"Tornado Allie"

After a long day of cleaning up after her, I thought I would share some examples of why Chaz dubbed her "Tornado Allie". Instead of quietly waiting in her bed and playing with her toys until I get up, like she used to do, Allie now goes downstairs to turn on the tv and immediately commence her destruction. It doesn't take her long. Usually, Papaw will catch her before she gets into too much trouble....but not this morning. She got into a bottle of his glucose test strips....he found the bottle and has yet to find the strips. He eventually found the meter in the living room.

Moving on to breakfast....

Following the old example of her brothers, she immediately took her piece of toast into the living room to eat....a habit we're trying to break her of as we had to break all of us of. I fixed some milk in some regular cups since all of the sippy cups were in the dishwasher and Allie immediately takes off in a sprint, holding her cup with two hands as instructed, but still sloshing milk all over the place. I quickly catch her and instruct her to drink her milk next to me. Surprisingly, she complies without hiding her head or crying.

We're ok during lunch and naptime...except for more toys strewn all over her bed. At dinnertime, Pa fixed her some milk in a sippy cup that has a straw in it....it should still be non-spillable but of course spills on the couch. The problem is that Michelle, the greatest lady in the world who helps with the housecleaning, had just removed all of the cushion covers and washed them and replaced them. So frustrating!!!!

Bathtime should be a time of cleanliness....Allie put all of the puppy food in the bathtub with her. After that, she climbs into bed to quietly watch Little Einsteins with daddy but quietly gets out of bed and gets into some vitamins and spills them all over the floor as well as Josh's legos. The boys are great about cleaning up after her or helping her clean up. If anyone ever needs their home babyproofed, Allie is the test to making sure there's nothing that can be gotten into! She does try to help with some things....like laundry. She likes to bring me "flowers" which are really weeds...not even dandelions...just weeds from the backyard. Or she'll pick the grapes and run in the house and just toss them on the floor.

It's exhausting keeping up with her....but usually she will just stay by mommy. It's when mommy is distracted...even for a moment...that the storm begins.

3d ultrasound

Below are some 3d ultrasounds we had done of Miley. I will once again go back for a 3rd time to try and get some better images on Saturday. She's stubborn and just wants to stay asleep!

It's gardening day with daddy! Josh and Zach love to help dig in the dirt...especially Zach. Today they've learned about bulbs. Daddy bought some new plants also to add in. They've been helping most of the day so far.

Funniness

Just a quick update...I only wish I had photos. We've had a busy summer thanks to Aunt Kristen and Uncle Scott and their gift of a zoo membership. We've been a few times which is fun...but definitely hot! Top that off with a pregnant mom and it makes for a very slow stroll through the zoo. They have a brand new carousel there that was of course made in Mansfield, Ohio:)

We've started Josh in the online school through our school district. When Charlie and Chere had to leave so quickly to go back to Indiana I got a little panicked as far as transportation with the school we were enrolling Josh in. He was due to go to afternoon kindergarten which lasts a little over 2 1/2 hours. I couldn't imagine driving him twice a day with a new baby and dealing with naptime for Allie too! So, we came across this program which I had actually been debating on using for awhile. It works through www.k12.com and the school district so is still considered public school. I just teach him at home but all the curriculum is provided and we are assigned a teacher as well through the school district who monitors our progress. The teacher also plans field trips for the students in the same area and their families, so there is still some socialization that occurs. So far it's been working well. Josh is excelling in everything but phonics. He flies through science, math and reading but for some reason phonics is very difficult for him. He will also be learning Spanish (Spain spanish like his daddy speaks) through Rosetta Stone...again provided through the school district. It's an awesome balance for me since there is no way I could come up with my own curriculum.

Ok...now for the funniness:) Chaz just was reminding me of all the funny things the kids have been saying lately so I'm including some of their infamous quotes in their respective favorite colors (Josh=red, Zach=green, Allie=pink).

1. Upon examining belly buttons one night as far as whether they were "innies" or "outies", I asked Josh if he knew what belly buttons were for. His reply, "Yep, to make us laugh."

2. Allie has been finally getting used to Mommy having a baby in her tummy and today went up to Pa and patted him on the stomach and said "Pa, baby." Charlie has a good sense of humor though and I believe once told Chaz's youngest sister that he was pregnant with a baby elephant! She went to school and told her teacher all about it!

3. With Zach it's not so much what he says as much as it is what he does. His most recent adventure....taking the screws out of the switch plates for all the bedroom lights--with two tiny keys (the kind used on the little locks that come on luggage sometimes). Zach still his obession with batteries and money but has now included marbles in the mix. If he can't fit it all in his left hand, he will find a sock and carry it around in that. He's very quirky but very special and a huge help to his Mommy! He rarely complains when I ask him to do something for me. The biggest news right now with him.....Zach is potty trained!!!!

So there are some updates. My pregnancy is progressing well although I still have my fears about potential complications, etc. Right now it's worrying mostly about my kidney swelling again like it did with Josh and Allie. If there's a pattern there, I shouldn't have anything to worry about. I didn't have that problem with Zach who was a May baby. He was in between Josh and Allie who were both December babies. I don't know if weather has anything to do with it or not but I'm just praying to not have to go through that again. For those who don't know, we're scheduled to be induced already for Sept 29, 2008. I don't like suprises and want to be in the hospital from start to finish....hopefully there won't be any surprises before that date;) We're now at 32 weeks and I am so uncomfortable but not complaining. We are truly grateful that this pregnancy has gone well so I won't complain about the inconveniences.