom is making a matching bed quilt, and I found coordinating fabrics to get all crafty and create some artwork for the walls. (I used Mod Podge to adhere fabric silhouettes of birds and trees to spray-painted canvas).  They came out far better than I expected.  This was due in large part to the help of my friend Gretchen over at Sweet Pea Cards, who designed the templates for the birds and trees.  Want to see how it all turned out?

View from the window/closet

View from the doorway:

View from door, looking other way:

Picture set #1:

 Close up:

Picture Set #2:

Swimming Lessons

We decided this summer that since we're both home with the girls, pretty much every day, we needed lots of things to keep us busy.

So, in addition to dance, the girls also took swimming lessons for a couple weeks. We did a week in June and another week just this past week. We are extremely fortunate that, as high school teachers, we have access to special connections. C & E were able to take private, one-on-one lessons from the swim coach at our school. She is awesome, and the girls absolutely loved her. And this summer they went from being afraid to get in the water (for us, anyway...they'll do anything their coach asks) to being able to hold a back float on their own (for about 10 seconds, but still...).

The highlight, at least if you ask them, came on their last day when they hot real, J-Hawk swim caps and got to swim with goggles.

Here they are in action (The first two are Cora pictures, and the others are Evaline. They decided to "play a trick" on their coach & switch swim suits one day) :

Summer!

Well, its been awhile.  After I claimed that I would be better at updating the blog...I then proceeded to wait two months to do it again!  Lots of little things have happened, but nothing of too much importance.  I thought that since catching up on all the little things would take longer than I think anyone would care to read,  I'd leave most of this one to the photos.  The one thing that I have been good about this past month is keeping the camera handy...not all of the pictures came out well, to be sure (we are still struggling, desperately, with getting both girls looking - let alone smiling - at the camera at the same time), but at least it is documented.  So, without further ado, take a look at our summer so far!

We thought we'd start a new family tradition this year - the first day of summer break we headed for Palisades Park (a local, large park with hiking trails along side the river here) for some hiking (thankfully the girls love hiking!) and a picnic lunch.

 The only picture I could find of me where I didn't look like a house.  I've decided that I don't wear pregnancy particularly well, at least in photographs.

 Attempting to "skip" rocks in the river.  Evaline would always throw from where she's standing in the above photo, only rarely did the rock actually make it in.  On the other hand - Cora seems to be a natural athlete, throwing the rocks far and with excellent form.

I decided to invest about $7 in a kiddie pool for some hot summer days - which, although it is only June 23rd, we've had plenty.  Evaline is the one who always wants to set it up (a 15 - 20 minute process when you take into account the filling up, sunscreen, changing clothes, etc) and spends about 5 minutes in.

 Look at the air in that jump!!

For Father's day the girls made Ian a "cake".  This is one of my favorite desserts from when I was a kid, and one that they can do with very little help from me, which just makes them feel good about doing something by themselves.  Here's the recipe:

Layer graham crackers on a serving plate.  Spread with a thin layer of applesauce.  If the applesauce is unsweetened, sprinkle on some cinnamon and sugar.  Layer on some bananas sliced about a quarter of an inch thick.  Repeat until it is the size you want, or until you run out of some ingredient, ending on a layer of graham crackers.  Frost with Cool Whip.  

For this one, we used three whole graham crackers for each g.c. layer, and a total of 5 bananas.  I think we probably would have used 4 bananas if I had been doing the cutting...but I let the girls do it.  

This project reminded me of why I'm not a preschool teacher.  It was very difficult for me to "let go" and just let them do it.  But...I restrained myself from perfection and let them do it mostly by themselves, and they had a wonderful time - so proud of their creation!

 Since "Blogger" (my blog host) updated their settings, I can't figure out how to fix a picture if it comes in wrong... If anyone reading this also uses Blogger and knows how to change this please let me know!! I have several photos below where this is the case...but I'm going to leave all of them anyway.  

The girls insisted on helping paint the new baby's room.  Yes, it is a girl.  And yes, we did paint the room blue. (Turquiose Mist, to be exact).

Dance class started last Wednesday!

I think I've mentioned it before, but this spring we planted a 4x12 foot raised bed garden.  And so far it has been pretty successful!  Here we are shelling fresh peas for dinner one night last week!

This is the first real parade that we've been to since the girls were about 7 months old.  We've just always had some scheduling conflict.  In the words of one of the girls (don't remember which) "I've never seen so much candy before!"

Tonight we head to fireworks for the first time, too!  I accidentally spilled the beans to the girls, so I'm sure won't hear the end of it from the minute they wake up from their nap until we get there!