Marion County Fair

Jason and I took the girls to the Marion County Fair on Tuesday night. It looked like it would be the "coolest" evening this week (hahaha). Charlotte had been asking for weeks to ride a horse, so we took the girls to the pony ride first thing. We also walked through the animal barns to check out the cows, horses, and chickens. They were showing pigs that night, but we didn't stop to watch. We must have been too early or too late in the week for the rabbits and sheep. We also let the girls ride some rides on the midway... only three each because the fair is expensive!!! Afterwards, we headed over to the McD's in Wanamaker for some ice cream.

Charlotte on the pony (Teddy)

Chloe's turn

And last, but not least, Sophie

Her sticker said, "I rode a pony!"

Our girls

Charlotte liked these two.

I thought this horse's hair was so cool!

Sophie and Charlotte on the boat. Chloe was too tall to ride.

Chloe and Sophie on the teacup ride.

Charlotte rode the dragon while the big girls did the teacup.

I have no idea what the real name of this ride is... it's Chloe and Sophie "flying".

Chloe rode the Rockin' Tug by herself because Sophie was out of tickets.

Charlotte and Jason on the carousel

July Birthday Party

My Grandma Harrod, Dad, Audrey and Sophie all have birthdays in July, so we decided to get together last Saturday at my parents' house to celebrate their special days. We had a yummy dinner and dessert, followed by opening presents, then some water fun in the backyard.

Sophie and her cupcakes

Audrey opening some of her gifts

Mamaw and Charlotte

Sophie's turn to open a gift

 

My grandma gave Sophie and Audrey some of my grandpa's coins.

Little bathing beauties

37 Week Appointment

Total weight gain: 30 lbs.
Blood pressure: 106/60
Fundal height: 38 cm
Baby's heart rate: 135 bpm
2 cm dilated, 50% effaced

19 days until the baby's due date!!!

Happy 8th Birthday, Sophie!!!

Today, Sophie is eight years old! I can hardly believe it. There were times I thought that I wouldn't survive, but here we are! :-) Sophie was a pretty easy-going baby, but when she hit about 18-months-old that all changed. She has been a firecracker ever since. As difficult as it might be at times parenting a very strong-willed child, I know that the strength in her convictions can serve her well in life. Sophie is sweet and affectionate, fun and silly, and sometimes short-tempered and unreasonable. She has made huge progress over the past year learning to control her anger and outbursts (and by that I mean uncontrollable fits of rage). I am very proud of the way she has matured this past year, and I love her more than words can say.

Happy Birthday, Sophie!!!

Enjoying her cinnamon toast

We gave her a card with a hamster singing "Happy Birthday".

Opening birthday gifts from me and Jay

Charlotte, Chloe, Elizabeth, Sophie and Rachel

Rachel and Sophie

Chloe and "Lizbess" talking something over with Charlotte

We gave Sophie the choice between having a birthday party or spending the day with a friend. She chose to spend the day with her friend Rachel. (Rachel's sister, Elizabeth, is one of Chloe's friends, so she came over too.) We dropped Jason off at work, then picked up the other girls around 9:15 AM. We spent a couple hours at the pool, had lunch at Wendy's, and spent the rest of the day playing at home.

Kids Night at Fazoli's

I was feeling too tired to cook and Jay didn't want to grill (can't imagine why not), so we went to Fazoli's for dinner on Tuesday night. We discovered after we arrived that it was Kids' Night. There was a balloon artist, and the girls enjoyed watching him work. Chloe and Charlotte both asked for dogs and Sophie got a cat and a mouse.

Build-A-Bear

One of the things that Sophie wanted for her birthday was a Build-A-Bear, so I took her to the mall on Tuesday afternoon to pick out a new stuffed friend. (Chloe and Charlotte each brought an animal from home, and I let them choose an outfit.) After much deliberation, Sophie decided on a bunny (which she named Becky) and an outfit. I had $20 worth of coupons and Bear Bucks, so it wasn't a costly trip!

36 Week Appointment

Total weight gain: 29 lbs.
Blood Pressure: 106/60
Fundal height: 37 cm
Baby's heart rate: 145 bpm
1 cm dilated, 20% effaced

Sprinkler Time... Day Two!

Or if you're Charlotte, time to play on the rings...

Sprinkler Time!

Just For Fun

My aunt sent this old photo with Jason's birthday card this year. That was back in May, and I've had it on the refrigerator ever since. I thought it was too great not to share with the world, well, with the little portion of the world that sees my blog. I think I might have been 19 and Jason 20 in this photo, but I'm not sure.

35 Week Appointment

Total weight gain: 27 lbs
Blood pressure: 110/70
Fundal height: 36 cm
Baby's heart rate: 140 bpm

I was supposed to have a 34 week appointment, but my doctor went on vacation, so it was rescheduled for today. Now I go every week until the baby arrives. I was 100% convinced yesterday morning that we are having another girl, then had doubts again by the afternoon. I guess we'll know for sure soon enough!

Big Family Fun at the Children's Museum

We took a family field trip to the Children's Museum on Thursday. I think that there were 23 of us, so we were quite a large group! Somehow we managed to stay together, see just about everything there is to see, and not lose anyone... And have a great time on top of all that!

Sophie, Chloe, Josh, Christian, Caleb, Luke, Nick, Nate, and Bumblebee

The whole group

Sophie was preparing to dig up some Chinese terra cotta warrior statues.

Angel and I were helping Charlotte rebuild the statue.

Charlotte with the finished product

Uncle Lincoln was helping with the dig.

Building the arch in ScienceWorks

Jason with Charlotte and Sophie (on the deer behind Charlotte's horse) on the carousel

Angel and Nick played with the Tinkertoys.

Charlotte loved riding the horse: giddy-up! (Jason and I ran into our high school Spanish teacher right after this.)

Caleb and Christian deeply involved in their game of checkers.

Sophie, Chloe and Charlotte in the tree house

Post-lunch picture

Charlotte's a natural on the runway! :-)

She really likes the slide in the Dora & Diego exhibit.

Little Noah playing in Dora & Diego