Pieces of Life

I haven't posted in a while. No real reason. Just a writing slump I guess. But I have been thinking of posts the whole time, so to get me a little bit caught up.....

Natalie's Pre-K class has been studying the five senses this week and last. They have covered hearing, seeing, touching, and tasting. When Nat came home after the tasting day she was SO excited to tell me what had happened in their class. They had a Gingerbread Man theme that day. They read a story, made a picture, and then made and decorated their own gingerbread man cookies. When they went down to get the baked cookies out of the oven they weren't there! Natalie told me all about the "gingerbread clues" that the class found throughout the school. And then when they got back to their classroom, there were the cookies waiting for them at their seats. "It was the Gingerbread Man Mom!! It could have been pretend, but I think it was REAL!!!" I agreed that it probably was real, of course. I think I am going to really like Natalie's teacher!

Vanessa had her 15-month appointment yesterday (yes, she is actually 16-months old, mama is running a little behind). The big news is that she is NOT GROWING!! She hasn't gained a pound since her 12-month appointment. She is still going strong at 18 pounds! She isn't even on that graph that tells you what percentage they are in weight or height. That means she is in the less than fifth percentile. The doc says we aren't going to worry....yet. It could just be her genetics (although I'm not sure who gave her such tiny genes). We are going to go back in two months and see if there is any progress. I asked what else it could be making her so small and he said that anything it could be would be so uncommon that we aren't even going to go there now. It's not like she was "normal" size up until now and then all of a sudden got small. She has always been a little girl. Natalie actually weighed an ounce less at birth, but chubbed up pretty quickly! Nessa just never got the chub. But other than her teeny tiny frame, she is healthy and on target developmentally!

The pregnancy is going pretty well for the most part. I am still in A LOT of pain most of the time, but we have kind of decided it is round ligament pain and I will just have to live with it for the next ten (or so) weeks. Fun fun. Sometimes I hurt so much I just lay on the floor. And of course if I am laying on the floor, I have two little girls who want to climb all over me! I go back to the doctor next Tuesday and then I start going every two weeks. We are getting down to the wire here with my LAST pregnancy. You can totally see little elbows and knees jutting out of my belly every so often. And she rolls and stretches, but she is running out of room!

Our dog Axel had his surgery and they removed the tumor. He is doing well, but won't leave his stitches alone. I keep telling him that if he rips them out he has to go back to the doctor, but he just won't listen. It is just like talking to my kids!

I still need to post all the fun pictures from our labor day BBQ at my in-laws farm, but for now I am going to go fix some lunch for us girls. We are all growing and need some good food!!! So bologna and cheese sandwiches, chips, carrot sticks, and watermelon here we come!