Rock wall is finally done!

This is our house last year just after we moved in. We definitely didn't care of the burmed up flower beds in the front yard when we moved in. All summer we talked about making a retaining wall and all summer we played. We finally bought the rock and Greg went to work on it. He got so frustrated because the rocks are all different widths and heights. It was tough to overlap them and still keep the wall even.



He has worked hard the last couple of weeks to get it done before the weather changes for good. Once he got the dirt all filled in behind, it really made a difference. I like the end result. Now we just need some shrubs. Oh, Cindy...

Baby Crockett is a...

I love the ultrasound. I love being with a new doctor who does a free gender check at 16 weeks plus the regular one at 20 weeks. Today is 16 weeks and I had my appointment scheduled bright and early. The baby is around 5 inches long. It was moving and wiggling all over. I love watching the little hands move and seeing the kicks. It's so surreal seeing all that movement when you can't really feel any of it yet. I think I've felt it a couple of times, but it is so faint that I'm not sure.
The best part about this ultrasound was that we didn't have to wait through a bunch of measurements to find out what we were having. She knew exactly why we were there. We took a few profile shots then moved to the legs. She got "THE SHOT" and Greg says "It's a boy!" She laughed and said "you can't really miss that can you?"

We are so excited. We not so secretly really wanted a boy this time. Greg and I both have all sisters so we were hoping Preston and Paige could get a brother. Poor Paige though, she gets the shaft being the only girl. Somehow I don't think the tomboy in her will mind. So now I can clean out Paige's room and switch out the bedding.

The other thing I was so excited for was telling the kids. Greg had to go right to work so I had to wait until he got home! We sat them down for a family meeting. I said "Preston, do you remember when you thought there was a baby in mommy's belly? What if you were right?" He got a big grin on his face. Paige was oblivious. Then he asked if we knew what it was. We asked Paige what she wanted and she said a Gool baby. Preston wanted a boy. When we told him, he said "that's going to be so cool!" It is so nice to finally share this with the kids.

Life at Home

I normally work just two days a week and have found it to be a great balance. This last three weeks I've picked up some extra shifts and ended up full-time last week. I discovered that there are a lot of little things I take for granted about simply being at home. For instance, I actually WANTED to be at home cleaning my house. It drove me nuts that I didn't have time for my weekly routine. I like having three days to get my laundry done instead of one. I missed my kids a ton. Preston asked me if I hate going to work. I told him no, I just don't like leaving you. I found myself even more determined to spend quality time with my kids in the time that I had with them.

Now that I'm back to my regular schedule again, it is nice to just be at home. I am a bit overwhelmed by how behind I am, but I don't mind so much because I'm with my cute kids.

Speaking of cute kids. I had the following conversation with Preston last night. We had just eaten dinner so I was full. I was standing there and he walked up and put his hand on my stomach.

Preston:"Mommy, why is your belly big like that?"
Me: "What do you mean?"
Preston as he is rubbing my belly:"It looks like you have a baby in there!"

I looked at Greg and said "I think it's time to tell them" Luckily that day will come tomorrow after we hopefully find out the gender of this little one. I am surprised that Preston is so observant but I think it is because his babysitter just had a baby.

Paige is so funny too. She has three particular things she is a little obsessed with right now: bouncy balls (but don' t bounce them), sandwich bags, and the color pink. She loves to hold the little bouncy balls in her fist or put them in her pockets. She gets upset when her pants don't have pockets. Anytime she gets a treat or has a toy or anything, she goes to the bag drawer and has to put it in a bag. I can't believe she knows the color pink. She can pick out anything that is pink and got real excited when I brought home her pink princess sheets for her bed.

All these little things that they do are so fun. I don't want to forget them. I don't want to breeze passed this precious time with them. I know I will miss them being this young and innocent. I may not miss them fighting and hitting, but I'll miss cuddling at night and reading books to them. I don't even want to think about them growing up on me.

I am excited to see how they react to the baby. Paige loves babies, but will probably be jealous of all the attention. Preston should be easy going about it. He loved Paige from the first day and never acted up. I am so excited to find out what I'm having. For the first time, I don't have a clue on names though. Both of my kids had names by the ultrasound. We'll see what grabs us.

The Sad Truth

We woke up this morning to realize that sad truth that Summer is over. All those days of warmth and green seemed like they wouldn't end and here we are. I just don't like the cold. We had such a long winter last year that I'm simply not ready for it yet. I hope it warms up enough to get a few more days in at the playground with the kids. Greg still hopes to get out skiing more. If not, he will have ended the season skiing 31 times and only taking our own boat out for 9 of them. That's a whole month of the year! Now, we realize that we let a lot of things go around the house this summer in the name of playing. It was a unique year. Next year, we'll have to be better.

We did spend Saturday cleaning out the garage, then organizing the basement. Those were two huge projects that we were happy to get done.

At Your Leisure

Greg started his hydrofoiling club about a year ago. We have brought a lot more people into the sport this year and hope to get more next year. I know many of you saw it, but here is the link in case you didn't.

Click here to view video

There are a couple of sound bites with each of us. Greg and Jeremy both have blue helmets on so it is tricky to tell who is who. There are some good wake rolls from Greg. All the footage that is shot from the shore is of Greg. There are a couple shots of me doing some jumps. I don't wear a helmet so it's easy to pick me out. The other two riders are Scott (52) and Jeremy. Jeremy does a front flip toward the end that is pretty cool. Greg wants to start working on that trick next year.

The Human Elastic

We have had a lot of fun playing on the swing set now that the weather is cooling off a bit. This is Preston doing his "trick" that he is so proud of. The swing set has been so much fun all year.

I found the human elastic at Cindy's the other day and happily reclaimed it. When used for it's actual intent, it can be rather dangerous. We've had a friend crack a rib while playing. Anyway, we have more fun just hanging it from the swing set. Preston and Paige can't get enough of swinging and bouncing.



Their favorite thing to do is twist in it. I am surprised Preston hasn't thrown up because he does it over and over and over.

This is the self-entertainment way to play with it. Just wrap it around the chair and use it like a catapult. This one kept Preston busy for a good 45 minutes. When he feels like being nice to his sister, they play together until one of them gets hurt.