Hibernating

I told Steven that I feel like a bear right now. I just long to curl up in my bed for about 5-6 more weeks until my new bundle arrives from the stork! Wouldn't that be divine? Oh, how I'd love to avoid the surgery and have the baby show up in my arms!

My body feels like it's starting to check out. I've had a nagging cough for over 3 weeks, some sinus issues the past few days, am walking like a waddling duck, feel constantly overheated, and honestly spend about 3-5 hours lying in bed each day.

So, with me feeling like that, Steven out-of-commission with his back injury, and the other drama going on around us, we've been quite a mess the past week! I hope we can both find some healing and energy this new week to press on in our daily duties and prepare for the next couple months as we await the delivery and birth of our sweet baby!

I'm almost 32 weeks along and will see the doctor again this week. It looks like we'll wait to choose a delivery date until it gets closer and we see how my body handles these next few weeks of pregnancy. I'm hoping that we can wait until closer to 37 or 38 weeks...we'll see if Baby cooperates! I'm really still in shock that the baby is coming so soon. I haven't done anything to prepare and hope to at least pull together some newborn clothes (need to wash and find some of both genders!), diapers, and set up a bedroom baby-station in the next few weeks. It's fun not knowing the gender but I think it's also keeping me from really connecting with the baby and realizing that he/she will be in my arms very soon! I can't wait to be past the surgery part and enjoying those sweet newborn cuddles once again :)

I'm trying to soak in all the baby-ness of little Steven Joseph. This last part of pregnancy is always a bit emotional as I realize that my "baby" will soon be the toddler who will start to act up, grow up, and become a big brother! It melts my heart when he says, "I Mommy's big boy!" He tells us that he is NOT a baby anymore. And he is also insistent that he's having a baby brother...

The fun summer days are also coming to an end. The pools will probably be closing on the weekdays as most area schools start on Wednesday. Dance classes start tomorrow and hopefully we'll get back into our homeschooling routine as well. We'll be starting our 5th week, and I'm so glad I got a head start! I don't have much energy for anything other than the necessary grocery store visit or other errand. And after we go on an outing in this 100 degree weather, I need an hour or two in bed to recover! I am so pathetic!

But to remind me of the fun we had these past couple weeks...here are a few shots from a swimming playdate and a pirate birthday party...

Hope you are all soaking in these last few weeks of summer!

Prayer Request

Our family is having a difficult week. Steven has a back injury, we had some AC problems, there is construction nearby and water is being turned off for the day tomorrow, and just some other background "noise" that is causing stress. Today was the Feast of St. Clare; I'd like to ask her intercession that we'd be able to see clearly through the fog and focus on the light of Christ. Thanks for any prayers you're able to offer!

California Vacation-Days 6 and 7

Wednesday was our last full day in California and the day we had planned to visit the San Diego Zoo! I admit that I hesitated after our long day at Disneyland to attempt another full day excursion. But I'm so glad we were able to go. It was a lot of hilly walking, but an amazing zoo!

We headed out early and walked around a bit before my brother and his family met us. We saw lots of flamingos!


a "pea-hen" and her babies!


And then when Brice, Allison, and Addison arrived, we went on the bus tour, sitting on the upper level of the double-decker bus! Unfortunately we couldn't see the animals very well from our side, but I did get a couple decent shots...of a tiger,


and the polar bears! That one on the left was playing with the blue ball and throwing it up in the air. It was fun to watch!


After the bus tour, we went straight to see the sea lion show. It was great!


and then after walking around the reptile exhibit, Steven, Mary Clare, SJ, and Allison took a tour on the "Skyfari" gondola skyride, which was the one time during the trip that the camera wasn't working. Oh well, I'm just glad my feet were on the ground...I'm not one for heights, especially with small children! Brice and I wandered around the children's zoo and then we all decided to head back to the house for a lunch break. After a couple hours, we drove back to the zoo for the rest of the afternoon (they only lived 10 minutes away!).

We checked out the koala bears


and the giraffes


rhinos


and a cheetah!


We saw an amazing bird show. This parrot sang several verses of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm!"


They trained the hawk to grab dollar bills out of peoples' hands to donate towards a bird organization. Steven Joseph wasn't so sure he wanted to get close!


Here's a peacock walking around the grounds


There were lots of elephants


and a big sleeping lion


I love this shot of my matching Stevens :)


And my 3 cute kiddos in the Arctic area where they had some fun tunnels to play in,




along with a helicopter!



It was starting to get later in the evening and the polar bears were sleeping,


and so were most of the Pandas. This one was eating but facing the other direction, bummer!


The sun was setting as we checked out some zebras


and made our way to the hippo exhibit



After a long adventure trying to find our way back to the entrance (the zoo is 100 acres!), we finally left after 8pm! What a long, exhausting, but fun day!

The next morning it was time to head back to Texas. I got some cute shots of the toddler cousins in their Mickey/Minnie ears before we left for the airport.


The girls enjoyed playing with their princesses from Disneyland on the flight home.


Finally we were back on Texas soil, and after a shuttle ride to the parking lot,

We loaded up our truck to drive back home!

What a wonderful vacation! Thanks to all the family members who made it possible...our flyer-mile angel, our kind hosts, and our traveling buddies for the first leg...and of course my fantastic little family who fills all our days with fun and laughter whether on the road or in our own living room. We are so blessed!

iPhone Photo Phun!

After a few months of not being able to load my iPhone photos and videos to the computer, it finally worked tonight! I've posted lots of these on Facebook but since I hope to print this blog into albums at some point, I wanted to load them all here. So here's our summer starting in June!

Kids are always wanting to ride the carousel at the mall, and this day, I obliged!


This was Memorial Day at the "old" G family home, some serious grillin' going on here!


The library festival where we waited 45 minutes for balloon animals. SJ took off his pants and wouldn't put them back on! It was SO hot (but not as hot as it is now in August!)


Steven Joseph and our goddaughter Cecilia after Sunday Mass


Putting up with his sisters' dancing productions. Here he's in a sweater set made by my talented knitting aunt!


And here he is very upset about whatever was going on, probably the romper the girls put him in!


Ellie dancing away!


Kids and cousins in their July 4th performance


Okay and these are 3 funny signs from our trip...

Put toilet paper in the toilet, novel idea!


Self-explanatory. Watch out!


How do you pronounce this? EzXit?


This family is so happy that our local little children's museum has relocated and re-opened after nearly a year! Perfect way to get out of the house on a weekday afternoon!


When the girls were at dance camp, I took SJ there and we watched a magic show! It is crazy crowded there on weekday mornings, so I think we'll stick with the late-afternoon time frame!


Our other fun outing each week, my OB appts! Can you find Steven?


"Patiently" waiting for the doctor


and a couple more from the museum this week! The girls are such good "little mommies" for Steven this summer :)



And I've got a lot of funny videos I'd love to share, but those will have to wait until another time. Maybe after I finally blog about our last 2 days of the trip! For now, the bed is calling my name, gotta rest up for another hot summer day at the pool tomorrow!

30 weeks!

Today officially marks the 30 week point in pregnancy. Which means I only have 7-8 weeks left! How can that be? I'll see the OB on Thursday and hope to have some fun updates and maybe even a possible date for Baby's arrival!

I guess I'm starting to get some nesting instincts going on. Cleaned out the girls' room and closet last week and Steven Joseph's the other night. This afternoon I folded all the laundry, which if you know me, you know I put this off for weeks on end and we live out of baskets of clean laundry. Now most of it is still folded on the couches, so I'm just praying nobody knocks it all over before I get around to putting it away this evening! "My Maria" is coming tomorrow and I can't wait to have things all nice and tidy for a few days!

We started back to homeschooling yesterday and it's going pretty well. Thanks to candy :) We've needed some incentives this summer to keep us going, so toys and candy have been the trick! I know I keep saying how I love having these lesson plans, but I really do! Both girls are learning a cute poem I'll have to video when they finish learning it in the next week or two. Mary Clare is learning all her states and capitals! Today we put together a big US puzzle I bought at the thrift store. It's neat to see her putting together all her knowledge and experience with Geography. Reading is still a bit of a struggle with both girls, but we're forging ahead, convinced that it's going to really click one of these days! They are both on target for their grade level, but just not as fluent as I'd like them to be. They're doing great at Math though!

Today they've kept busy with playing house, paper dolls, playdough, dance class...I love seeing the kids playing together without (much) fighting. It's been so hard to be stuck inside much of the summer. I just don't have the energy to do our usual activities or even the pool much anymore. They get really hyper in the evening, but we get through and have been getting pretty good sleep when we're not coughing with this darn lingering cough that SJ, now Ellie, and I have had for awhile now.

Steven Joseph is such a sweetie pie. Yesterday he kept coming up and hugging me, saying "I proud of you Mommy, finding my Spiderman glasses." He talks about being "Mommy's big baseball boy" and loves snuggling and watching little YouTube clips on my iPhone. I'm trying to soak in all his babyness, because pretty soon he'll be the big toddler and my mind and body will be occupied with our newest little one.

I'm having tons of dreams about pregnancy and delivery. I've had a c-section in a hair salon, been left belly-open on an operating table in a house while everyone left me alone, and last night had one of those funny dreams I've always gotten where I feel the baby's foot through my belly and then all of a sudden it actually kicks through my belly and I have to poke the leg back inside me! Definitely lots of vivid dreams right now, I'm just glad I'm sleeping well enough to have dreams, and getting naps many days too!

The past couple weeks have been really busy with coordinating homeschool activities. As a moderator for our group, I've been dealing with lots of emails, little scheduling issues, and registration for new activities. I think I'll be glad once things actually begin and the planning part is ending! Then it'll be time to take a break for baby...looking forward to that...but still scared at the thought of taking care of 4 kids 24/7!

I better go check on my laundry piles on the couches and figure out something for dinner. I'm sure I'll get around to posting our San Diego Zoo photos sometime soon! Hope you're all having a wonderful week!