Stuff about Baneenika (Anika): This little girl has had me in tears several times over the past couple weeks. Not because she's being naughty or out of control - quite the opposite actually. I've just been SO stressed out about the whole kindergarten thing. I have her registered and she is supposed to start on 9/2. I haven't felt good about it at ALL. She won't be 5 until December so I feel like she is on the very young side. I know I could have her take 2 years of kindergarten but why would I do that? Why not just keep her home? What's the rush? Why would I send her to kindergarten this early just to have her repeat it next year? I would have absolutely no problem sending her if it was half-day kindergarten. But it's full-day 8:30-3:30. Doesn't that seem long??! So I had decided that I would keep her home and look for other options. We really can't afford the preschools around here. We have some extra expenses coming up - Nathan interviewing (cost of applications, flights, hotels) and the baby. SO that doesn't leave us with much extra cash. =) I have her signed up for one of those high school programs but I think she will be the oldest kid there and it will be SO different from the preschool experience she had last year. So, I was going to do that and then do joy school with some friends. I still want to do that but I've been a little nervous the last couple of days (like I've committed to too much) since I'm having a baby. I just haven't felt good about any of the decisions I've made so now I'm in a rut. I don't know what to do. I've contacted the principal to see if there is any way to make an exception and put her in half-day. All they do from 12:30 on is lunch, recess, quiet time and free play. All things she can do at home. Anyway - enough rambling about that.
She is SO into bugs. She LOVES them! Especially beetles, worms, ladybugs, potato bugs, and butterflies. Here she is with a monster worm they found in the backyard!
She loves primary. She sings the songs they learn all week. She wants to wear her hair DOWN every day. If I insist on doing something with it she frets and frets that so and so won't like it. SUCH A GIRL!! She has Nathan's skinniness. Check out those ribs!! They are great fun to tickle! Nathan is so funny. He found temporary tattoos in the popscicle box and you'd think he just won the lottery. He was SO excited. So here are the girls in all their tattooed, shirtless glory!
Anika is SO excited for the baby. She loves to feel the baby move and to talk to him. It's so cute. She is going to be such a great helper. She loves to read books and her favorite book is a Childcraft encyclopedia called MAKE AND DO. She wants to do everything in the book!! She and Keslie are BEST friends and they can play for hours without needing me to do anything. It's a really nice stage and comes in very handy on days when I need to clean. Or like right now when I'm totally neglecting them and blogging. =) Here she is with her big grin!
Keslie - We ask her what her name is and she says KESS-OLE-IE, BODESSLIE and CUTE. =) She is so funny. Her voice is to die for! It's so fun to listen to her talk. Today we started potty training. Again. I'm just going to stay in the house as much as I can this week and see if we can make anything happen. She's really not interested but good grief! We just ran out of diapers and I'll be darned if I have to buy any more for her! I really don't want 2 kids in diapers!! We haven't had any success this morning yet. I just told her that if she potties in her panties again she will have to go naked. She said "NO! because then she (Anika) will see my Bowm(bum)!! She is having a bit of separation anxiety lately. She cries when I leave her places. She's just as cute and fun as ever!
Here is Anika brushing Keslie's teeth. Don't worry - Nathan does a "double check". =) If you look closely at Keslie you can see some of the remnants of blue stamps that Anika put all over her. There were a good 6 on her face and it took a few days to get them off!! NICE!
We have been having some GREAT rainstorms. It's pretty awesome. Most of the time lightning comes along with it but we've had a couple mornings that were perfect for stomping in rain puddles.
We wen't blueberry picking last week! It was so fun. I can't even think about the fact that we might be leaving New England next year. It makes me emotional. Anyway - I tried to get some good pictures of the girls but they were being goofy. Kes is trying to kiss Anika and Anika is not that into it. =)
Baby boy is doing great! He's definitely growing! I love this stage of pregnancy because of all the movement and then energy I have. I was so excited because we got a cash back award from our credit card of $250 and Nathan said I could use that to buy some of the big items we need for the baby. SO I've gotten my crib bedding:
And a new car seat! We went with this one:
And I got a peanut shell sling on ebay for seriously cheap!!
And I've been stocking up on diapers and wipes every time I see a screaming deal. Yay!! I'm so excited!
We still don't have a name for baby boy. We probably won't until after he's born. We just can't come up with anything that we really love AND agree on. We'll see! Any suggestions?
I was SLASHER for the first and third game and SLICER for the second. They wouldn't let me be DEATH WARRIOR - too graphic or something. =) I failed miserably as Slicer but came in FIRST place for the other 2!!! OH YEAH!! I'm most proud of the third game because there were 13 people and by then I was feeling a little winded. I think we were old pros by then! I knew how to HUNT! Anyway - after the game was over everyone gathered around to hear the scores and get their score cards. The announcer girl started with 3rd place, then 2nd and then she announced that Slasher had WON and we all cheered and I grabbed my belly and shook it at the teeny boppers and it was such a great moment!! =)
