May Days

Friday, May 13, Grandpa Georgia watched the boys while I went to my doctor's appointment. He teased Joshua about not being invited over to enjoy Daddy's birthday cake, so Joshua keeps telling me that we need to make a cake to share with Grandpa. As they've been playing, they also practice numbers - adding and subtracting small amounts. Joshua thinks this is fun! They also swindled Grandpa out of money for their wallet. ;-) I said afterward that I should have gotten mine out, too! Haaa!!! That night, we asked Miranda to come watch the boys while we went out to dinner. I had planned on taking Shawn to the outdoor dining at TJ Rockwell's, but unfortunately it was in the 60s and raining on Friday, the 13th. So, instead, Shawn picked Scooter's, which has enclosed outdoor dining. When we arrived, they took us to the 'maternity' section, where three of us were all due around the same time. Too funny!

Saturday our original plans included the boys going to Nonie & Poppy's for the day and then a cookout that evening to celebrate Shawn & Poppy's birthdays, but once again those plans didn't work out. Instead, we ended up having the boys and trying to cheer them with fun family time. We went to church on Sunday, and that afternoon Aunt Missy & Uncle Kevin watched the boys for our last life group meeting of this season before we take a break for summer. The boys had a blast with the puppies & kitties and playing hide & seek. Uncle Kevin started counting to ten in Spanish, so it sounds like Joshua decided to try and follow suit, making up his own language to count. They had a really fun time. Thanks again for watching them!

Monday, even though the weather was calling for rain, started out beautifully. I planned a play date with the gals from Study & Share at Calvary's playground. The head of the preschool told me that the playground was open to the community as part of their ministry, and since it's completely enclosed and extremely kid-friendly, I thought it was the perfect place to meet. There were only two other families able to come that morning. Tara and her two kids Elizabeth (5) and Luke (3) came (she's expecting a little boy in September) and later Becca and her three kids Noah (5), Josiah (2) and Chloe (15 months) arrived. All the kids seemed to have fun playing together! I had taken a large beach towel to wipe off the equipment from the water that was there (it had rained the night before) and I had also borrowed a chair in a bag from my sister to take along (thanks so much!). It was perfect. I had a great time chatting with the other ladies, as usual. We were there until lunch time, when the boys & I left and picked up Daddy for lunch. We went to the fruit stand where we bought watermelon, cantaloupe, grapes, meadow tea, bananas and more. It was delicious and made it feel more like summer than spring. That night, I got my hair done - another thing I wanted to do before the baby arrived. It POURED on my way home with lots of thunder & lightening and very little visibility. Many places were flooded, and I was so thankful to make it home safely. Shawn had dinner waiting for me when I arrived - what a guy! I had gotten it out and started cooking the chicken, but he finished the rest and it was yummy. :)

Tuesday, May 17, the boys & I had another play date planned. I figured we better get out now while we still can! :) We went to my friend Julie's house, and she gave us her baby swing as a gift for our next little guy (thank you so much!!!).  She also had made lasagna the night before, and she had salad & delicious bread to go with it, along with dessert. I took sparkling grape juice to drink along to complete our 'romantic' lunch, as we both joked. We started out with delicious coconut creme coffee in the morning (my favorite!) and the kids played and played together. You can tell that they're all getting older. They had so much fun! Jude will be doing kindergarten at home this year through the PA cyber schools and Kate just turned three. She & Caleb held hands as they walked down the stairs together. So sweet! Joshua had a little accident there, where the toilet seat fell on him. Praise God he wasn't hurt worse! My sweet boy is so accident prone. The kids enjoyed their cats and putting together puzzles and playing with all their toys, and us mamas enjoyed catching up. It was a great morning! The time flew by until it was time to head home for naps.

Wednesday was another rainy day. But, I had on my calendar to stay home and clean the whole house, and that's exactly what I did. Since I didn't get to do any of my original plans on Saturday, I moved everything to my open day on Wednesday. I scrubbed the bathrooms, dusted all the furniture, cleaned our appliances, wiped down our leather, swept & mopped, etc, etc. The boys were AMAZING that day - they played so well together and even helped clean up toys. It was an extremely productive day. I'm feeling like we're pretty ready for their little brother to arrive!

Thursday morning, I used a gift card that I received for my birthday last year and used a spa pedicure from Visage a Visage in Lancaster. The gal & I talked about birthing stories, and I enjoyed getting my feet pampered. Grandpa watched the boys that morning (and again the following morning for my doctor's appointment). I made pork & sauerkraut in the crockpot for dinner that night. Supposedly that induces labor, along with red leaf raspberry tea that's fresh-brewed. So far none of my attempts at bringing on labor have worked. But again, I'm willing to try anything. :) Only God knows for sure when this little guy will arrive!

Friday night, we went to Friendly's with our friends Chris & Lisa and their daughter Isabella. Afterward we played at their house with her scooter, bike and rocket toy outside. We had a fun time! Yesterday, May 21, we spent the entire day outside. While Daddy mowed, I walked the boys to Stoner Park to play. We also walked around our neighborhood and Daddy took Joshua's bike to get more air in the tires. A couple neighbors stopped over to chat while we were playing in the driveway as well. We ended the evening by grilling out (thanks, babe!) and playing all sorts of sports in the backyard - Joshua is doing well with baseball and soccer, and Caleb pretended he was a chef, bringing me food on a Frisbee plate. Last night Joshua prayed that his little brother would come out so that he could play with him and 'mama won't be so fat anymore.' Amen and amen! ;-)