AHG Vests

 I am really trying to get my to-do list finished by my due date.  I am working on lesson plans and the baby's room for the most part, but I have a few other things that needed to be complete before Tad makes his grand entrance into the world.  For example, the girls' AHG vests needed some serious patch sewing.  I finally actually read the instructions and found that sewing these with transparent thread and red bobbin thread looks much better, not to mention it was so much easier!  I rarely read instructions.  I'm more of a ghetto seamstress.

Just look at their vests!

I am holding off on posting the baby's room pictures for two more things to be completed.  However, I will still have two empty walls because of our lack of a name for Tad.  I want to order this shelf for him when I know his name.  Then I want to make a name plate like this headboard with the rope name on wood, again once I know his name.  Brian is in charge of that project anyway, and he will have more time after his boards to make it.  I have a bunch of things I want to sew his name on, but they will just have to wait.

So that this post isn't completely boring, I'll add an adorable picture of my silly guy at the end wearing his sister's slippers.

I LOVE him!

Tad's time has almost come...

Look how huge I am!  I have the belly that just keeps on going.

Yep, I am one week from my due date, and I'm now getting the twin question all the time.  "Twins?" they ask with a knowing look.  "Nope, just one big baby," I reply.

I went to the doctor today and was 3cms dilated which is promising.  I opted for membrane stripping because that is better than induction and the only way I have ever had a baby without Pitocin.  So, now I am contracting and will wait and see if they get stronger or fizzle out.  If they fizzle it will have at least dilated me some more and brought me closer to labor.

Still no name.  Our list just keeps growing too.  I am hoping to have it narrowed down to three names by th time we go to the hospital, but I am not sure it's going to happen.  Here's a general list if you care to offer your opinion.

Judah Michael (Full disclosure...my all time favorite name.)

First names:

Jacob/Jakob

Matthias

Lucas

Peter

Paul

Matthew

Benjamin

Middle names:

Kellan

Cecil (my grandfather's name)

Thaddeus

Gerard

Augustine

Brian likes the more common names, and I like the more unique names.  Can you say "Impasse?"  He'll be lucky if he comes home from the hospital with an actual name at this point.  He may have to stay Tad.

Happy 5th!

Happy birthday to my Isaac!  Genna made him his breakfast of choice this morning.  She made him cereal, yogurt, and a waffle with powdered sugar.  He turned 5 today and had his birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese.   

So, Isaac picked superhero cupcakes.  I found these adorable cupcakes and bought everything I needed long in advance.  Then a week ago, Isaac tells a friend of mine that he doesn't really like cake.  He's getting an ice cream cake.  Oh?  So I decided to still make the cupcakes, but to also order a Carvel cake since I recently tried one of their cakes and thought it was amazing.   Then there's that whole 39 week pregnant thing.  Genna was quite shocked that I ordered a cake.  "Have you ever done that before, Mommy?" she asked me.  I, in fact, have never ordered a cake before.

I took pictures before we traveled to Chuck E. Cheese, just in case.  Turned out that they traveled fine with the shelf liner to help keep them in place.  However, the minute I set the container on the table at Chuck E. Cheese, Drew grabbed it and flipped it over.  :)  Luckily, most of them didn't break and we pieced the others back together fairly well.

I made the toppers using Candy Melts, zip lock baggies, and wax paper.

I found this idea on Pinterest for superhero pop favors.  Easy and quite the hit!  I made some Tootsie Roll Pops and some Blow Pops because Isaac's 5 year old privilege is gum chewing.

The Carvel cake was delicious and Isaac loved it!

Isaac got almost all superhero gifts.  He said the best part of the party was playing games.  For dinner we went to Uncle Julio's since they had a free desert for the birthday boy and they give the kids tortilla dough to play with while we wait on our food.  

Peg People

The good guys:  Spiderman, Captain America, Robin, Batman, Superman, Hulk

My girls are all about making gifts for people when they have birthdays.  Hannah made some of these peg people (the first two) for our neighbor's birthday and Isaac begged her to add on a few for him.  He loves them so much that she decided to make him some villains as well for his birthday coming up on Friday.

She looked at this website for inspiration.

Villains:  Two Face, Loki, and Joker
She got her inspiration from this website.

Brian and I really think she did a great job on these.

Happy brother!

The Artist.  She looks like Yoko Ono in these glasses, right?

Genna also made peg people for Isaac, but she went with the Star Wars theme.  She did a really good job as well!

Chewbaca, C3PO, Darth Vader, Yoda, Luke Skywalker, Boba Fett

Everybody Gets a Haircut Before Due Date...Check.

I always cut everyone's hair before a new baby to buy us some time in that department.  The girls and I all went together to get our haircuts.  I got a trim and texturized because I am having fun braiding my hair lately and want the ease of a ponytail once the baby is born.  I didn't cut it as short as usual, but it still needed to be thinned a bit so it's not so heavy and puffy.

Genna's hair was getting too long, tangled, and heavy so she got a trim.   It looks like more was taken off than what we actually did because without the weight her curls are rejuvenated and shrinks the look of her hair.

Hannah wanted hers lopped off to her ears, but her daddy couldn't take that so we compromised with an above the shoulder cut.  She does her own hair 98% of the time now, and this makes it easier for her to still look presentable.  My stylist really didn't want to cut it all off, but Hannah assured her that's what she wanted.

I gave the boys buzz cuts one afternoon on the front porch.

He really loves his Dorritos!

I used a no. 4 on this funny little man.

I used a no. 2 on this cutie.

The only person I could not convince to get a haircut is Brian who normally keeps it nice and short.  This summer he has decided to start on a mustache too.  I am anxiously awaiting the end of this phase.  :)

A Birthday Party

 We had a birthday party at the Little Gym and the kids all really had a great time, especially Drew who could run free and be safe at the same time.

The Best Little House Guests

 We had some visitors last week, not for the whole week though.  My good friend was on bed rest and then in the hospital for one night.   (She is due with her number 4 mid- August, like me.)  We watched her three girls one day, and they spent the night one night as well.  Isaac is the odd man out since the rest of them have a playmate their age, but the girls tried their best to include him.  They had a lot of fun, and it was a pleasure to have them over!  Very often I feel like people are always helping me out and I don't get the chance to help others.  It feels great to be able to help out a friend!

Drew made me proud because he was super gentle and sweet to his buddy.  He kept hugging her and asking her to play trains with him.

A Guess who? game in one room...

...and a chess game in the other.  Look how far Drew has come!  He didn't mess up their chess game even once!  So much improvement!

If I can handle seven kids then surely five is doable, right?  I don't know if that really counts though since these girls were such stellar house guests.  They were constantly offering to help, took good care of their littlest sis, and even helped me fold laundry.  The littlest sis (one month older than Drew) was so easy compared to a typical day with Drew.