GRADUATION DAY

Natalee officially graduated from her Pre-K/Mother's Day Out program this week. We have been so blessed to have had such a wonderful year. She absolutely adores her teachers and all the wonderful friends she has made. Natalee is such a sensitive soul. She has not been herself since the graduation ceremony. I finally sat her down and asked her what was going on. She told me, " I'm going to miss all my friends. I don't like that I won't get to see my teachers every week." This is when the true water works began. I explained this just meant she got to spend more time with Rylee and I over the summer.  That thought didn't calm her down... it may have made her more upset ;)

We have decided to hold her back from Kindergarden next year. I went back and forth but truly feel another year under her belt before we throw her into a strict schedule will only help her developmentally in the long run.  She is going to attend a five day pre-k program from 9-2 Monday through Thursday and 9-12 on Fridays. The program is amazing! They really work on mastering all the skills necessary for Kindergarten. Rylee will go Monday and Wednesday from 9-2. This allows for a much needed Momma break on those days! 

It's funny what defines "break" these days! A break for this full time Mom means cleaning alone and uninterrupted. It means running errands without the fear of meltdown and grocery shopping slowly. Our normal shopping experience looks a lot like the old show supermarket sweep. I don't know why I watched that game show as a kid but some days I feel like I'm living it. Of course I love spending every moment with my little ones but some days my brain needs a break.  I try to squeeze as much as I can into the 10 hours a week they are both in school. 

It is getting HOT here and we are ready for SUMMER! 

 Proud lil sis

 I'm so thankful they have each other

Our new friends and best buds

Rylee's Words...

Wanted to make sure I documented Rylee's "words"

Favorite word right now at 2 and 1/2 " My boody" as she stick her bee hind out.

Her blanket = Lampie

Natalee = Lollie

Prayers = Purs

Liploss (of course that is in my kids vocab) = lip bock

Mandy and Kristy (her teachers at school) = Manie and Pippy :)

Maddy (our dog) = Mannie

Don't do that = Don do dat

Breakfast = bebast

I love you = I la u

A couple years later...

It's safe to say I'm not a good consistent blogger... I have come to the conclusion that this is the best way to keep our out of town friends and family up to date on our crazy life.

Two years later in a nutshell... We had "little sister" and what a blessing she has been to our life. We moved into a new home, Trey started a new job, I left my company to start the stay at home journey and my babies have turned into little girls. Now you're caught up...

I have always wanted to start a journal for the girls. I wanted to start one for each of them to read as they became young adults. I wanted to document their stages throughout the years. What I came to realize is that I had already begun that process when I started this blog back in 2008. To me, this is a keepsake for our family documenting "life." It is not a "perfect" life but it is our life and I love living it. The good and the bad :) I am so thankful to be home full time with my kiddos but it has been a big adjustment. Transitioning from corporate America to "mom life" has been a challenge. After one year I am finally starting to settle into my new role. Now that I've worn both hats I have a tremendous amount of respect for both sides. It takes a strong person to work full time and be a mommy. At the same time it takes a lot of strength to be with those precious babies 24/7! What a gift they are! So what do we do now...? I have taken up gardening, haha. Seriously... I have... and I love it. Give me a hat, a plot of land and some garden tools and I'll be a happy camper.

This girls planted sunflower seeds this year and we are so excited to watch them grow! 

Life has been full of changes this past year but we are so thankful for our family and can't wait to see what God has in store for us. We are looking forward to a fun filled summer! 

Getting ready for little sister!!!

We finally finished the nursery!!! I have to say it wasn't what I first had in mind but I love it. I wanted to do something totally different than Natalee's. Believe it or not Trey actually wanted the purple and gray color scheme. The challenge was making this room look different than Natalee's considering we were using the majority of her old furniture. Hopefully the baby will love it as much as we do :) Natalee loves to play in there. She goes into the nursery and says, "Rylee's room." She has a new found interest in all things baby. The bottles, pacifiers and baby toys have become her new favorite things. Talk about regression!!!

We found out today that I'm 3 cm dilated and 75% effaced. The doc didn't think I would make it another week but who knows...? I've had very intense contractions throughout the night (not so good for sleeping) but they ease up in the morning. I don't remember playing the waiting game like this with Natalee. Last week they estimated her to be about 8lbs. She could weigh about 8 1/2 lbs by now. I'm getting a little worried about her size. It seems like I have a huge baby by the way she stretches out in my stomach. I can hardly move when she's moving! They will look to induce on Nov. 21st if I haven't gone on my own by then. I highly doubt I will make it that far. I feel like I have a couple more days in me. My nesting instinct has kicked into full gear. I feel like I need to clean my house every day. I also decided to get up at 4:00 a.m. and start working. I feel like I will never be caught up enought to take a 3 month leave. I sit in bed and think about work so why not just get up and get stuff done? I know this sounds crazy but I have a feeling this is normal behavior for the end of pregnancy.

Loving Fall

Needless to say we've been a busy family this past month! Birthday's and Halloween have kept us on the go. We have had so much fun this fall! Natalee loved all the Halloween festivities. We've been able to spend a lot of time with Halle (Liz's daughter). Seems like she always has more fun when they're together! I think she's also starting to understand that we are going to have a baby soon.

Speaking of #2... I'm officially full term! Can't believe it! I'm so thankful to have had a relatively normal pregnancy. Minus the weekly injections I've had an easy 9 months. Last week I was 1 cm and 70% effaced. She is head down and ready to go. Who knows when she will decide to make her grand entrance. During our last ultrasound they determined her weight to be around 8lbs 4oz (give or take a little). For my sake I'm hoping this was an over estimate. We go back to the doctor Tuesday and will hopefully get a progress report.

Dad and Trey's Birthday Dinner

Loving Boo at the Zoo

Halle and Natalee = Best Friends

Haunted House with Daddy

Me and my little Tinkerbell

8 Months and Counting...

I know I've been terrible about keeping up with this!! I didn't realize the craziness that would come with pregnancy and a toddler. I don't know how women have kids closer in age than this. Hats off!!!

We've been quite the busy family over the past couple months. Natalee turned 2, started back to school and Trey and I have been working to get ready for number 4 in the Mack family :) Natalee had a great Birthday! She got spoiled as usual but I think the part she loved the most was being surrounded by such wonderful family and friends. Her personality really comes out in a crowd. She loved having a house full of people. It was truly a Happy Birthday! I can't believe how much she has grown since July. I feel like I am going to blink and she will be starting Kindergarten. She has started to turn into a little girl and not a baby:( She is able to tell you what she wants (and she does all the time). Trey and I are constantly laughing at what comes out of her mouth. The kid is hilarious. She definitely realizes she is going to have a little sister. She'll pull my shirt up, kiss my tummy and say "baby." We put up the crib and now her favorite room to play in is the nursery. All of a sudden she wants to play with the baby toys and get in the crib. I hope she is as excited when we actually bring the baby into the house!!!

As far as little sister goes things are going great. I have somehow managed to avoid bedrest. Although, some days I wish they could put me on bedrest for about 3 days. I'm starting to feel all the aches and pains associated with being 8 months pregnant. I didn't have that with Natalee since I was on house arrest. Carrying around 25lbs of baby weight and a 30lb toddler makes for some achy evenings. At my last doctor's appointment they said everything looks to be right on track. I was a bit nervous since I had noticed more frequent and intense contractions over the past couple weeks. When they checked my cervix everything was holding steady. I am 100% convinced that the progesterone injections I'm getting every week have worked a miracle! I am so thankful to have been a candidate for the drug and able to get the weekly shot. As much as I hate shots I never though I would be thankful for getting one. With only 5 more to go (down from 22) I find myself getting excited for Trey to poke me. It just means I am one more closer to being done and meeting this sweet little girl! I get my last shot October 27th. It is anyone's guess when this little one will make her debut after that. Some women go into labor within the following week and some make it to term. I'll go on the record and say my prediction is that she will come between Nov. 5th and 10th. Trey's prediction is the 11th-15th. I believe they will induce no later than the 20th if I havent gone on my own.

Thank you for all the prayers and sweet messages! We feel so blessed to have had a somewhat normal pregnancy experience.

8 Months...
Loving the zoo

Happy Birthday!

Getting creative! She doesn't like to get her hands dirty.

The only picture of the 3 of us :( She isn't even looking.

Lots to Celebrate!

We have had so much going on this month! I've been trying to keep Natalee entertained with her mother's day out program being out for the summer. In between work and the little one we've been going non stop. Oh yeah... not to mention I'm busy cooking our next little bundle of joy :)

Speaking of the pregnancy... everything is going perfectly. It seems surreal to even read that statement. I had prepared myself for another rocky road. I know we have many weeks ahead of us and things can change in a moment but we feel very optimistic at this point. Today I saw the perinatologist to get the final okay to fly to Chicago for a business meeting (and a little Nikki time). My cervix is holding up great and the baby looks amazing weighing in at a hefty 1lb. I will continue to see either my primary o.b. or perinatologist every week. If anything goes off track we will be able to catch it quickly. Knowing me I'll go to 41 weeks with this one and need to be induced, haha.

We are busy getting ready for Natalee's Birthday!! I can't believe she will be 2 years old on Monday. We are having family over Sunday to celebrate. She is growing up so fast. Some days I wish it would slow down. She is going to seem so big once the baby comes. I honestly think Natalee knows she is going to be a big sister. This week I asked her where the baby was and she pointed to my stomach and gave it a hug. I told her to give baby sister a kiss and she leaned over and kissed my belly. I love these sweet moments!

Natalee decided she would rather watch fireworks from inside. She didn't like the loud noise.
What a ham!

Such a happy little girl

Lovin the splash pad