Happy "Guess Date," Baby Charlie!

Welp.  We made it through another 40 weeks of pregnancy.  Baby Charlie is staying put for the moment, but I always feel the need to at least acknowledge when the guess date arrives.  "Practice waves" (Braxton Hicks contractions) are amping up a little more each evening, but I'm pretty sure this kiddo won't be here in the next few days.  Which is good, since we've got plans!  Tomorrow we'll celebrate Elliot's birthday, and then Daniel's birthday will be right after that.  Charlie will come at the perfect time, whenever that is, but I'm hoping it's not until Tuesday--when the birthday celebrations are done. 



We took the kids to a hotel recently so they could practice their survival swim skills.  Oliver hated his floating time in the pool, but we were at least reassured that he could still float pretty well, and he could definitely float and scream.  The big kids loved their pool time, and we all enjoyed a hot breakfast the next morning in the hotel's large atrium.  Tonight, while going to bed, Lucy said, "I can't wait for baby Charlie to come because then we get to go back to the hotel after that!"



With the cooling of the weather, we've really been enjoying riding tricycles/scooters in the front yard. 


We do this mostly between 4-5:30, when everyone is sort of done, and I'm just staring down the clock for Daniel to finish work.


Elliot loves his tricycle.  I've never seen a 2 year old having a panic attack, but I'm pretty sure it would look something like Elliot when one of his siblings tries to ride his tricycle.  I get it, but it also kind of drives me bonkers.



Lucy is as obsessed with Doc Mcstuffins as ever.  Her collection of Doc paraphernalia is ever-growing.  And speaking of panic attacks... you can pretty much bring one on by suggesting she share her Doc toys with anyone.  When I tell her we are having friends over to play, her response is usually, "okay, but I don't want to share my Doc things, so can I hide them?"



We carved pumpkins (little ones) this year.  Oliver almost stabbed Elliot's eye out with one of those little pumpkin-carving-kit-blades.  I can't believe I allowed a one year old to hold a carving blade.  Thank goodness he didn't actually make contact with Elliot's eye.  It began raining about 1 minute after the above photo, so we packed it all inside.  The kids were really happy with their carved pumpkins, though they didn't last long.  How are you supposed to prevent mold growth in those things?  I should Google that sometime.



Lucy and Elliot are slowly growing in their appreciation of what day it is.  Mostly their reference points are the garbage trucks.  They know the garbage truck comes Monday and Thursday (and that the recycling truck also comes on Thursday).  And they know Elliot has gymnastics on Thursday and Lucy has it on Friday.  And they know we go to Bible Study on Tuesdays (which they don't like... I'm not sure why).  Garbage truck days are their favorite.  The garbage truck scares the snot out of Oliver, which is why he's not in the above picture.  Nonnie was holding him.



Oliver loves driving cars and trucks around the house, making "vrooming" noises.  It's really cute. 



I've been shooting a lot for a photography class I'm taking.  It's caused me to look for dramatic lighting more often and to "take responsibility for everything shown in the frame," which means basically keeping the house much tidier than usual. 



Actually, I've been wanting to do that anyways--so the class has been helpful in more ways than one.



We are getting ready to transition the kids back to their bunk beds.  We've allowed them to sleep on our bedroom floor for many months now -- but with baby Charlie coming, it's time to move them back across the hall.  Wish us luck with that transition... the whole reason they ended up in our room was the constant night time awakenings.  Those haven't stopped.  So we'll just see how this goes.



In the still-hot, early days of this fall, this was our go-to set up in the backyard.  The water table, with the hose making a sort of fountain into it.  The kids could spend hours playing like this, and it was SO nice. 



I'm behind on posting pictures I've taken.  I'm going to try to get caught up before Charlie''s birth.



Happy "guess date," Charlie!  We'll just... see you when we see you!