27 weeks

I bet this pregnancy has flown by for most of you guys:).  The final stretch is always the hardest though I am not entirely sure why.  I still am teaching my 9+ classes a week at the gym, sleeping well and have been really good about eliminating (most of) the crappy food I eat.  I feel very blessed that I can pretty much keep up with my normal gym activities.  I think I am going to stop picking up so many classes next month, but keep my regular 9 classes, we'll see.  Everyone says I look small, but they are just being nice.  I am bigger than I was with Spencer at this time.  I guess it's just hard no matter how much you gain and the final 3 months you start getting anxious.  We are not going to do a birthing center like we did the last 2 times mainly because it's too far away (lame excuse, I know), so it's been a different experience for us to go to such a large OB office with 7 doctors.  So far, though, I have had great experiences with everyone at the office - receptionist, nurses, lab techs, doctors (some I like more than others), billing people, etc, so hopefully the birth experience will be as enjoyable as possible:).

Here's a comparison of what I looked like with Spencer at 25 weeks and this baby at 25 weeks.  Although neither picture is flattering, it's interesting to make the comparison.

SNOW!!!

We have been hoping for some snow this winter, but it was so warm...well, still colder than Florida.  Spencer was even sure that Santa would bring snow for Christmas. 

Finally on February 19th, we got snow.  It was a perfect time...President's Day, so David had off and so did the kids.  We were hearing hail for most of the night until the kids went to bed.  Around 8:30 the hail stopped and I was sure that was it and we were not going to receive snow.  I peeked out the blinds and snow was falling!!!  We woke the kids from their deep sleep (seriously) to see it, but the only interested one was Spencer.  He wanted to play in it right then.  It snowed most of the night, but never got below freezing.  I was afraid that it would melt before they could play in it, so I woke them up at 7:00, left them in their jammies, put on jackets, shoes and gloves and sent them outside to play in it.  They loved it!  I'm sure our neighbors were rolling their eyes as our kids were screaming and playing loudly.  David decided to take them out to breakfast and Spencer had a FIT because he wanted to keep playing.  If you know Spencer well, he never passes up food ESPECIALLY going to a restaurant, so this was huge! 

Sure enough the snow didn't last long on the ground, but at least we were able to witness snow once this year.

It's time again to catch up...

Kylie had been interested in getting earrings for awhile.  We told her whenever she was ready we would let her, but we weren't going to force her and if she started crying we wouldn't do it at all.  We made it very clear that it was solely her choice and that she would also have to clean the piercing for 6 weeks. 

Back in January she decided that she wanted to go for it.  So, on MLK day we sought out to get her ears pierced.  We went to the mall and it was way more than we wanted to spend and at both places we went to the ladies working we so impersonal and actually pretty rude - double whammy...too expensive and rude.  We were out of there fast.  We enjoyed a day at a new park in Raleigh that has an indoor carosel, outdoor train rides, paddle boats and super fun play equipment.  Well, we played too hard and long that we didn't make it to Wal-Mart (where we decided to go for the ear piercing - not normally a top choice, I know) in time before it closed.  Kylie was super bummed, so we scheduled that I would pick her up on Wednesday early from school and meet Daddy to get it done. 

She did a great job even though kids at her school told her that is was going hurt, bleed, get infected, etc., she trusted us that none of that was going to happen and went through with it.  The lady was super sweet.  We thought Ashlyn might want it done after seeing Kylie, but Ashlyn was very clear that she had no interest in getting hers done.  That girl is so funny.  Kylie was awesome at cleaning all by herself and just got 2 new pairs for Easter which she was thrilled about.

 

Sorry this image is a bit blurry.  I can't figure out how to change it.  And even if you saw it on Facebook, it is so worthy of putting on my blog.  It's not far from the the actual truth.

Seriously.  You should see me at night especially when I have taught 3 or 4 classes that day.  If only I could have an I.V.

Sleeping

Our children are the world's best sleepers.  Honestly.

The story behind the picture:  We had been looking for decent bunk beds at a decent price and were blessed to get this one with drawers AND a dresser from David's work (read: free).  The only problem with the bed is the mattress is so thick that the railings at top wouldn't stop anyone from rolling off.  We did what any good parents would do and barricaded the side with thick pillows and rolled up a quilt next to the pillows for double security.  Well, just as any normal child would do, Kylie told us that she would be fine without them because she 'never even sleeps close to the edge'.  As you can see from the photo, Kylie definitely sleeps close to the edge and we took this as proof to show her in the morning (although she still didn't believe it).  Our kids sleep through anything and if they do wake up, they go right back to sleep.  Surprisingly, Ashlyn has only fell off once with the way she sleeps all over the place.  Spencer was so excited to have a big boy bed after being in a crib for 3 1/2 years and has yet to fall off.  Love these kiddos!

Celebrating Ashlyn

I always find it hard to pull a party together for Ashlyn's birthday since it lies smack dab in between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Normally, we just have a family party and she's happy with that.  Not this year.  She has really grown in many ways since being at preschool this year (I could do a post just this).  One of those ways is communicating what she wants or needs and she wanted a party...with friends.  She even named the friends that she wanted to invite.  Ashlyn can usually only name one of her friends' name not multiple - a huge improvement and something I paid attention to.  She even specifically asked for a Tangled party.  I obliged.  Not everyone was able to attend, because I put it together in just a few days:), but she was excited to give out the invitations, help with the planning and baking and have some friends over.  The kids were amazingly well behaved and was, by far, the easiest kid party I have ever thrown.  We love you, Ashlyn!

On Guard

(I know I have a more recent photo of him, but I just love this one.)

We are already on 'girl' guard with this one.  Check this story out....

I came in to the child care place to pick him up after I finished teaching a class at the gym and he runs to me pointing to the playset.  I asked him if he left his jacket and sunglasses there, but instead of saying anything, he runs over and points underneath it.  Emerged from under it, a 7-year-old girl (the daughter of one of the mother's I know).  I commented, "Oh, were you guys playing under there?".  She answered, "Yes, we were playing tic-tac-toe") showing me the game.  Spencer said, "Mom, I need to tell you something in your ear.", I lean over, he whispers, "she's my girlfriend".  I totally ignore it because we don't even discuss girl/boyfriends at home, so I was sure he didn't really know what he was saying.

At dinner, I asked Spencer if he wanted to tell Daddy what he told me in my ear at the gym about the little girl.  Of course he did and exclaimed,  "She's my girlfriend!".  The conversation proceded as such:

"Why is she your girlfriend?"

"Because I love her!" (lots of snickering by us)

"Oh, you do?"  "Why do you love her?"

"Because boys like girls."  (duh, mom and dad)  (more laughs)

"Is she 3?"

"No, she's 7."

David - "Oh, you go for the older girls."

(Spencer rolls his eyes and waves his hand.)

"How is she your girlfriend?"

"She said that anyone that is 3 and named Spencer can be her girlfriend" (don't know if he made this one up)

"What do you do with your girlfriend?"

"We play."

"Oh, that's nice" (figuring that we are pretty much done with the conversation)

(Long pause) "Oh, and one more thing, I kissed her."  

At this point Kylie comes running down the hall busting out laughing and we can barely control ourselves.  What?  Is this really happening?  I canNOT let this one go.  (And, by the way, I am going to chat with his mom.)

I said, "Spencer, if a girl asks you to kiss her, you say 'no'...I only kiss my mom, Ashlyn and Kylie".  "Well, you can kiss grandmas/dads and aunts..."

"Ants!", Spencer interrupts. "ew...yuck!" 

(Etc,. etc, etc)

Now you see, yes?  Apparently this type of girl craziness as a preschooler runs in the Astorga gene (because I am SURE my brothers hated girls until high school:)).  And Spencer is only 3!!!!  I am very nervous.  Reason #131 why I tell David I will stay home with them up until they are 10 then, I'll go to work and David can stay home and deal with them up until they are moved out:).