On the other side of the rope

I've been getting daily reports from my happy camper. Yesterday she got to do a scavenger hunt and made her own sandwich for lunch. Today she waded in the creek and painted a rock. Tomorrow, she informed me, she is taking the swimming test so she can swim "on the other side of the rope" in an area most of us know as "the deep end."

I'm not too sure how I feel about this. I myself have taken the swim test in the very pool where Anastasia is swimming this week. I remember thinking how bottomless the deep end look. Rarely I had been swimming in a pool so deep. Most of my childhood swimming experiences were in pools tucked away in my friends' backyards. Well that and one disastrous trip down the Nantahala, but since I was in a raft you can't technically count that as swimming.

My sister told me to forbid Anastasia from taking the test and ask her to remain happily in the shallow part of the pool which still more than covers her five-year-old height. I somehow doubt that me telling her not to even attempt the swim test will be effective because I'm here and she's there. We'll see what tomorrow brings. She is much more adventurous than I ever was at that age so she just might do it.

Ainsley is enjoying some one-on-one time with her Nana this week. They've been playing Legos and treating Rabbee like a baby. Apparently today she spoke in a whisper for about an hour while Rabbee took his nap. Who knew? I asked if she had relapsed into her thumb-sucking ways, thinking a week away from mom and dad in a strange bed would be enough to drive any kid to suck their thumb, but Nana says she hasn't. We've been thumb-free for about three weeks. It's really amazing!

Meanwhile their dad and I keep on missing them. Friday can't come soon enough!

Not a creature was stirring

Jamie and I have found ourselves in a most unusual position. Our girls are gone for the week, the longest amount of time we have ever spent away from them. Anastasia's going to day camp all week and Ainsley is just chilling with her grandparents. We passed them off early yesterday afternoon. "The drop" was made in a steamy McDonald's parking lot as we transferred car seats, suitcases and pillows packed with stuffed animals deemed essential for an eight-day stay away from home.

As we drove towards freedom (er...home) we realized we barely knew how to carry on a conversation that wasn't interrupted from the back seat. We're used to speaking in short telegraph sentences, blurting it all out as quickly as we can to finish an anecdote from work or a joke we've heard. But yesterday we spoke in flowing dialouge complemented by a radio station we ourselves had selected, one in fact, that was playing questionable rap lyrics. We took in a movie and ate dinner out. We have another such outing planned for tonight and maybe another one later in the week.

The cat appears lost. She keeps looking at me with these eyes that seem to say "Hey, aren't you forgetting something?" She slept in Anastasia's bed last night despite the fact it didn't actually contain Anastasia. The toothbrush holder looks empty and the kitchen floor has remained crumb-free for over 24 hours. Something is seriously amiss. I made Jamie turn on the Princess nightlight in the girls' room last night. I told him I used it in the middle of the night because it sheds enough light on the bathroom to light the way for my many trips. That's only a partial truth because I really just didn't want their room to be so dark.

I'm missing my girls already, but I'm trying to use this week to relax and re-charge. All too soon we'll have three young ladies under our roof and rest will be nowhere in site. "Dinner and a movie" will be one of those antiquated phrases from days gone by. So while my girls are learning all sorts of cool "camp" stuff and taking baths in their grandparents' big jacuzzi tub, I'll be kicking back in a house that is far too quite for its own good and carrying on conversations with my husband that don't sound anything like a telegram.

Of eggs and coconuts

We had a nice Father's Day weekend. It started out Friday night on the lake. Jamie's co-worker has a boat and had invited our family, along with another co-worker and his wife, out on the water. It was hotter than blue blazes, but we had a great evening. The girls, unlike their fraidy cat of a mother, loved swimming in the lake and riding on the large raft pulled behind the boat. They each got a turn to drive the boat as well and let's just say it's a good thing Ainsley has a few more years before she gets her driver's license. She was steering solo when she jerked the wheel hard to the right and about sent all 8 of us out into the water!

Jamie's parents arrive on Saturday and the two dads earned their Father's Day gifts by fixing the lawnmower and repairing the loose boards on our deck. After a long nap we played in the yard and grilled some killer steaks. And when I say "we" grilled, I mean Jamie. We chose "Bedtime Stories" for family movie night and the kids are still laughing about it.

Yesterday Jamie and Pop opened their cards from the girls. Ainsley's was my favorite because it read: "I love my dad because he makes me eggs." After cards we ate a HUGE breakfast at Cracker Barell. I've never seen the girls put away so much food in their lives. If it wasn't nailed to the table, they ate it. Pancakes, bacon, eggs, cinnamon apples, part of Gran's pecan pancakes. It was a Father's Day feast! Gran and Pop left for home and we headed for church. Anastasia was used as a prop during the children's sermon about David and Goliath. Pastor Sarah asked Anastasia to stand up next to Pastor Andy who is well over 6 feet tall. It was the perfect illustration and Anastasia loved being in the spotlight. After church we ate a (very) light lunch and then all four took a nap.

The girls were playing dress-up yesterday afternoon when Anastasia stopped and turned to me. "Mom, can I ask Santa for a coconut bra?" Yup, you've got it. My almost six-year-old is requesting a coconut bra and a grass skirt for Christmas. Silly me thinking that would be the funniest question of the day for she later asked me how old you had to be to get pregnant. Jamie pleaded the Father's Day Fifth and let me answer that one. Just another weekend in paradise....grass skirt and all.

Three months and counting

My due date is three months from today. I swear yesterday I was peeing on the stick and calling Jamie at work to tell him that we were pregnant and now I'm staring down the third trimester. I had an appointment this morning. It was to check me for gestational diabetes. Anastasia called it my "sugar blood" test and she's not too far from the truth. I backed off on my peanut M&Ms and ice cream these last few days, but we won't know the results of the test until early next week most likely.

I hate that orange stuff they make you drink. You can only have toast for breakfast beforehand so I was already feeling icky. I like my big bowl of cereal so I hated not having it. I told the nurse not to read the number on the scale out loud, but I know for a fact she didn't slide the little thingy at the bottom so I haven't topped 150 lbs. just yet. My blood pressure was "awesome" as the nurse put it and my urine check yielded nothing but the ordinary. After the glucose drink, Allie (I think that's what we've settled on calling her...but I'm not sure) was ricocheting around like the girls in the moonbounce at Chik-Fil-A last night. I thought I was going to get a surprise u/s because they need to get an accurate fetal heart rate. We knew she was fine as evidenced by her movement, but you have to have that heart rate as part of the exam. Finally she settled down enough to get the heart rate needed.

After I saw the nurse, three other moms (and one embarassed dad-to-be) joined me in a room for the infamous "PreTerm Labor Class." It involves watching videos on the epidurals and signs of pre term labor. It was the same thing I watched with my previous pregnancies, but since you have an hour to kill as you wait for the blood test, I was trapped. The blood test was taken exactly an hour after my consumption of the aforementioned orange junk and then I was off. I now go back every two weeks which is shocking to me. I thought the nurse was kidding, but I guess not. I go back on July 1st and I get an u/s at that appointment to check my placenta.

I'm tired, hot and cranky. My ribs hurt and I have to get up 8 times a night to pee. I told Jamie to hit me upside the head if I ever said I wanted to be pregnant again. I swear I don't know how people do this after the age of 35. It's kicking my butt at age 28!!!!!!

Summer is here!

The calender may not officially declare the start of summer for a few more weeks but at our house it has already arrived! We kicked off our weekend with the official past time of summer-baseball! We met the Crumleys at Smokies Park for a perfect night of baseball. The temperature was about 70* at first pitch which is just about as wonderful as it can be. The girls had fun playing with Sydney and Olivia. Every time the crowd cheered Ainsley would say "Is it over mom??" The Smokies came form behind to win so it was a great game. There was a fireworks show afterwards so we stayed until the very end. It was such a great night!

In anticipation of the great forecast predicted for our area today, we packed a picnic lunch and our swimsuits. After church, we changed into our suits and ate a picnic on the lawn at World's Fair Park. Then we hit the fountains. That water is COLD!! The girls and I had a blast running in and out of the jets of water while Jamie played around with the telephoto lens on our new camera. Ainsley has NO fear. She would dart off into the water leaving her sister and I scrambling to find her. It was a blast and we will definitely be back. It was a great way to kick off summer!!