School Pictures - Spring 2012

We've been talking about getting family pictures taken but haven't gone yet, so when Picture Day rolled around again this year, I realized last year's school pictures were our last professional pictures of the kids! Once again, I was very happy with the results!

How cute is this?!?

Breeley: almost 4 yrs

Zack: 2 yrs

My kids would never do these poses for me! (Thanks, Life Touch!) I get some cute snapshots, but I'm glad to have professional pictures occasionally. I'm hoping to get good family pictures in the fall once the new baby is here!

Dance Picture Preview

Breeley is taking tap and ballet at daycare through a local dance studio, and she had pictures at the studio on Saturday. Last year, her dance picture was my favorite picture ever, but I still can't bring myself to pay a whole lot before I see the product. I was especially worried this year because she got all clingy on me and eventually had to be pulled away crying. It was partly my fault because I had to get everything ready for a crazy day and we were running later than I would have liked, so we were rushed getting her ready when we got there. She occasionally (never know when) takes a while to ease into situations, and apparently she was not in the mood for dance pictures. She refused to let me put her hair up like the other girls, but one little girl had just curled her hair and left it down, so thankfully Breeley's hair looked just as "fixed" as hers!

It is very exhausting and annoying when kids get clingy but you need them to do something. (Of course, Zack was crying for me to pick him up too, so I had two kids being uncooperative and clingy.) All the other parents are staring at you because their kids have already gone back, and you don't want your kid to be the one crying in the group picture. Nothing seemed to be working, so eventually the dance teacher just took her and I walked away. She didn't cry too much but she was definitely not happy! About 10 minutes later, she burst out of the room with a huge smile on her face!

Then she posed for these pictures:

She normally really likes pictures and is happy to pose for them, so I was surprised by her earlier behavior. She had been excited for dance pictures and had absolutely no problems last year. It just shows that kids like to keep us on our toes!

This is her little friend, Kate. Their dance class has about 10 little girls ages 3-5, so the recital is sure to be very cute!

After dance pictures, Breeley went to Kate's for a playdate because I had to go to a memorial service and Brian had a previously-scheduled fishing tournament. Zack tagged along with my friend Anna and her boys. It was the first playdates for the kids without me there, and everyone seemed to have a good time with no crying or clinging when I left!

Breeley's Wish Granted: Another Brother!

Breeley has been saying she wants another brother and she got her birthday wish! The day before her birthday we found out we are expecting another BOY!! The official due date is August 31, but based on our track record, I expect he will arrive in early September.

Hands in front of his face, just like Breeley and Zack

No question on the boy parts!

I've been fortunate to have another relatively "easy" pregnancy so far. We plan on this being the last, so I had illusions of revelling in every aspect of this pregnancy, recording everything, and enjoying every moment. However, two previous offspring--cute as they may be--have prevented me from lying around eating strawberries and rubbing my belly all day, and most of the time it is an accomplishment to even remember that I'm pregnant! (Thirty-pound 2-year-olds do NOT care that you are not supposed to lift more than 20 pounds!)

Here are a few notable symptoms and information about Boy #2:

• Occasional nausea, but nothing too serious or regular. Sometimes I need to steer clear of the kitchen while Brian is cooking. Chicken stir fry has again been a major culprit, and for some reason Brian seems to crave it when I'm pregnant!
• Sciatic nerve annoyance, especially after vacuuming or other things that require pushing, bending, or lifting. I notice it mostly on days I'm home with the kids all day because I bend and pick things up all day long!
• Trips to the bathroom have been much more frequent than with the other pregnancies!
• Extreme tiredness, which understandably has increased with each pregnancy due to having other kids to chase around. I'm getting more sleep than usual but it is never enough!
• Increased irritability and less patience, which I'm hoping is hormone-related and not just me being bitchy. :)
• His heartbeat has been in the 150s or 160s at every check, dispelling the myth that boys are lower (less than 150) and girls are higher. (Breeley and Zack followed the stereotypical pattern.)
• At the 21-week ultrasound, he measured 13-14 oz, which is slightly smaller than average (15 oz). This is expected because my children tend to measure small-average throughout, and then gain all their weight at the end and come out at 40+ weeks as big babies!
• Aspects of this pregnancy have more closely resembled those with Breeley, which dispels another popular myth about predicting gender based on past pregnancies.
• The placenta is inconveniently placed right smack in the front of my belly, the same as it was with Breeley. This is extremely annoying because it limits the movements I feel. The baby was wiggling like crazy at the ultrasound but I barely felt any of it because the placenta is right in front of all the action. With Breeley I had several scares due to lack of movement; with Zack, it was great to have the constant reassurance of kicks and movements from 14 weeks on. 

Unfortunately, despite having a great pregnancy so far, I've spent the last 22 weeks in a state of constant worry, which has hindered the "enjoyment" aspect of this pregnancy. The limited/ unmeasurable movement has been partly to blame, but the worry mainly stems from my miscarriage in the fall. That situation introduced me to the fact that something can be wrong despite having no outward signs of complications. With that pregnancy, we found out during an ultrasound at 9 weeks that there was no heartbeat and no growth since 5 weeks, but I didn't actually have the miscarriage until 11 weeks. My body tried desperately to hold on to that pregnancy and my hormone levels didn't return to normal until weeks after. Prior to that, after two healthy pregnancies and deliveries, I was too naive to think that something could go wrong without you knowing. (I thought unless you saw blood, everything was fine.) It has made me quite paranoid throughout this pregnancy. I especially get worried right before appointments, which has caused borderline high blood pressure, but then after the appointment when we hear the heartbeat and everything is fine, my blood pressure is normal. I am feeling MUCH better now that we are further along, I'm feeling more movements, and everything looked healthy and normal at the ultrasound.

We feel incredibly blessed to be adding another little boy to our family! We just need to come up with a name... Breeley suggested we call him "Sweetheart" or "Chocolate Bunny." She got her wish with another brother, so I think we get a pass on her name suggestions! 

Breeley's Special Day

Breeley's birthday fell on my day off, so I promised a special day of fun things for her. One of the things I planned was to get our nails done together, but we ended up doing that the weekend before. She picked red for her toes and fingers, and they painted little white flowers on a few of them. She loved it!

On her birthday, we dropped Zack off at daycare and headed to an art studio to paint pottery! Breeley loves to paint and I thought it'd be nice to have a fun keepsake. She picked a bowl and all the colors and I gave her free reign on the first coat. Then I painted the second coat, going over the exact same pattern and colors. She used a round sponge to make black dots, and I painted the edges black to try to tie everything together. She had fun and was proud of her creation!

I would not recommend this activity for younger kids. Zack would have been a "bull in a china shop," and even Breeley seemed to get restless after an hour. Also, I normally like to give kids free reign with art projects, but that's a little more difficult when it is something you want to use/keep/display and don't want it to end up as a big brown blob. I think we had a good balance and ended up with her design and work. We will definitely go back because I got some other project ideas and they have good specials on weekdays. After it was glazed and fired in the kiln, I think it came out pretty cute!

Different angles

We then headed home to make cupcakes for her class. Since she knew her birthday was coming up, Breeley had been asking to make cupcakes for two weeks. She did almost all of it herself--pouring, mixing, and even putting the batter in the cups. We were cutting it close to get to school in time for their afternoon snack, so I ended up doing the icing and sprinkles while she napped. I left a few for her in case she was upset, but she was surprising uninterested in the decorating. 

Her friends were excited to see cupcakes and sing to the Birthday Girl, but, in a repeat from her birthday party, she got all bashful and hid behind me then went to a corner table and buried her face in her hands.  After things calmed down and people weren't staring at her, she happily joined the group and was very proud of her birthday hat.

I got Zack from his class so he could have a cupcake too!

Next, after some errands, we headed to the strawberry patch! The strawberries had been such a hit that I decided to get more while they are in season. The farm had a sign saying they'd be closed the next two days to let more berries ripen, which meant they'd been picked through and it took twice as long to pick half as many. The kids were not as helpful this time because it took them longer to find good ones so they ate every one they found! (I will point out that they asked me before eating almost every one. Such good kids!)

I didn't get my traditional picture of the birthday girl waking up (she had a little accident getting to the bathroom, which happens very rarely), so here she is going to bed as a 4-year-old!

I usually only plan one activity or outing per day because it's hard to schedule around the normal meals/naps and errands, so this was a special and full day! But a special day was appropriate for a special 4-year-old!

Birthday Party Time!

We have not had an "official" birthday party for either of our kids since Breeley's first birthday. Since then, we've enjoyed many birthday parties for friends and classmates. Breeley has been talking about her birthday party for months and doesn't seem to distinguish between the party and her actual birthday. Whenever I would round up and say she was 4, she'd correct me and say not until her birthday party.

We knew we wanted to do a party this year, but I tend to stress out about these things, so we decided to let someone else do it for us! We've been to several parties at places like My Gym, Monkey Joe's, and The Little Gym, which offer all-inclusive packages where all you do is bring the cake. My favorite place, My Gym, is temporarily closed for relocation, so we settled on The Little Gym.

Staff members lead activities and sing songs, but mostly just let the kids run around and play on the equipment. It seemed a little unstructured and chaotic, but it wasn't messing up my house and the kids seemed to have fun!

Breeley on the balance beam, which was very popular

They make a big deal about the Birthday Girl, which made Breeley uncomfortable and bashful. She spent most of those moments buried in Brian's shoulder or running from the group. It was shocking behavior because she's not shy and is very friendly, but we're learning that she does not like having a group's attention or having a fuss made about her. Several parents commented that their children do better at other kids' parties than at their own, so I guess this behavior is not uncommon.

Buried in Brian's shoulder while everyone said their names and happy birthday to her

Ma and Pappy came from VA!

I love this picture of Breeley with her little friend, Katelyn

 

Zack joined in some activities but was mostly content doing his own thing. Not surprisingly, he spent as much time as possible with a ball in his hands!

Breeley was fine sitting in the middle of the parachute...

...but made a quick exit when they started singing Happy Birthday to her!

The kids were told to sit on this mat, but then many of them got a little freaked out when it started filling with air. Zack is sitting next to his friend Helen, who he knows from daycare and we are friends with her parents. (Helen is going to be a big sister any day now!)  

 

Once it was blown up, the kids had fun jumping on the bounce mat. I think it was the one activity that interested all the kids! 

Then they sat on it again while it deflated, which didn't turn out so well.

My sister Amy volunteered to make cupcakes! She's learned a few things from Cupcake Wars and they turned out so pretty!!

 

Since Amy did the cupcakes, we only provided ice cream and party favors. So easy! I even had a photographer, Amy's husband, Andrew. We took this picture while the staff cleaned up. :)

Breeley had so much fun! It was great seeing her and Zack play with their little friends. I'm not sure what our birthday traditions will be--definitely not a big party every year--but Breeley loved having her friends and family celebrate with her!

Pickin Strawberries

There are several strawberry farms in our area and I've always wanted to go pick fresh strawberries. I love strawberries, but the kids have been fairly indifferent about them. I often mix strawberries with grapes and the kids usually pick out the grapes and then don't eat the strawberries, but they always want to eat strawberries from my plate! (Why do kids think things taste better when you are eating it?)

Today I went with my friend Anna and her boys to one of our local strawberry farms, and I think that did the trick with converting the kids to strawberries! I was surprised how quickly they picked up on choosing good ones and picking them from the vine. It's a good activity for young kids because the instructions are simple: stay on this path and pick the red ones that come right off.

Of course, the next instruction is to put them in the bucket, but after a while, Zack seemed to have a little trouble with that part!

Breeley ate some too, but she was very focused on the task at hand and actually spent most of the time about 10 feet away from me picking her own bucket.


After coming away with two huge buckets, we headed to Anna's farm--I can call it that now! Check out her blog: Okra Hill Farm--where we enjoyed lunch outside, playing in the sand pile, and watching their six new chickens! It was a fun day, and I came away with a bunch of fresh berries to freeze and enjoy!

Easter in VA

We celebrated a great Easter weekend at home in VA. Brian had Friday off so we left after work on Thursday. The kids did great in the car but only slept about 30 minutes so they were wired when we arrived at Brian's parents at 10 PM! Then the excitement of sleeping on bunk beds--Breeley's first time on the top bunk and Zack's first time alone in a "big" bed on the bottom bunk--kept them awake until midnight!

Despite a late bedtime, they were still up by 7 AM, in time to say bye to Daddy and Pappy as they headed out to go fishing. After a failed attempt at naps, we headed to my parents' house. My dad and brother, DJ, had to work during the day, but my brother Kevin came in from WV. Brian came over in the afternoon and we dyed eggs and did a small egg hunt, which are becoming traditions at my mom's house. She also gave us baskets/brown bags with the traditional fudge rounds and chocolate (I noticed some of the candy was in Valentine's Day wrapping, no doubt purchased at an after-holiday discount--she's totally my mom!)

Last year after Easter (see!), I bought a spinny-dye thing so that Zack could participate in dyeing eggs without making a huge mess.

Of course, he preferred the messy method and wanted to dip/throw eggs in the cups. I finally put about an inch of plain water in a cup and gave him an already-dyed blue egg, and he dipped to his heart's content. He never caught on because it came out blue every time!

The kids gave an enthusiastic welcome to Papa and DJ!

We missed Amy & Andrew, and Brian & Tina and their babies, but we got to talk on Skype and see how much their sweet baby boy is growing! We'll have to do it again now that baby girl is home!

On Saturday we headed to Granny Jen's for a super delicious lunch and her annual egg hunt. The main hunt is in the orchard, but the little kids (<3 yrs) hunt closer to the house. How crazy that this year there were only two little kids, Zack and Buck! Later, as Zack inspected his stash, he opened egg after egg and kept asking, "Where the jelly beans at?" I was happy to trade jelly beans for all his chocolate!

Funny story: Earlier in the day, I put a bag of eggs and candy in the living room while I went out to the car to get more plastic eggs. When I came back in, the bag was gone, but I thought I must be going crazy and had put it somewhere else. As I looked for it I realized Zack was not around and was being quiet, so I asked the three other adults in the room if he'd taken the bag. They stared at me blankly while I looked upstairs to see Zack giggling and stuffing jelly beans in his mouth before running away with the bag of eggs! He can be so sneaky!

I love taking pictures in the orchard. Here are the kids with Ma and Pappy.

Doug's branch of the Hudson Family Tree. Next year it will be complete with two granddaughters and four grandsons!

Breeley has developed a new interest in climbing trees, probably picked up from her cousins.

We left Granny's and headed to Rose Holler to check out the new benches Brian's cousins built at the river. Even without trees in bloom, the New River is beautiful.

Sunday morning, the kids had no trouble finding their baskets and digging right in to the jelly beans! We also let them have a few Pez. (Perhaps their major sugar high offset their major sleep deficit because they were really good considering those two things go completely against their normal routine!)

As we were leaving for Granny and Papa's, Breeley said she found "a Pez" at the couch. Thinking it was one piece of candy, I said she could eat it, but then realized it was a whole pack, so I said she could have two pieces. In the car, she handed me the empty wrapper and I looked at her in disbelief and said, "You ate all of those?!" Without missing a beat, she answered, "Well, they fell out." Apparently, they then fell into her mouth! Brian and I died laughing. Along with perfecting the art of asking questions, we've learned that our 3-year-old also has an answer for everything and can be very clever! 

At Granny and Papa's, we enjoyed rides on the golf cart, blowing gigantic bubbles with a bubble wand, and eating a dialysis-approved meal (for Papa, who recently started 3 times/week dialysis). Breeley enjoyed picking flowers with Lauren and bringing them to Granny.

I loved this hillside full of yellow flowers and took a bunch of pictures of Breeley in her yellow dress. Here's a cute one of her and Lance.

Meanwhile, Zack got soaking wet playing in the trough of spring water!

It's always sad to say goodbye after a fun weekend at home with our families. It's a long drive, but the kids had a BLAST and it's always worth it.

Visiting VA always makes us miss being there. We love being with our families and one day hope to live a little closer. Mainly though, it makes us appreciate the beauty of that area. I'm convinced it is one of the prettiest places in the US. We stared longingly at the effortless green grass and must have commented about the scenery at least 50 times!

Easter always reminds me of how incredibly blessed we are!