Cleaning (nesting) and the zoo

Our kids have been growing like crazy! I decided to weigh and measure them this week, and they've both grown about an inch in the last two months (Ruby is 44.5" and Reid is 38"now)! Also Reid has gained 2 pounds and is up to 35 now, and Ruby gained 3 and is up to 47! Wow. No wonder they've been constantly hungry. They both ask for more food and snacks all day long. Haha

 We had a nice day weather wise on Friday, so we headed to the park for the last day of Spring Break. Reid went down this really big slide over and over and said, "It's gonna be whee!!!"

 Monkey bars!

 We got these new Norwex cleaning cloths, and the kids have been loving to help clean the windows! I love it. And they do a great job at it.

 And this Norwex hand dryer tiger. Reid loves him and says he's covered with worms. Hahaha!

 Fixing his tractor.

 Visiting Bomber's grave. :(

 Play time outside! We borrowed this game from the library, it's super fun.

 On Saturday we went to Home Depot for the kids to make bunny boxes. It was way fun.

 They did great! Reid especially liked painting.

 Such cuties.

 Ruby has been making these paper bags with faces. The little tongue cracks me up! I have no idea where she came up with that. Then the kids put them on their heads and pretend to be ghosts and chase each other.

 More cleaning! This is the window cloth that shines, no cleaner needed.

 I took Ruby to her friend Kaylee's birthday party on Sunday afternoon. It was a fairy/princess theme, so we got her a pretty new dress and she wore her fairy wings.

 She was sitting so proper. :)

 There were a lot of little girls from preschool there, which was fun! This is Dorothy.

 Giving her gifts to Kaylee. Andy took Ruby to the toy store to pick out a gift, and she wanted to get her a hula hoop. Apparently Mrs. Nolan told me that is Kaylee's favorite activity at gym time! How cute.

 All of the little girls. Most of them were from school.

 What a pretty girl!

 Reading Reid one of his favorite tractor books.

I was in the other room and said, "Reid, what are you doing?" And he said, "Oh, just sitting in a box."

 He has been making fork lifts and cranes out of his Lego's.

 Daddy took the kids on a walk! Ruby insisted on wearing shorts even though it was chilly. We're soooo ready for summer.

 The kids and I headed to the zoo on Tuesday. The sea otter was blowing bubbles at Ruby.

 Watching the seals swim by.

 Riding the lions!

And then they switched.

 We have a purple zoo key with Packy (the old elephant who just died) on it. They don't sell that one anymore. We lost it once and they gave us a new one at the front from the lost and found which was so nice. We thought we lost it again, and we were really sad! So I showed Ruby how to make the zoo key thing work like Andy used to do in high school with your zoo ticket. She thought that was so funny. Thankfully we found our Packy zoo key in my bag after that.

 <3

 Silly Reid all slouched in the stroller.

 The crocodiles are my favorite. It's always a little scary though! It was definitely trying to snap at the kids.

Both kids were so tired of walking at the end that I pushed Reid in the stroller and put Ruby on my back. All at almost 37 weeks pregnant. And the zoo is built on a huge hill, so it was all the way up the hill! I made it though. Thank goodness for staying fit this pregnancy.

Pretending to sleep. 

We sang songs and played "First person to see" on the way home to keep them awake. 

 I took a repeat photo... On the left is me at 35 weeks with Reid, and the right is almost 37 weeks with this baby! Ruby took the one on the right. Also, I'm wearing my splint in the photo, I needed extra support to walk around the zoo all day. I was definitely tired that night!

We made a bazillion enchiladas for our freezer. It's nice to have frozen stuff for after the baby! 

My little helpers. They definitely stole a lot of cheese though. 

 Ben & Jerry's had free ice cream cones, so we headed down to 23rd after dinner.

 Hahaha

 They loved their ice cream!

 :)

 He loves his tractors! He hooked them all up like this, which was funny.

Dancing time! They love to put on their tutus and dance all around the living room. This time it was listening to the Mary Poppins soundtrack. 

 Post-bath, mid-yawn story time.

 Ruby wrote this yesterday during her rest time. It says, "To Jonah Love Ruby. Jonah I love you so moth (much). I bet you well be bac at school." She's a pretty good speller! But also definitely loves the boys. Jonah and Oliver are her favorites.

 Alisha was sick and apparently had to throw up, so Ruby held a bowl for her. Haha! Then Ruby said, "Reid, remember when we had the pukies?"

 Cleaning up the table with our Kitchen Cloth!

 Post-nap snuggles. She doesn't like to snuggle a lot, so I take advantage when she does.

And more story times. :)

37 weeks

 We're getting so close to the end! We are so excited to meet this little one. Although I will miss the constant kicks in my belly. Well, maybe not the head butts to my bladder. Hahaha

I've been gaining weight okay, which is good. I've still gained about 10 pounds less with this one at this point. Just from eating healthier and exercising, which will be nice afterward with less weight to lose. The baby is measuring right on, so it's doing fine in there.

We're doing weekly appointments at the birth center every Monday. It's nice to get to see them and make sure the baby is doing good every time. This week it was head down and in a good position. Yay! Now hopefully it will stay there. I've been wearing my splint a lot more, which should help. We want to get the head to press down onto the cervix, but so far it hasn't really been engaging. It moves it's head around down there a lot.

I did the Group B strep test this week, and I think I actually have it this time. I will have to do either antibiotics or a hibicleanse (not sure how that's spelled) during labor, which I'm not really looking forward to. But a healthy baby is super important.

I talked to my cousin Carla today, and apparently both she and her mom had lots of bleeding after their babies. It must be a family thing. My midwives are very aware of the issue and are prepared to deal with it, which is very reassuring! It shouldn't be a problem.

Changes this week: Insomnia has been striking again. And I'm so very uncomfortable it's hard to get out of the house, especially with two other kids. :( But then when we stay home all day the house gets so messy. Ug.

Cravings this week: I made risotto and bread for dinner tonight, and it was delicious! A great treat.

Here's a photo of me at 37 weeks with each of my babies. :)

Poor Bomber

Our poor fishy died this week. :( Ruby especially is sad, since he was her fish.

In other news though, Reid caught another cold from Sunday School. This one is mild-ish, thankfully no fever and all of that. Ruby got a little snotty today, so we'll see.

We've had a bit of warmer weather scattered in amongst the rainy days. That has been most welcome! We love being outside.

We also finished our reintroductions for the Whole30! Reid had a little mushy poop today after introducing gluten yesterday. :/ So he may just have a sensitivity. We'll keep an eye on it. It would be rough to have to cut out all gluten for good, but doable. It's at least something to be aware of.

 I found this front loader shirt for Reid on sale, and he LOVES it.

Friday was crazy hair day at school! 

 Ruby loved it. 

 Reid and I went to play at William's house while Ruby was in school. It's so cute when they play with their little friends.

Saturday morning snuggles. Reid is such an early riser. Both kids have actually been getting up early lately.

 Trying out popcorn! I made it in my Whirlypop with clarified butter, and it was amazingly delicious! The butter gives it nice favor, and doesn't burn because of no milk solids. Way better than oil.

 Learning about uvula's. Later this week when he coughed once, he said, "Mom, I just coughed and my throat didn't hurt and my uvula didn't hurt!"

 She's getting so grown up.

 Andy let them have a sip of his coffee.

 Ruby pulled out her second tooth while we were doing Face Time with Grandma Debbie!

And then we had a major parent fail and forgot to be the Tooth Fairy. Already! Hahaha

 We got these new Norwex cleaning cloths that clean amazingly only using water. We've been going crazy getting the house all spic and span. Perfect timing for nesting.

 She's been making the cutest things.

 We went over to the Elementary school to ride bikes to celebrate the start of Spring Break. There's a nice covered area in case it rains.

 It was fun!

 <3

 Bed time stories! She was eating walnuts for a bed time snack.

 He made a little bed for himself.

 We had some nice, slow mornings this week since there was no school. Ruby made a play dough waffle for her and me, it was so cute!

 Me and my precious little ones.

 Poor little Bomber, this is the morning when he died. He has been getting sicker and sicker the last month or so. 

 We went to get something at the store to humanely euthanize him, but he was dead by the time we got home. :(

 Post nap snuggles on the couch. They like to sit right on or beside me. No need to spread out.

 We dug a grave for Bomber right outside the fence.

 We had a nice burial and said some nice words.

 We put some of the red rocks from his tank in his grave.

 Filling up the grave.

She put some rocks on top too with a little cross. She has been going out to visit his grave every day. 

:( So sad, but a necessary lesson in life.