Just the Three of Us

 

September 25th arrived and I was officially 40 weeks pregnant.  The girls only had a half day of school so I decided to have one last outing - just the three of us.  We decided to go to the zoo.  The added benefit was that the extra walking might make me go into labor!  No such luck.

In addition to taking pictures with every statue they saw, we got to see the new tiger cubs and see Mama Tiger do some tricks!

We saw lots of other cool animal things,too.  I can't remember what they were, though.  My pregnancy brain must have blocked them out and I didn't have any pictures to remind me.  This was probably one of our best zoo trips yet.  Maybe it was just because it is my last fun memory of being a mom of two.

State Fair 2013

I've mentioned before how much I love the fair.  L.O.V.E., love it.  This was the first year since my family moved to Hutchinson (I was in third grade) that I missed it.  It was in the beginning of September and I was miserably pregnant.  The high temperature for the day was 101 degrees.  I felt like it was in my best interest to stay home.  The week preceding it I was really sad.  Weepy sad.  I guess it was probably the hormones.  The day of it, though, I wasn't that sad.  I knew I had made the right choice to stay home.

Will took the girls and met up with my family.  He said it was a little overwhelming without me there.  This was the first year without a wagon or stroller and the girls had free-will to express when they wanted to stop and look at things.  He said it was hard keeping track of them and carrying all the stuff by himself.  He'll be glad to have me along next year.  He took some great pictures I wanted to share. 

Boy, does this man know me.  Who else would take a picture of the winning pumpkin size?

I may just have to go twice next year.

Resuming Life

Nope.  This is not what I should be doing right now.  This is what I want to be doing right now.  Ruby turned one month old a couple days ago (I'll get to writing about her birth at some point).  I'm finally getting back to regular life and I don't really know where to begin.  

Will has been leaving for work around 10:00 everyday since Ruby came.  He left at 8:15 today.  Ruby had a doctor's appointment.  Amazingly, we all made it to where we needed to be, on time, and with real clothes on.

I'm at the point where I have so much to do that I don't know where to begin.  Laundry.  Cleaning.  Bills.  School responsibilities.  Boxes of clothes to be sorted and organized.  Items to be returned.  You get the picture.  Life.

Emma and Taylor have been very helpful.  Their helpfulness started before Ruby even arrived. Here are some pictures of them raking the leaves in August.

They needed a break.  It was hard work cleaning up that small pile of leaves.

 

Will has been incredibly helpful, too.  I don't have any pictures of  him doing the dishes or washing mountains of laundry.

So, I guess I just need to start.  I'll start with the bills.  It will be hard to do the other things if the electricity gets shut off.

First Day of First Grade

This was taken a year ago.

This one is for this year.  I'm not sure they look more grown-up, just different.

These girls are very similar, but yet, very different.  Taylor was just as practical as last year, and wore tennis shoes the first day, just in case she had P.E..  They both love being "fancy", but Emma really does prefer comfort.  Cotton shorts and a t-shirts have been her go-to outfit these first two weeks.  Taylor has only worn shorts to school once - the other days have been skirts or dresses.

They chose different backpacks this year, but both still followed the same theme: My Little Ponies.

 Emma was super excited about her teacher and the kids in  her class.  Her teacher is very structured, but I think that structure has already been good for Emma.  I have already seen a lot of growth in her.

Taylor was disappointed because most of her friends were in the "other" first grade class, but this has forced her to make some new friends, which is never a bad thing.  She likes her teacher and says that she is always smiling.  That sweetness is a good fit for Taylor.

Summer Wrap Up

Here are a few pictures that didn't make it in to any of my summer blogging stories.  I miss the carefree days of summer already.  I had big plans for summer - I wanted it to be super special since it won't be just the four of us for much longer.  It didn't go exactly as I had hoped.  I was really tired and we ended up doing a lot of things out of town.  It was nice just being home with them, though.

My mom's siblings do a family reunion every summer.  Although not all the cousins could be there, it was great seeing everyone.  I always enjoy family get-togethers.

Taylor Swift

Taylor asked for a Taylor Swift CD for Christmas and was so excited because she got it!  Her cousin got a ticket to her concert.  She was okay with that.  Until the concert got closer and she started hearing about it non-stop on the radio and TV.  Even then, she didn't really complain, she just said things like, "I wish we could go." 

I explained that the tickets were sold out.  She said she heard on the radio that people could win them.  I told her that all contests were only giving away two tickets and we needed at least three so both girls could go.  Emma said she would be fine if just Taylor went.  It was a very sweet comment, but in reality I don't think it would have gone over so well.

I looked on Craigslist at ones that people were selling and they ranged from $300 - $400.  That was impossible for our budget.  I gave up looking.  Then, a week before the concert a deal popped up on my facebook page that I couldn't pass up.  There was great deal on a name your own price website.  I bought three tickets.  This would be a great before-the-baby-arrives date for Will and the girls. 

We kept it a secret until the day before the concert.  They were so excited!  We explained to them how big the arena would be and how crowed it would be.  We told them about being wanded to make sure know one was bringing a gun in their pockets.  Taylor said, "I probably won't even have pockets!"  Then Emma said,"...And, we don't even have any guns!"

I asked them to show me their "excited" faces.

Now, remember, I got these tickets for a super great price - that doesn't mean they were close seats.

They were up so high that Emma and Taylor were a bit overwhelmed and Emma was afraid she might fall.

They were better after the opening act.  Taylor Swift puts on quite a show.  She even did a portion of the concert on a stage that was closer to the cheap seats.

They got home around 10:45 and were filled with excitement.  After telling me about every detail of what she wore and the songs that she sang their heads hit the pillow and they went right to sleep.

These were some of the highlights:
Taylor Swift gave her black hat to someone in the audience.
Taylor's favorite part was everything.
She wore beautiful dresses.
Daddy got them popcorn and pretzels.
Taylor Swift was wearing red sparkly shoes, just like Emma.  Notice the picture below and compare with Emma above.

Some low points:
She didn't sing Taylor's favorite song.
They never found their cousin, Peyton, in the audience.

Unexpected Visitors

Will's mom, Martha, passed away when he was 8 years old.  Her family lived in West Virginia and Will lived in Oklahoma.  It made keeping in contact with Martha's family difficult.  Will said the last time he saw his aunts was when he was 16 years old.  We've talked about visiting them when the girls were old enough to remember it.  Two of his aunts planned a visit last fall, but things came up and they didn't make it.

Last month we got a call on a Tuesday saying that Will's Aunt Gingy and Uncle Konk were coming for a visit.  They were stopping in Tulsa first to visit Will's brother, Patrick, and would be at our house on Monday.  We were very excited, but I admit I was a bit nervous.  People that I had never met before were staying at my house!  I wanted to be a good hostess and keep them entertained.  

I had nothing to worry about.  They were totally laid back.  Their only agenda was to spend time with us.  To get to know us.  To catch up on the last 20 years. 

It was a great couple days.  They parked their camper in the driveway and we just hung out.  The only place we went was the neighborhood Dairy Queen to get some ice cream.  Gingy played dolls with the girls and read them books.  She even helped them clean their room a few times.  She, of course, made everything fun.  After she left and I made them clean their room by themselves, Taylor said, "I wish Gingy were here." 

I loved hearing remarks like, "They have Martha's eyes", and "Martha had hair like that."  I enjoyed asking questions about Martha and hearing stories from when they were kids.  I felt like even though I never got to meet Will's mom, I got a good glimpse of who she was by spending time with her sister.

Konk (Frank) reminded me so much of my dad.  When he was tired of chatting and needed a break he just went out to his camper to take a nap or watch TV.  He talked about NASCAR and drank milk with his bologna sandwich.   These similarities made it very easy to get to know this stranger.

Actually, it never really felt like I was with strangers.  They were family from the very first hug to the last goodbye tears that were shed.  The girls still talk about them all the time and we can't wait for our next visit.

I now look forward to meeting Martha's last surviving sister, Genie.  Hopefully sooner than later.