First Day of School - Joshie

Today we dropped Joshie off for his first day of Kindergarten. While driving into work I realized that I had not thought twice about it…he has been so excited to go, and today was the day, so we dropped him off and went on with our lives.

I started wondering if the fact that I had not shed a single tear, nor did the thought of being sad ever cross my mind, make me a “bad” mom? Now I know I’m not a bad mom, but is there something wrong with the fact that I’m so excited that my kids are reaching these milestones? Even when we took Kylie I know I felt sad, but I don’t think I cried (and if I did, I know it was because I was pregnant at the time and my hormones were crazy).

I have friends that have been crying for months knowing that their kids are starting school…seriously, why don’t I feel this way? I’ve always, thankfully, been able to easily detach myself from my kids…going to work is not really that difficult for me – I miss them, but in all honesty, I can go hours without even thinking about them because I’m busy with my work. I’m very grateful that I’m this way because it lets me get my work done at work and then go home and give them my full attention. For a long time I worried something was wrong with me in that I didn’t spend the day missing my kids, but I have learned that God has given me this “gift” so that I can continue to do what I love and still be a great mother.

So back to Joshie…he will be buying his lunch on the first day, which of course he was worried about because he doesn’t know how to do that. I told him that everyone is just like him and his teacher (who was Kylie’s Kindergarten teacher and we loved her) will teach him everything he needs to know. We got him in his seat and gave him a hug and we left. He was ready to color and do puzzles and had no problem with us leaving.

For now (because starting next year and the stupid legislation that passed requiring all Kindergarteners to go all day everyday), our school district has Kindergarten 2 full days per week and then every other Friday as well. I love this because while it gives kids an entire day to be at school to learn, it also gives them a nice break in between as they transition from, in our case, being at home all the time to being at school all the time. Josh won’t go back to school until next Tuesday.

I am leaving early again today so that I can pick them up from school and see how his first day of school went. I can’t wait to see his little face walk out that door!

First Day of School - Kylie...

Last night was the last night of freedom for most of the kids on our neighborhood (I say most because those going into Tuesday/Thursday Kindergarten, i.e. Joshie, don’t start until Thursday). So to celebrate, we just relaxed at home and the kids did what apparently is turning into an end of summer tradition, and that is running through the sprinkler with their clothes on. I had to bring them in fairly early so that we could get baths and get to bed at a decent time.

As we were getting ready to get into bed, there was a knock at the door and Pappaw came in! I had no idea he was coming up! So Joshie went over to his house to sleep and Kylie and Ryan went to bed. John was at a softball game (kind of sore subject for me because I really wish I could be out there playing, but this little bun in the oven is preventing that!). So after the house was picked up and Kylie’s school stuff was packed, I climbed into bed and relaxed for a while. John showed up with Frosty as a surprise for me, and we watched TV and ate Frosties together, which was a nice little treat!

We woke up this morning and started the craziness! Our neighbor had this great idea at the end of last school year about having a big pancake breakfast out on the court on the first day of school. We thought it would be a really nice tradition each year for the kids. So Monday night we planned it and 7 families showed up for breakfast this morning! We had pancakes on the griddles, sausage and bacon on the grill and a ton of happy kids! I did see that Kylie has already started acting like a tween…our neighbor was taking pictures and told Kylie to get with her friend and Kylie’s response was “seriously.” My neighbor and I just looked at each other…knowing that I was in for so many years of trouble.

I really had a great time and the kids were in such great moods as they walked off to school together.

The only downside was the Joshie was really having a hard time since he wasn’t going to school today…he really felt left out. We just couldn’t get through to him that he was going tomorrow, and that it was awesome that he didn’t have to go everyday. At least tomorrow he will feel better…when he was sad last year there was nothing to comfort him with since he wasn’t going to school at all yet.

So we walked my second grader into her classroom and kissed and hugged her and left. I’m excited because I’m taking off a couple of hours this afternoon so that I can go and pick her up and see how her first day went!

Big Ultrasound!

Today I am 19 weeks pregnant. I can’t believe how fast the time has gone! I’m officially halfway as my doctor induces me early due to my fat babies :)

Last Monday I had my second ultrasound with this little one. It was extra special this time because we let Kylie and Joshie come, and my sister was still in town from the wedding, so she went with us as well. The doctor was definitely a little startled when she walked into the tiny room and found 4 extra people!

Fortunately, and unfortunately, it was a pretty boring ultrasound. The little baby was apparently sitting Indian style up and down and despite the Dr. Pepper I had drank that morning, decided that it didn’t want to move too much. I was also disappointed because we really didn’t get any great pictures of the baby. John said that he noticed that our doctor seemed a little hesitant the whole time and he thought it was because she was nervous about finding out the sex, which makes sense because if we don’t want to know what it is, my doctor won’t find out either, so there’s no chance of it slipping out. But fortunately we have been blessed with another healthy baby. Everything looks great and at the beginning of January we will have a family of 6!

Michigan Weekend...

This past weekend was so relaxing and so much fun!

Since John was down in Tennessee for the NASCAR race, I had decided that the kids and I would head up to Michigan for the weekend. Friday, I left work at lunch time and headed straight home to finish packing up the car. Around 1:15 PM the kids and I headed up north. They all fell asleep pretty soon into the trip, but they really only slept about 1 ½ hours, which surprised me. As we got into Detroit, for some reason, the GPS told me to get off of the highway. I didn’t understand why, but I followed along. I started to make the “slight right” that it was telling me, and all of a sudden I had to pull over because the sign above me said “Bridge to Canada” and another sign next to it said “After this point, you must continue on to Canada.” The kids were laughing and making jokes about going to Canada instead of Aunt Suzie’s while I tried to figure out where the heck I was! Luckily, between myself, the car GPS, and my phone, we were able to get back on the highway and continue on with our trip.

When we got there, I unloaded the car and Suzie called and told us she was on her way home. We found the sweetest surprises from her on her coffee table: A Parenting magazine for me, The Secret Garden book for Kylie (which she has now read over half of because she loves it so much), an activity book and toy dinosaurs for Joshie, and an Elmo book and fishies for Ry-Ry.

Once Suz got there we headed out to the mall to eat at Rain Forest Café. Even though they are extremely overpriced, I do like going there! After that we shopped a little – I got a new pair of jeans (have I mentioned how much I hate shopping while pregnant??) and I got Ryan a new pair of Crocs (he looks so cute in them!). Then we headed home and the kids went to bed while Suzie and I watched a movie.

The next morning was disappointing in that we had planned on spending the day at the pool, but it was both overcast/rainy and chilly! So Suzie took the kids on a walk to get cinnamon rolls, which we then cooked and ate, and then we just hung around and relaxed. A little while later when headed into the nearby town and ate lunch at a cute little place and the kids were so good! After that we walked to Blockbuster and got another movie for Suzie and I and a movie for the kiddos. There was a classic car show going on so while we walked we got to look at some really neat old cars.

After that we went and got the kids their school supplies. Leave it up to me to leave that to the last minute :) But we got just about everything on the list so it wasn’t that big of a deal that I waited so long. Then we went home to hang out and let Ryan get a nap.

After Ryan woke up, we went to dinner at a restaurant that serves great pizza. I learned there that Ryan is the only one of my kids that likes zucchini (he ate a ton of it). After dinner we went back and the kids got ready for bed and we sat down to watch their movie. After their movie was over, we put them to bed and watched our movie.

Sunday we got up and Suzie took the kids on a walk to Target again and got some stuff to make a nice big breakfast. We had chocolate chip pancakes, blueberry pancakes and bacon. After brunch Suzie took Kylie and Josh to the pool and I played with Ryan a little bit and then put him down for a nap. I got to watch some TV, and during commercials I finished packing us up. It was so nice because after I was done packing, I was able to lay and take a little power nap. Ryan woke up just as Suzie and kids were getting back (they had a ton of fun!). We loaded up the car and all of us headed to IKEA. It’s about ½ hour from where she lives, so we drove separately, knowing that the kids and I would continue home afterwards. We ate lunch there and then grabbed the couple of things we needed. We said good-bye to Suzie and headed out for the 3 hour trip home.

Suzie is always such a wonderful help with the kids. She kept trying to get me to take a nap and relax while she took care of them. She took them to the bathroom at restaurants and gave Ryan his bath. She tried to not let me help cook and overall was just so considerate! It was really hard leaving and it’s really hard being back to work on this Monday.

Thanks Suzie for a fabulous weekend!

"Me help!" Ryan said this over and over again all weekend (along with "Mommy need help?"). But when Suzie did let him help, he dumped the pancake mixture on his toes...twice!

The kids love Aunt Suzie!

Miscellaneous Catch-Up...

This week has gone by so fast! I can’t believe it’s Friday morning already!

I have actually really enjoyed this week, even though I have been so exhausted! We have not had anything going on in the evenings this week (except for my dentist appointment last night). We have been able to come home and hang out and play and I even cooked a normal dinner (where we sat around the kitchen table together and ate) two of the four nights!

Tuesday night my cousin Josh and his four kids came over to play (they were still in town from the wedding), along with my uncle and my other cousin Andy. It was fun watching all of the kids playing and hanging out. That night my Aunt Ann from New York spent the night and my dad came up to visit with her.

John headed off to the NASCAR race in Bristol yesterday. He goes every year with a bunch of guys and supposedly has a lot of fun. It sounds like hell to me, but I’m glad he gets the chance to get away for a few days. I decided to take the kids up to Michigan to visit my sister so that we weren’t stuck at home in the same old routine by ourselves. I’m only working ½ day today so we’ll be able to leave right after lunch. Luckily I got most of the car packed up last night, so I just have a few more things to throw in and we’ll be off!

It’s kind of funny, I have always heard about “post wedding depression,” but I didn’t experience it because we were starting our senior year in college and I think we just had so many other exciting things going on that there was no time to be depressed. But after my sister’s wedding, I, along with some of the others in the wedding party I have found out, have felt a little down all week. It’s hard when the thing that you have spent a year planning for (and I wasn’t even the bride!) and the last month thinking so much about, is all over. I think that’s why this week has been so great because my mind has been cleared and I can just enjoy my environment instead of constantly worrying about what still needs to be done or what I have forgotten.

Hopefully next week will be more back to normal, although I don’t hold out much hope since Wednesday is Kylie’s first day of 2nd grade and Thursday is Josh’s first day of Kindergarten!

Cindy's Wedding Weekend...

Wow, what an amazing weekend!

After I left work on Wednesday, the craziness began! I went and got my hair done, and then rushed home to get my spray tan :) The girl came and did an amazing job! After being so nervous because I had heard some horror stories, it turned out better than I could have ever expected it to! My tan lines were not 100% gone, but it was very hard to see them. After that I packed the kids up and started throwing my stuff together.

The next morning I went and got my nails done, packed up the car, and headed out to get the boys’ tuxes. Trying them on was so painful! Ryan cried the whole time and John ended up having to stuff him into it! I’m glad we tried it on though because the coat was a little big and we were able to get a smaller one. After that we were off! We ran through a drive-through to get some lunch and we were on our way to Athens. Suzie, who had left earlier that morning, was just ahead of us.

When we got to Athens, the first thing we did was drop the kiddos off at John’s parents’ house. They were spending the night there so it was easiest for us to drop them off before we got into the craziness of unpacking. After that we headed to wedding central, aka, our hotel.

Once we got there we unloaded everything and tried to help Cindy with whatever she needed help with. Ryan left with my dad because that was where he was spending the night, and then we all got ready to go out. Cindy and Josh had a little get-together planned for the bridal party that included a bar, pizza, beer (or Shirley Temples for me), and games. We stayed until about 11:00 PM and headed home. I have to admit by the end of the night I was a little depressed because as far as 10 year anniversaries go, this one kind of sucked. Thankfully John had gone to all the trouble the weekend of my birthday to celebrate.

Friday morning we woke up and John headed out golfing while I got Kylie and Josh, took Josh out to my parents’ house, and then Kylie and I got our nails done. She was so cute getting her nails and toenails painted! After that she and I went to Chipotle for lunch, and then out to my parents’ house to pick the boys up. Then we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the rehearsal.

As soon as we stepped foot in the church, John immediately started practicing walking down the aisle with Josh and Ryan. It was hit or miss…sometimes Ryan walked fine, sometimes he ran, and other times he refused. It really helped that John’s parents got there early (they were picking Ryan up from the rehearsal because I knew there was no way he would make it through the dinner), and they were able to practice with us.

After the rehearsal we headed uptown for dinner. It was in the same building as John and my rehearsal dinner 10 years earlier, just a different restaurant. There was a slide show and amazing food! Josh and Kylie did really well, although it was so hot that Kylie did have to go and sit in front of the fan a lot. Josh and Cindy gave all of us our gifts and I was just amazed! She gave me my earrings and necklace to wear the next day, a robe that had my initials on it, a bag that had the first letter of my last name on it, and a tank top that said “Maid of Honor.” She also was paying for all of us to get our make-up done the next day. John got a bobble-head that looked like him and a bottle of liquor, Kylie got a tank top that said “Flower girl” and a beautiful sign that said “Girls Rule and Boys Drool” in a cute little bag that had her name monogrammed on it, and Josh and Ryan both got harmonicas and photo albums.

After dinner John and I took Kylie and Josh back to his parents’ house and then headed over to the favorite Kirch bar – The Smiling Skull. This is the bar that we always hung out at Dad’s Weekend and my aunt and uncle and cousins were already there. We stayed for a while and then headed back to the hotel to get some sleep!

The next morning the craziness began! I went down and got my make-up and hair done (Cindy had brought down a hair stylist and a make-up artist and my sister-in-law was also doing hair). We were all in a room with a TV playing wedding movies and great breakfast! We spent the whole morning in there watching each other get ready and commenting on how gorgeous everyone looked!

The baby-sitter that I had found on Craig’s List arrived at 11:00 and jumped right into everything. The boys arrived just as she did and I got them all settled into the room and she fed them and got them to sleep. I kept stressing how important it was for Ryan to get a nap, and at one point John and I walked in to find her holding him…and he was sound asleep.

Pretty soon it was time to get everyone dressed. John stayed back with the boys and helped the sitter get them dressed and ready. Kylie and I were down helping Cindy get into her dress and getting some last-minute pictures with the photographer. I have to admit that we all looked so gorgeous! We then all got onto the party bus and headed to the church.

The only snafu I knew about was my fault, and that was I had forgotten her veil. Luckily we were at the church in plenty of time and John was able to go and get it for me with plenty of time to spare. Other than that, we spent the time safety-pinning all of the girls dresses to their bras so that their dresses would stay up! Before we knew it, it was time to walk down the aisle!

I was the last of the bridesmaids to walk down, which just left my little kids back there by themselves. As I turned around I just kept praying that Ryan would come down the aisle! And thankfully, all of the kids did a wonderful job! The boys came around and Ryan left with the sitter to go back to the nursery, Josh sat with my in-laws, and Kylie stood up with us. The ceremony was beautiful and I did my best not to let any tears run down my face and smear my make-up :)

After the ceremony, we did family pictures at the church, and then we went out for some pictures outside just before the rain started. As soon as we got onto the bus, the rain let loose! We went back to the hotel and Cindy and Josh got some pictures inside while the bridal party hung out on the bus. Kylie and Josh went back with John’s parents to their house, and our sitter took Ryan back to take a nap. After a while we left to go uptown to get pictures and just as we arrived, the rain stopped and the sun came out! Despite being super hot and sweaty, we got some gorgeous pictures!

We headed back to the reception and just as we were about to walk out (it was an outside reception under tents), it started pouring! We had to walk through a line of rain to get into the tent, but by that time, we didn’t care! Each couple danced in to a theme song, and ours was We Are Family because we came in with the kids. We all had a blast!

It was time for dinner and when I went to put Ryan in his high chair, I realized that he was getting rained on! So the sitter ended up taking him inside (they could still see out and watch all of the festivities) and the rest of the night he was a happy camper! Josh and Kylie went back and forth between John and me and the baby-sitter. By the time it was time to dance, the kids were out there and having fun (except for Joshie who kept telling me dancing was for girls :)).

After a while Ryan started acting really tired, so the sitter took him back to cool off and relax in the room. Shortly after that, Kylie and Josh wanted to join them. John and I hung out at the reception for about another ½ hour until it ended and then headed back to the room to wind down…it had been a long day!

The next day we had a family brunch and then we loaded everything up to head home. We helped pack up Suzie’s car with gifts and other miscellaneous stuff to bring back home for Cindy and Josh. Once we got home we unpacked and just relaxed the rest of the day. Getting up Monday morning was hard to say the least! Especially knowing that when I got out of bed, Cindy and Josh had just gotten on a plane for their honeymoon!

I realized as I was going through the pictures that I don't have any of Josh and Ryan prior to the reception because I was mainly with Kylie the whole time! I'll have to wait until the photographer has her pictures ready and get the cute ones of the boys in their tuxes!

It's Almost Here!!!

I can’t believe it’s Wednesday already. It’s my last day of work for the week, and I will be going non-stop until I crash into bed tonight.

My sister’s wedding is just 3 days away! I’m still working on some last minute things, but for the most part, we’re ready. I have my hair appointment after work today, and then I have a lady coming to spray tan me so that hopefully my tan lines will be gone! I picked my dress up yesterday and I can barely zip it up…Saturday will be interesting to say the least!

While I’m super excited about the wedding, I honestly can’t wait until all of this craziness is over! I feel like I constantly have something on my mind about this wedding…constantly worrying about something that needs done.

I have thankfully hired a baby-sitter for the day, so at least that stress is off of me! This girl sounds really good and I’m hoping that I can just enjoy the day with my kids without actually having to do any of the work that goes along with my kids.

The neat thing is that after this is all over, first thing on Monday morning we have my big ultrasound. We’re not finding out what we’re having again, but it’s still so fun to see the baby and see that everything is OK! This time my sister will be going with us and possibly my mom, and also Kylie and Josh. This is a new experience for us because we’ve never had anyone in the ultrasound room with us before!

So this is probably my last post until after this wonderful weekend…I will write a big post recapping the whole time and I’m sure will have tons of pictures!

A Neverending List...

I can’t believe how crazy life is right now! For the past two months (i.e. the whole summary so far) we have been going non-stop, and I really hate it, but it’s part of life :)

Josh has been in both t-ball and football, which has really taken a toll on us. Football was supposed to end (and did for a week or two) right after t-ball started. But then the head of the football league contacted John and another coach and asked them if they wanted to put together an all-start team and play in a tournament a couple of hours away in the middle of July. John and Josh were of course ecstatic, so we went right back to the craziness of two sports with practices and games during the week. On top of that, t-ball was supposed to end right before the tournament, but the kids had the option of playing an extended season, and of course John and Josh were excited about that. It didn’t help that John coached both of these teams, so that just took up even more time.

Finally, now, as of August 3rd, the only sport we have going on is Kylie’s gymnastics, which is only on Saturday mornings right now. But she’ll start competing this fall, so there goes some weekends. And Josh will start football up again…it never ends!

On top of all of this, my sister is getting married in less than two weeks. We had her bridal shower and her bachelorette parties to put together, on top of just getting everything we need for the wedding. I have had so much fun doing everything for her wedding, but I think at this point I’m ready for the next two weeks to go by quickly :)

Here is what I still have left to do before the wedding:

1.) I just went and had my first alterations appointment for my dress. When I found out I was pregnant and exchanged my dress, I ordered one two sizes too big figuring it would be much easier to take it in than have to worry about letting it out. I tried it on for the first time yesterday and it just fits! So in other words, I can’t gain a single point in my belly in the next two weeks! On the bright side, my alterations bill will be cheaper :)

2.) I finally found Kylie’s shoes last night and had them dyed, but I’m worried they are too light (her dress is pink so we dyed the shoes pink but they are much lighter than the dress). But no matter what, I got such a great deal on her whole outfit: Her dress was $25 (rack sale, had some spots on it), $26 for alterations (it was a little tight on her), $16 for cleaning and pressing (all spots came out), and she fell in love with the ½ price shoes that totaled $19 with dying. Seriously, all of that is just over half of what the dress was supposed to cost originally! Her jewelry is costing me $55 – almost as much as her entire outfit!

3.) I’m still waiting for Kylie’s jewelry to come in. I really hope that it looks as nice as the website made it look and that the colors work out!

4.) I have to find hairstyles for both Kylie and me…I haven’t even started looking!

5.) I have to get the boys black socks. And pray that their tuxes come in perfect. The store that my sister arranged all of the tuxes through failed to tell her that they don’t have tuxes in sizes small enough for Ryan. So I went to a different place and found ones I think will look similar and work out. I called in later with shoe sizes and they seemed a little disorganized. I really hope everything comes in correctly!

6.) My other sister and I have to work on our toast. We are doing a funny one that involves pictures so it’s going to take a little work.

7.) I have to find a purse that will look cute with my dress.

8.) I have to find a baby-sitter for the kids for the day of the wedding. We know that it will be impossible for John and I to do everything we need to do for the bride and groom and still watch the kids. And it’s so hard to find a sitter in a different city. Thank goodness for Craig’s List! And luckily the kids will still be with me all day, I just need someone to do everything for them (i.e. feed them, play with them, etc.), so I don’t have to worry about the kids’ safety or anything.

9.) I have to get the boys’ hair cut before the wedding.

10.) I have to pack. I have to make sure all of this stuff I’ve been accumulating for the wedding actually makes it down to Athens. I have to make sure I have toys for the kids to play with. I have to make sure we have enough stuff for 4 days…it will be a lot of packing!

Now that work has slowed down and the sports are done, we actually have more time and this list is not that daunting. I just want to make sure everything is perfect for my sister’s big day and that I’m not stressed in the process :)

A Fabulous Birthday Weekend!!!

My birthday was on Saturday. My only request was that we go to a town about 45 minutes away for dinner and ice cream. What I got was so much more than that…

I got in my car to go home Friday, and I noticed that there was a rose in the backseat. I picked it up and got in the front seat and saw a bunch of cards. One card was a birthday card. The next card was an anniversary card. In it, John wrote that he was afraid that with my sister’s wedding, our 10th anniversary would just get passed over (her wedding is two days after our anniversary), so he wanted to celebrate it now. The next card told me that there would be a total of 4 roses with surprises in them, and the 1st one was in the back seat. Along with that rose was a CD. I opened the card with the rose and it told me to pop in the CD of romantic songs and drive to the hotel listed on the paper.

I texted John that I was on my way and he told me the room number to go to. When I got there, I went into the room and there was a rose with another note. John came out of the other room and I read the card that said we were having dinner at Wendy’s, and there was a gift card inside. Wendy’s has meaning because we went there, for what we think we remember, was our 2 month anniversary. We were just poor high schoolers and Wendy’s was the best we could do :)

After Wendy’s we went to the house to pack (because John is smart enough to know that it’s very difficult to pack for me since I’m in so many different sizes of clothes right now). Up in the bathroom was our suitcase and inside it was a rose and another card. This card had a paper with ticket confirmation for Wicked. I was so excited! I’ve known Wicked was coming to town since early spring and I just couldn’t bring myself to spend the money on the tickets. Every time I saw the commercials I regretted my decision a little more, and I would make comments to John that I wished I was going (but still, I couldn’t bring myself to get the tickets). So this was a wonderful surprise because 1.) I was going to see the show, and 2.) I knew what a huge sacrifice this was for John because he hates musicals!

We packed up our stuff and headed back to the hotel to get ready. It felt so good to get all dressed up and go out on a real grown-up date! We got to the theater and realized that we had front row seats! John claims that’s the only reason he stayed awake :) The show was fabulous and even John claims he had a good time.

The next morning I woke up at 6:45 and couldn’t get back to sleep, which put a little bit of a damper on John’s plans. He left around 7:30 and I got up and got ready. He came back Bob Evan’s breakfast and was completely surprised to see me awake and ready for the day. His plan was for me to just hang out at the hotel for a while (hopefully sleeping in), and he was going to take Kylie to gymnastics and then come back and get me for lunch. Since I was ready to go, I decided to go with him because sitting in a hotel room by myself really didn’t sound like fun (I didn’t have any books or anything with me). Now, we later found out that the hotel had an outdoor pool, and had I known that, I definitely would have stayed!

So we took Kylie to gymnastics, and she was so surprised and happy that I was there too! After that we dropped her back off at my parents’ house and John and I went to Giant Eagle and got some salads and headed to our nearby metro park and had a picnic lunch. It was so gorgeous out and there was no one around us. We were able to eat and talk and just relax for a while.

After that we went back home and packed the kids up and took them back to the hotel with us so they could swim. I’m so thankful John has such a giving heart because he took all three of them in the pool. Right now, I really don’t have any suits that fit me and I just feel like a blob, so the last thing I felt like doing was getting in the pool!

After that we all got dressed and headed back to the house to meet my parents and my sister and her fiancé. We then all headed about 45 minutes out to go first to a fruit stand that I really like. I got some corn and peaches and tomatoes and spices. Then we headed to the restaurant and had a really good meal. It’s our favorite restaurant when my friends and I go scrapbooking, and I wanted John and the kids to try it. Besides, where else can 9 people have a great huge meal for $57???

After dinner we headed to an ice cream stand that I had gone to the last time I was scrapbooking. We ate our ice cream outside on the picnic tables and my sister and I discussed final wedding details. Finally, around 8:00 we headed back to the hotel.

Sunday we woke up to kids playing and Ryan jumping in his little porta-crib. We packed everything up and dropped it off at home and then went out to breakfast. After breakfast we spent the rest of the day out in our driveway with my dad and our neighbors watching the kids play in the pools, the slip-‘n-slide, the swing set and the trampoline. It was such a nice and relaxing end to a fabulous weekend!

For dinner, John, the kids and my dad and I went to a local Chicago-style hot dog and pizza place. Kylie brought Belle, and the two of them sat at a table by themselves. Looking over at them in their huge sunglasses and their purses and grow-up looking shirts was such a foreshadowing of years to come. They looked and sounded so grown-up! We all had a great dinner and then headed back home. We got the kids ready for bed and sent them over to my parents’ house (my mom is watching them while we search for a nanny) and then John and I crashed! I can’t believe how much the sun takes out of you!

So that was my weekend, and I have to admit I was a little depressed yesterday knowing it was coming to an end. John really is an amazing guy and I feel so lucky to have him. And my parents were such a huge help watching the kids so that we could do this – I hope they know how much we appreciate them. I know that I am so very blessed!