New Experiences!

Lot's of fun things have happened in the last couple of weeks here. The best, of course, being mom's arrival. But before that, Michael had some fun playing basketball with daddy...

and learning how to climb into his rocking chair with the kitty, Africa.

And eating some cheesecake...

and of course there was lot's of fun to be had when the cousin's Wesley and Maria came over with Yaya for a visit...

Then it was finally time for Grandma to come! Of course, my mom is not the most photograph-able person, so I have no pictures of her and the kiddos together...yet! But I will get some!

Here is Michael wrapped up like a burrito and getting slung around by daddy (a favorite activity for the two of them) after his bath the other night...

Here is Michael in a big box of styrofoam popcorn (again!) - he doesn't think this is nearly as fun or funny as we do, though!

This has been a couple of weeks full of new experiences for us! One of the main new experiences is that I am farther along in this pregnancy than I have ever been before! And since I am not having any complications I am actually able to give in to the previously heard of, but never experienced, nesting instinct! This, of course means that mom, David, Sheniah (and Michael) must nest, too! Poor things...but my house looks great!

Here are some pictures of Michael "helping" us nest...

Helping daddy build a shelf in the front closet for organizing things. That is a little hammer he is holding!

Reorganizing the tupperware lid drawer...hmmm, that was not on MY list of things to do, but oh well!

Thanks to Alison we had boxes full of clothes for the little man (and eventually, of course, the new baby boy). Thanks to mom (and the genius who invented Space Bags) we were able to reduce 4 large tupperware containers full of baby clothes into a little pile that is about a head shorter than Michael (yes, it is a large head...but he is not terribly tall so I'm sure you can appreciate how much reduction that is!!!!) Here is a picture to prove it!

Finally here is Michael "helping" us clean out and organize some cupboards. He's such a big help!

Moving on from the nesting, the next new experience was a difficult one for me...Michael got his first haircut. He was so good for it...but it was so hard to see. I didn't think he would look so much different just losing a couple of inches of baby whisps and curls, but he really did look like he had aged by years!

Here he is with his cape on getting ready...

and chewing on daddy's hand for something to do during the snips!

Of course, like most boys...he felt VERY handsome after the new do was completed...he even went out and found him a little girlfriend crawling around the mall. He walked right up to her, squatted down and called her "baby"...it was sooooo cute!

Of course, like most girls...she was unimpressed with his antics and they lost interest pretty fast!

Finally here are a couple of random pictures from the last few days.

Brushing the teeth with daddy...

And the next one is VERY random...Michael was enjoying lunch the other day and decided his banana was not that enjoyable. It ended up on the floor. I cleaned him up, got him out of his highchair and went to get something to clean up the floor and such with in the kitchen. Meanwhile, apparently Michael decided though the banana was not enjoyable right then...well, perhaps he should carry it around a while and try it again later. Not too unusual, I know...the unusual part was WHERE he decided to carry it around...

Yup...that's a chunk of banana hanging out on the back of Michael's neck, stuck in his shirt collar. This picture was not staged in any way, I promise...he just stuck it there, I guess!! Crazy kid!

And last but not least...it's the beastly preggo lady. I have nothing to compare this to, since I didn't make it with Michael and Sheniah was born on the day of my 8th month, but, for the sake of self-humiliation (haha) here it is...

This is actually 2 days after my "official" 8 month mark, since I am due December 17. Today I had a Dr's appointment and everything looks good...baby seems healthy and apparently happy to stay where he is! This is of course great news...we are just still hoping he will not be so stubborn to wait until after mom goes home (in 13 days...yikes!). I am having no signs of labor and the Dr. thinks there is no reason to believe I won't make it until after Thanksgiving...which makes my husband very happy...not for the health of the baby as much as for the fear of missing Thanksgiving dinner!

Well, keep checking...who knows when he will come!

Halloween 2008!

Happy Halloween!!!

Here are the kiddos with the pumpkin...

And the pumpkin all lit up...

Michael was a pumpkin again! Unfortunately, we couldn't find a pumpkin this year that was big enough to put him in! But his costume was too cute! The hat only survived long enough for a couple of shots, though!

Sheniah decided not to dress up this year for Halloween. But she came to the mall with us (and her festive orange and black socks were very cool! They even lit up!) and helped me out a ton by chasing Michael all over the place.

On the moooove...

We didn't get any candy...but Michael was perfectly happy just running around, and with her braces candy is pretty hard for Sheniah to enjoy. I think the pregnant lady was the only one bummed about not getting candy!!

Here is Michael carrying his little (empty) candy bag...

And here is Sheniah in one of many attempts to capture the little man who was running wildly through the mall! I'm so glad she came with us because he had such a great time running away from her and I am not nearly as quick as she is!

Then it was time to go home and get a bath. Michael is such his father's child...here he is cleaning up the bath toys at the end of bath time! I'm so lucky that David is a "cleaner"...it is just funny to watch our son already exhibit the behavior!

A couple of days later it was football Sunday again so Michael was all decked out in his Panther's suit (even though it was their bye week)! He (nor Sheniah) really appreciate a good game, though, so she took him outside to play and got this adorable shot of him.

And later that night Sheniah read him a bedtime story...I know I say it all the time, but how cute are my kids?!?! They are so in love...Sheniah even told me yesterday that when the new baby comes he can be mine and Michael will be hers!

The next day Michael was running around without his shirt on. In the plaid pajama pants he reminded me so much of David (who has pants nearly identical), so I had to get some pictures of it!

Then he climbed in a cardboard box of clothes and was very impressed with himself!

So that is the latest! Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween! I have a few more pictures from the last few days that I need to download for another post...who knows when that will happen!? I'm also so excited because my mom will be here in 2 days! It will be so nice to have her here...now we are just hoping that this isn't the one time I go full term with the baby, or mom will miss him!