Artapalooza

I love summer in this area, because there are so many fun festivals and events to take the kids to! We kicked off the season today with "Artapalooza." Organized by the owner of bluedogart studio (a nifty place for kids to take art lessons), there were numerous booths set up for kids to try different art projects, and some tasty treats along the way! Nanna went with us, and we had lots of fun!

Tommy creating "hieroglyphics" on a "sand tablet."

Jack pointing to his balloon that floated away. He was obsessed with talking about balloons the entire time, and managed to loose 2 (one because he let go, and one that popped). Neither one of my sons likes it when we tie the balloon to their wrist. Tommy's gotten pretty good about holding on, but Jack is still learning.

Also, notice Jack's hat. I tried to push it back before taking a picture, but he always pushed it right back down over his eyes! He loves hats.

Playing with clay.

"Another picture, Mommy?"

Jack "painting" with watercolors

Even though I'm sad Anna's not here yet, I'm glad we got to go to the festival! Maybe she'll decide to come tonight...

Photo Catch-up

Today is Anna's due date. But no baby yet :(

It's hard not to be completely impatient!

To pass the time, I'm going to finally post those photos I've been promising (I found a way to get the photos from the camera to the computer. Yay!)

Our climbing rose bush--it's blooming like crazy this year!

The new arrangement in the back of the van--the boys are pretty far away, but with the third car seat this worked out the best. Jack was originally in one of the captain's chairs, but he wanted to sit with Tommy...so he won.

Tommy taking his first nap in over a year. So cute! And the perfect mother's day gift :-)

My boys gettin' into trouble on Mother's day (that's whip cream from our European Pancakes). They had a nice fun bath following this photo.

"Up, Mawny! Up!!"

Jack playing baseball

Jack, Tommy, and Daddy playing baseball

More baseball ('cuz it's cute!)

Tommy talking to Anna. He's really good at repeating whatever I tell him to say, so he says cute things like "Hi little sister! I love you! See you soon!" Jack does, too, but he was sleeping during this photo.

So, there you have it! Over a month's worth of photos smooshed together. I'm sure there will be TONS of photos on here soon! Here's hoping for a long night tonight...

Cute!

JJ and his fiancee Brittany had their bridal photos taken on Monday, and they turned out sooo cute! Here's a link if you'd like to check them out:

http://bmwphotographyblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/brittany-jj-bridals-lexington-va.html

This whole week has thunderstorms in the forecast, so the photographer just factored that in to the photo shoot. Very creative and fun :-)

Almost there...

Anna's estimated date of delivery (EDD) is this Friday. Is that crazy or what???!!

I go back and forth between wanting to go into labor any second, and wanting her to hold on for a few more days...but then I get worried that she'll take after her older brother, and wait quite a few more days...

I think everything is ready. Maybe. I could do some more house cleaning for "nesting purposes," I suppose. Wouldn't hurt to clean the bathroom a bit. Or the carpet in the office. To tell the truth, I almost wish Anna had come last Monday because we'd had the missionaries over for dinner, and the house was spotless. It was beautiful! It's a pretty cute place when we take the time to organize it. Maybe if I clean it all up tonight, she'll decide that tonight is good (after the season finales of "Chuck" and "Castle," of course...)

On Friday I got a haircut to prepare for the "I don't have time to shower and do my hair" attitude that will inevitably follow the birth. Mom took a picture of me at a community fair on Saturday, where I was selling my jewelry, and you can kind of see my new 'do.

Short and sweet! Easy to manage. Takes about 1 minute to shampoo-condition-rinse, then about 5 minutes to dry. Woohoo!

Anywho, I would post pictures of my other little cuties, but the camera saga continues. My friend loaned me her camera (which works great), but I just realized I don't have the cable to download the photos, so they sit on the camera. I'll get them soon, promise!

Am I really ready for 3 kids?!

The Perfect Gift

Mother's day started out kinda crazy--the boys were in a somewhat rowdy mood, which didn't improve much once we got to church. I was determined to sit in a pew towards the front, because today was the first Mother's Day that Tommy would join the primary to sing a song to all the mother's in the congregation (it's a tradition in our church to have the kids sing at least one song on Mother's day and Father's day). I was anxious to see how Tommy behaved. Once the kid walks up to the front, there's no telling what they'll do!

I'd arranged with another mom to sit nearby so that her kids (who are a couple years older, and friends with Tommy) could help escort him to the front and hopefully set a good example for him. It worked like a charm, and Tommy did a great job standing up front with all the primary aged kids (and even made a couple funny faces before the music started, which was just kinda cute). Once the music began, it was pretty obvious he didn't know the words yet, so he started copying the conductor and looked like he was leading the music! After a little while, he switched to playing piano. It was adorable! He did manage to sing a couple words, and I think he'll do very well next year.

One thing we didn't anticipate was Jack immediately yelling for Tommy as soon as he walked away. Jack likes doing whatever Tommy is doing, and he REALLY wanted to go up front with him, so sadly Logan missed the song because he had to take Jack out of the chapel. Sad :( Hopefully he'll do better on Father's day.

After we got home Logan had to go straight to bed, because he has an all night shift tonight, and worked an all night shift last night. After a little lunch, Jack was then put to bed as well. I sat on the couch with Tommy, dreaming of the days when he used to nap...and then the unthinkable happened. Tommy fell asleep!!! He hasn't taken a nap since Jack was really little. I laid him out on the couch, and then laid down myself for a little shut eye. I got to sleep for an entire hour!! It was magic.

And the perfect mother's day present :-)

But is it really better?

Question: Should Anna have cloth diapers?

I was perusing one of the daily emails I get from baby companies (thebump.com, fitpregnancy, etc.) and an article about disposable diaper prices increasing caught my eye. Ick. I HATE buying diapers. They can turn any modest grocery shopping trip into an expensive trip. Now that Tommy is on the potty training band wagon (wooHOO!) we have significantly decreased our diaper usage, but we're still paying around $60-80/month on diapers. Lately Jack has taken to removing his own diaper whenever he wants. He throws it in the trash, thankfully, but it's making us go through diapers at an unpredictably faster pace.

When my friend Carolena told me they were going to use cloth diapers (almost two years ago), my internal response was, "sounds nice, but too much hassle for me!" What with Logan and I balancing work for me and school for him, disposables seemed way more convenient and hassle free.

But life has changed! I now have more "time" to focus on my kids (a novel concept for a mother), and going through the potty training ordeal with Tommy has made me much less afraid of dealing with the "mess." If I can handle a three year old's messy underpants, I can certainly handle a one month olds itty-bitty messes.

I'm thinking about using bumgenius One-Size cloth diapers. They seem just as convenient as disposables, but with the whole environmentally-friendly side to them. Plus, they're cuuute!

What do you think? Is it worth it? Has anyone else considered this lately?

Pinterested?

I have a friend who recently blogged about Pinterested, and it looks like soooo much fun! There are so many ideas and projects available on the internet, and this looks like a great way to keep track of the ones I'm interested in someday trying. Check it out!

The {UN}eventful Life: Are you pinterested?: "Let me share with you a little secret. Its called pinterest . It is my new addiction. It is probably apparent to most of you that I love per..."