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| 23 weeks |
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| 24 weeks |
Weeks: 24 wks 4 daysMaternity Clothes: 1/2 and 1/2---maternity jeans are fantastic. I live in those, a tank & cardigan every day.Movement: more and more movement---definitely some big movements at timesSymptoms: still tired definitely feeling more pregnant every day Cravings: vanilla bean ice cream with caramel and whipped cream and anything fall relatedNew: oh sweet little baby settled on my sciatica over the weekend. He seems to have moved but likes to find that spot every now & then. Also I'm getting the "you're getting big" comments. Already.Sleep: all over the place. Some nights it's great & others I'm up for a few hours which adds to the lovely exhaustion.
We also have realized we have 15ish weeks until baby arrival. Umm wow.
And we have a baby name. Finally.
Fall is here! I love, love, love this season and all the fun it brings. The weather has been so amazing & new fall candles are burning.We had a gorgeous weekend a few weekends ago {and the Pats had a bye week} so it was perfect for apple picking. We headed up to our favorite place nice and early and made a day of it.
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| oh hey gorgeous New England day |
These two are hard-core apple pickers---making sure they get the best ones and they are quick.
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| sorry, Ava, about the bump knocking you over... |
The ladder is always a hit. It didn't matter that there were great apples towards the bottom---they needed to climb to the top.
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| and weren't they just this little yesterday? |
We visited the animals, pumpkins & tractors before hitting up our favorite spot---the sugared apple cider donuts. AMAZING.
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| pure bliss |
I may or may not have gotten 4 bags of them. I won't tell.
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| that is one happy bean in there! |
Steve & I celebrated our anniversary a little early with tickets to the Pats home opener. It was a Thursday night at 830 which meant it was way past our bedtime but we had so much fun. We got there early to grab some dinner, walk around a bit & do some shopping for the kiddos {who were pretty ticked we didn't get tickets for them}.
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| we realized none of our Pats stuff fit so we had to go with colors instead |
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| view from our seats |
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setting up the new tunnel
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The game was great and they honored Tedy Bruschi at half time. He is my all time favorite player so it was so awesome being there for that. They also honored victims of the marathon bombing before the game so that combined with Bruschi tearing up at the entire stadium chanting his name equaled lots of tears from me. Pregnancy hormones are fun.
Right after Bruschi was honored the skies opened up and the rain came pouring down. We had some bad storms headed our way. We stuck it out for a while but ended up heading home in the 3rd---mostly because we were utterly exhausted and it as already 11:30. We ran {I waddled} the whole way back to our car and we were drenched. The whole time silently praying we wouldn't get hit by lightening. We both had our rain coats but I didn't take into account that my belly would not fit under mine. Oops.
We had a great time celebrating the big number 7 a little early. There is absolutely nothing like actually being there in person for these games---you can't beat the whole atmosphere.
I'm not making any formal predictions but I'll just put it out there that I went to a Sox game when I was pregnant with Ava and they ended up winning the World Series. So far Bean's been to a Sox game {and they just clinched the AL East} and now a Pats game.
Cole is the fourth generation Florest boy to play baseball {so he really didn't have a choice...kidding.} I'm pretty sure Steve has been waiting his whole life for this.
So on Saturday Cole started t-ball. He not-so-patiently waited all through Ava's soccer game {where she scored two goals! Go, Ava!} and asked every 5 minutes when baseball was.
Finally it was time. Again, we're biased, but he was seriously the cutest thing ever all geared up.
The first two weeks are practice and then they go on to games. I was actually really happy with how things were all set up and run. I tried to get Steve to put on his coaching cap again and coach a team---but a bunch of 3 & 4 year olds don't have quite the same appeal as high schoolers.
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| playing catch with daddy. melt. |
Cole worked on base running, hitting & fielding. He's definitely the youngest but did a pretty good job. He had a few Buckners but did really well considering he's, you know, three.
So Wednesday was Cole's first day of school, speech, eye appointment, swim and meet the teacher night for Ava's school. Phew. We were busy. Ava was so excited for us to go in and see her room at school. We had a fun checklist of things to find/do around the room and got to see her writing portfolio so far. I love the work she has done. We saw some writing samples and assessments and she's doing great. Obviously we are a little biased in thinking she is smart but I'm really happy with her progress and what skills she has so far. I should have taken some pictures of her projects but we were busy and I completely forgot. We got to write Ava a note in her portfolio which she told us she just loved the next day.
It was so great getting a little peek into her world and seeing pictures and her work. She comes home every day and plays school complete with writing her friends' names and anything she can sound out. Her reading has totally taken off. She picked up a regular picture book {not an early reader one} and just started reading. Obviously she got some words wrong and skipped some things but I was so impressed with her reading and sounding out words. She's such a big kid now!
This was a big week for our little guy. He started his second year of preschool on Wednesday. I can't believe he's already in his 2nd year. He said he had a really great time and we definitely had a very tired little boy on our hands all week. He has the same teacher that Ava had for two years & he's in class with two of his little buddies who happen to be the younger siblings of two of Ava's good buddies. He's already come home with some projects from the writing center {a favorite spot of big sis's} and chats all day about school. I'm definitely more comfortable sending him this year since his speech is much better compared to last year and he seems so comfortable going. Of course that doesn't mean I didn't cry but at least I'm more comfortable.
Cole also started speech, swim and baseball this week. He seems to be doing well in speech and likes doing his homework right next to Ava every night. Swim went great & there will be a whole post on baseball because I can't even stand the cuteness.
Cole also had an eye appointment {yes everything apparently gets scheduled all at once} and his strabismus is getting better. His vision looks great which is a really good sign. He still crosses but not nearly as bad as before.
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| ready for the Pats season opener---none of my gear fits :( |
Weeks: 22 {ok 23 tomorrow---but I got the post in just in time}
Maternity Clothes: 1/2 and 1/2---but I did finally break out the maternity jeans because fall is here and they are heavenly.
Movement: more and more movement but some days he's quiet & I worry but then I get a big kick to the bladder and all is well again. Also, Steve finally felt the baby kick---so fun!
Symptoms: holy exhaustion! I'm subbing for 3 months as an Intensive Special Needs Teacher for K-1 after not working all summer and I am beyond exhausted. I could keep up with house stuff over the summer but with working now? nope. Sorry house and visitors. Also kiddos, their school, appointments & activities equals a beyond tired mama every week.
Cravings: eh nothing really. actually peanut m&ms are always a love of mine. I'm not really that hungry which is weird.
New: People asking when I'm due. Hooray for getting past the "did she just put on weight stage?" I also have some random sciatic nerve pain. I'm really hoping I don't go through the same thing I did with Cole. Fingers crossed!
Sleep: all over the place. Some nights it's great & others I'm up for a few hours which adds to the lovely exhaustion.
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| Cole enjoys his sitting shelf. |
School is in full swing and now the activities are starting up. I fully admit I used to think the school years must be the easy years. I mean they are gone all day right? I was so very wrong. We are all new kinds of busy and every activity/eye appointment/dr appointment/dentist etc must fit into a 3 1/2 hour window between school and bed. We're not even going to mention all the school activities that go with preschool & kindergarten and the homework every night. I'm ready for bed at 8 right along with them!
So the first activity that started up was soccer! Ava's been wanting to play so when she moved up in dance we switched her days so she could do soccer. It is too cute. The program is run by the town but a member of the Revolution made a whole curriculum to use and helps run the whole thing. It's really neat. They have a 1/2 hour practice and then play little 3x3 games against another team. The kids actually do pretty well and Ava had such a blast. The games are too funny because all the kids just bunch together kicking the ball and will sometimes run right towards their own goals. It was so cute. Poor Aves as a sweaty mess and of course we had a birthday party to run to right after. She definitely loved it and got quite the workout!
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| newest little player |
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| a little team meeting |
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| Aves & the coach from the Revs |
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| breakaway! |
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| ready to start the game |
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| Cole watching |
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| shaking hands after { coaches' instructions were "hold your hand out and walk" haha} |
giggles, grins & good times!
