July 31

16 weeks

July 30

Last night we went over to Mamaw and Bapaw's house to celebrate Bapaw's birthday. Happy Belated Birthday Bapaw!

Today was a busy day.

• I am helping host a bridal shower tomorrow at my house, so I went grocery shopping, cooked, and cleaned the house.
  
• Ms Peggy babysat the kids so Clay and I could go see the new Harry Potter movie. Thanks Ms Peggy!!!
  
• We took the kids to the park to feed the ducks.

I am not sure what Elliott enjoyed more - feeding the ducks or chasing them.

July 29

This morning we went swimming at our friends' house. The kids really love the water! This summer Julia is jumping off the diving board without floaties. Kat has begun swimming without floaties this year and this morning started jumping off the diving board without floaties! And this year Elliott is able to use floaties to swim.


Kat jumping off the diving board without floaties.

July 28

The girls come back from the lake later tonight. It's been fun having 1x1 time with Elliott. He's such a funny little guy! I got a bunch of yard work done yesterday and then he and I have run a ton of errands. It's so much easier to get stuff done with just 1 kid! It's given me a taste of what the Fall will be like when both girls are in school (and before the baby is born). Should be a fun Fall with my wee dude.

Having fun driving the car/cart at Lowe's

Sweet tea fix at McD's!

July 27

Last night Mamaw Pat picked the girls up to take them to the lake for a couple of days. It was nice to have some time with just me, Clay, and Elliott. Elliott seems to love having us to himself.

This morning while Elliott and I were doing yard work, Elliott got stung by a bee or wasp right beside his nostril. His upper lip has swollen up pretty good, but he seems okay otherwise. I gave him some Motrin and Benadryl.

July 26

This morning I took the rugrats with me to my doctor's appointment. The doctor let Julia use the doppler machine on my stomach to find the baby's heartbeat. Everything is going fine!

We picked up the girls' pottery that they painted a couple of weeks ago. Gus now has a nifty new food and water bowl.

This afternoon all three kids got haircuts. The girls donated their hair to Pantene's Beautiful Length's program. It's like Locks for Love, except you only have to donate 8 inches instead of 10, and Pantene doesn't charge for their wigs (Locks of Love does).

Kat donated 8 inches of hair

Julia donated a little over 9 inches.

Both girls seem to love their new haircuts! Julia's hair hasn't been this short since before she was a year old. I think it will make her a little more independent getting ready in the morning. She should be able to wash, brush, and fix her own hair now!

July 25

Our friends Sara, Tim, Noah, Nate, and Sam spent Saturday and Sunday night with us. Yesterday afternoon we sent the kids outside to play in the rain, which turned into a water gun fight.

About 3am this morning Clay woke up and his ear hurt and felt full. He has a sinus infection and an outer/inner ear infection.

July 23

This morning Clay took Julia and Kat to the Kentucky Derby Museum as part of the Kindergarten Countdown activities.

It's been a busy week around our house.

• I got the girls' uniforms put in their closets
• bought school supplies
• put maternity clothes in my drawers and regular clothes put in storage
• Clay bought a new TV for our Family Room and mounted the small one to our bedroom wall
• I got some weeding done in the backyard (still a long way to go back there - being nauseous for half the summer put me WAY behind on yard work)
• mulch laid in the flower beds in our front yard.
  
• steam-cleaned the Family Room carpet
  

We have company coming tonight for a couple of days, then again next weekend, and next Sunday we are hosting a bridal shower here. All of these are motivation for getting some things done around the house that I had neglected.

July 22

We met some of our friends at the zoo this morning to enjoy the splash park. Even at 9am, it was very hot outside. Julia showed Elliott how to go on the pirate ship and down the slides. He did this quite a few times. It got crowded (and hot) as the morning went on. We left at lunchtime. Did I mention it's hot here?

July 21

It's another hot day here. At At 6am it was already 80 degrees. By late afternoon the heat index is going to be around 115 degrees. We had our friends Amy, Stuart, and Kayla come over this morning to play in our baby pool and have a water gun fight. By lunchtime it was too hot to be outside so we went to McDonalds and let the kids play in the indoor playground.

July 20

All of a sudden it feels like summer is almost over. A week ago we were relaxing at the beach. Now we're getting school supplies, making dentist and hair appointments, and trying to cram in as many play dates as possible before summer is over. School starts in 3 1/2 weeks! Summer has gone by so fast!

Last night the girls wanted to paint their own toenails. I let them do this on my bathroom floor. Thank goodness for nail polish remover! They didn't make too big of a mess on their toes (although they had to all over the arms and fingers), but they had it all over the floor! Julia was proud of her color pattern.

Bay and June came over for a play date this morning. Once again we're under a heat advisory, so they kids played inside. They enjoyed the dance game for the Wii.

July 19

We are under a heat advisory (the heat index at 5:30pm is 108 degrees). In other words, it's just too darned hot to be outside. So we stayed inside and made sugar cookies this afternoon (what a mess!). Tonight we're going to have a movie night. Well, the kids and I are. Clay has to mow the jungle that used to be our yard.

Look who is drinking out of a big boy cup at the table!