Yea! A picture of all 3!

I don't get this very often, but yesterday I took the kids to the community center on base and decided since they were so happy I would try to get a picture of all 3. I was happy to get one and am looking forward to the challenge of getting all 4 in a picture.

Gavin and Avalyn love taking pictures together right now, only wish this stage would last long enough for all 4 to love taking pictures together (who knows, maybe they will).

Cambria was so happy sitting in the same spot with a little turtle. She was thrilled when Gavin and Avalyn would come play with her- just couldn't get her to smile for a picture, only say "dada"

No pictures today- I tackled the zoo alone with the kids. I told them I'd take them, before I knew it was "members day" and I didn't want to disappoint them just because of a crowd. The weather was nice, crowds not too bad, the kids were great and we all enjoyed the free train ride. I survive all the walking- and hopefully helped me dialate a little more- my back was hurting pretty bad by the end, but it was worth it. A good day at the zoo!

Swim lessons!

Gavin was in Level 2- probably should have been in level 1, I had no clue (based on the description of his class) that most of them could already swim! It didn't bother him at all, he smiled the whole time and was so proud of what he learned. He did his best to keep up and improved quite a bit by the end. He has trouble with the arm movements in the water, but likes to swim completely under water.

Avalyn loved swim lessons! She did great and will definitely be moving up next year!

of course Avalyn had a great time with her teachers, she does so well with teenage girls.

Motor boat! She loved all the little games and songs.

Fun times!

Cambria playing with the pool toys from Avalyn's class. She did enjoy walking around, but stayed away from the water and did her best to avoid the cracks in the concrete. It was actually pretty cute, every time she would come to a crack she would stop walking and get on all fours and crawl over it with her legs completely straight. Her visual specialist said this is probably a depth perception thing, but I just thought it was pretty cute.

I am just about caught up, these are pictures from swim lessons. It was Avalyn's 1st time at swim lessons and Gavin's 2nd. They were everyday for 2 weeks and ended over a week ago, but I figured I would post a few of the pictures anyways. The kids had a great time, despite the rather chilly water at 11 am and Gavin being in a class above his level. I was planning on taking more pictures on the last day, but it rained and classes were canceled. Kyle's back in summer school, so I took all 3 with me the last week- I never do too well getting pictures when I am entertaining/watching Cambria.

THE NAME!

Okay so I am 36 weeks now and I guess I could wait till she is here to share the name, but then I will not get to explain it- I know once they come the name is just what it is and why explain it. Someday maybe she will want to know why, and I don't journal or do baby books very well so blogging about it will do.
It hasn't been a secret and when people ask we tell them, but if you haven't talked to us in the past 2 months you probably have no clue. This wasn't an easy one for us, girl names have never been. I never imagined having to come to an agreement with Kyle on 3 girl names and I am honestly happy we will not have to do it again. Not to mention we did it while Kyle was deployed, after many difficult conversations about what to name her I figured we'd just wait till he returned but surprisingly Kyle really wanted to make a decision (and the kids did too). There were many phone discussions and my typical book and internet searches and for the 1st time in 4 pregnancies Kyle made a list. I usually bring the names up and Kyle vetoes most or all of them till we come to an agreement. We like to make the name a family activity and have involved the kids since they were old enough- Gavin was adamant about Cambria's name and this time Avalyn was the decisive about the 1st name and we let Gavin pick the middle name (with choices Kyle and I agreed on).

After completely rejecting several of my list, I knew I would probably have to compromise quite a bit and find a more common name that we were both happy with. Kyle decided to make a list, that I basically rejected but it gave me a better idea of what he liked (it was a long list, so I had quite a bit to work with). We decided early on not to use the names we hadn't used with Cambria- Lila and Linley- and start completely over. For a couple weeks she was Elina (or Alina), but that wasn't sitting well with me- I think it's a beautiful name but wanted something a little less traditional. The middle name was Kate since the beginning, just because I liked the name, but for some reason Gavin was so excited when I mentioned using Brooke so we said okay (why not, we both liked it and in the end we liked it better with the 1st name). After saying no to Elina I began looking at the Top 1000 list for 2008 for ideas (I usually avoid the list) and I found the name, I had heard it before (I have a friend here that has a niece with a similar name) and loved it but hadn't mentioned it with this pregnancy. It was a little trendier than I had wanted, but it fit with Gavin, Avalyn and Cambria's names and when Kyle's initial reaction was silence (that's what it was with Avalyn and Cambria) I knew I might be on to something. Kyle was quiet about it for several weeks, but back home Avalyn was thrilled and using her name. To my surprise Avalyn told Kyle over the phone one day "Daddy we can name the baby Ainsley" and his response shocked me even more "okay". We had a name! Gavin was still confused after we had gone back and forth so much, but was excited when I let him pick the middle name Brooke (he loves our neighbor and friend Brooke). So there it is, I know that's a long explanation. We are so excited about welcoming Ainsley Brooke to our family- hopefully soon.

The doctor says the baby is ready whenever. I was 1 centimeter dialated on Thurs., so I am not expecting anything too soon. I had Gavin and Avalyn around 37 weeks and Cambria at 38 weeks, so who knows. I have had more and more Braxton Hick with every pregnancy and they just seem to get more and more painful, so I am hoping for not too many more weeks of that and the back pain that I have had for the past several months I am ready to get rid of. The kids are so excited and although I think they will miss my belly, they are ready to have their little Ainsley at home!

Cambria- 18 months

Cambria had her 18 month appointment yesterday, 18 months sure did go fast. She is doing well and finally moving up on the charts (despite still only eating stage 2 baby food, she is definitely getting enough!) She weighs 22 pounds 9 ounces (27%), is 30 and 1/4 in. tall (13%, that's up from the 4th or 5th) and her head remains in the 20%. Physically she is doing great, but still has some work developmentally. She is at about the level of an 11 month old. Therapy just seems to remain a part of our lives for awhile now and probably for much of the future (till she catches up). She is such a sweetheart and we wouldn't change a thing about her. She is a very happy, curious, independent little girl (who is still attached to Mommy quite a bit). She loves to roam around and have her freedom, always stopping to study things. It is still hard to believe she is going to be a BIG sister soon, that's probably been the most difficult thing when thinking about having another- Cambria still seems (and acts) so little. I am sure it is going to be quite an adjustment, I keep telling her she has a few weeks to become a Daddy's girl. We have never had jealousy issues when we added another child and if we do have some this time I have a feeling she is still so young that she will get over them quickly and adapt. Happy 18 months Cambria, they have been a wonderful 18 months and we are so proud of you!

painting

I do occasionally paint for friends and I was happy to finally finish these paintings for a friend of mine. She gave me the canvases months ago along with one of her photos from Colorado. They are over 4' tall and I kept putting them off till Kyle returned. Fortunately they only took me a few nights. It did bring back some memories of my years of landscape painting in college- I can say I miss actually being in the place while painting (instead of from a photograph), it does make a difference.

More old pics.- 4th of July

We had a wonderful 4th of July weekend. Kyle's friend from Minn. came down for the weekend. We LOVE having company around here and Ryan is always a good addition. We grilled out, made homemade ice cream and smores around the fire pit with friends and watched fire works from our backyard- and of course set some off ourselves. We do love legal fire works h ere in Papillion. The kids enjoyed every bit of it- especially the fire works. Cambria, to our surprise, loved the fire works- the louder the better, because they got her attention. She has really enjoyed being outside this summer, especially in the early evening and when it's cooler. She just roams around exploring and is very content to be off on her own- this is when I wish we had a fence. My camera doesn't do well in the dark, but here are some of the better pictures.

Cambria was begging at the door when she realized everyone was out there. She had taken a really long extra nap that day and was ready to play pretty late. She was thrilled when I opened the door (I guess I should have washed her face).

Sparkler time!

so much excitement!!!

Fun watching the fireworks!

Pictures!

7/1/2009

Day before the MCAT. We decided to help Daddy take a study break at the Library and have a picnic lunch outside. The kids had a great time and enjoyed their first trip to the Library, until being rejected for a Library card because we live in a newer neighborhood- we had no clue, we just thought since we live in Papillion we could use the library (it was so sad, they were all excited about the books they picked out). I guess we will have to use the base library, unless we pay the $40- that's how much our zoo pass cost so we will stick with free and go on base.

6/30/2009

Our best summer purchase ever, was made last years and it is this blue plastic pool. The kids love it and have spent many hours outside in it this year. The best part is NO holes, we've had several blow up pools and can't seem to keep them from getting holes.

6/30/2009

Our curious little Cambria. She loves to explore and sometimes we find her climbing things. She isn't really into too many dangerous things or making too much of a mess (kind of nice for a toddler), but we do have to watch for her.

6/28/2009

Cambria's first time to actually play at the park. She was very interested in everything. She usually just fussed about the concrete, grass, or little bits of tires under her feet. I think the tennis shoes helped, now if only they would stay on.

Studying for the MCAT

Walking around at the park with big sister. Her feet are very chubby and she can only wear a few pairs of shoes and for some reason one of her tennis shoes always ends up falling off- she is usually bare foot. I am hoping baby girl#3 has smaller feet like Avalyn's, because Cambria is unable to wear any of Avalyn's shoes so I have had to buy all of hers new (difficult to do when you have so many cute little girl shoes already, not to mention finding wide shoes for girls is not easy or cheap- praise the Lord for Robees).

6/23/2009

Fish try #1. We decided it would be fun surprise after Kyle returned home to let the kids pick out gold fish. They were thrilled. We got 4 fish- Dorothy (Cambria's fish, named after Elmo's fish), Goldy (Avalyn's fish), Darth Vador (Gavin's black fish), and Pinky-Dinky-Do (the baby's light pink fish). Darth died after day 1 and the others (including Darth Vador 2) died within the 1st week. Kyle and I were frustrated, the tank wouldn't stay clean and we decided they were not the right fish for us.

The kids took the deaths well, thought it was so silly that Daddy flushed the fish down the potty, talk about it a bit and then moved on. We felt bad and after a week without fish we decided we would give Beta fish a shot, since we didn't want the trouble of an actual aquarium. We let Gavin and Avalyn pick out a Beta fish and I am happy to say several weeks later Daisy (dark red and magenta) and Luke SkyWalker (blue- like Luke SkyWalker's light saber) are doing well. The kids are enjoying them and Kyle and I are happy they are so much cleaner and easy to take care of. No pictures of Daisy and Luke yet, but I will have to do that soon.

Bye-Bye fishes it was fun while it lasted.

They were so excited when they realized they were matching they wanted me to take their picture!