7QTs - All things Sunset Beach

Going back a few weeks here to our time at le beach. We spent several nights with my parents during their week at the beach. Vacation? I think not. Family trip is definitely a more accurate description. We missed having Papa (Happy-est of birthdays to you today!) and Uncle Kev (thanks a lot new job!) - our resident kid entertainer and wagon pusher. Regardless we made some fun memories which is really what parenting is all about, right? ... 

--- 1 ---

The girls and I were leaving straight from church on Sunday. I really had to have my act together with packing not at the very last minute even though stuff did end up just getting tossed in the van at the very end of load-up-time

I had my handy-dandy list - which will likely be used for future (hopefully we'll be invited again : ) beach trips, 10000 Lands End Zip Totes - if you are in search of a practical bebe gift these are fantastic, food for the journey, a serious threat of not stopping for the bathroom so you'd better go now because ain't no way I'm taking 3 kids to a filthily bathroom (insert germ-o-phob comments here) unless it was beyond URGENT, books and magazine for the 3.5 hour ride and crossed fingers that they would't drive me totally insane because we don't believe in TVs or iPads entertaining kids in the van (though I'm sure I'll eat my words if we ever go somewhere REALLY REALLY far away) 

We gave Papa one last squeeze...

And we were off. I only missed one turn which cost us about 10 minutes. The ride was manageable. There was some sleeping, some reading, lots of SINGING, some bantering. E would say are we at the beach yet and R would retort... SUNSET BEACH. And she did this all week. 

Me - Let's get bathing suits on to go to the beach.

R - No, it's SUN-SET BEACH

Me - ... {let's not argue with stubborn 3 yr old shall we} 

--- 2 ---

The 2.5 seconds any of the kids kept their sunhats on...

Not 100% sure about the tides

Sand digging 

Toy stealing : ) 

Lounging

Swimming!

Beach bliss

--- 3 ---

There was a great roof deck which I visited a few times. There was a hornets nest on one of the top stairs which made the climb that much more interesting but that didn't last long thanks to the bug-man. 

I remember sitting up on the roof decks when we went to the beach growing up but being pregnant and spending most of the day outside as it was... If there was down time I chose to stay inside working on my cross stitch.

I took the unopened set of Magna-Tiles that the girls got for Christmas as a 'new' thing for them to play with

They were a hit...

We also painted our toe nails...

There's a standing agreement between Papa, me and the girls that nails (only toes) get painted when we are at the beach. Last year we forgot to paint them so E and R were super excited about doing it this year and M was very interested in the colored nails she had and kept pointing to them. 

Usually you could distract her from just about anything by asking her "Where are your pretty toes?"

--- 4 ---

The girls enjoyed spending lots of time with Grandpa Joe and Grammy... 

Wisdom of Grandpa Joe 

Probably my favorite pic... R might be related to someone in this pic : ) 

M had this whole Grammy-get-me-water thing down to a science. M would whine and look pitifully at her empty sand bucket. Grammy would take it and fill it up. M would dump the bucket within a minute or two. The process repeated itself... ALOT. : ) That's what Grammy's are for, right?

--- 5 ---

We had some good food... 

I think we may have been alittle early for watermelons... 

But it was an easy spray-off-clean-up pre-beach snack because we found out the seagulls are super vicious

Juice boxes and water bottles on the beach... ONLY!

Then there was the nightly walk to the ice cream shop. 

M and I only went once because we were on beach time and she was a trooper until about 8 and then it was meltdown central - not that E and R were the best but they behaved just enough to get ice cream each night. 

This is for me? 

Forever the skeptic

Still not convinced

Oh yea.. Good pick mom!

Supercow - vanilla with colors added was a popular choice

Ice cream happiness : ) 

--- 6 ---

We went to the beach some more.

Sand castles were built...

Failed attempts at sibling pictures transpired

They have no idea what's coming...

Very much stuck!

But was was mostly okay

Staying out of the water dumping war that was going on.

Spending a few more fleeting hours in the sand

Making sure our buckets and toys don't float away

Packing up and the whole.. Swim diapers are permeable to pee is realized again and again. Thank goodness the wagon could be sprayed out.

I definitely realized a few things:

1. It takes a good 30-45 solid minutes to prep everyone for the beach. Suits, sunscreen, braid hair (TOALLY necessary for E and R), go potty, get water organized, load up wagon 

2. Thank goodness for the wagon

3. Thank goodness for the stair-less beach access one street down

4. We spent a decreasing amount of time on the beach daily. Maybe the girls were bored. Maybe they were too hot

5. I wonder if the afternoon/ after-rest trip to the beach is worth it - but with only 3 days at the we went for it

--- 7 ---

Obligatory ending the 2015 beach trip pics... 

Siblings pic... 

An outtake

2015 Beach Trip Pic

Saying bye to the ocean

She cried... ALOT and didn't understand why she wouldn't see the ocean again until she is 6

Visiting the roof deck before departure. 

E was so upset when she realized everything was in the van and we were actually leaving. Like lots of tears and crying. So despite my patience level hovering right around the empty line because of the bickering and whining about meaningless things and just generally being EXHAUSTED from the effort of taking 3 young kids to the beach - E crying about leaving solidified that all the rig-a-ma-roll of the past 3 days was in fact worth it. 

I don't expect a 5 yr old to have any concept of appreciating the sacrifices that the adults made to make the beach possible - let alone a 3 yr old and 20 month old. The tears were tears of gratitude. The tears were tears of I HAD SO MUCH FUN AND I REALLY REALL Y DON'T WANT TO LEAVE. 

But we did. We had to. 

We broke up our drive home with a dinner stop with some friends who live (mostly) on the way home. The girls got a bit of a stretch break and playtime with C - I wish they'd get to hang out with her more. M got a taste of not being the youngest in the house. She was semi-interested in little baby J. How we did not take a group kid pic I'm not sure? Oh wait, there was a 6 week old baby plus my brain was fried plus Erin and Tom and kids were literally in between trips - which I didn't know until we got there... Oppps. We definitely owe y'all one : ) and next time let's take that kid pic!

Then we rolled home later that night. 

And all the sandy beach laundry sat in the laundry room until Saturday because A. I refuse to do laundry on vacation and B. I only do laundry on Saturdays : ) 

7QTs - In honor of Baby #4

I haven't really said much about bebe #4 so why not... 

--- 1 ---

Somewhere between two days ago and Monday I'll be 20 weeks along which is nearly impossible to believe that we're halfway through this pregnancy. It hasn't been terrible. There were a few rough weeks in the beginning and that stomach around 11 weeks is always a fantastic scare. I can still squeak into my non-maternity jeans and I'm so glad about that - but the big bad banded jeans will surely be out soon. I think running around (literally at soccer practice and games) has helped keep the weight gain to a healthy minimum. 

--- 2 ---

Speaking of clothes... I've got to find a nice skirt or two to wear to for this business trip - last time I went this happened. I am never too impressed with what's in stores especially because of their price tag so I've hit up ThredUP with one success. I really need some decent summery clothes for work and somehow I eeked by with M. Most of my maternity tops are for the winter. 

Also, summer = bathing suit because we joined a pool. I think the bathing suit I have from Lands End should do the trick for most of the summer but I might have to size up for August. 

--- 3 ---

So enough about me... and onto the bebe : ) 

I am actually kind of ready for another baby in the sense that I want to rock a newborn and snuggle a newborn and nurse a newborn. There's something about a brand new baby I'm just waiting for. 

Is new baby going to rock our world and scream and cry and making tons of dirty diapers and big germy sisters all up in our space? Yes, of course but I can mostly get over that part just to lay there and stop and rock and watch a newborn. 

--- 4 ---

Mama and Papa's thoughts on bebe:

No we aren't finding out if baby is a boy or girl. Yes we are crazy but we like a good surprise. Honestly I think the only thing that might surprise us is a boy : ) but our prayer is that the baby be happy and healthy and that's it. I mean that woman just had 13 boys so 4 girls seems totally reasonable plus I cannot imagine loads of blue clothes and trucks and cars and dinosaurs... We have only done tea parties and princesses and dress up around here!

Names, names, names. Well we will definitely be following the double letter + K naming scheme again. With an EEK, RRK and MMK - we have not written off the possibility of repeating a first and second letter but I think it is unlikely we'd have 2 EEK girls - I think. 

The names have been set in stone since before there was a baby to speak of. I think with M there was more back and forth over her name and we reused our boy name for M. This time we both liked this girl name and the middle name came easy. We decided to mix up the boy name again so I threw a name out and it stuck and then for the middle name Lee jokingly said how about "this crazy name" and I said okay that's what I was thinking of. 

Then he proceeded to forget the names... I think or maybe he was just kidding. One night after dinner though Lee said - okay so what are the names? I told him I wasn't telling until October and then he started guessing. He guessed the girl name almost immediately. (In fact someone has guessed the girl name - first and middle - in one fell swoop; I definitely try not to lie about it so if I do have an accurate guess - as with most name suggestions - it gets an "oh that's a good one")

The boy name on the other hand he had problems guessing because there are SO MANY fantastic boy names that would fit our naming scheme. Finally I gave him a hint and he still couldn't figure out the first name. And then once it got it the middle name was a mystery and finally he guessed it and looked at me and I nodded and he said - 'are you kidding? you agreed to that!'

Here's a list of some previous guesses. Feel feel to comment on that post with any guesses legit or not : ) 

Side note, there is a girl name that I absolutely LOVE that I told Lee we probably should keep it in our back pockets for {if there is a} next time and he HATED it. I mean he was like... Are you kidding me? Heck no! But the list of reasonable options is running thinner and thinner for viable girl names as we speak : ) 

--- 5 ---

The big sisters thoughts on bebe:

E is totally lobbying for a girl this time. She is convinced she's got too many cute clothes that she would not be able to share with a boy ( and I can't say I don't agree with her). E is planning out where everyone will sleep and sit at the table and be placed in the van. 

R says she wants a boy though I am not convinced she 100% gets it. I think in the coming weeks I'll get more questions about the baby bump so the gears might start turning that someone new is coming. Thought she seems to understand M will be joining the ranks of the bigs in their room at some point and she talks about 'growing up' - oh the mind of a 3 yr old. 

M's world is going to be rocked in October but hopefully she'll forgive us by her 2nd birthday : ) 

--- 6 ---

Other people's thoughts on baby:

{at first dr appointment}

Me - Well you are not going to pass off twins on me this time (because I had my ultrasound before seeing him)

Dr - Just wait until next time...

Me - If we can agree that there could be a next time, we're on the same page

{at first dr appointment with new nurse as she is walking out of the room after the first rounds of questions}

Nurse - So you are getting a hysterectomy after this one, right?

Me - Ummm... no. Definitely not. 

{At the pool store one day - I've been there for 7 years and you see a lot of the same people and you start to get to know them so this isn't terribly uncommon}

Guy - You have two kids, right?

Me - No, three.

Guy - So that's it then?

Me - No actually I'm pregnant

Guy - Oh so is four the magic number?

Me - I don't think there is a magic number

--- 7 ---

Just to keep you on your toes for the name because that's super fun... The Social Security Administration released the ranking for the 2014 baby names. The boy first name is in the top 40 (and there's a ton of great ones) and the girl first name is in the top 200 (yeah that really narrows it down, right?) 

7QTs - Lost and Found Balloons, All Things Frozen & Preschool Mothers Day Breakfast

Raging pregnancy hormones are driving me loca... 

--- 1 ---

This balloon...

She stared at it for a really long time on the ride home

It's gorgeous, no? When I asked my mom to get E a birthday balloon - so I wouldn't have to run to the store right before the party and because she was already there this was not what I had in mind... Grammy totally outdid herself

Okay but there's story behind this balloon because this is actually Frozen Balloon 2.0. 

Saturday we had E's party - maybe I'll get to a recap post soonish - and the original balloon was the centerpiece of the kids table and was stuck in a sand cup. Keep in mind Grammy took off the original weight and replaced it with the sand cup. See where I'm going? 

Of course...

So as clean up is happening, E takes the sand cup and dumps the sand out and away flies the balloon before any adult could tell her to STOP. In true dramatic fashion - and rightfully so - E freaks out. Like freaks out. Who wouldn't? Even I was impressed by the balloon. 

I'm inside and only hear the sad tail second hand. And then I get annoyed. Seriously? Seriously! That balloon was awesome. Like the best balloon ever and she let it fly away???? I tell her that was her only birthday balloon and she shouldn't have touched it in the first place and blah blah blah... #worldsmeanestmom4life

So the rest of the night I'm thinking about that stinking balloon and how annoyed I am that it flew away. 

Me - She shouldn't have been touching the balloon

Lee - But she's 5

Me - But still she shouldn't have

Lee - But she didn't know it was going to fly away

Me - So... She's read Curious George enough to know he flies away with the balloons

Lee - Chicky... She is FIVE

Me - Well I'm not getting her another balloon

Lee - Well I told her I would

Me - Why?!?! That was probably a $50 balloon and do you know how much we spent on her cake? Plus they don't have balloons like that around here (only the great metropolis of Raleigh does)

Lee - Well I'm getting her another one its her birthday

Me - SHE HAD A BIRTHDAY BALLOON and she let go of it... One balloon a birthday

Lee - She's getting another one

I tend to be a stick-to-my-guns mom. If I say it, I'll stick to it. I found E snuck a piece of candy in the van and then took away dessert privileges for a week - even though about halfway through I thought maybe I should go easy on her. 

ANYHOW... the balloon. 

After church on Sunday when we walk of of church low and behold there is a Frozen balloon waiting by the van. E is on the playground and doesn't see it but when I tell her there is something for her she freaks out - again. Only this time there is a MASSIVE weight attached to the balloon and I'm happy for E because I know the balloon makes her happy and she'll have a balloon at her chair on her actual birthday. 

In retrospect I was being totally psycho about the lost balloon for some reason so blame it on the pregnancy hormones and move on. 

Thank goodness for Grammys and Papas who can see past the craziness...

--- 2 ---

Moving on to happier things...

All E has been talking about for her birthday is Frozen Legos. I didn't want her to get her hopes up about them because they were sold out of a bunch of places for a few months so I told her we might not be able to find them. E insisted R get them for her.

R - I find dem for you
E - The Frozen castle
R - The Froz-zen Legos
E - That's the only thing I want for my birthday because I'm really interested in Frozen stuff and Legos

Well E got 2 sets of the Frozen Lego castle at her party so R gotten beaten to the punch... Since we give family gifts on actual birthdays.

So after the ballon incident, we did not want a riot so we let E have some time with the gift she has been talking about for months... 

She got surprisingly far into the directions for someone who is about to turn 5. She likes to skip ahead and not go step by step - which is a terrible way to put together Legos if you are on the slightly OCD side like E. 

Sunday night we spend some with the directions and going step-by-step to get the Frozen castle complete!

For show-and-tell of course!

And it survived the trek into school. And its a good thing she took it because now show-and-tell is over for the year. 

--- 3 ---

Rewind back to before the Frozen castle was complete to about 7 hours before and this happened...

Oh and I was reading the rules (top 3 in each age group get a medal) and I think I might have even placed 2nd in my age group so I might have something in the form of the coveted medal waiting for me somewhere. I've got one more year in that age group and then the 30-34 and 35-39 and even the 40-44 age groups are much more competitive so I'll have to A. step up my game and B. not be pregnant - but since I cannot guarantee either of those in future years I'll be happy my age group had only 4 participants : )

This kid finishing was worth it and I enjoyed every minute of walking and chatting it up with her... And the pregnancy hormones rage on. Oh and Lee is in the doghouse for not getting a pic of E finishing and I haven't found a professional one either : (

#comeonpapa

--- 4 ---

The resident independent daredevil... 

Fortunately she only has a few bruises to prove it... 

--- 5 ---

E got a new Elsa dress for her birthday... 

Which means E and R can FINALLY dress up as Elsa together. R for whatever reason never complained when E commandeered the Elsa R got for her birthday...

Trying on HER Elsa dress... Probably the third time she's worn it in 3 months - no lies

Why does everyone love Elsa anyway? Anna is the one who saved the day!

--- 6 ---

Mother-daughter selfie at the Mother's Day Breakfast at preschool... 

Yes we are coordinating because A. we wanted to be fancy (Fridays jeans are my work staple) and B. E HAD to wear my favorite color... 

I was so stinking worried I was going to have a catastrophic hormonal moment during the breakfast in front of a ton of moms who I really don't know - because you know that's happened before and my friends still happen to mention it occasionally. 

Oh but I didn't but I almost did. 

Apparently E thinks I'm 60 (there was an apparent 90 yr-old mom in the class) and her favorite thing to do with me is 'activities'... 

--- 7 ---

In other news.... We/I are joining a pool this summer which I am super pumped about because that means E and maybe R can do swim team. Swim team was a staple growing up. Now you may wonder why a family deeply entrenched in the pool business would need to join a pool...

Because when your husband spends 50-65 hours a week during the summer around pool ain't no way he's going to be spending any free time around his own pool (which we don't have) let alone cleaning/maintaining it for 30 minutes a week.

Hence the 'I joined the pool'... Lee left the decision up to me because I have been warned to not expect him out at the pool - though I have confirmed he will come to swim meets. : )

Finally, our bishop is in town today so I am around to round up the troops and get everyone bathed before heading to Liturgy... I'm sure I'll post a few pics from that because the girls have been SUPER interested in everything the bishop has been doing since he got here yesterday.