Long Week

Just a quick update on us.......

The first week of school proved to be a stressful one for me. The long days were taking it's toll on little Allie. She was trying so hard to keep up with it all, but was fighting the exhaustion. This led to some major tantrums, me to lose my patience and some major stress. I could tell she was super tired this morning so I don't know that this week is going to be much better......especially with such a big change coming at the end of the week! Thanks to facebook I was able to receive some great advice and tons of positive feedback that things will get better over time. She just needs time to adjust and get used to these super long days. I'm hopeful that this will happen.

We had a false alarm this weekend. While out shopping Saturday I felt a sudden small gush of "water" (enough to soak through my pants). My water broke when I was pregnant with Allie and it was nothing near as much as it was then, but I thought maybe I have a small tear or baby's head is blocking anymore from coming out. I, of course, started freaking out and headed back to the car, to save myself from further embarrassment, while Derek finished the shopping. We decided we'd try to get some rest in our own beds and decide what to do the next morning. I didn't really have anymore leakage through the night......just damp. TMI, I know. Anyway, I finally broke down and called the Dr's office. I got someone in the message center who then paged the nurse on call. She finally called me back and I explained everything to her. She said it didn't sound like my water broke but to go into the hospital to be checked out......just in case. So, I did. Turns out this little guy is just sitting right on top of my bladder and decided to empty it himself!! I really had no idea that was what it was especially since I had just went to the bathroom about 10 minutes prior to this happening. In hindsight though, I do feel like I have to go to the bathroom constantly and this explains that feeling!

Now a picture and video........

Avery getting ready to go swimming with her friend Noelle.

VIDEO - Avery playing the wii

3 & 5 Year Check Ups and an EARTHQUAKE

The girls had their 3 year and 5 year check ups yesterday after school. Allie went first and she was such a good girl. She seemed so big and grown up answering the doctor's questions and doing everything she was asked. Everything looks good and she's a healthy little girl!

Avery went next. I think the doctor and I had both hoped that Avery would be okay with everything with Allie going first. Wrong! It didn't help that Allie told her that she would probably be getting shots. So she was terrified of the that the whole time. From what the doctor was able to examine Avery looks healthy too! We talked about her bloody noses and I guess it's pretty common here with it being so dry, so she's not worried about it. She suggested rubbing a little bit of vasoline in her nose before bed and if she still gets them after that then it could be allergy related. And.....she did end up getting one shot. She has to get 4 next year though!

Derek just emailed me......he's in Virginia and felt his first ever EARTHQUAKE. It was a 5.9, he's about 80 miles from the epicenter though and is okay. Crazy though! I've never felt one before.

1st Day of Kindergarten

Allie was so excited about school last night that she couldn't go to sleep. We put her in bed at 7:30 and she was still wide awake at 9:30!! I figured it would be tough to get her up and going this morning but as soon as I said, "Good morning, it's the first day of school," she sat right up, smiled, and climbed out of bed.

I fixed her breakfast. Toast w/ jelly, her choice. She barely ate any of it. Again, I think due to excitement.

She pretty much only owns sandals......she's not a big fan of wearing tennis shoes. She says they hurt her feet?? But, she has PE 3 days a week so she's going to have to get used to it.

Showing off her new backpack

finally at school!

Avery had a hard time saying good bye to Allie. They gave each other the biggest hug before we left the school. Avery didn't want to let go! I had to ask for a hug. Those two really are best friends. Avery whined the whole walk to the car as we were leaving.....and continued whining on the car ride home. Once we got inside I gave her some candy for keeping her diaper dry through the night. Not even five minutes later she was asking, "Mom, Us get Allie now?!?"  So sweet. She kept asking that over and over and I kept telling her not for a while. So then she asked if I could get baby brother out! I suppose it will take a while for her to get used to just her and I. She may not even get used to that before her brother is here. Hopefully that will help her with this transition a little bit better.

This clumsy girl fell and hit her head. Never a dull moment

Avery was so excited when I told her it was time to pick up Allie. She was a little confused when we didn't get in the car and took off walking. I had to explain that she was riding the bus home. We left about 10 minutes before the bus was scheduled to come just because i wanted to make sure we were there when she was dropped off. Of course the bus was about 10 minutes late so we were there 20 minutes early and waiting in the scorching sun. She (and I) were getting quite impatient.

But she finally arrived!!!!

Here are some pics from the weekend:

shopping at Kohls. I had to take a break. They just got done telling me that they were going to be best friends forever and they wanted their picture taken. :)

Avery playing with her new Bakery for her Calico Critters. Thanks Uncle Buddy & Aunt Kim!

at Emma's birthday party

A Day Out

The girls have been cooped up in the house pretty much all week. We had originally planned on taking them to the museum on Tuesday since Derek had the day off (and for a nice birthday outing for Avery) but with the a/c going out and waiting around on someone to come and take care of it.....that never happened.

Since it was so hot upstairs Avery didn't get her regular nap in. She eventually curled up on the couch next to me and fell asleep!

Wednesday morning Avery woke up early as usual and climbed in bed with me. I thought I smelled something funny......and eventually saw this......

She had a bloody nose through the night! This is the second one in 2 weeks, 3rd this summer. I'm not sure what is going on, but hope to get it all figured out when she sees the Dr. on Monday.

We did get out briefly on Wednesday for my first doctor's appointment with my new doctor. They were surprisingly good, considering we were there for 2 hours. My new dr. seems nice and very knowledgeable. I'm going to have to try and get used to being referred to as "Huber" instead of Brooke though......since that's what she called me the entire time. My guess is that she is Indian. They are working on getting my c-section scheduled for September 1st! Please pray that works out as that is what is best for us with Derek's schedule.

I had planned on getting the girls out of the house on Thursday but I didn't sleep at all Wednesday night. Not really sure why. I did have a lot of cramps. I woke up feeling very nauseous and wound up vomiting shortly after I got up. At least the girls got to have a friend come over for a little bit to take up some of their day. (I watched him while his Mom was at the Doctor).

Taking a break from playing......eating popsicles!

So, today we finally made it out of the house. We went to the Witte Museum. Not quite what I expected and we probably won't go back but at least we did something. Avery seemed kind of bored the whole time. Allie seemed to kind of like it. I was miserable, but it's hot and I'm huge so what do you expect.

pirahanas

There were a few things to do outside, but we were done after 5 minutes. It's just too hot here to be outside during the day!

Allie is not like me in the least bit......meaning she's not shy and is a total girly girl. Hence, THIS VIDEO.

Afterwards we used some more of Avery's birthday coupons. We got a free kids meal from Burger King and then went a couple restaurants down to Wienerschnitzel where we got a free coney dog......and bought a hot dog and fries.

Then we went to Target to pick up a few last minute school supplies and Avery picked out a couple birthday presents from gift cards and money she's got in the mail recently. Here are the girls laying on Avery's new sleeping bag.

Then we were off to Meet the Teacher night at Allie's school. She was excited, but surprisingly a little shy when we got there. We were bummed to find out that we didn't know a single student in her class! There are quite a few kids starting Kindergarten from church and quite a few from her preschool that are all going to Kuentz this year.......but there are 5 or 6 Kindergarten classes......still not a single one in her class!! Her teacher seems nice and Allie is READY to start. She really wants to ride the bus to school this year. I think we've convinced her to let us take her and she can ride the bus home. That way she won't be on the bus too long.

After meet the teacher we went to ColdStone for Avery's birthday ice cream (buy one get one free). The girls were LOVING it!

This will probably be our last big outing for a while.

The Boy With The Black Shoes

Avery's Dream

Background:

We have 2 A/C's in our house. One upstairs, one downstairs. I suppose this is needed to keep up with the Texas heat and the size of our house. Anyway, the upstairs a/c didn't seem to be working last night. It just kept getting hotter and hotter. The temp got up to 86 degrees up there! So, I set up a blanket for the girls on the floor downstairs and I slept on the couch. We put extra fans in our bedroom for Derek. It still wasn't enough for me and I don't think he slept all that well either.

Allie ended up sleeping on the chair

The Dream

I woke up to Avery standing right in front of me saying "Mommy there's a boy with black shoes right there." (while she pointed over towards the top of the bookcase). I was freaked out right away, said "WHAT?" and she repeated, "There's a boy with black shoes up there." I said, "No, that's just a shadow of the computer monitor we have up there." She quietly said, "oh" and climbed up on the couch with me. She never took her eyes off of the top of the bookcase! Then I remembered I had heard her talking in her sleep earlier saying something about shoes. I didn't think anything of it because our girls are definitely into shoes. I still don't knot if that was related to the boy in the black shoes or not. Anyway, I started asking her questions. Like if he was still there? "yes" Is he talking to you? "no" So, I said let's go get Daddy. She quickly replied, "No Mommy, his Big Daddy coming. Hurry go to sleep!" Now I'm really freaking out! I pick her up and go upstairs as quickly as I can. Usually I would have to shake Derek in order to wake him, but I think b/c of the heat, he was easy to wake up. Actually as soon as we walked in the room he woke up. I told him the story and he asked Avery the same questions that I had and her story didn't change one bit. We came downstairs and as we were walking down she looked right over to the bookcase and wouldn't take her eyes off of them! Derek turned the light on and she just smiled. We showed her the computer monitor and told her it was just a dream and that was a shadow. She forced what looked to be a worried smile. We set up the recliners on the couch so all three of us could sleep there, with her in the middle. Turned off the light and, yep, she looked right over to the bookcase and started pointing and talking about the little boy. She never did go back to sleep.

3 Hours Later

I finally did fall asleep, but Avery's dream was still on my mind. So I started asking her questions.

Did you have a dream last night? Yeah

What did you see? A boy with black shoes

Where was he? Pointed at bookcase and said over there

What was he doing? Climbing

How old was he? She held up 2 fingers. I said "2, about your age?" She shook her head yes and then held up 5 fingers and said a little bit bigger. 

Did he talk to you? She shook her head yes

What did he say? He call me poopy ...... okay now I'm not as freaked out. Either she's realizing it was not real and is trying to be funny, or she's starting to forget everyhing. If someone really called her poopy she would have said something back. Probably, "No, you poopy" or something like that. She definitely wouldn't have just sat back and said nothing though.

I tried to interview her but she wasn't too cooperative. Here is what i got though.

Happy Birthday Avery "3"

My "baby" is three! So hard to believe. She's growing up so fast. Yesterday Derek took the girls to Sea World to play at the water park one last time this summer before it closes. They had a blast! Avery was out again before they got home and so she got a good nap in. She was excited to find a package from Mony and Papa waiting for her when she woke up.

Today was kind of chill. We didn't really do much. I did bake some brownies for her birthday and she seemed to really enjoy those. 

Then it was on to opening her gift from us.......

She is  SO into these Calico Critters right now. She'll play with them for hours. Love watching her use her imagination!

Avery says "THank You" to everyone who has sent her birthday cards or birthday wishes. She keeps all of her cards lined up on the counter and gets them down to look at them every day!

We don't have a whole lot planned for tomorrow. A friend is throwing me a baby shower so that will be about all we do. But, we have plans to continue Avery's birthday celebration on Tuesday!! : )

36 Week Appointment

Well, I've dropped.......obvious. I also had the dr check my cervix for dilation and I am 1 cm dilated!! I couldn't tell if she was surprised by that or not. I know I wasn't surprised in the least bit b/c I've been having some contractions......not regular but still having them. The biggest news is that I have to find a new doctor. And quickly, at that. So, my c-section was scheduled for 6 September and the base hospital is closing it's doors on 2 September (or around there). Definitely won't be open on the 6th though. I'm being transferred out to a civilian hospital of my choice and being seen by a civilian doctor. This is actually what I wanted all along, but happening now is kind of stressful. We just need to get this all taken care of soon because I really feel like Mr Blake Emerson will be making his grand appearance before we get into September!

Hello Kitty Party

Avery had her Hello Kitty birthday party today. We just invited a few friends along with their siblings. It actually turned out to be a long day. She couldn't hold her eyes open any longer and fell asleep at 5. It's now 7 and I'm exhausted as well. Hopefully she's out for the night because I think I could go to sleep now!

The invite:

The Setup:

Pretty much all of the balloons were flat by the time the guests arrived.

Avery colored a picture for decoration

Ate lunch of some of Avery's favorite things: sub sandwiches, cucumbers, watermelon, grapes, pretzels, goldfish, popcorn, Capri Sun

Then opened gifts

Then we were off to the pool to swim and play

After an hour and a half of swimming we came back to the house for cake and ice cream

Singing "Happy Birthday"