Boating.

We headed back to the water to meet up with some friends for a day of serious water sports!

Jack and Ava both loved the rocket! Their smiles were so wide open the whole time, I'm surprised they didn't swallow some serious water!

And there were some older girls (which Ava always loves!) who helped her swim to the shore and float on the tubes and do all the stuff I'm too big to do!

There were enough of us that Ed got a chance to ski (he's usually busy giving the kids rides!) on the guys' boat.

Ava's first ever whole can of pop--like the best part of the day!

Jack learning how to waterski!! Terrible picture because I was on the other boat but that's Ed and Jack bobbing in the water there and my little Jack was so brave!! He got up on the second try--enough that we could see his little bottom was out of the water although he let go right after that. Ed said he just hopped right in, ready to go. The funny thing was that while we were there I didn't think much of it--Jack's pretty much up for trying anything new but on the way home we were talking about it and I remembered that he's just 4 years old! The other little kids were 7 and here's little Jack ready to let a huge boat yank him through the water on some big old skis. And just last weekend, Ed and I were just talking about how we had a few years before we really had to invest in serious gear for the kids and now we're having to rethink that!

baby update

No picture cause I'm too lazy to have Ava take one but I'll get one on here soon. My body doesn't really like being pregnant and it doesn't like being hot and when you put the two together bad things happen so after a very hot crazy day I had an appointment last week at which I failed everything--glucose, protein, blood pressure--which I meant I spent a good chunk of the next day at the hospital getting poked and prodded and having half my blood sucked out of me. The good news is that everything seems mostly fine except the blood pressure which is fairly standard at this point in the pregnancy for me. It also means I'm supposed to "take it easy", which I thought meant don't haul all your kids to the pool and then chase them around when it's 95 degrees, but it actually means spend a large part of your day on the couch. Sounds nice but not totally practical with three kids. Also, I'm a big believer in rewards--I have no problem taking it easy after I work hard all day...one of my favorite phrases (that I usually just say in my head) is "I deserve this". But it's very difficult for me to lay around while the laundry piles up, the dishwasher needs emptied, and I can see more than one dog hair on the floor (my personal nemesis!). So no more pool or park or movies, no lunch out or Starbucks with the kids, no heading out for walks at night... just sitting here at home for whole days. Unless my mom or Paula, who don't at all trust me to sit still, have me over so they can keep an eye on me. I'm coming up on 32 weeks, a biggish milestone although the goal for me is always 36 weeks. I've had a 36-weeker and he was big and healthy and immensely sweet and I would take one more just like him if I could! So here I sit, gearing up for some online shopping...the one bright side to "taking it easy"!

Poor baby

Jemma finally had her 18-month appointment (now that she's 20 months!) and got 4 big shots. She was super brave the first two--not a peep! And then they moved to the other leg and she lost her patience. I had the big kids with me and they were so sad for her! A couple hours later she looked like this:

then Ava brought her some books:
and then Jack snuggled in for some love:

She's talking like crazy these days--she's got a core set of words she uses every day but she'll pretty much say anything you say. Just today Ed was changing a poopy diaper and said, "Holy cow Jemma!" and clear as can be she said, "ho-ey cow!" She's got a great sense of humor, watches the big kids like a hawk and is still super cuddly, especially after dinner. Every once in awhile she gets all wound up and we just sit back and laugh at her.

Working hard

After weeks of being on the road, Ed's back to being fairly local (although he still heads out to places 2 or 3 hours away just for a lunch meeting or a quick presentation--that's how he gets 5000 miles a month in the summer!). And he was even in his home office a bit last week which the kids love. Ava goes out there when the other two are napping and she's the perfect office mate--she never talks when he's busy, just gives him the sweetest smile every once in awhile.

Gearing up

Ed's getting into the higher mileage part of the marathon training plan which means he's doing less on the treadmill at the crack of dawn and more outside in the evenings. He usually waits till the kids are in bed before heading out but we let them stay up this time to watch him come by on of his loops. They were excited and sat out there waiting patiently and then hollered nice and loud when they saw him.

Duh.

I just spent a good chunk of time shopping the Gap's newborn girl site before I remembered I'm having a boy.

Summer vacation (finally)

Ed's busy season is winding down and to celebrate the start of what we consider summer break we left the kids with their grandparents and headed out for a whole day of boating all by ourselves. Now we've been boating together since high school but we have never once been out all by ourselves. It was awesome. Even Ed, who rarely just relaxes, was looking awfully relaxed after a couple hours.

We plan to do this more often because as much as we like our friends and our families, we really just like each other the best. :)

Getting big

but not quite this big!Jemma is obsessed with shoes! She puts on whatever you leave out--she's totally capable at walking in Ava's flip-flops and she can get Jack's sandals on and off with the straps. And if you actually put her shoes on she squeals, "shoes on! shoes on!"

A few minutes later:

The best part is when she's done, she'll go throw them in your closet!

Somehow

I ended up with the big kids and none of the littles so we headed to the pool where I actually got to do this!:

(my belly did a great job holding my pages in place)

Bathing beauties.

It's official.

I finally talked Ed into doing the Portland Marathon again this year and I am super excited to go and just watch (and enjoy a weekend in Portland) this time around. Although it is more than a little depressing that 8 months ago I could run 26 miles and now a 30 minute walk leaves me winded. Ugh. Anyway, the race is just 10 days after my due date but I fully intend to have this baby early (I'm picking September 16 but I'll take within a week plus or minus of that). My babies cook faster than most and I don't intend to have a 10-pounder...which is what I told my doctor who said, "if you can deliver a nine pound baby, you can deliever a ten pound baby." To which I said, "I know I can, I'm just not going to." And because he's delivered all three of my chubs, he went ahead and changed the subject. So we'll see.

But just so you know I'm not exaggerating, here's sweet Jemma Jane, two weeks early and as fat as can be:

Jack has been swimming like a fish--he jumps in, holds his breath under water and has started some sort of paddle that seems to keep him afloat. All without lessons. Although the other day he jumped in and said, "I almost drownded but my feet saved me!"

Lately

we have had a ton of adventures and I keep fogetting my camera!

Today we went to the morning movie, out for lunch, shopping, and to the library and the only picture I have to show for it is Ava carrying in a load of our finds:

She got that copy of the Littles (one of her favorite series) for completing the summer reading program and the stack of books under it is her last American Girl series...Kaya. It's always a big score when the whole series is ready and waiting to be checked out at once!

Today I'm thankful for Ava. I have had the most massive allergies starting yesterday and I slept horrible last night so this morning, after breakfast, I went back to bed while Ava ran the show out here. Ahh, the light at the end of the tunnel.
In other news, Ed and I had a fantastic summer night on Friday--no kids, yummy dinner out, ice cream cones on a walk, and then Ed helped me pick buckets of flowers at the flower farm for a wedding Saturday.

To clarify.

That last picture did not do my belly justice. I am getting very big. Here's a shot taken the day after that is a bit more realistic but still not even close (Ava has an amazing ability to make me look smaller on camera--I feel like that should be useful in the months to come.):

I passed Jack in the hallway and he, with a quick double take, says, "Whoa! Let me look at you. Your belly is getting huge!" And that is that.

29 weeks.

The baby is now 15 inches long and weighs 2 1/2 pounds and from now on will start chubbing up, which, since he's one of mine, means he will start seriously packing on the pounds. Which I like, since I have already gained a ridiculous amount--it's nice when you can finally blame it on the baby. His eyes are starting to open and his toenails can be seen. He can hear all the crazy kids here which should make him right at home in a couple months. And he just may have a name (but don't bother asking what it is--we won't spill till we're sure)!