Zoo Fun

   On Monday, the weather was really nice here.  My sister and I have been wanting to take the kids to the zoo on a nice day.  We decided that Monday would be a perfect day.  Also, I went to the zoo the day I went into labor with Dawson, so I was hoping it would be lucky again.  While I didn't go into labor, we still have a fun time.  The kids always have so much fun looking at all the animals.  I am so glad we have passes and we plan on going a lot this spring as the weather continues to get nicer. 

Dawson putting his token in for animal conservation.

Feeding the giraffes.  None of the kids actually wanted to feed the giraffe, so Katy had to. 

Looking in the window at the warthog. 

Dawson was very intrigued by what warthogs eat. 

Play time

They love exploring. 

Dawson always gets a lot of exercise at the zoo with all the walking and running around he does.  

St. Patrick's Day

    This Saturday was the annual St. Patrick's Day run.  Sadly, due to the fact that I was 38 weeks pregnant, I didn't get to participate.  I was kind of bummed to not run it since it is one of my favorite races.  There is always next year.  My brother and sister both ran it, so we all headed down to cheer them on.  The weather was not as nice as it usually is.  They did luck out with decent weather for the race, although it was pretty windy.  After the race, it got very cold and windy so they got lucky. 
     Ashlyn decided that she wanted to do the kids fun run.  Since I could not run with her, she insisted that her Uncle Steven run with her.  It was pretty cold by the time they ran, but she was a trooper and finished strong.  My brother said that he thinks she has gotten faster since cross country.  She had a fun time running which is all that matters.
    They do a parade after the races.  When my brother ran up the street with Ashlyn for the kids run, he spotted some Deloreans.  He immediately came back and told Joey about them.  Ashlyn and I headed to the car because we were freezing, and Joey took Dawson to the Deloreans.  Joey said he has never seen Dawson so happy.  We have been saying forever how much we would love for him to see a real one.  He was just amazed.  There were four of them for the parade.  Joey asked one of the owners if Dawson could sit in the drivers seat.  They said yes.  Dawson could not have been happier.  Joey said the owner was extremely impressed that Dawson knew was a Delorean was for being so young.  When they got to the car, Dawson just had to see the pictures on the camera.  He could not stop smiling.  What a great moment for Dawson!

The start line.  My brother is in the middle in the bright yellow.  This is a huge 5k with over 2,600 runners!

My brother running

Ashlyn and Steven running

Here they go.  You can only see the back of them. 

The Delorean

Amazed!

Getting a good look

I don't think he even knew what to think

I love his expression in this one.  Priceless!

Donuts with Dad

      Friday was a very special day at school for Ashlyn.  It was the day they did their special "Donuts with Dad".  She has been very excited for weeks about this event.  The dads get to come and eat donuts with their students.  As a surprise, all the kids made books about their dads that they read aloud.  Joey said it was very entertaining to hear what the kids wrote about their dad's.  I was impressed that all the kids even typed up the books themselves.  The typing was done with no help from the teacher.  So the spelling is all theirs.  I typed up what she meant underneath.    Joey said he had a great time and I know it meant the world to Ashlyn to have him there. 

The cover.  I think this is such a nice picture of both Ashlyn and Joey. 

"I love my daddy because I get treats when I go to school on 2 hour delay days even though I'm having so much fun at home. " 

"When mom is out late at night we can watch movies really late.  We make a bed at the end of the bed.  Then me and my brother jump on it."  This page really made Joey and I laugh.  We are a little confused as to what she means by "mom is out late" since I am rarely not asleep  and in bed by 9:30. 

"I love when we go trick or treating late.  We get to play with his old Lego's.  I like the old horse the best."  It's very amusing to me what she chose to write about. 

"I have the best Daddy in the world!"  I have to totally agree with this page.  Ashlyn truly does have the best dad that would do absolutely anything to make his girl happy. 

Sprinkle

   Last Saturday, my sister and closest friends threw a "sprinkle" for me.  Since we have everything already for the baby, Katy decided a sprinkle would be perfect.  It wasn't like a typical shower.  My sister did a wonderful job with the food and decorations.  She incorporated the colors yellow and gray and our "sunshine" theme.  We enjoyed great food and had a great time just talking, catching up, and laughing.  We played a few games which were a lot of fun.  My sister made all the guests a pedicure set and we all did pedicures.  Pampering is always nice!  All the girls pitched in and got me a beautiful chevron gray hospital gown to wear during the delivery.  What a great gift!  The hospital gowns are always so ugly and I plan on taking lots of pictures when the baby arrives and I can't wait to wear my stylish gown.  I had such a nice evening with my closest friends and it is always so nice to spend a night with the girls catching up and laughing.  Lots of thanks to Katy who did a wonderful job with everything!  

Some of the decorations.  I love how she used sprinkles for decorations.  So cute!

Katy handmade all the decorations. 

My "sprinkle" cake that was very good!

Our pedicure kits.  I just love all the neat little touches she did.  I have the best sister in the world!!!

Any Day Now

    My due date is getting very close, so the baby could be coming any day now.  My doctor seems to feel it will be sooner rather than later and I hope she is right!  We are all so excited to finally meet this little baby and finally find out if it is a boy or girl.  We have been working on name ideas.  I am pretty sure we have a boy's name picked out.  We are having a much tougher time with girl's names.  Every name I suggest, Joey and Ashlyn shoot down.  Ashlyn loves the names Rosalina and Lilly.  While both are nice names, they are not names I am going to use.  If this baby is a girl, we are going to have a much harder time coming up with a name. 
      I am still working and it is becoming harder and harder each week.  We are in the midst of grueling state testing.  My goal is to make it through our state tests.  At the most I have two more weeks left of work.  I'm really hoping I don't last two more weeks though.  By Friday night, I am literally dead to the world.  I am so lucky to have Joey for a husband.  Every Friday when I come home, he has cleaned the house from top to bottom.  It's like having a maid, but better because it doesn't cost anything.  He also does an awesome job cooking dinner and helping with the kids so I can rest. 
      I was doing an awesome job keeping up with my running and workouts and still getting in about 20 miles a week.  Two Sundays ago, I did my usual run and felt great.  About two hours later, I started getting some pretty regular contractions.  I was just getting ready to head to the hospital, when the abruptly stopped thank God! I went to the doctor that week, and she checked me and I was already 2 cm dilated.  She told me that I needed to not workout and take it very easy for the next couple of weeks.  While I miss my runs, I will do anything that keeps this baby healthy and safe.  I am going to start up my runs again Monday.  I am now hoping it will better prep my body for labor and maybe get labor going. 
    We are all set for this little one's arrival.  While I am not wanting my pregnancy to end, I am just so very ready to meet this baby.  The room is almost complete and everything is prepared.  Our bags our packed and we are just waiting for hospital time.  I will spend the next two weeks trying to get in as much time with Dawson and Ashlyn before our lives get a lot more chaotic.  I am also going to enjoy my last few nights have sleeping with out waking up multiple times. 
    Everyone keeps asking me if the kids are excited.  Dawson has an awareness that I have a baby in my stomach, but I don't think he really knows what this entails. He doesn't really talk too much about it.  Ashlyn on the other hand, is over the moon excited.  She can't wait to be a big, big sister.  She will often just sit in the baby's room.  She has told me that she will be in charge of cuddling the baby.  I will be in charge of the baby when he or she is crying.  The other day she drew this sweet card for the baby.  I think this definitely shows her excitement:

  
Here are some shots of the nursery.  We are so lucky to have 4 bedrooms upstairs in our new house.  Each kid gets their own room.  Decorating a gender neutral nursery was a lot easier than I thought.  I decided to go with gray and yellow.  I am absolutely loving gray these days.  The paint color turned out wonderful.  I went with some chevron patterns to add some more to the room.  Our "theme" was "You are my sunshine" since I love that song and sing it to the kids all the time.  I am very happy with the way it turned out.  We didn't do a whole lot, and I will update it to be more feminine or masculine as the baby gets older. 

We bought this frame at Ikea.  My mom came up with the idea of having Ashlyn paint a picture inside of it.  She wrote the "You are my sunshine" and I painted over it to make it pop some more.  I am really pleased with the way it turned out and love that Ashlyn helped make it. 

The same crib that all the kids have used.  I really like this bible verse, so I knew I wanted to use it in the room. 

This is the same dresser that all the kids have used too.  I really like this elephant print and thought it was perfect for the room.

This is my sister's rocker that she happened to have in yellow.  It's very comfortable and I look forward to rocking the baby in it. 

Valentine's Day Weekend

     I don't think I have ever gone this long without blogging before.  In my defense, Joey was having some technical difficulties getting the Blog to load pictures.  He finally got it working, so I'm hoping to be better about it.  Although, I haven't had a whole lot to blog about lately.  This is kind of a slow time of year for us at home.  We spend most weekends at home since the weather is always cold.  We are very much looking forward to spring and getting outside and do fun things again!
      Valentine's Day was a fun one this year.  It fell on a Friday, so both kids went to school and I had to work as well.  They were very excited to bring Valentine's Day cards to their friends and have their class parties.  Dawson chose Thomas the Train valentines and Ashlyn picked Frozen valentines.  They came home with bags full of cards and candy.
     We are a pretty loving house everyday.  We are constantly telling one another how much we love each other.  I must tell Dawson and Ashlyn 100 times a day how much I love them.  Dawson has started to say, "I love you sooo much it hurts."  Ashlyn makes us love letters just about every day.  One morning, she woke me up and handed me a Valentine's day card.  It said "Dear Mom, Thanks so much for all the love".  It was the nicest card anyone has ever given me.   So really, Valentine's Day is not really a super special day at our house, since we show one another love all the time.  Joey and I still wanted to make it a little special for the kids.
    We took a vote and everyone decided that they wanted pizza for dinner.  After working all day, Joey and I decided it would be the perfect quick choice.  I wanted to make it a little more special though.  Ashlyn and I decided we would eat dinner in the dining room on the our wedding china.  We have lived in this house for almost a year, and have not once eaten in the dining room.  Joey and I decorated the table before the kids got home and placed a few small treats at their place settings.   
      When they got home, they were excited to see their surprises.  We had a great dinner together.  It was nice sharing how our days had gone.  It was funny, but eating in the dining room kind of did feel like eating at a restaurant, without the crowds and expense.  It was a very enjoyable dinner.  After dinner, we all cuddled on the couch and watched a movie like we do every Friday night.  For dessert, Ashlyn and I made heart shaped brownie sundaes.  They were the perfect ending to an even more perfect night. 

Ashlyn and Dawson made Valentine's Day cupcakes a few days before.  They had a blast decorating them.

Sampling the conversation hearts.

The lovely cupcakes. 

These are the very sweet cards that Dawson and Ashlyn made for Joey and I. 

The table was set. 

What Ashlyn got. 

Enjoying our "fancy" dinner.  LOL

The next day, the weather was warm so the kids got to enjoy the park. 

Such a good big sister. 

Ella came along too. 

He loves the slide. 

Joey loves making them run to wear them out.  I can not wait to see green grass again!!!

Goofy girl soaking up some warm weather.