Yes, I am still waiting. . .

Still waiting on Leighton. I guess she is taking after her sisters. Yes, I do have 3 more days before I am due, but who says I can't have one child that is early? Well, apparently, I can't. :) And I am much less patient this time for some reason. I have been getting on Jaylyn for being so impatient about everything lately, and I think I am not doing so well myself. Especially when I was supposed to have my doctor appointment this past Tuesday. But, he wasn't in the office that day so it was moved to Friday (today). And then the phone rings and I just know it is them calling to cancel on me! And it was them. . . but they were just moving it back to 3:00! Ugh! So, I am trying to switch my thinking and keep dwelling on some positive things like. . .
*Having some good quiet times (these may not be as easy once this baby arrives)
*Adley has been very sweet and cuddly lately. I know we won't get to enjoy those sweet moments as easily once she is mad at us for holding the baby instead of her. :)
*I don't have to get up for middle of the night feedings right now, so I can get more sleep. Yes, I have to get up to pee, but I can pretty much do that without really waking up. ha!
*It was just a year ago this June that we lost a baby and God has already blessed us with another child. Many lose so many babies and/or never get pregnant. We are blessed and I should be fine with waiting a few more days to hold her when many wait for years to hold just one.
*Remembering how patient God is with me. . . surely I can wait on His timing.

So, soon enough, we will be holding our sweet new baby girl. When will it be???

Getting Ready for Leighton

Well, my list of things to do before Leighton gets here is almost complete. Just a couple things left. But, by all means, this baby can come now!!! :) One week from today is my due date. I am READY! :)

Now that we have been getting all the baby stuff out, Jaylyn has been more excited. She knows that it is CLOSE. The girls have helped me hang up baby clothes in the closet, get the baby car seat warmed up and tried out, played with their baby dolls in the bouncer and swing. We visited the hospital the other day so the girls could see where the waiting room would be and see the rooms that I would be in, and what everything looked like. Unfortunately, there were no babies in the nursery for us to admire. But, soon enough, Leighton will be there.

We have also looked through albums and pictures from when Jaylyn and Adley were born. They definitely enjoyed doing that. They have also decorated a picture frame with their picture to put in the hospital crib for Leighton to look at. (Jaylyn had done this in the sibling class she took at the hospital last time. It was a cute idea.) And then the other day, we took a trip to Build-a-Bear for the girls to make Leighton a bear. Jaylyn did this for Adley also. Jaylyn was VERY excited. So, come, baby, come!!! We are ready!

Here are some of the Build-a-Bear pictures. . .

Making a wish and putting the heart in.

The bear bath.

Adley and her cheesy grin, waiting to see what to do with this thing.

Brush that bear.

Getting the birth certificate all ready.

Getting her all dressed in the outfit Jaylyn chose. They had lots of fun!

Grant's Farm

Our friends, the Petersons, were in town for a special "Hard Questions Panel" at our church. They were venturing out to Grant's Farm the next morning, so I decided I could survive walking around there since it is not too big and not any hills. :) Plus, it was a beautiful cool day. So, it turned out to be a great time. Our kids are the same age and seem to have fun together. We also enjoyed lunch at P'Sghetti's (I knew they had to try it because there used to be a place in Carbondale with the exact same food that we would eat at.) and Mitzi and the kids came by to play at dinner while the boys went to a Cardinal game. Here are some pics.

On the tram. Abigail was cracking me up.

Mitzi, Travis and Josiah.

Feeding the goats.

Fast eaters.

The new carousel.

For some reason, Adley didn't think she wanted to ride it.
But, once it started she liked it. This is obviously a picture when she first got on. :)

The Petersons (Jaylyn took this picture while I was taking a picture with Mitzi's camera.
Josiah wanted to look at Jaylyn instead of me. :)

1st Day of Gymnastics

Well, for quite some time, Jaylyn has asked to try gymnastics. In fact we have a hilarious video clip from a good year or two ago of Jaylyn after watching some gymnastics competition on tv. She was re-enacting the competition, complete with a bowl to get the chalky stuff on her hands. Too funny!

Anyway, her friend, Natalie, invited her to a friend day at one of her gymnastics classes and now Jaylyn is for sure hooked. All the way home she kept saying, "I want to go there! I want to go there!"

Well, for our current situation with a baby almost here and it being her first try at gymnastics, we decided on a local class that her preschool teacher actually teaches. AND she knows the other little girls in the class. They do a great job really working on the basic tumbling techniques which Jaylyn needs since she hasn't done it before. And it is a perfect sized group for each of these little ones to get plenty of practice and instruction. Today was the first day and Jaylyn was very giddy! :) Let's just say, the opposite response than time for her t-ball games. Hee hee! (No she is not quite convinced that t-ball is that great.) So, here are a few pics of her in action. Once again, not the best turn out in the room lighting. . .

Arms up! Getting ready for a front limber.

Working on a cart wheel.

Adley getting some balance beam "scooting" action while Jaylyn was having class.

Some toe touches on the trampoline.

Not sure about going BACKWARDS on the balance beam but eventually got it.

At home doing her homework from Ms. Sheila. Bridge!
She was pretty excited to have homework. :)

Bathroom

Just in case you wondered, the linen cabinet is in and now the baseboards are in. I think all that might be missing is the window treatment! Hooray! Stay tuned for final pictures.

Fun with Cousins

We were able to meet up with some of our cousins on my side of the family. We don't get to see them too often. (Especially when Adley keeps coming up with some kind of sickness the day before one of their birthday parties!!) Anyway, they were headed to Incredible Pizza and we met up with them there. Thanks for the invite! We had fun! FYI - Jaylyn used her tickets to buy some "slime". As I figured, Adley already managed to get a big glob of it stuck in Jaylyn's carpet. But, I was able to scrape most of it up and then use the trusty Spot Bot to clean the rest. :)

Left to right: Mylee, Hailee's friend Maggie, Hailee, Jaylyn, Adley, Eli

Preschool Luau

The next preschool day after Jaylyn's graduation, they had a fun luau day just like last year. Adley didn't throw up this time thankfully. :) Jaylyn remembered that from last time. Some things leave lasting impressions, I guess. Ha! The weather was perfect and the kids had a blast.

Making leis

Hula Hoop

Limbo!

Hot "Coconut"

Digging for treasure (later Adley enjoyed the sand immensely. She and her friend Paige liked throwing it at each other. Let's just say, Adley needed a bath as soon as we got home.
The sand was everywhere)

Cupcakes and Hawaaiin Punch

Adley enjoyed her cupcake too!

Yum!

Delicious!

Hooray for blue icing!

The girls spent some free time searching for SNAILS! There are lots at the preschool and for some reason, the girls, not the boys, were most excited about getting the snails. Jaylyn's friends were rubbing off on her. She even wanted to hold them.

Adley was too interested destroying the ant hills.

And removing the ants from their home.

So sweet, huh?

The class

One more game with water balloons.

These are Jaylyn's closest friends from preschool. From left to right: Sarah, Jaylyn, Shanan, and Addison. Jaylyn and Shanan started off together since they were both kind of quiet and a little nervous. Then Sarah latched on to Jaylyn. Addison is a good friend from church. These girls had a great time this year.

Happy Days Are Here Again

Well, it is that time of year for the cute "Happy Days Ice Cream Shoppe" in our town to be open. A lot of times we will walk there, but this particular evening, TJ had sympathy on me and drove us there. :) The girls love it and so do we.

I scream, You scream, We all scream for Ice Cream!

The girls were really in to sharing. So, they had to move next to each other.

Then Jaylyn decided she really liked Adley's the best.
So, she just ate out of Adley's and Adley ate out of both.

Preschool Graduation

It is hard to believe, but Jaylyn's preschool time has ended. She has enjoyed two years at Zion Christian Preschool here in town. We were blessed to have this preschool very close to our house AND have our pastor's wife as her preschool teacher! And she was able to spend her first year there at the same time as cousin Malaine. How nice! She has changed a lot since her first day there two years ago. She really depended on Malaine a lot that first year to feel secure. If she arrived before Malaine, she would hang out by the door just waiting for Malaine to get there. But, this year, she really came out of her shell. She made two new good friends and talked and played with all the others. She is now comfortable and secure there. She has loved going to preschool. Most of all, I have loved what she has learned at chapel time. So, here are the pics from her preschool graduation. (which TJ thinks is hilarious. ha!)

Walking in. . .

Singing for us. Jaylyn really wanted to do a good job singing their songs.

Singing some more. (after her hat got knocked off)

Getting her "diploma"

Some who were able to come and see the graduation.

With Great Grandma Geist

With Great Papa Geist

With Ms. Sheila

So, Kindergarten here we come. Actually, after much prayer and research and reading, we have decided to home school. We are excited and I know we will have our hard days. But, right now, that is where we are headed. It is very nice that we have so many friends and family members that are also home schooling. There are LOTS of resources and a huge home school group that we will be participating with nearby. That will be our "Friday School". So, a new adventure ahead that we are really looking forward to. I am excited for our kindergarten year ahead. Woohoo!