Life is Sweet

So, I found out today that I passed my 3-hour test! My scores vs. the cut-offs (83/95; 167/180;147/155; and 114/140). So excited that I celebrated with a cookie and sweet tea with my lunch. Makes me wonder if I really had gestational diabetes the first time around. I will say that I did pack on the pounds this month - nearly 10 pounds! The nurse even weighed me twice because she didn't believe it. Considering I have a ways to go, I hope that this trend doesn't continue or I will be a house by December.

In other news, Kendall has been doing very well at daycare. She doesn't cry at all any more in the mornings and she even seems to get excited as a I pull into the parking lot. Add to that her original daily reports listed her mood as "demanding" and that today she progressed to "happy" I'd say we are doing pretty good. She also loves to sing and dance at daycare and several of the teachers have remarked at how smart she is. It is still very hard to only be able to see her a few hours every day, but in general I am happy with the place that we chose.

Add to that...Aaron also thinks that he has a pretty good group of students this year (although it is still early)...life is pretty sweet.

New Digs

Well this year Aaron is back to teaching 5th grade. He is teaching English Language Arts and Social Studies. He also moved into a new building. He is actually pretty lucky and somehow wound up with a room that is about 8 feet bigger than most of the others on account of a dividing/partition wall.As is the case every year, Aaron convinced me to help him decorate his room. Here is a shot of the new classroom in the new school - Aaron is now a Frances Mack Tiger rather than a Sandhills Intermediate Crocodile.

Kendall is helping to organize Daddy's desk - he sure does have a lot of pencils.

Lo' and behold...some schools actually still have good ol' fashion chalk boards....on the other wall is the fancy new white board.

And, as is the case this year, I vowed never to come help him again. It always seems we are too rushed and end up in some disagreement over decorations.

Here is just a random shot of Kendall helping me fold laundry. She now likes to try to dress herself - that is a bathing suit top around her ankles. Hey, I guess you have to start somewhere.

Aaron's first day with kids is tomorrow, although he has gone the last two days for teacher work days. Today was mommy's first day to drop off Kendall. I actually had the day off, but took her anyway. Turned out pretty well since I have come down with a hellacious head cold and only got about 5 hours of sleep last night. It wasn't too bad...she did cry a bit, but recovered in minutes (before I even left the building) and I am sure I will pick her up early this afternoon so that we can have some alone time. In the meantime I have managed to clean both bathrooms and will attempt to mop the floor...no rest for the wicked.

Back to the Grind, Back to School

Well it is back to work for Daddy tomorrow and back to daycare for Kendall. Kendall had a few days at daycare last week, but came down with a cold on Wednesday so ended up hanging with Daddy on Thursday and Friday while she worked on feeling better. The doctor said it must have just been a bug. She worked hard at sleeping it off all weekend (13 hours last night) and we discovered that she has terrible nightmares/terrors. But, she is feeling much better now and back to her old self. Daddy is off to work tomorrow and Tuesday to prepare for parents on Friday and kids on Tuesday. Even Mommy has to go to work on Monday as she eases into her new work schedule which only allows every other Monday off instead of every Monday that she was so accustomed to. Ahh, summer!...it was fun while it lasted. So, we spent the last weekend of freedom visiting the museum, local parks, and going for a bike ride.

Daddy introducing Kendall to "He-Man." If you look just right you can see Skeletor on the computer screen.Kendall pushing the button to make the water come from the palm tree at Corley Street Park. Kendall loves to play at the park.

Kendall pushing Daddy down the slide.

Kendall pushing mommy down the slide.

Kendall loves her new green chair that one of mommy's co-workers gave us.

Looking a bit more serious.

Also included in this post are the last few days with our visitors. The Monday before they flew out, Uncle Aaron took the girls to Frankies to have some fun. Below are the girls with their loot - a ring pop for Kendall, a glass for Uncle Aaron and a shot glass for Carmen. Look at those faces.

Carmen and Isabel after the ride.

In the roller coaster simulator.

The girls strike a pose.

Look at all those golden tickets!

Isabel's whole-in-one.

All three girls putt-putt golfing.

Here is the bar - all nice and stained. Here are the guys working hard to finish the stain on the new cupboard.

Again it was great to have them visit...and help so much!

Backroads in Maine

Well we are back from our vacation to Maine with the Mason family. It was a great time. The weather couldn't have been better, the scenery was beautiful, and the experience was great. Aaron and brother Adam on the last day. Rather than actually hike to this vista, we cheated and went shopping downtown then rode the van up to the look out.

Aaron is waving from the tower.

Rick and Linda wave from below.

On the last night, the camp cooks made us all fresh lobsters. They were delicious. Even Aaron had some and we can now safely say he isn't allergic to all shellfish.

Here is the rest of the spread. This was typical of all of our meals. The food was awesome. I don't think I have ever or will ever eat this well on a camping trip again.

We tried lots of new things. Here are some clams.

We had one nice dinner out at Natalie's. It was very nice and the food was great. Here is my dessert (multiple flavors of sorbet).

This was the main course - Halibut.

Squid was the appetizer.

Included in the trip was a lobster boat excursion. It was very interesting to learn all about the history of the industry and to actually catch a lobster.

Since this was a recreational boat, they pulled their traps the old fashioned way.

Here we are at the camp site watching the old guys play the kids in touch football. Aaron contends that this was his biggest workout of the trip.

One of many huddles called by the old guys. Notice that they are all resting on the ground while the kids are still on their feet.

Bar Harbor.

Biking the carriage trails in Acadia National .I actually did close to 11 miles this day. I had a flat tire about 2 miles from the end, but our great guide fixed me up and sent me on my way.

Aaron looking good.

Me trying mussels for the first time.

Here we are as we embark on our journey - a four mile hike to our first camp site.

It was a great trip! Thanks to everyone for making it all possible for us!

Babysitters

So prior to leaving for our Maine trip, Gma and Gpa Redmond and the Denja girls arrived in SC to graciously take care of Kendall for the week while mom and dad were away on their Backroad's camping trip. They actually arrived on Wednesday prior to our leaving Saturday and left Tuesday after our Friday return so it gave us a chance to visit with them as well. Here we are at the local bowling alley prior to our leaving for Maine.
Here we are at Folly Beach after we returned on Saturday. It rained nearly the whole time, but we had fun anyway!

We did actually have a reprieve from the rain for a brief bit which allowed us to look for shells.

Here is dad working on the jukebox that we got for the man cave. Dad also spent several hours applying polyurethane while we were away. Aaron and dad then finished up with the stain this weekend. Pictures of the finished garage to come. Here is a shot of Kendall trying out her new nap mat and sleeping bag that we bought in preparation for daycare.

Today I was back to work, our guests and helpers flew back to Michigan, and Kendall started her first day of school (a.k.a. daycare). Daddy dropped her off this morning around 8 and she stayed till about 3. Apparently she did well. There were no tears, she managed to fit in a 45 minute nap, and ate well. She was described as "quiet," which was a bit sad because we know she is far from it at home. But, so far so good. She even lingered a bit when Daddy arrived to pick her up. We'll see how the rest of the week goes. My baby is growing up (sniff, sniff)!

Pictures and description of our great trip to Maine to come as well. For more information on the fun that was had by the "babysitters" while we were away, see the Redmond's blog.

Yankees

It's been awhile, so time to catch up. Our great friends Beth, Mark, Becky, and Gary came down to visit us in South Carolina July 15-19. We had a great time hanging out. Here is Mark playing Celebrity.

Here is Kendall with her baby dolls. Beth brought a bag full of cute little dresses - one of which Kendall is modeling here.

We even got in a trip to Folly Beach. Kendall had a blast as did the adults.

We also took in a Blowfish game.

Beyond that we visited 5 points, went tubing down the Congaree and just generally had a nice time visiting.