This Baby's a Little Eager

I know that I've been slacking on the posts recently (I hope this doesn't become a habit). But the big news in our house has to do with little baby boy who should arrive within the month. Well, actually, it will probably be a lot sooner than that. This past weekend I had a LOT of Braxton Hicks contractions--for those who don't know, those are "painless" contractions that are just supposed to be practice. Anyway, they just kept going and going one night...I was getting kind of worried! But they finally stopped. I've been taking it easy since then, and attributed it to not eating the best meal for dinner on Friday night. Well, yesterday, I went to the doctor. I'm not quite 36 weeks along and I'm already 3 to 4 centimeters dialated and 80% effaced! (Yes, that's a lot). Now, both my other kids have been over two weeks early, but I'm not prepared to have one 4 weeks early. So, alas, I'm on "semi-bed rest." That is, I'm taking it pretty easy for the next couple of weeks to hopefully keep the little guy inside as long as I can.
I know, you usually hear about people wanting the baby to come sooner, but I'm just not ready yet! Jonah has to start preschool and I have to teach Young Women on Sunday and I have to read Breaking Dawn (okay, so that last one isn't so urgent). But anyway, please keep us in your prayers that this baby won't come out until he is ready. Micah gave me a blessing and that has helped calm me down and strengthened my faith that the Lord will watch over us. So who knows how soon you'll be seeing baby pictures--let's hope that it's not TOO soon!

Fourth of July...Minus the Fireworks

The Shirts family on the Fourth of July, 2008.

This year we decided to make a long weekend out of the Fourth of July. The first big event took place at the zoo (although we had just been a week before, we can never seem to get enough of the place)--and the kids had been looking forward to it for weeks. This time we went with Grandma Barrington, Uncle Michael (my brother), and his girlfriend, Caroline. We saw the animals, the highlight being Scotty, the baby elephant. The new tiger exhibit is also pretty cool; the tiger was laying right next to the glass so we got a really close look. (The top picture is of all of us posing by the fence that Uncle Jeff built for his Eagle Scout project. It's still there after all these years!)

Finally came the big event: Dora the Explorer! Yes, Dora was visiting the zoo, so we trudged up the hill that was insanely too far away for a pregnant woman to have to go. Unfortunately, it seemed like everyone else had also come to see Dora as well. We got in line just as they announced that Dora was taking a 15 minute break--not the end of the world. Then she returned and we slowly made our way to the front. Michael and Caroline were real troopers, since I know that seeing Dora wouldn't be such a highlight for them. Finally there was only one person in front of us--we could have reached out and touched Dora right then. Of course, it was at that moment that Dora had to take another break, and we ended up standing around for another 10 minutes. But when we were finally able to have our turn, the kids were delighted.

It was better then they had imagined; Boots, Backpack, and Map were there as well. Katie even gave Dora a hug and petted Boots's nose, which is saying a lot, as Kate is very shy around new people (and sometimes people she's known for a while). I guess all the Dora episodes we watch made her not so shy. So we got our pictures and then headed back to Grandma's house for a family barbeque with Grandpa, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Monica, Andrew, and baby Allison. Was it worth the long wait to see Dora? Well, the kids both said that it was their favorite part of the zoo so the answer is yes. Will we do it again if she comes back? The answer to that is not so clear cut.

Check out these Fourth of July moves!

Kate and cousin Andrew hamming it up for the camera.

The rest of the weekend we spent up in Louisville. On Saturday I had a lot of shopping to do so Micah, Grandpa, and Michael took the kids miniature golfing. The kids played in the backyard pool and had a great time. After that Micah and I saw Indiana Jones (it was fun, I'd recommend it). On Sunday we went to our beautiful niece's blessing. Baby Allison (my brother, Jeff's, daughter) was blessed and we were lucky enough to be there. She looked so cute and the kids had a great time. Overall it was a really fun weekend. We never did see any fireworks, which is fine because both of the kids are scared of them. Maybe next year!
Having a splash in the backyard (Kate wouldn't take off the Dora hat...I guess she was still revelling in the bliss of having actually met her favorite cartoon character.)

Tigers Baseball Action

This year Jonah played t-ball for the very first time. He was on the Tigers (which also happened to be the name of his soccer team this past fall). Soccer wasn't the greatest experience for us, but baseball is definitely Jonah's game. He loved every minute he was out there. Micah had a lot of fun being an assistant coach, too. I don't mean to brag, but I think he had some pretty awesome hits and catches! The season ended last week, and the final game was played in the rain, which I think the kids all thought was way cool. That's when they got their trophies. Unfortunately, I hadn't brought my camera because I didn't want it to get wet and the trophies weren't supposed to be until the next game, which ended up being cancelled. So, alas, no trophy pictures, but there are a few others that we took throughout the season. Jonah will definitely be playing again next year!

Kate and I had fun watching the games...sometimes she really wanted to play, too!

Here's Jonah and Dad in the dugout.

After a grueling two innings (that's about all the kids would last!) you gotta have a snack to get back your energy.

Adventures in Potty Training

I sometimes think that having to potty train a child is required of all parents as a lesson in humility. At least, for me that's how it works out. We've been working with Kate for about a month now. Don't get me wrong--she has made significant progress (thanks mostly to jellybeans, Starbursts, and the awesome Dora potty chart that Daddy made her). In fact, when she went to bed on Sunday night, she hadn't had an accident in five days, even after a weekend at Grandma's house where we went to the zoo and miniature golfing and a baby blessing. She stays dry at night and during her nap. She sometimes tells me she has to go, and a few times has gone in by herself. So, you see that I had good reason to be thinking, "I think we've got this. Wow, I'm so lucky. She'll be completely potty trained way before the baby comes."

And then the bubble burst. Yesterday she had not one, but two accidents. The first was very frustrating, for I asked her if she had to go potty. "No, I don't have to go. I'm alright," she said. Silly mommy to believe her. Not two minutes later she says, "I don't have to go potty!" as she proceeds to mess in her Pull-Up (thankfully she wasn't in underwear at the time). I run her downstairs to the bathroom and she keeps laughing about how funny it is. "This isn't funny, it's yucky!" I shout to the 2 1/2 year old. She laughs more. I am so frustrated that I am almost angry...and then I realize how silly it is to be angry at a toddler for something like this, and how sweet she is to still be laughing even though her mommy is having such a bad moment. Take a bite of humble pie, Mom.

Later, after dinner, she has another accident (kind of my fault this time, as I neglected to take her right after eating). Anyway, my visions of the end of potty training came crashing down to reality. I am simply not blessed with one of those overnight potty sensations. But she is doing very well, and has resumed to her accident-free status today, even going to piano lessons and an indoor playground with friends this afternoon. So I still feel hopeful that she'll be pretty trained before the baby arrives.

Either way, I'm hoping that from now on I can be a little more like Kate and laugh at the silly accidents in life, no matter how frustrating. Wouldn't we all be a lot happier that way?