Well we have had a few visits from various family and friends, which were a total blast!! We just love it when family and friends can sneak down for a visit!! And it helps not having to travel while pregnant with two very impatient little ones. ;) Chris managed to sneak in a visit up to Virginia alone to visit Gran and Grandad and the rest of the Virginia crew. I know it was a great visit for him. The girls and I were sad not to go, but in the end I think it all worked out for the best. Next time we will get to go with him. :) I think he was secretly sad we weren't there as well, but I know it made for a much less hectic drive and easier time visiting with everyone up there. Unfortunately he got sick on the trip home and has not really been the same since. Hopefully we will figure out what is bothering him soon!!
When he got home it was the start of Vacation Bible School at our old church. I was a Co-Director this year and boy did we have a crazy week! I was so worn out by the end of the week I could hardly function! Luckily CiCi was here to lend a hand with the girls. :) After that week we have been busy reorganizing the play room to get it into "classroom" shape for home school and getting the nursery set up and ready. You would not believe how long it takes to go through ALLLLLLLL of the girls' old clothes to weed out the stuff that is gender neutral and not. I finally managed to get through it all (again thanks to CiCi and Deborah who ran herd on the girls while I organized!) and get all of the girls' old stuff put away and anything boy related washed and put away neatly in the nursery. We are currently in the process of figuring out the jigsaw puzzle that is fitting three car seats in the back seat of my Pilot. :) I think we are close now, so after that we should be pretty well set for baby boy's arrival. Well, except for a bit of final organizing, purchasing newborn diapers, making sure I have enough clothes in the proper sizes, OH...and coming up with a NAME!? This does not stress or even bother Chris in the least, but not having at least a short list of possible names is driving my CRAZY! Chris will blame it on pregnancy hormones making me nuts, and he's probably right...but it doesn't make me any less crazy?! :)
Also during this time I attended a three day practicum for the Homeschooling program we are going to use this year and found out that my current Obstetrician was re-locating to New Zealand! You would not think it's a big deal to change OB's, but it is a very big deal once you are past 24 weeks pregnant! It is difficult to get a new one to accept you and they have to review all of your medical records prior to accepting you as a new patient. SO, that took up about a full week of my time, just trying to figure out who to transfer to, get copies of my records, get the records to the new OB, schedule an appointment and then get finally accepted! Talk about stressful! It was insane...and we haven't even gotten to Obamacare yet?! Geesh! Luckily I have found a wonderful new OB who is in a group practice with two other doctor's. I have met two of the three docs and have loved them both! I meet the final doctor next week, so here's hoping I like her as well. :) I have been very impressed with their care and definitely feel like I made a wise choice. Phew! One less thing to worry about!
I think that pretty much updates what all we have been up to lately, but here is a little update on the girls and Baby Hughes. :)
Katherine
Katherine had her 5 year well visit the day after Caroline's 3rd birthday. She was technically 5 years and 4 months, but who's counting?! :) I did both girls at the same time to avoid two different trips to the Pediatrician's office. Dr. W was super impressed with Katherine's cognitive abilities and she passed her hearing and vision tests with flying colors. He did say she was borderline farsighted, but that it shouldn't affect her vision for school. (i.e. No glasses needed at this point!) He recommended I get her in to see an eye doctor to get a baseline, that way they can monitor if the farsightedness gets better or worse as she grows. She also had to get three shots during her visit...she was quite a champ! She did not make one peep, but she did have one poor little tear come sliding down her cheek. So sweet.A week after her checkup, we managed to get her in to see Dr. F, our family eye doctor. He said that she is actually slightly far-sighted and that it was a really good catch from Dr. W. He said her vision was 20/20, so no glasses were needed, but it is good to get a baseline established and then she doesn't need to come back until she has problems. Yippee!!!
As for what Katherine is up to, she is getting smarter and smarter by the day. We are working on reading and I have a feeling she's going to be independently reading very quickly. (If mom were a little more organized, she would probably already be reading by herself...doh!) She LOVES anything outdoors. Bugs seem to be a clear favorite at the moment...much to Mom's chagrin! BUGS?! Couldn't we love something other than BUGS?! Ha! She is quite a fish in the water and would love nothing more than swimming ALLLLLLLL day long. The good news is, it wears her slam out and then Mom gets a nap! ;) She is generally happiest if she is outside doing something, reading, or playing with her Leap Pad.
We have also been having a little issue with her attitude...which seems to be about the size of Texas recently, but we are working on that. :) She is a such a sweet kid and really has a heart for others...I just have to remind myself of this when she rolls her eyes at me or puts her hands on her hips and gives me attitude. I thought we would avoid this until the teenage years?! Oh well, I just keep praying and picking my battles. She WILL use her strong will for good someday...that's my prayer anyway. :)
At her check up she was 45 and 3/4" tall and 48 pounds. Hard to believe my first little baby is almost 50 pounds! How did that happen?! She is such a blessing and she definitely keeps us laughing.
Caroline
Little Miss Caroline has come into her own. For a kid we thought would be introverted and quiet...she is quite the opposite! She hardly ever stops talking these days and has only one volume...LOUD! If she can't yell it, she doesn't say it. :) It's so funny. Chris and I keep looking at each other and saying "We thought she would never talk!? What happened?" Haha. She is also quite obsessed with anything having to do with the potty and potty words. So we spend a lot of time saying "Caroline, we only use those words in the potty, not in the middle of the grocery store (or where ever we happen to be at the moment)." She just cracks herself up every time she uses those words...Mom on the other hand cringes! I'm hoping this is a phase that will quickly pass...although I have a feeling it's going to get even more interesting once baby brother arrives... HA! She has quite a sense of humor and is SO stinking funny! She is quite animated now and has facial expressions that will crack you up! She is quite a fish in the water as well. It's hard to believe since she would not even get in the water, much less swim on her own in May. She will now run and jump into the pool and swim across it all by herself. What a difference a few months makes?!She is so incredibly smart, which scares the pants off of me...how am I going to keep up with two super smart little girls?! During her 3 year old well visit Dr. W wanted to know if she could recognize a few letters of the alphabet and count to 5. Uh...yeah...Caroline can spell her name, she can say and mostly recognize all 26 letters and she can count to 50 all by herself! Dr. W was quite impressed! Looks like we have another smart little cookie, just like daddy, on our hands!! :)
Some of her favorites at the moment include anything Dora, swimming, swimming and more swimming (although she calls her bathing suit her "baving soup"), anything that has to do with Daddy, eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, orange juice, all things pink, all things that involve baby dolls or playing house, and running. The kid will run full out forever...it's hilarious! She is SO sweet to her sister (for the most part) and is very content to play by herself. It is not unusual for her to sit and play with her dolls and dollhouse for hours on end all by herself! This totally amazes me as Katherine never liked playing by herself! She is also VERY organized! When we color she dumps all of the crayons out and lines them up in a very precise row. Then she colors with one at a time and as she finishes a color, she puts that one at the end of the line and takes the next one closest to her. Her room is also very neat. If something is out of place, I am usually required to fix it ASAP or she will NOT go to sleep! Chris says she definitely gets that from me...guess I can't argue with that!! :) She is a lefty and has my blood type after all!! She may look like Daddy's mini-me, but she has some of me in there too!!! :)
As for her three year old stats she was 32 pounds and 39" tall! She is definitely long and lean, just like her sister!! She is a full inch taller than Katherine was at 3 and 3 pounds heavier. Looks like she might overtake big sister in height one day...not sure how that will go over. ;)
She is such a sweetheart and we are so blessed to have our sweet Caroline!!! :)
Baby Boy Hughes
Baby Boy Hughes is now slightly more than 32 weeks gestation...which means that his arrival is fast approaching!! AAGGHH!! I am so ready for him to be here, but I am also terrified at the same time! What do I do with a boy?! I guess it will be trial by fire! :) The poor boy is still nameless, but that's a whole different discussion! Chris assures me that we will come up with a name before we leave the hospital.... :) We have his crib set up and the nursery mostly organized. I am LOVING all the little boy clothes! Everyone tells me that little girls clothes are super cute, but I disagree...I LOVE all the little boy stuff! I can't wait to dress him up! :) :) So far everything is perfectly healthy with the little guy and hopefully it will remain that way. He was measuring 3lbs 1oz at 28 weeks, which is slightly large for 28 weeks, but as the ultrasound tech said "He's definitely not chunky! He just has some seriously long legs and a slightly larger than average head." Guess he's a chip off the old block, since my dad and I have ridiculously long legs and Christopher has a larger than average head! ;) I'm thinking that means we will have one tall, lean, super smart dude on our hands. ;) I can't wait to meet him...although I'm perfectly content until mid-September. Just keep baking little man. :)Well I guess that is about all for now! Hopefully I will update again before the little man arrives! We start home school for sure on August 20th, but we may start a little earlier, depending on when the last of our curriculum arrives. :) Until then, try to stay cool out there! :)
