First Grader

Today was Owen's first day of First Grade! He was pretty excited about it. He loves Mrs. Minott, his teacher, and he thinks it is very cool that he gets to eat lunch at school!

We all waited together at the now-defunct bus stop. Skip even stayed home in the morning to see Owen onto the bus! As for that bus stop: Owen's actually being picked up and dropped off at the house again, like last year. But for a while the school dept. had us believing that he had to walk to a bus stop up the hill. When it turned out that he's the only kid at the bus stop, the driver said that was pretty silly and agreed to pick him up at our driveway again since she has to drive right by us to finish the bus route anyway. I'm so very glad that I don't have to bundle everyone up to walk to the bus stop this winter!

Owen was still excited about school when he got home... A success!

Almost Time...

**OK. This is the post I had started but not yet finished when Rocco arrived. I'm posting it now anyway just for kicks.**

Well, we're almost there. We have just over a week left before the baby is born. We're as ready as we'll ever get, I think! The nursery is sitting empty- just waiting. The rest of the house is cleaner than ever before (since I don't know what to do with myself these days- now I clean)... My closet got cleaned and organized for the first time in many moons (everything looks so prettily folded in there)... Our overnight bags are all packed (even Lola's doggie bed is rolled up and waiting by the door)... We are ready for our new family member to appear! Although, I think at this point the boys are more excited that they get to stay 2-3 nights at Grandma & Papa's house than they are about the new baby arriving! :)

We'll be sure to post here when we have exciting news to share...
xoxo k.

Duck Itch

Well, it was bound to happen... We went to our beach with our friends, The Stevens', the other day... The next morning all the kids had bumpy, itchy legs! Duck itch! We've lived at the lake for four years now and this is the first time Owen & Oscar have ever gotten it. If you don't know what duck itch is, I'm going to spare you the description. It's a scientific parasite/host thing that kind of grosses me out! But the bumps are already almost gone and the boys didn't seem to mind too much. They wear their scabby little legs like a badge of honor! The picture doesn't show it that well, but that's what the boys are trying to show off there...

This week we visited Mercy Hospital, where the new baby will be born. The boys took a sibling class together- it was very cute. Oscar was big on participating in the group discussion- it seemed he was attempting to become teacher's pet! We enjoyed it when- during mention of umbilical cords and belly buttons- Oscar informed the entire class that Owen has an "innie" and Oscar has an "outie." After the class discussion and a video, they got a tour of The Birthplace. They got to check out a hospital room and then the teacher gave them each a button reading "I'm a Big Brother!" They also got a a newborn diaper and hat for the stuffed animals they'd brought to the class. They're getting pretty excited about this whole thing!

So, you knew my dreamy little pregnancy had to have a wrench thrown in there somewhere... This week it happened. Our central air conditioning broke! Argh! Just what every nine-months-pregnant chick likes to hear... Luckily, the weather hasn't been too hot and it looks like the A/C should be back up and running again next week. The A/C repair guy has been especially accommodating! I had forgotten how fun it is to abuse my pregnant status! The repair guy is definitely giving me preferential treatment. And today at the jewelers they repaired my watch as I waited- even though it normally would have been there a few days. And the jeweler informed me that he thinks I'm having this baby on Aug 21. Hmmm....

I had what is likely to be one of my last solo "all about me" days for a while today... Skip is great about giving me Saturdays to myself for whatever I like to do while he and the boys spend time together. We all really benefit from it. I usually go shopping or have my hair done... Sometimes I see a chick flick at the movies... Today I went to The Old Port and walked around for a couple hours. For the rest of the near future, I suspect I'll be doing that with a sling- and a baby!- tossed over my shoulder!

Oh, yes, I've been asked about how Owen's overnight at summer camp went a couple weeks ago- I forgot to publish an update for everyone. Well, we got a call from Owen at 10p that night saying that he wanted to come home. But he wasn't the only one- when I arrived at camp there were at least three other campers waiting for their parents to come get them. :) When we asked Owen why he changed his mind he said that he had started to get sleepy, but he was worried that something bad would happen while he slept. (Someone at camp had told him that there were some bears around.) We were still proud of him for trying it out! Our little camper!

That's about it for now... Time for Mama to hit the sack. Last night was the first night I've had a lot of trouble sleeping. I'm hoping tonight is different. I know all too well about the sleepless nights to come- I don't need to practice beforehand! :)

Ready for #3!

Skip & the boys... building ships at the Lego table. Owen & Oscar say Daddy is pretty good at Legos. I always knew he had potential... :)

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Me- in my pregnant splendor- finishing up the nursery.

I'm pretty hot with a drill, eh? ;)

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The finished Baby's Room, formerly known as The Guest Room with Teal Carpeting!

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We are officially enjoying summer these days... The baby's room is complete now (see picture) so that isn't consuming my every moment any more. Yay. We've been spending lots of time in the yard catching bugs instead! The boys adore catching any kind of bug... Katherine & Dan gave them magnifying bug catchers that have already had lots of different tenants!

Skip has been busy cooking me meals almost daily that are fit for a queen! We've had lots of lobster on the grill... Then there's the delicious homemade curry of last weekend- served with grilled asparagus, seared sea scallops & steak... (It also involved a small blender explosion with curry all over the cabinets, walls... and Skip! That was exciting...) Through all of this delicious eating we've discovered that Oscar truly adores eating lobster and Owen... doesn't. We had a "fun" night where Owen sat and stared at half of a lobster knuckle for about 45 minutes, crying about how he didn't want to try it and how mean we were for making him eat lobster. (!!) Finally, after me explaining nine million times that he was going to have to eat it cold in the morning if he didn't eat it at dinner, he finally ate it. And he wasn't impressed.

But... Owen will be pleased with our plans for tomorrow... Skip has been trying to take off a day here or there this summer so we can enjoy "Vacationland" at its best. It looks like we may make a train trip to the Children's Museum of Science in Boston tomorrow... The boys will love it- they've been asking to see real dinosaur bones lately.

Owen starts school in less than 3 weeks... I did early school shopping for him so he just needs to mentally prepare now and pick out a backpack. He already loves his new teacher, Mrs. Minott, after meeting her at Step Up Day last spring. Oscar will be starting school several weeks later at a new preschool... He's very excited about it!

And, in the same week that Owen starts school, we meet our new baby! I'm having some contractions here and there, but nothing too exciting, thankfully. I'd rather not have to go into labor when I know I'll be having a C-section anyway! (Since I've already had 2 C-sections, the doctors prefer that I not try to deliver any other way this time- which is completely fine with me!) We have a very active little person in there... The other ladies in my yoga class commented the other night that they could see my belly moving from across the room! :)

That's it for this post... I'm going to adore my pretty toe nails now... (I got treated to a relaxing, pre-baby pedicure by girlfriends last night... I have dragonflies painted on my toes! I will be all the envy of the maternity ward soon... Thank you, Girls!!)

Oscar's 4th Birthday

Oscar requested "chocolate chip cookies with vanilla frosting on them" for his birthday dessert. They were a yummy ending to his dinner request of "Daddy's yummy steak and some broccoli."











Owen and Oscar getting ready to cruise in Oscar's new Cadillac. (We already dread this happening in a real vehicle someday...) It has a working radio that they enjoy cranking up as they drive around the yard! Uh-oh.





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Soooo we survived July and it's little heat waves just fine here... I think I started to wilt a little when the temperature hit 98 degrees (and humid!) the other day, but once I got back into our air conditioning all was right with the world again! I did skip my yoga class, though... I just couldn't do it in that kind of weather!

We've been having such a great summer with the boys! We've taken the boat to the Frye's Leap Cafe a couple times out on Frye Island... It's typically slow island service, but the pizza is delicious- as is the crab dip! We've also gone to the boat beach a few times and had a good time swimming- Oscar will swim solo if he has a "boat coat" on now... He is enjoying being allowed back in the water after the crazy finger incident! (His finger is healing fabulously. We think we even see a new fingernail coming in!) Owen continues to love swimming, too. The boys will spend hours in the water if we let them! Speaking of time at the beach...

Oscar celebrated his 4th birthday with a "Splash Party" at our association beach on Sebago. Skip grilled burgers and hot dogs for everyone- which was no cool task on a 90-degree day! But we all had a lot of fun, nonetheless. Oscar had lots of family and friends there to play with- though he spent most of his time bonding with a ladybug he caught! As for the big birthday gift from Mommy & Daddy... Owen has enjoyed teaching Oscar how to drive his new Cadillac Escalade Power Wheel around our yard. Oscar seems more comfortable with Owen driving for now, but we're sure that will grow old soon!

Oscar has turned into someone we don't always recognize these days... Ever since the finger incident, he now enjoys telling complete strangers his life story! Just the other day at Dundee Park here in Windham, I overheard him talking to a woman in the water- telling her he is four years old and he lives in a blue house... Geesh, Oscar, why don't I have you memorize our bank account numbers so you can give those out, too?! :) Oh, and he did finally get a haircut. Yes, we are aware he was looking like a hippie in previous photos! I'll post some new pix of him and Owen later.

Owen is back at the YMCA's Otter Pond Wilderness Camp again for two weeks this summer. It's a day camp, but he's actually there overnight tonight. This is his first time overnight somewhere other than with family, so we are expecting a call to come pick him up around midnight... But maybe he'll surprise us! The whole thing was his idea and he seems very gung-ho about it, so we are encouraging it! He is really enjoying camp this year- he's caught lots of frogs and been canoeing several times... He didn't want to climb the rock wall the first week, but this week he tried it out. Of course, his favorite part of camp is that on Wednesdays the ice cream truck comes to camp and I give him $2 to get an ice cream!

Skip just returned from his annual "guys weekend" with friends on Sunday... They were at Foxwoods again, but I think they may try to scope out a new location next year. Whatever the case, Skip was pretty happy that the slot machines treated him well!

I'm holding it together here... Looking more and more preggo by the day, I think. Though Skip keeps telling me I look like a celebrity pregnant lady- HAHA Is he sweet! I am doing pretty well... Aside from the fact that I seem short of breath all the time and I'm making lots of grunting noises when I try to stand up... My thyroid level did dip below healthy limits so they changed my dosage and I feel like I'm on speed now! I've been so productive lately! Even so, Skip suggested we hire a housekeeper to help me out. So I tried not to take it personally as I jumped for joy...

More later... I really am trying to get better about posting... BUT I think it's time for a nap... Lola is snoring next to me and it sounds like a good idea!