8 Weeks and 2 Days To Go....But Who's Counting?

So I'm 2 days away from being 32 weeks pregnant. I usually don't complain about my pregnancies, but this one is different. I had some discomfort (to say the least) about a month ago, but was able to fix it with some new sleeping positions, but now I'm afraid, all my "fixes" are down the toilet! Sleep is very difficult these days, and even being able to pick up Nathan, carry laundry up and down stairs, or take the kids out by myself is extremely difficult. At this point, I think 8 weeks is out of the question.....I'm thinking more like 4-6 more to go....but who knows.....these things play out themselves.

The kids are doing well. I have no pics this time...surprise, surprise....but I wanted to update anyway. Natalie had a good morning today. My neighbor called to see if Natalie could come over to play with her little girl. She was gone about an hour and a half, which gave me sufficient time to do a load of laundry and even bathe myself alone!!! I must say I have the most wonderful neighbors here. Not only was Natalie invited over this morning, but Nathan as well....but I opted to keep him here. My neighbor also asked if one day this week she could keep both the kids for me while Nolan was at school so that I could do something for myself....like get a haircut or something! I told her I may take her up on it, but we'll see. Nolan also has a new playmate down the street, and he was invited to his house on Saturday. This neighbor also sent me an e-mail this morning offering to help with the kids anytime I needed a break. So, all in all, living here hasn't turned out to be as horrible as I had anticipated.

Lastly, I'll share one cute Nolan story. We were playing with refrigerator magnets the other evening. He was shocking me at how many words he knew. I would make 3-4 letter words, and then he would sound them out to guess the word. Also, I would tell him a word, then he would find the letters and place them on the refrigerator. Anyway, one word I spelled was "damp". He studied the word for a second, then looked at me and said, "Mommy, I would have to say a bad word first." I told him it was okay, because there was still another letter after that sound....so he was alright with that. (To Jenn: thought this was funny cause you heard him say a bad word the other night, and he didn't ask for permission then!!!)

Big Girl, Natalie!

On Saturday, Natalie's new furniture was delivered. She was very excited about getting a "big girl" bed, but was at first a little upset when she saw Matt taking her crib and dresser out of her room. Once the delivery guys had the room all set up, and we got Natalie's new bedding on, she was ecstatic once again. Since she's been in her big bed, she's actually been sleeping in past 7 o'clock!!! So hooray....an extra hour or so of sleep! I did her bedding in ladybugs thinking that I had enough sorority stuff left over to completely accessorize with....but unfortunately, I gave most of my stuff to my sorority sisters when I graduated thinking, "I'll never use this stuff again!"

This week was Nolan's first full week of school (with Fridays as the exception). So far, he's done great! Monday was the first day that he got to ride the bus to school, so he was super happy about that. Natalie, on the other hand, was quite upset that she couldn't get on the bus too! So far this week, she has thrown a fit about not getting on the bus....but I'm hoping it will wear off soon! On Monday, she was so upset with me for not letting her on the bus that she came home an peed in the rocking chair! I'm telling you now, this little one is gonna be a handful! But as the morning drug on, she eventually got over it and had a pretty good day....I think she likes being the big kid of the house while Nolan is gone....less competition.

As far as it goes with Nolan and school, I have got some more information out of him. He has come home with a stamp on his hand for being good. I'll ask him if all the kids got stamps, and so far each day, a boy named Eddie has not! Eddie likes to throw rocks on the playground....so he always gets time-outs. Nolan says that he's NEVER going to get in trouble at school, and hopefully this will be a true statement. He also has told me who some of his new friends are. He said one little girl told the teacher, "Miss Gena, I have a friend." Miss Gena asked her who it was, and she pointed at Nolan. I guess I shouldn't be surprised since he's so social, but it still warms my heart to know he's making friends so quickly at school. Carl is still his best bud....they ride the bus together in the morning and afternoon. This morning, he and Carl were running up and down the street together at the bus stop...with Natalie fast on their heels trying to keep up! Carl's mom is expecting a baby in October, so she and I have something in common to talk about at the bus stop too! Out of nine women in our subdivision who are pregnant or have recently given birth, all of us are having boys! We do have one other pregnant neighbor who is having an ultrasound next week to find out the sex of her baby, and she thinks that she will be the trend-breaker....so we'll see....otherwise, I'm convinced that there is something in our water that's producing so many boys!!!

Natalie is headed to Mom-o's house today to spend the night. She was very excited about going, and marched around all morning wanting to know if it was time to go. We packed her clothes in her new Hello Kitty backpack (which she had to get when we bought Nolan's backpack). She looked so cute prancing around with her backpack on, waiting for her daddy to tell her it was time to go! She's ready to go hang out with Mom-o and pinch Pops and pull his hair too!!! Gotta love a girl who knows how to aggravate!

Nolan's First Day of School

Nolan's first day of school was "excellent" as he put it. He still hasn't gone into too much detail....but here is what I've gathered so far. The class went outside 2 times, they read 2 books....one called "Listen" and one called "I Go to Preschool" (which was provided to us as well), his favorite thing to play with was an accordion, and his favorite time of day was circle time (though he didn't elaborate on what they did at circle time). There were no problems at all in the morning when we dropped him off. Matt, myself, and all the kids took Nolan to school. Natalie was a bit upset when we left because she wanted to stay too....but once we were back in the van, she was fine. I knew Nolan would do fine....as soon as he saw his teacher, he immediately called her by name and told her that he had played a game with his mommy and daddy a couple days ago, and that he was excited to be at school.

It was hard to let him go today. I got up at 6:30 and cried a little bit. After Nolan was awake, I fought tears, and left the room anytime I started to tear up so he wouldn't see me upset. I was fine at the school until we headed home, and I cried just a little....then cried a little again when we got back to the house and there sat Nolan's cup. It was strange to just put his cup in the refrigerator cause I knew he wouldn't be there during the day to ask for it. I tried to relax during the day, but to no avail. I just kept checking the clock and counting down the hours until he came home. Finally, at about 3:40, I headed to the bus stop to pick him up (Matt joined as well). He looked so happy. He loved riding the bus and said it too was "excellent". Another boy in his class rides the bus as well, so that's who Nolan sat with. The boy's name is Carl, and he's the only name that Nolan could recall after his first day. Nolan shared with us that Carl had a "brown face" and I merely responded, "just like Little Bill". And Matt too told Nolan that people have different color faces and that we're all different from each other. This is the first time that Nolan has really pointed out any differences in people, but hopefully it will not become an issue. I know there are some kids in his class with special needs, and when the whole class is together next week I'm sure he'll have some questions....

Today was the only day of school for Nolan this week, and next week he'll start in for his routine of 4 days a week. Here are some pics.

Nolan and Natalie playing at a table at school.

Matt and Nolan at school.

Natalie enjoying some time to herself.