Sprout Spot: May 2010

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Versailles

When we went to Miami in March, Nathan really wanted to eat at an authentic Cuban restaurant in Little Havana. He had read about it online and it got great reviews. You know Nathan, always wanting to get in on the local culture. Have I ever posted that picture of him soaking in a hot spring with a bunch of rasta men on our honeymoon?

When we got to the restaurant there was a line around the building, but it moved quickly. It was a loud and rowdy place inside, perfect for the kids. The food was good although there was a bit of a communication barrier and Nathan and I were almost finished with our meals before they realized that we had also ordered

food for our kids!

The highlight for Anna was a mariachi band that walked between tables playing instruments and singing. The main singer would go into these opera like notes that he would hold for like 10 minutes. It was pretty crazy, but she loved it.

Even better than the band, flan and chocolate cake!

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Art Show

Anna's last day of school was Monday, but on Tuesday her preschool had an art show. Each child had a piece in the show and Anna was so excited. She talked about it for weeks, and the highlight was on Monday when her teacher let her use the "ticky tack" to hang her artwork all by herself. I couldn't go of course, but Nathan was able to go and take Noah along.

She was very excited to wear her new pink dress too. She actually talked to the rosebuds on it later that day, "Oh, look how beautiful you are!".

Here is her picture. This cracks me up! They did a space unit a few weeks ago, so I guess she really liked that theme. I like how she specified that the planet was Neptune, and how she wrote USA on her space suit. And that name tag is too cute. She ran out of room to finish her name so she just wrapped it up around the top. I remember doing that when I was young too.

Proud girl.

With her sweet teachers. I would say I'm going to miss them, but they're going to be Noah's teachers this fall!

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Last day of preschool

I can't believe it, but yesterday was Anna's last day of preschool. Ever! I can't believe how much she has grown, even since the first day this past fall. But as sad as I am, I think I'm even more excited for Kindergarten! Here she is yesterday morning before she left for school. She was feeling very happy!

Heart hands, of course.

She really wanted a picture with Noah. Here's her sad face when he wouldn't cooperate.

But she finally got her wish. :)

A quick one with mommy. She liked that our shirts matched.

Daddy too. Please excuse our poor flowers. They started the spring looking nice and full, but the squirrels dig them up every day. Really. Almost every morning we have piles of dirt on our porch. Sigh.

I was just talking with my friend Starr about how all of the kids in the Owl class have thinned out and lost that baby face look. Here she is on her very first day, in the fall of 2008. Look at the height difference in the car seat! Sniff, sniff.

Still not so excited...

...but the happy boy is still in there. I can't believe that his first day of preschool is in just a few months!

Friday, May 21, 2010

Belly

Here it is at 29 weeks. I knew it had gotten much rounder lately, but when I saw this picture I thought, whoa! But I guess he is at least 3 pounds by now, and if it's up to me he will be born in just under 2 months. I had a checkup today that showed a teeny tiny improvement, but we're still being super cautious. I promise that after this picture I went right back to the couch! I just feel bad because this is only the second belly picture I've taken with this pregnancy, and with the other two I took one every month.

Miss Fancy preferred to have her picture take in front of the roses. It was at least 80 degrees today, but Anna chose a sweater dress for her photo. This was her choice to cover up the bathing suit she had been wearing in the house. ;)

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Right Now

Anna, at 5 years and 6 weeks you:

Love mermaids. Every drawing is a mermaid, every song you make up is about mermaids ("Oh how can I be a mermaaaaaiiiiiiidddd?"), and you love your two mermaid dolls.

Cats are still high on your list too. Your little stuffed cats come downstairs each morning and go back to bed with you each night. Their names change almost daily, usually rotating between Rainbow, Crystal, and Strawberry. We can often hear you chasing Noah through the house as he yells out, "But I don't want to be a kitten!". Hee.

Your last day of preschool is only a few days away, and I think you're starting to understand that. There were a few tears last week as you told me, "But I want to always stay in the Owl class!". You also want to be there when Noah starts in the fall. But your mood brightened significantly when I told you that your new school has uniforms and for girls that means a dress every single day. What could be better than that?!

What you would wear every day if we let you.

You love riding your princess bike and you get the cutest little determined look when you want to go fast.

After a rough adjustment to my being on bedrest, you have returned to being the happy girl you were. You're very sweet and ask lots of questions about pregnancy, the baby, and if these same things will happen for you.

You surprise us daily with what you know. Last night I tried spelling out watermelon to daddy and as soon as I spelled it you said, "Oh I want some watermelon too!". Guess we can't keep secrets that way anymore! As always, your vocabulary seems beyond your years.

You're such a good mix of girly and rough and tumble. A few moms from preschool have told us that you are the only girl in class that their sons want to play with, but you also enjoy a good game of "princesses" with the girls. When asked, you told us that playing princesses means that you run and scream when you see the boys. Fun!

You still want a baby sister, but every now and then you'll admit that you're still excited about a brother.

Meeting your new cousin Claire for the first time. We often stress how you two can be friends because she doesn't have a sister either :)

Your artwork is so cute these days! Lots of mermaids, several portraits of mommy and daddy on our "marrying day", and lots of sweet homemade cards for us and your teachers.

We are just crazy about you! Every day you bring us so much joy and laughter and we love watching you grow and learn. We're so lucky to be your parents!

Friday, May 14, 2010

Hopeful

Lately Anna has picked back up on her insistence that we give her a baby sister instead of a baby brother. She was excited about a boy for a while, especially when I would emphasize how small he will be, how cute, how much he will love her. But the desire for a sister is still there. The other day when she brought it up she said she knew that this one was a boy, but that my next baby could still be a girl. I had to remind her that this is the last one. When she got angry I did what I've been doing with all of this bed rest stuff: I blamed it on my doctor. :)

My mom was here watching the kids today and when she went upstairs to put Noah down for his nap, Anna was curled up in the chair just looking at the ceiling, deep in thought. She looked over with a very sad face and said, "Mommy, is Mammaw too old to have another baby?". When I said yes she sighed and said she would have wanted it to be a girl. She went back to staring forlornly at the ceiling but then a thrilled and very hopeful look came over her face. "But mom! There was a woman in the Bible who thought she was too old but God told her she would still have a baby! Could Mammaw have one like her?!". I told her that God could make that happen if he wanted to, but he probably would not. Heavy sigh, back to staring at the ceiling in dismay. Her optimism was so sad and cute at the same time!

Mother's Day 2007. The curls, sigh....

Saturday, May 08, 2010

Love them!

A perfect spring day, just right for standing on your giraffe.

The heart hands. Always. I think it's kind of adorable. Now that boys will outnumber girls in this family, I'm appreciating her girliness even more. :)

And his boyishness just as much. "Mommy, hold on. I want to talk to you about race cars. Race cars can crash into other race cars". Good to know.

I could NOT love them more! But I know I will. :)

Wednesday, May 05, 2010

I miss church

It's been 5 weeks now since I've been able to go to church with Nathan and the kids. And I miss it. Our church posts the sermons online, so I can watch those, but there's something about being there and singing with all of those people. I get choked up on a regular Sunday so I can only imagine what a mess I'll be when I finally do get to go back!

When I'm here at the house I don't listen to the radio much, but I always used to sing in the car. Even when Noah would say, "No mommy! You don't sing!", ha. Today I had a doctor's appointment and this song came on during my drive home. It's one we sing all the time at church and I made it about two lines in before I had a small breakdown. But it was a comforting sort of breakdown, if that makes any sense! : p

My checkup this week brought more not so great news. Baby is still healthy and doing well, but it just seems like every week there is a new complication to this pregnancy. None of it is affecting him yet, thank goodness. But it's stressful, and it's scary to think of what might happen in the next few months. I got steroid shots to speed up his lung development yesterday and today, and while I'm really glad to have those, it does make this seem much more real.

But today in the car, in the midst of my breakdown, I was reminded again that IT IS OKAY. No matter what happens, even if it's the worst thing we can imagine, God is still in control and we will be okay. He already knows what's going to happen and He already knows how we will come out on the other side. The scary part right now is that even though I am following doctors orders to a T, things are still progressing toward him being born too soon. He has a MUCH higher chance of survival now than he did 5 weeks ago when this started, but he still isn't ready to be born. Although 5 weeks ago I wasn't even sure we would make it this far! There is no medication to fix it or stop it, we just have to wait and pray that this little guy stays put for a while longer. While it's scary not to have a quick solution, it is another good reminder that this isn't up to me alone. I can do everything that I can, and then I just have to let go and trust. In my 5 years of motherhood, I've definitely had to do that a few times already!

Okay, thanks for letting me vent. I promise I'll go back to something much more fun for my next post : ) Just thought that video could make someone feel better like it did for me today!

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