And just like that tomorrow is baby day!

My greatest concern upon finishing work was that the baby would come instantly.  I am so happy that this fear was not realized.  (I so didn't want what happened after Alice to happen again this time.)  Each day that passed, each accomplishment completed I felt more relaxed.  It really has been a great 2.5 weeks off.  I just can't believe that tomorrow is baby day!

So to recap - things that didn't make it on the blog... Friday, May 24th the girls and I went to the indoor play place Candy Land in Vaughan and then we went for lunch at my dear friend Annette's.  Annette worked at Blue Willow in the office the entire time that I did - she retired at Christmas.  Monday, May 27th we hung out with Grandma and Grandpa at their building.  Tuesday, May 28th Antoinette took the girls the whole day and I worked on reports - blech!  Saturday, June 1st we went to breakfast at the Hockley Valley General Store, then to the Orangeville Farmer's Market and then on the coolest drive through Hockley Valley, then to the Rosemount General Store and then home.  On Monday July 3rd my friend Kristy from Blue Willow came to visit with her little guy Ethan.  Ethan is 4.5 months old and such a cutie!! Tuesday, June 4th I kept Kate out of pre-school and we went up to Alliston to the Sun Park (Rotary Park) and then to Tim Horton's for lunch and then to Walmart.

I wanted to post these cute pics of Alice from June 1st, just because!

Today, Ruth and Ava came to play.  (After a trip into Newmarket to drop off the van - our automatic door broke.  We went to Cora's for breakfast and then came home to wait for Ruth and Ava.)  Kate and Ava played so nicely and Alice loves Ava too.  Ruth helped me do some organizing, laundry was done, it was a busy, good day!

Ruth and I both took some pictures of the girls and Ruth took pictures of our family of four - for the last time!

After our busy day we drove down to the Grandparent's Building. We had dinner together and then we left Kate and Alice.  They have the girls for the night, and half of tomorrow.  Ken and I have to be at the hospital just after 6 a.m. in the morning.  We are as ready as we can be for the baby to come tomorrow.  It is bizarre knowing that tomorrow is baby day. I'm scared and excited. I feel good.  I feel ready.  Now I am super excited to know... is Baby 3 a girl or a boy?  Will there be pink balloons, or blue?

Maternity Shoot

I never thought about wanting to do a maternity shoot, that was until a photographer that we love advertised a mini-session promotion and I thought, hmmm I want to do a maternity shoot.  Originally it was going to be a Saturday a couple of weeks ago and Ken was going to come too.  The date had to change and so change it did and because it was now on a week day Ken had to work.  The girls and I went and we had fun!  Emily took some gorgeous shots.  She did a fun pink/blue balloon thing that will be our way to announce whether or not we had a boy or a girl.  She already put up these shots of Kate.  Kate loved having her picture taken!

I can't wait to see the rest of the photos! Thank you Emily! (Oh and this was the last thing that I REALLY wanted to do before baby. Well I want to organize the house too, but that isn't as much fun!)

Me Day! (And a weird bird)

Strike some more things off the list!  Today was me day.  The girls went to Antoinette's and I had my hair done, did a little bit of shopping, went to lunch with a friend AND I continued working on my report cards (that was the not fun part!).  I really had a lovely day!

Okay now the weird bird.  I can't remember when it started, but one day Ken and Kate noticed a chickadee sitting on the sideview mirror of the car.  It kept flying into the window, over and over and over again.  The next day it came back, and then the day after that.  I'm not sure if it's been two weeks yet, but seriously, what the heck is the bird trying to do?!  If it didn't poop everywhere I wouldn't be quite so bothered.  Seriously weird bird!

The Zoo!

I've seen pregnant - I mean really pregnant women at the zoo many times - it is a family place after all.  I looked at them with a mixture of admiration and pity.  Why would you do that?  Is always what I thought.  Well today I joined the ranks of the crazy really pregnant women that trek around the zoo!  I even made it up the hill to Africa!  I was very proud of myself.  I took rests when I needed to but generally I felt great.  It helped that it was a nice cool day.  The main event was the pandas!  China has loaned two pandas to Canada for 10 years.  They will spend the next five years at the Toronto Zoo and then they will be relocated to the Calgary Zoo.  We went with Andrew and Rayna, Ken even took the day off.  We had a really fun day!   Oh and I took my zoom lens... cool beans!

Spitting Like Goats!

Currently (although I think it's dying down) there is a Goat Craze on youtube.  There are goats that sound like humans and songs - tons of songs with goats spliced in bleating the notes that would otherwise be sung by the diva.  Kate and Alice have seen the goat videos and they think they're hysterical.  At some point in all of the goat fun Kate starting spitting - you know doing a raspberry, when she wasn't pleased.  I didn't understand what was wrong with her.  Ken figured out that she was being a goat. 

In one of the videos a man and a goat seem to have an argument.  The goat spits and yells at the man.  Now when Kate is displeased she does likewise.  I've convinced her that she can only be a goat at home, and thankfully the rude behaviour does seem to be fading away. 

Here are my beautiful girlies spitting like goats.  Doesn't that just make a mother proud!

Darby's Party

I wonder if this is the last year of the "I choose the kids that go to my kids party" or if I've still got another year?  All of Kate's birthday friends (my friends kids) are going to school this year.  (I suppose they've all started pre-schools...)  Anyway, today was Darby's party.  Taunia (Darby's Mom) had planned all outside activities and was blessed with a beautiful day!!  The kids had so much fun on the trampoline and playing outside.  It was so much fun to watch the kids play, and it was very much fun to sit and chat with friends.

The best part of the party however was Alice's reaction to being given a loot bag.  She carried around "my present", clutched it all the way home in he van (even asleep) and has been carrying it around all evening.  Oh and watching Alice and Ava was pretty cute too!

Pre-school Duty Mom

Kate attends the Tottenham Co-Op Preschool on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.  She loves it!  She has had a great year.  It being a co-op means lots of parent involvement.  I was the duty Mom in October, Ken the duty Dad... can't remember now, and today I was the duty Mom again!  There are a number of jobs to do - cleaning, helping, snack preparation.  I didn't realize that I would be so tired - go figure being pregnant and all, I was worn out!  Kate was very much looking forward to my being the Duty Mom and she enjoyed the perks of the day - being the line leader, carrying the bag, turning off the lights, choosing the snack, counting everyone in the bathroom.  We had a fun morning! 

Today was pet day and the kids were asked to bring a picture of their pet and a rock.  They made pet rocks during craft time and Kate choose to bring in a photo of Owl to share. 

I'm excited to get her pictures back - they were just taken recently - her class picture too!  She has loved her first school experience and is anxiously awaiting the fall when she starts junior kindergarten.

Haircut Day!

The list of things that I want to accomplish before the arrival of Baby 3 is LONG.  Some of the tasks are more fun than others.  Today was a fun one.  I took the girls to Beaners in Newmarket for haircuts.  Trims really for both the ladies, and Alice's first haircut.  The place was really cute.  There are toys, cute places to sit, a ball pit and much to Kate's delight a party room filled with princess costumes!  The girls were really good and for today their hair looks so pretty!  I really do need to get better at doing little girl hair.