Walking and Baseball

Okay, so everyday this week we have been taking a family walk in the evening (you know, to encourage little Moose to go ahead and be born already!) When we get back to the house both the boys beg to play baseball. They get a few swings and then we come in and start the whole bedtime routine. Scott has actually gotten pretty good. He can hit quite the line drive and insists on running to "first base" after he gets a hit. Blaise on the other hand, has just figured out the proper grasp and stance... now to master actually swinging the bat instead of lifting/dropping it off his shoulder. Of course, his inability to actually hit the ball doesn't bother him in the least, so everyday he gets a few pitches too. Tonight, one of those pitches bounced off the top of his head. It was the funniest thing... had me laughing hysterically for a few minutes- which is generally not a good thing when you are several days beyond 40 weeks pregnant, but maybe that will help get things started? Oh, and don't worry all we have is wiffle ball sets and Blaise's is kind of like wiffle ball coated with some kind of foam, so it didn't hurt him.

Due Dates...

Due dates are pretty much worthless. At least that's what I've learned from having them come and go for the 3rd time with not the slightest indication of impending labor. What now... we keep waiting for a week, then the Dr will have us in for an US to measure fluids and an NST- regardless of how those tests turn out, the Dr will then try to schedule us for an induction as soon as possible. That said, pray for the baby to decide to come on it's own by Friday, so I don't have to have that fight again.

What else is new? Nothing much... still trying to entertain ourselves with playdates and library time. My dad is moving down tonight, so this week, we'll probably get to spend some time with him (since he doesn't currently have a job.)

Blaise has taken to tucking himself in lately. He still sleeps in the crib, but has his quilt from Great Grandma Jill (which according to Scott is a "cover" not a "quilt.") Every night and naptime for the past week or so, I go in to check on Blaise and he is under his cover. Nevermind that we keep the house at 78 and he sweats like crazy.

July Already?

Yes, I know it's July... and I should update more frequently. We are still here and as of today, I am still pregnant... 39 weeks now, so we're getting close to meeting our new little one. Theoretically, it could be any day, but with our track record... we're just trying to keep busy and not dwell on it. Nothing too adventurous of course, playdates and library time mostly. My favorite are the playdates that involve pools. Scott seems to be getting better at actually kicking, rather than just taking rides :) Blaise, ever the independent 2 year old, wants to do everything by himself- this includes jumping into the pool (nevermind, he only just barely gets air when he jumps.) I did actually let him jump in himself once, since then he's okay with holding my hands, but still wants to jump by himself. For the record, he didn't choke, and rarely does.

Rewind to the 4th of July... we had quite the restful day.

We started out with this performance by Blaise :) Then we headed over to my mom's for some swimming. No pictures of swimming, sorry. Later in the day we just hung out at home. Scott got to play some good soccer with his Daddy.

And then, after Scott's face was all red from playing so hard, I remembered to take a 4th of July picture of my boys :)

More recently, Blaise has started trying to play baseball... and apparently, he didn't want his picture taken :)

(PS- yes he did hit me and yes it did hurt... but he also did manage to hit the ball :)

And then today, Scott got to help Daddy wash the car. He was quite the hard worker (which is not a surprise) and stayed out there working until both cars were washed.

All in a Week?!

So this past week or so I remembered to take note of a bunch of the little amusing things the boys do that I wanted to post about. Here are 8 short stories, in no apparent order :)

#1 - Last weekend we got new tires for the van at Sam's club. We went in past the huge aisles of tires and dropped off our key, before wandering around Sam's for an hour and a half. Well, as we're walking, Scott starts telling me that we need our tires. He was very concerned that the new tires were not in the shopping cart. I explained they were going to put them on the van for us... he was not convinced. So we wandered back to the tire section to watch them put them on the van. Of course, in order to put the new tires on they had to take the old ones off- and the child freaked out! He was terrified they were taking his tires and ruining his car (he's still into the whole ownership thing.) He did calm down when I explained what was happening and agreed to stand there and watch the whole process. Thank goodness there's a window at the Sam's Club tire center :)

#2 - Last Saturday we went out and played a good old game of wiffle ball with some church friends! It was great fun. And for the record, even at 36 weeks pregnant, a softball player is a softball player. I think I bruised the inside of my pelvic bone- but it was fun. Scott did well for his first "real" game of baseball and Blaise even hit once or twice (off a T.)

#3 - For some reason my children get the following two phrases confused "Take off your shoes." and "Take off your pants." Not every time, thankfully, but frequently enough to warrant mentioning :)

#4 - The boys have also taken to backseat driving, sort of. If there are any other cars on the road, in their view they yell, "Get out of our way car!" In fact, Cullen and Scott were following Blaise and I to drop off the van for some other service (it's been an expensive week!) and Scott told us to get out the way.

#5 - Blaise has a new obsession with airplanes. He points them out from the stroller, the car, and even gets out of the pool to point them out when the fly overhead (which is frequent, since we're in the landing pattern.)

#6 - Scott can kill me for posting this when he's older, but he noticed earlier this week the opening in his underwear. He looked at me and informed me that his underwear had a pocket and it's for batteries.

#7 - Both the boys do what they call a "monkey walk" in the pool... not the same as the monkey walk I used to teach (which is where little people hold onto the side of the pool and walk themselves around where the water is too deep.) Their version is to walk on their hands and feet around their baby pool. It's entertaining.

#8 - Another new hobby they've discovered this week is mattress jumping. There's a spare twin mattresss under the bottom bunk bed and they figured out how to pull it out. First they push their chairs across the room and turn them up-side-down in the process. Then they pull the spare mattress about 2/3 of the way out. Then they jump off the bottom bunk onto the mattress and into the back of the up-side-down chairs... it's a make your own bounce house. No injuries yet, and don't worry too much, we don't let them do this everyday or anything.

The Beach!

Just a couple quick video clips from the beach. We were in Ocean City, MD (of course) for a visit with Cullen's parents/grandparents (6/6-6/13). Scott actually enjoyed the water this year. We played a game where he basically races the waves up the beach- he enjoyed it and warmed right up to the water, even braving waves up to his middle!

Blaise was cautious of the water- meaning, he wasn't afraid to play immediately beside it, but had absolutely no interest in actually touching it. At one point, he had a shovel in his hand and was playing right beside the water. A wave came up and caught him somewhat by surprise, he looked up just in time and threw the shovel into the water as if to say, "Here take the shovel, but don't take me!" Hysterical. He spent his time at the beach completely absorbed in playing in the giant sandbox :) Not the greatest action video, but he was focused, scooping sand the entire morning (both mornings actually.) We saved the oyster shell he used as a shovel.

In other news, I am in the process of moving our entire blog here (previously this has been just for videos). This "process" might take me awhile, but hopefully before the baby comes... then maybe I'll start tagging entries and including more still pictures too.

Blaise... and more Blaise

Blaise playing... maybe this is where the obsession with basketball hoops comes from? (For the whole story, read the other blog linked at the right, it has more details.) Oh, and Scott was helping out in this one, trying to pass the ball back to B. Unfortunately, B can't catch well yet.

Okay, not really the best/safest idea he's ever had- but it was too cute to resist pulling out the camera. You can even hear him saying, "Walk, walk, walk..." And don't worry, I had him get down after I finished taking pictures, and I'm sure he'll never try it again, right ;)

Why I Love My Front-Load Washer...

This is especially helpful now... and, for the record, they are usually faster.

Camping at Table Rock

Admittedly, not the best video... but hysterical because 1) Scott always refuses to sing and dance, but here he was singing AND dancing in circles around me and 2) He would completely stop and just stand beside me when he noticed that Cullen had turned the camera on (so we have about 9 of these less than 10 second clips of him singing and dancing.)

No trip anywhere near Clemson would be complete without a Frisbee lesson... he's well on his way to playing disc golf :)

They were playing nicely, until I got the camera... but you can see B being a perfect 2nd-soon-to-be-middle child and Scott learning self-control :)

Time Flies... Oops :)

We went up to Maryland for Scott's birthday... yes, that was way back in February (I'm told I can blame everything on pregnant brain.) We had a very nice, although short, visit with Cullen's grandparents... I think Scott wore them out getting dizzy!

After visiting there, we headed to Cullen's parents house. We had birthday cake, but apparently no video of Scott trying to blow out the candles on his strawberry -i.e. pink- birthday cake. The boys had fun playing in the COLD basement with Grandpa.

A lazy Sunday afternoon, playing with Daddy... Scott's imagination (and love of cooking) is really taking off these days!

More and more and more playing....

Sorry, you'll have to turn your head for this one... too funny though. Scott has started sticking his stick/screwdriver/hammer/whatever down the front of his pants as a "sword." For the Snider's reading, much like Mike and his stick in the "Hammer, Grandpa, hammer," video.

Playing together, nicely! Someday, B might kill me for actually posting this though.

Finally... playing football with Mommy. He's pretty good. He caught it as many times as he dropped it and when he caught it he frequently would fall down. I asked why and he said, "That's what the Tigers do." Go Tigers :)

That was just last week, so now we're all caught up :)

Disney World!

Finally... sorry for the delay, we've been thinking about Scott's birthday and plenty of travel this month too.

Are you dizzy yet?

Or bored? This was Blaise's favorite ride... for a long time he was tapping his hand in perfect rythm on the side of the boat :)

This is the Magic Kingdom parade... you would have thought the boys were both IN the parade with all the waving they were doing!

Playing at the Boneyard in Animal Kingdom.

Our favorite character breakfast... at the Cape May Cafe. Goofy, Donald Duck, and Minnie Mouse in the best atmosphere for actually interacting with the characters and getting a good chunk of time with them. Plus, the food is good. Unfortunately most hot breakfast foods don't agree with pregnancy for me (TMI probably.)

Maybe he has a crush?! ;)