Clubhouse

The girls had an attraction added to their park-like front yard this weekend. Erika has been asking for a "clubhouse" for a while now. The little neighbor girls across the street have a tree house and they wave at Erika from it every now and then. Erika loves it! So, on Thursday evening, Matt came home and looked at one of the trees in our front yard and decided it was a great place to build their clubhouse! He started building on Saturday mid-morning and was finished by that evening. It's awesome! The girls love it and are so happy to have a clubhouse. They spent a lot of time last night in it waving at passing cars. Way to go, Daddy!

Laurel checking out the tree in her clubhouse.

Seeing just how far away the ground is. (Maybe 5+ feet).

Erika watching the cars pass her clubhouse.

A great new play space!

Laurel doesn't quite know how to use the ladder.

Erika going in her clubhouse via the ladder.

It's Fun to Know

When I was pregnant with Erika and Laurel, I didn't know if they were going to be boys or girls. But, this time we do know! It's fun having both experiences. I have loved getting little boy clothes from my friends months in advance rather than having to get all the baby clothes after the baby is born. And, soon I'll have a baby shower while still being pregnant, which will be more fun than having a party and trying to calm a newborn, which I've done twice before. I have also been judging my pregnancies against all the old wives tales about signs/symptoms that you are having one sex versus the other. Here are my results:

Carrying high for a girl vs. low for a boy.

This little guy definitely feels lower than both girls did. Especially when he is kicking. I didn't know babies could stay down so far without actually coming out.

Higher heart rates means a girl/Lower heart rates means a boy.

This one is actually true for me, although I've heard many other friends say it didn't work for them. Both girls were consistently in the 160s while at my last appointment, the heart rate was 145-ish.

Crave sweets for a girl/salty food for a boy.

Nope. I ask Matt at least once a week why I don't have cake every day. I only want to eat sweet things lately. With the girls, I survived the first three months on tortilla chips.

If your previous children's first word was "dada" you'll have a boy/if it was "mama" you'll have a girl.

Both Erika and Laurel said "dada" first. But, they also said "puppy" before they said "mama". What does that mean?

More headaches during pregnancy means you are having a boy.

I have definitely had more headaches, but mainly just during the first trimester. However, I'm not sure the headaches are from the pregnancy or from my two already present children.

So, of course these myths are just fun to read about with no real merit to them. The one thing that is consistent no matter what gender of baby I'm having is I still don't allow people to touch my stomach. There is no myth indicator for that, but I think it probably just means that I'm a perfectly normal human who doesn't want to be touched who just happens to have a baby in her tummy. Or her tushy, which is where Erika insists the baby lives. Which would be terribly uncomfortable for both the baby and myself.

And, here are some pictures of our latest picnic and water adventure.

Day of Fun

I am thoroughly loving the summer.....and the cooler days mixed in with the warmer days is nice as well. The girls and I have had so much fun playing at the parks or in the yard or just being outside. I think I'll really miss doing that as soon as the rain starts and continues for 7 to 9 months!

We went to a new park that had the best sand pit! Laurel enjoyed eating it.

This picture looks like Erika is lost in the desert. She's not....she's just in the sand pit.

Erika using a backhoe to move the sand around.

Surprise Laurel! This is her surprise face. She does it all the time; when I ask her to, when she hears a siren or other loud noise, but the best is when she does it at a grocery store when there is an announcement over the PA system!

Girlfriends

I've always had girlfriends. In elementary, middle and high school, my girlfriends were someone I would play with, hang out with, or play sports with. They were fun and great to have around, but I don't really stay in contact with many of them anymore.
In college, my girlfriends were the few girls who were in my engineering classes and the girls in my sorority. We had awesome friendships and I know my college experience would not have been as much fun as it was without them there.
After college life, girlfriends became more of a struggle to find. There were not ready-made girlfriends that I lived with or had classes with. I had to really make an effort to get to know other ladies, make relationships and keep them up. It had been rewarding and fun and, thankfully, fairly easy to make girlfriends.
At this particular moment in my life, I have some of the best girlfriends! The relationship I have with them is probably the best I've had with any of my other girlfriends......and I've only known them for two short years! The way we share our lives together brings us super close. We trade recipes and ideas, we share stories of our kids, we e-mail each other with prayer requests and know that those prayers will be delivered. It is the best feeling in the world! I love my girlfriends and feel very blessed to have them. Plus, they give my kids hand-me-down clothing which is awesome! I praise God for his gift of my special girlfriends.

Life Update

We had another pretty full weekend here! On Saturday, I was able to enjoy a wonderful luncheon with amazing ladies brainstorming ideas for a new women's ministry at church. I am so looking forward to getting started!
Sunday morning, we drove down to Corvallis to meet our new nephew. We had a great time hiking in the woods behind Grandpa and Grandma's house. Laurel fell in a bunch of ferns with no injuries and no crying even. Erika kept us safe from the monster rabbits she said were in the forest. We played badminton, rode trikes, played with the puppy, had a wonderful lunch with the entire family, and got to see the new little guy. He is tiny, adorable, and perfect! Erika loved looking at him and touching him. She kept saying, "He likes to be petted." Well, probably not. It will be really interesting when her brother is born how much she will dote on him. I'm hoping that the newness of him will wear off quickly so I'm not constantly asking her to leave him alone. When Laurel first came home, Erika was too little to really care about her, so this will be an entirely new experience! Laurel liked the baby okay, but would rather play in the tent the kids had made. Or eat. Or run around. Pretty much she wanted to do anything besides see the baby! Not so worried about her with her little brother.
In other exciting news, we sold our house in Coeur d'Alene! Now, we are without a vacation home, which is perfectly fine with us! Praise God for His faithfulness and our answer to prayer.