35 week belly - yikes!

Took another belly shot last night (just about 35 weeks) and then compared it to the first time around...I think it's bigger and lower this time around!

baby #2

with Thomas

Hot day = Pool day

Trying to beat the heat and maximize our weekend in St. Louis, we spent plenty of time in pools and hanging out with friends. Saturday after naptime, Thomas and I chilled in the backyard in the blow-up pool.

I can't remember what I did to earn this look, but I'm definitely getting chastised for something!

Sunday we went over to the Lawrences' to go swimming. They've finally stopped calling T "baby Thomas," just in time for the new baby to come and take over the nickname. Here's Coop blowing water through a noodle.

Molly and her water wings

Thomas is trying on one of the kids' goggles.

Two pregnant ladies--me at 34 weeks and Maureen at 18 (I think).

It's so hot here...

...that even the squirrels are miserable!

Alli and Micah visit + the zoo

Alli and Micah were in town for a work conference Alli had signed up for, so they came over for dinner and spent the night. It was a short, but fun, visit, and Micah got to hang out Saturday morning for French toast and a trip to the zoo. I told him it was just a warm-up for his trip to the Millers in August. Our one child would look downright quiet and docile (ha ha!) compared to the five in that house! :)

Thomas had a great time running around the backyard with them all evening. He even shared his hats.

Saturday morning Micah, Ed, Thomas and I went to the zoo. It was HOT. Most of my pictures from the zoo are either of animals by themselves or of the back of T's head as he watches the animals, so not very exciting. But he had a great time, pointing out all the animals and making their noises. The monkey (chimp? orangutan?) house was definitely the highlight--for us adults because it was air conditioned and for T because the monkeys were just so much fun to watch.

My belly made a great back support for T as he watched animals.

Giant turtles!

Watching the lion (I think) with daddy.

The Invasion

While on one of our afternoon booze cruises, some people at another cottage on the lake (not sure if we actually know them or not) started launching water balloons at our three-boat entourage. The guys (Ed, Pat, Eric, and Corey) decided to launch a counterattack with squirt guns. Here's the video from that land invasion. Watch carefully, and about halfway through you'll see someone from the cottage tossing a bucket of dirty water at the guys. I guess they ran out of water balloons...

p.s. This would have been better if I could have added some dramatic music to it, but I'm just not that technologically advanced yet!

4th of July weekend

We spent the holiday weekend (plus Tuesday!) up at Pearl Lake. The weather was gorgeously hot, so we spent much of our time in the water, which was great (especially for me, since my belly is fairly weightless in the water!). Lots of good food, family time, boating, and attention for Thomas. Hope he enjoyed it...next time we're all together, he'll have to share the limelight with his new brother or sister!

An updated photo of the 7 of us

Water volleyball games every day. I even played twice, though I only hit balls that came to me--no jumping or diving--but it was better than not playing! And I still have a good serve, belly and all.

Thomas and Uncle Sam. Check out the difference between this year's picture and two years ago, below.

Watching fireworks on the pontoon boat. The fireworks at the lake are always great--people set them off from their beaches all around, so you can take a boat out into the middle and watch fireworks on all sides. This year my Uncle Mark and his trusty crew of helpers: Corey, Niki and Eric really outdid themselves. They covered the entire raft (8 sq ft) in boxes of fireworks and linked all the fuses together. Then they towed the raft into the middle of the lake (not the same middle of the lake where the boats were!), lit the fuse, and hit the gas to get away. The resulting show was probably 15 minutes long and awesome! Awesome in a scary way was another nearby boat, setting decent-sized fireworks off the front of their pontoon boat. NOT smart.

Thomas LOVED the fireworks. We had him saying "ooh, ahh" every time they went off. He was mesmerized.

The four of us on a booze cruise

Each day when we hooked up the three pontoon boats and took a booze cruise during slow time, we'd stop to swim and cool off. Thomas was not a fan the first day or two but then discovered how cool it was to swim under the boat, between pontoons. Then we couldn't get him back in the boat!

Standing on Ed, who is floating in the water, and holding onto me. No room on my lap for him! Check out Ed's cool visor.

Tubing with Aunt Jenn Jenn and Boppa. He liked it better last year.

Driving the pontoon boat

T was fascinated with the Regenfuss' dogs. He called Daisy (golden lab in the background) the "momma dog" and Bella (the little dog Abby is holding) the "baby dog." Corey called Bella a "one-bite dog," which I found extremely funny.

Squirt guns!

Uncle Pat is trying to share T's popsicle.

Jenn and I are floating to stay cool. The hole in the middle of the tube I'm on was perfect for my belly.

This shot looks better than it really is--Ed was willingly dismounting. Earlier, Pat launched him off with a good spin move, but I didn't get a photo of that.

T riding in the truck, something he slowly warmed to...

...after Abby showed him how much fun it was.

Such a cute picture! Dad and T in the model A

Thomas inhaling a donut in the special chair that mom painted for him. He liked it so much that it occasionally distracted him from eating. He didn't have that problem when it was a donut offered--just normal meals.

Practicing his swing

Where the Wild Things Are: A dramatic recitation

Thomas loves to recite passages from the book "Where the Wild Things Are." Tonight during dinner he was in prime form, so I got out the video camera. I included subtitles for those who aren't familiar with the book or might need a translation. He can do more of the book than this, but started whispering, which the camera didn't pick up, so I just edited it down to the good stuff. Enjoy!