A blog entry before C-Day! (C-section tomorrow!)

(If you already read this earlier Monday evening, I added a few pictures to the end!) This is picture heavy but I just started posting pictures from each of a few events from the last couple weeks and didn't edit very well or take the time to collage. I just wanted to get this done so we could share some of the last things going on before we have our baby tomorrow!

This picture...what a funny story. There are a lot of unknowns when you are 6 and your mommy is having a baby. I decided to answer questions as they came as simply as possible, no more, no less. A couple weeks ago Lindsay asked how exactly it was that babies came out that wasn't the C-section way mommy does. She knew there was another way but didn't "get it." So I went online and found some great illustrations of profile pregnant cut-away illustrations to show all the "parts" and what comes out of where. Caroline wandered by to see what we were looking at and decided it was boring so she took off. Well, in the picture above, as we were getting ready to plant flowers I came outside and Lindsay had a notebook and was explaining something to Caroline. Turns out Lindsay had re-created some of the illustrations to explain to Caroline how babies come out of their mommy's tummy! It was quite cute.

Both girls have been learning about butterflies and raised caterpillars to butterflies in both their schools. They really wanted more flowers for our yard to attract butterflies so what is a 37 week pregnant mom to do? Take them to Lowe's and pick some flowers to plant in pots. It was a hot day and we probably got in way over our heads for the energy Mommy had to devote to it but the girls had fun.
Here is the finished product. (I wish I could say they still looked this good.) Most are now gone. I apparently sat in a small ant hill assembling dripper lines to automatically water the flowers for nothin'. We have dripper lines all over our yard and this is how I do my front pots and they are fantastic. Well, we never went back to check to make sure they were getting enough water. Turns out earlier in the line there was some leaks that were watering nothing and not enough water was getting to the pots. Sad. But a few may last. Summer flowers are hard to do here.

April 24th was "Take you Kiddo to Work Day" and this was an exciting year because Caroline was old enough to go to work with Daddy. They only go for a half day and then they get to go home. I will usually come out to work and we will all go to lunch. I think the intent is for children to learn about different careers, see the work environment, that sort of thing. They don't actually learn about Daddy's work...the company plans crafts, activities, and special treats (like a slushie machine in the kitchen area).

We usually go out to lunch with Daddy but this time we decided to eat in the Cafe at his office building. By the time we were done, with them each choosing a meal (that was huge...we could have all shared) and getting ice cream and Popsicles treats, Steve said "Man - this was about 30 bucks!!" Oh well - out to lunch anywhere else would have been the same unless they went fast food and guess who was not up to that? Mom.

One tradition they brought back was making an "ID badge" for the kiddos. They got their photo taken and put in a card holder on a retractable clip like the employees all have.
Big day for Lindsay! Maddy told me Ellie was getting her ears pierced for her 6th birthday and said we should come with and do Lindsay's - "They will always have that bond together, it will be fun, our families have a tradition of getting our ears pierced together - you can't break the tradition!" I thought about it for a while. We had decided our girls could get their ears pierced when they were 8 years old. But, that is also when they will get baptized so I wanted to make sure she looked forward to turning 8 for the right reasons so Steve and I talked and said for their 7th birthday. Well, Maddy wore me down and I surprised Lindsay while Caroline was at a birthday party and took her to the kiddo salon we love to meet up with Ellie.

She said that she said a little prayer to help her not to be scared. That didn't stop the tears...

or the aftershock....

But then the girls both had suckers and "I did it" stickers and certificates so I think they survived.

And a trip for ice cream afterwards definitely helps!!!

Not to leave Caroline out, here she is in action when we picked her up from the birthday party. (Party was for her friend London - in the blue with a pony tail in front of Caroline.)
The little girls were so cute playing water games and running and giggling and having a great time cooling off. Pretty much if it involves running around, Caroline is game!!!

This past Saturday Aunt Shelly started her migration from Molly's house to our house - she came to help us both out - fulfilling the roll our mom would have of course played as we both were having babies. We love her and are so grateful for her sharing her time with our family. This is our super cool backyard pool. But, the water was cold and soothing and the kids splashed us plenty. Man, I look bad! Mongo Huge!

We also had one more fun family outing this past Saturday morning. We decided to go out for breakfast and chose the "Hanger Cafe" at Chandler Municipal Airport. Dang - I left my memory card in my computer so no pictures! It was quite a novelty to be able to walk around and explore several airplanes parked right outside the cafe and watch airplanes take off and land and feel the windstorm of a propeller single seater bi-plane start up right in front of us. Oh, and the breakfast was delish!!!


Tonight we went out for ice cream for a last family date before we have our baby tomorrow! Streamer's is a fun old fashioned ice cream parlor and we all got to choose our favorite fancy ice cream treats! Yeah, we like ice cream. They also have a fun old style candy counter which is always fun! Caroline got her blue bubblegum sundae and could not deal with it being covered in whipped cream so she scooped it all onto a napkin...so she could get to the good stuff! Lindsay took care of the night crawler - gummy worms on top of oreo sprinkles and all the yummy stuff below.

Wish us luck tomorrow!! I am now for sure getting anxious and nervous. AND we still cannot agree on what we are going to name this little girl!