Ten on Tuesday

1. Let's start with some comic relief from Rowan. Yesterday he made up a song for Thatcher's birthday. It's set to a show tune melody, think dancing with top hats and canes, and it goes like this:

It's gonna be rainy

It's gonna be Wednesday

It's gonna be baby day!

Last week the boys saw the weather on TV and Zane realized it was supposed to rain on Thatcher's birthday. Of course it is, because Grandpa Blakley will be over joyed about his new little Grandson and need to say hi. Ever since this discovery they have talked about baby brother coming on a stormy day, hence the little diddy above. Sometimes Rowan switches out Wednesday with Stormy, just depends on his mood, but he's been singing it all day and all last evening. It's very catchy and quite celebratory for T's bday!

2. Now onto the saga of my stubborn little boy baby. We went to the hospital in the middle of the night Sunday, just for kicks I guess. My contractions were three minutes apart when we left the house and extremely painful. But still no progress towards actual delivery. After writhing in pain for hour at the hospital, with the very uncomfortable monitors on, they told me my uterus looked "irritable" (spoiler alert that's not all that is irritable) and I should go home to "rest." Right, because that is so simple when you're having contractions every five minutes. I spent yesterday trying to get thirty or forty minutes of sleep here or there between contractions and not doing anything. Boys both went to school and mom, who had graciously come to our house in the middle of the night as well, helped me be able to stay seated most of the afternoon. Things are better today but still trying to do nothing since any contractions will just be painful and pointless. We go in for induction tomorrow morning at 5am. I really hope little man corporates so his brothers can meet him tomorrow evening or they will be fully devastated.

3. Through all my misery as of late my boys have been so loving and cuddly. Last night Zane sustained a minor head injury when a 4x4 fell on his head. Long story, involving the new playset we were given that is yet to be put together, and Zane's engineering skills, that ended with a board falling on his head. He was very cuddly and sad, possibly slightly concussed, so we all cuddled and watched Finding Dory. They are so sweet and can't wait for one more little boy to be added to these snuggles.

4. Our garden is doing good. The beets are up, which according to Zane is a 'miracle.' The boys are diligent about watering their flowers in the front as well. We're hoping Grandma brings us some onions sets from the farm for us to plant. We are actively researching which type of trees we want to plant in the back and front yards. Sadly I think we can only afford one tree a year, but now's the time to plant so we're trying to get something planted soon.

5. In our last few days together of just Rowan and I he has needed lots of cuddles. Turns out he didn't realize, or we failed to mention, that Mommy would be going to the hospital and staying there for a day or two when Thatcher was born. I think he thought I'd go, have him (very quickly) then bring him home. So last week we explained that I would be gone for a couple days and that Grandma (who he adores) would be staying here with them. This was devastating and ever since he realized this he's needed extra cuddles and has been pretty emotional. Overall he's doing really well being a big boy, but we shall see what the next few days brings. In good news his tiny body can probably be cuddled while holding a baby.

6. T-ball craziness continues. I say craziness because last week Zane had practice on Wednesday, I thought because practice day had been changed from Sunday afternoon to Wednesday evening. False, apparently the six year olds now need two practices and at least one game a week. I said absolutely not Sunday after a week where he'd already played two games and had a practice. That's just ridiculous and a really quick way to make my son hate t-ball. Thursday they played a t-ball game in 40 to 50 mph winds (no joke) it was the stupidest thing I've ever been a part of. I couldn't even watch most of it because if I turned my head towards the field I got a face of dirt. The boys were great sports, but think the little first baseman might have ended the evening blind. Oklahoma problems!

7. Speaking of Oklahoma weather, storm season is upon us once more. We cleaned out our storm shelter in preparation for the "big storms" coming Sunday. In the end we got a solid five minute sprinkle Sunday afternoon and an evening of entertainment from the weathermen who were all jazzed and over reacting to the first "storm" of the season.

8. For everyone wondering how the coin situation played out I'm guessing that the coin has passed since Rowan has had no complaints since then and has pooped multiple times. However, a week later he still thinks every poop as a coin in it. Who knows? I didn't investigate but assume he'd have had issues by now if it didn't pass. Never a dull moment here that's for sure.

9. Today was the last day of just it being just Rowan and I. Sadly it was very boring since I can't do much. Rowan told me I needed to clean my room this morning, which was a fair observation, so he helped me do that. We watched some Stinky and Dirty, he road his bike around while I watched, built some Legos, napped, looked at pictures, played in the office, and enjoyed our daily salads together for lunch. It was a gloomy, chilly day and he was bored to tears for most of it. I have so enjoyed these past nine months of just him and I, bitter sweet to see it coming to a close.

10. Well that's a wrap from the Korenaks. We're off to the hospital in the morning. I'm ready for it to be over. I am anxious about what unforeseen things might lie ahead, praying there are no huge surprises with this baby. Thanks for everyone's prayers and well wishes, keep them coming I'll need all the help I can get. I'll post pictures of our little man just as soon as I can.

Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet 2017

Last night was the big night, The Annual Blue and Gold Banquet for the Cub Scouts in Pack 348. We joined Cub Scouts on a whim at the beginning of the year. We didn't know at the time that this was the first year that this pack would have a Lions Den, for Kindergarteners. This turned out to be a great way to ease us into the Cub Scout experience. It also meant that at a lot of events the Lions were kind of forgotten about and didn't really have anything to do, but Zane and his fellow Lions did great. To be fair every other kid in the Lions den has a big brother in Scouts which is probably why the Lions were formed this year. This is also a huge benefit to Zane, who won top popcorn sales for his Den because no one else sold any, since their big brothers were selling. Win, win, win!!

Zane has enjoyed all of the cub scouting adventures this past year. He's had monthly den and pack meetings, most of which he's attended. There have been various other fun things like the fall campout, which was a huge hit, though sadly rained out a day early. And of course who can forget our first Pinewood Derby experience at the beginning of the year or our months of popcorn selling. He has learned a lot and completed all the necessary requirements to move on as a Tiger Cub. He had a little booklet with adventures that they did throughout the year as well as memorizing the Scout Motto (Do Your Best), Scout Law, and the Scout Oath. These are all good things like be respectful, kind, thrifty, clean, and other various pledges that are all around good to live by. He also frequently tells me that Cub Scouts pick up trash when they see it, so we spend a lot of time collecting trash in parking lots now.

Last night was the end of the year banquet for the whole pack, which Zane was less than thrilled about attending, after spending his entire morning planting trees with the scouts. He really wanted to know what kind of "party" it was going to be, which we all know banquets are not really parties. But we dressed up in our Class A uniform (which for the little Lions is just a t-shirt) and headed to OCU for the big event. Grandma came along for the three hours of fun as well. We attempted a final family of four photo before we left, but sadly the four year old power struggle got the best of us so we failed at our attempt.

 It was pretty cold yesterday morning but these two spent all morning learning about how best to plant a tree and then got this lovely little guy planted. It is in front of the gym, where we go all the time, so Zane will be able to check in on his tree frequently. Rowan started out with them, but I soon had to rescue him from the cold. I hear Zane was a great sport through the whole four hours of hard work in the cold. Cub Scouts are workers and love nature, just like Zane.

I am a very proud Mamma!

Here it is, our failed attempt at a final photo. Zane and Zach look amazing. Rowan and I look like crack pots, but that's our life currently.

The banquet was just like you think it would be, really long, boring, and Zane's time to shine (receiving his Lion Badge) lasted about one minute. There was a cake contest, which I got to judge, including a "Grouse Cake" category that had a brain cake, which was very realistic and freaked Zane out. He stood up to all his friends who were trying to get him to eat it and said he didn't want to, which ended in a few tears, but I was very proud of him not giving into peer pressure. Yes, this small life victory was a highlight of the three hour long ceremony. A really old boy scout (think 90 years old) gave a presentation on the history of scouting in a terrible British accent, we ate (while nothing was happening) for an hour, and there was the big crossing over ceremony for the Webelos who were becoming Boy Scouts. All very dramatic and unnecessary.

He knows the Oath, the sign, how to salute, the whole bit, and he does his best to obey the Scout Law for God and his country. Or something like that!

Here he is with his little Lion badge that I'm going to try really hard not to loose before he gets his new uniform!

 Here is Zane and his best buddy, he was so happy she came. Thanks Grandma!

I was very proud of my little Cub Scout for all his hard work this year, for taking all his tasks very seriously, and for hanging in through the very boring three hour ceremony. Next year he gets to wear the real uniform, with patches and everything, which he is extremely excited about. He is growing up so fast I can hardly stand it. As we were leaving Zach and I calculated there is the potential for us to have 14 more of these banquets, which is all together craziness. We'll take it one at a time, who knows what little Thatchy will be into!

Days Before Three

Dear Boys

We've finally made it, we are just days away from baby Thatcher coming into our family. It's been a long nine months and all of us have been through a lot waiting to meet him. There are moments, when I think about starting over with a baby, that I think "do I really have to do this all again?" But the overwhelming feeling I have, the majority of the time, is "I cannot believe I get to do this all again!" For years I have said I wanted just one more little boy to complete our family. I wanted to see you guys as big brothers and watch you grow up together as best friends. In a few days that journey will begin and our little family will be complete.

These nine months have been full of changes and I think through everything we have all ended up in a fantastic place. All of you boys have grown so much, literally (little Thatcher) and figuratively. Now we are about to take a big turn on life's road, into a new phase. I want to remember you each as you are right now, before we take that turn, where things are bound to become unraveled for a little bit.

First up, my biggest boy, Zane. Zane you started kindergarten right as Daddy and I found out we were going to have another baby. The start of school brought lots of changes, some difficult to adjust to. You were tired and missed playing with Rowan and I. A lot of what you were doing was hard, reading, writing, and your dreaded coloring skills. There were nights with big fits and meltdowns, but you persisted and now, months later, you love school. Just yesterday you even told me that you "love writing and coloring." You sit and color, read, and write letters frequently as well as your usual loves of being outside, exploring, playing baseball, and all sorts of imaginary games with little Rowan.

You're not only greatly improved in your academics you've really grown up as well. You are quite the big kid now, you stand almost up to my shoulder and weigh a solid seventy seven pounds. Sometimes I forget that you're only six and still need lots of hugs and cuddles, even though you look like your nine or ten. You still give me hugs and kisses and frequently tell me how much you love me. You're so tender hearted I pray you never change. For the most part you are a lovely, well behaved, happy, very helpful young man. When we first told you that you'd have a little brother or sister you weren't terribly interested in the whole thing, but as time has passed you have begun to take your job as the oldest brother very seriously. You have taught Rowan all sorts of important big brother knowledge, you're constantly practicing your baby care skills with Alice, and much to my delight you have become your pregnant mother's biggest helper. I'm so proud of everything you have done and know that you'll be a huge help once baby brother arrives as well.

Now on to my middle child, Rowan. Rowan these past nine months have been a tough transition for you at times. They started with Zane heading to school, leaving you home with your pregnant, sick, mamma. You have been my constant companion through this whole pregnancy, being very patient with me when I was sick at the beginning, and now when I'm huge and uncomfortable at the end. You have been a constant source of cuddles, kisses, and pats, not just for me but for little Thatchy too. You have been ecstatic about becoming a big brother from the moment we showed you the picture of tiny Thatcher months ago. You've been my motivation to get everything ready for him, you sing to him, talk to him, and he gets all sorts of love from you everyday.

You have grown so much and have become quite the independent little man this year. You have learned to play by yourself amazingly well, help me when I ask, and you always meet Zane with big hugs when he finally gets off the school bus. You two have learned to play together so well and will both be amazing big brothers. You are ready to take on all the responsibility and have promised to be a big helper to Mom and Dad. You've recently begun to grow into your middle child role, I hope you remain my happy, little, snugly, singing boy through all the changes.

Lastly, to my sweet baby boy Thatcher. As a third child myself you will always hold a special place in my heart. Third children are easily missed and could very easily never come to be. Please know that we decided to have you because we truly felt a piece of our family was missing. As the third boy I am sure throughout your life you will be met with this sentiment, "Oh they were trying for a girl and they got another boy, your poor parents." We want you to know that from before we ever decided to have another baby we both were hoping to have another boy and we could not have been more delighted to find out we were being blessed with a third son.

Right now you seem huge to me as you kick and squirm in my belly. You have the hiccups CONSTANTLY. They start every morning at six, like clock work, and anytime I sit down long enough during the day to think about it, I realize you have the hiccups again. I'm not sure what that means, but it's a big take away from pregnancy number three. Your pregnancy has definitely been my hardest and baring divine intervention, will be my last. I've thought you were trying to break free for a couple months now, with extremely painful contractions, but you keep holding on awhile longer, possibly scared of the crazy, noisy, world outside. I have tried to enjoy our time together, but I'm so ready to see your sweet face. There was a time I truly thought I'd just have one son, so welcoming my third little boy into the world is quite miraculous. There are so many people excited to meet you, who already love you so much little man.

With all my love,

Mamma

 

Spring Break 2017

I had been dreading a whole week with Zane and Rowan at home while being so pregnant. Turns out the boys and I had a great Spring Break week. I am so proud of how well behaved they both were, but Zane was really my shining star. He has matured sooo much this year and is officially a huge help, both with entertaining and playing well with Rowan, and with actually doing things for me around the house. He is very protective of me and made sure I was doing ok, asked what he could do to help, and successfully did numerous chores like laundry, taking out the trash, sweeping the floor, and just general picking up, without complaint. At this point I will take any and all help and it does my heart good to see him growing into such a helpful, happy boy.

We tried to do something fun everyday, even if some days that something fun was a trip to the park, every little thing counted. There was also lots of boy fun at home. Zane tried to teach Rowan how to play Mario Cart, but neither one really likes playing video games that much. They like the idea of playing video games, but quickly loose interest and move on to other things, like pretend teaching school or coloring, which I love!

 Last Monday Zane got a Rainforest coloring book at the Sam Noble gift shop. At the time it took him forever to pick out and I was confident he would never use it, but just really needed to sit down so didn't care. Turns out he loves it. The book has realistic drawings of different animals and there is a picture of each one on the flap so he knew what colors to color it.  He has almost colored them all, with help from Rowan, Grandma, and I. We are already braining storming which animals we want to color next. I love coloring so this is a huge, wonderful surprise to me.

 In the move we unearthed two broken, old computers, that I can't figure out what to do with. Rowan and Zane now use them in their pretend schooling or Rowan's work. Better than collecting dust in the garage I guess.

Zane's choice of funtivity one day was to go to Martin Nature Park to see the snakes. There use to be building there with all sorts of critters to see, but it is apparently under construction. So we went on a nature scavenger hunt, that was provided to all the spring breakers, most of whom where highly disappointed that they couldn't go see the snakes. It was a little chilly, but we did play in the park for a little bit before lunch with Daddy. The boys really missed Zach while he was gone Mon-Wed, but did so good in his absence. I was amazed. 

Above is Rowan's park look, complete with two top buttons unbuttoned and I later noticed his bottom one was undone as well. Very stylish. Below was my Target find of the week. My first, and possible last, attempt at matching outfits for all three of my boys!!! Cat and Jack clothes at Target have the same color schemes from baby to big kid which really helps. Rowan is very jealous of baby Thatchers outfit, but there weren't green pants in his size sadly.

Most of spring break it was pretty chilly, but towards in the end of the week it warmed up and was gorgeous over the weekend. After I realized on Friday that Zane's first t-ball game would be yesterday, we stepped up our baseball practices in our new big yard. Rowan is LOVING IT! We found and old pair of Zane's cleats, which are at least two sizes to big, but he doesn't mind. Thanks to hand me downs we even have two baseball bags and helmets so both boys are geared up and ready to play. The only issue s that Rowan isn't actually playing until the fall, but he is getting lots of practice. He hits ground balls to Zane, who is practicing fielding and throwing. They have had a blasting playing together at Korenak Spring Training in the backyard. 

Side Note: Last night's game went shockingly well. Zane has matured so much in the past few months, I could hardly believe it. He paid attention, knew where the next play was going to be, fielded some balls, made good throws, slid into second to avoid an out, and of course was a big hitter. He also reported having "so much fun" on our way to get ice cream which is all that matter. He played an inning as catcher, complete with all the garb, which I found very entertaining, but he wasn't too sure about.

Zane's first hot fudge sundae!

Friday was St. Patty's and the first day it was going to be nice all afternoon. We had been planning on spending more time at the farm, but between chilly weather and mom's house being under construction, we only made it up for one day. It was gorgeous and we had a blast. Here are the men before daddy headed to work.

The boys looked extremely cute in their St. Patty's green and everything at the farm looked like spring. Flowers are up, things are leafing out, and the wheat fields are green.

In the afternoon my dear friend Emily brought her boys out to play. They are all the same ages, the oldest two are just two days apart, and they all got along smashingly. Emily's kids had never seen the tree house before and were thoroughly impressed by it. Riding tricycles down the huge ramp was also equally as fun, of course!

While the boys played I got to catch up with Emily. She is my oldest friend, the one you don't have to see for years, but when we get together it's like no time has passed and we remain as close as ever. She has always been a great light in my life, through all the chapters, I am so glad we got to catch up and can't wait to do it again soon!

After the Hester's headed out Zane went to retrieve the possum carcass he had found earlier in the day. The old pump house down by the hay bales is always full of nature treasures. This one had leathered skin and everything. He felt sure that Great Grandpa would know how to get the skin off the bones, and did ask him, but turns out that is outside of Great Grandpa's expertise. Zane and Rowan both visited with Grandpa, which is so special and lovely to see. Glad he was able to come over for the day of fun as well.

Over the weekend Zach and the boys worked on our small garden projects for this spring. We are going to have this small little bed in the backyard this year, since we can't afford building raise beds, and I'm sure we won't have lots of time to keep up with them this summer either. Everyone was very workers, except me of course. The finish product has pavers around it and should be about the right size for the time and energy we have currently. We have great plans for our big yard, if only we had any money!

We planted flowers in the front, and by we I mean mostly Zane. He is such a worker and kept at it long after his little brother had lost interest and daddy and I had lost energy. He has also watered them everyday since and we have added a few gnomes (one in front and one in back) to protect our new plants. I have no idea where Zane got the idea they protect things, but we'll roll with it.

Our last adventure on spring break was a Pokémon party at the park, Sunday afternoon. In a random turn of events the birthday boy is the son of a girl I went to high school with, she was a few years younger than I was so we weren't really friends, who now lives in the same neighborhood as we do. The boys go to the same school and use to ride the bus together, so are good friends. It's such a small world. We picked up our old neighbor's son on our way and got a glimpse into our near future with three blonde headed boys. It was unbelievably windy, and borderline too hot, but the kids had a blast. It was a fun end to a great week off.

Everyone made poke balls  (I have no idea what that is, but Zane did) and took turns wearing Zane's new Pokémon glasses. Thanks Grandma for getting those for him, who knew we would need them so soon.

I ended the week with slightly more hope for my summer when I'll be home with all three of them during the week and then working on the weekend. We could not stomach the stupid amount of money it would cost each week to have three kids in some sort of child care. I will go back to work around the first of June which leaves ten or so weeks of weekends to work. Hopefully I don't loose my mind and everyone can get along. 

Parenting Badges

In parenting their are rights of passage that everyone most go through. The early ones begin during pregnancy and, at least for the mothers, aren't terribly pleasant. Once your sweet bundle of joy arrives each day is full of new firsts, rights of passage, welcoming you into parenthood. I like to think of each of these as a parenting badge. It starts with sleepless nights and especially for us boy moms getting peed on multiple times a day. Then their is the oh so special vomit down the front of your shirt or into your bra if you're a really lucky Mamma.

I've so loved watching, and being a part of, Able and Kari's first adventures into parenting. They are killing the parenting game, doing an amazing job, and collecting all the usual parenting badges that come in the first two months. I've gotten a few sweet reminders of newborn badges as of late myself. Alice loves her Aunt Audra so much she threw up down my shirt within the first month of meeting me. That's a feeling you block out once you're out of the baby phase, but I quickly remembered that helpless feeling as warm vomit runs down your chest, sweet baby love! Last week they collected the not as common, but often needed, change the baby's diaper in the trunk of the car badge. That one sometimes takes first time parents awhile to collect, but those two aren't messing around, they knocked it out in the second month, well played.

In my years as a parent I've collected all sorts of parenting badges, some more fun than others, but each hold a special place in my heart. First set of stitches, check! Marked that one off early in little Rowan's life. Zach was the lucky recipient of having your child throw up everywhere on you/all over the airport when Zane was twoish. I acted like I didn't know who they were so I can't claim that one. First time your kid pees at the park, your child survives a near drowning (Uncle Able to the rescue), first facial bleeding, first game of is it poop or dirt, and the fun goes on and on. I do think that as a boy mom a lot of my badges will involve injuries of some sort. For example I feel sure our first broken bone could happen any day. I have no idea how Rowan hasn't broken a bone yet, with his tiny little arms/legs.

Yesterday we collected a pretty common badge. We took our first, probably not last, child to Urgent Care after he swallowed a coin. Classic scenario, and one of my fears as a parent. Lucky for us the coin was plastic and Rowan actually told us he swallowed it. Two things that made the situation some what easier. I had only worked eight hours yesterday so I could come home and rest. However, about thirty minutes after getting home Rowan said his belly hurt. I initially ignored him because four year olds always have a complaint of an ache or pain, it's what four year old are notorious for, also they lie. But then he said it hurt because he had swallowed a coin! There went my restful evening eating grilled steak and a baked potato as we had planned. Traded in instead for an evening at the doctor.

I immediately went into the panic of a penny stuck in my child's airway eroding his trachea/esophagus, surgery, and all the worst case scenarios, which as an hospital RN is all I ever see in regards to foreign bodies. Rowan claimed it was a toy coin and that it was an accident, then denied everything when we told him he'd have to go to the doctor. A full blown meltdown, puppy dog tears, denial, "it was a joke, I'm joking, I didn't swallow anything." Sorry kiddo it's too late, and off to our friendly neighborhood children's after hours Urgent Care. We really should have a punch card for that place, after four visits the fifth is free, type of deal. This was where Rowan got his stitches and where my kids always end up when they have strep.

Luckily no one else was there and we quickly saw the doctor, got an x-ray, and confirmed that yes indeed there was a coin about have way down his esophagus. The x-ray was pretty impressive and they were nice enough to give me a disc of the image, for posterity. They told us he should be fine, but that he couldn't eat until the morning and we should take him to the actual ER if he had trouble breathing or complained of terrible pain. Otherwise we just wait for it to "pass." So the rest of our evening was spent watching and waiting for what might come next. Zach and I went ahead and packed hospital bags for whatever type of hospital visits might come our way in the next few days. There was definitely a point last night where I thought Rowan and I both might end up in the hospital, which would truly be the story of my life.

So here it is, parenting badge #1034, kids swallows coin!

Next week we will start over with another child, back to the beginning, back to the first badges, getting peed on, getting thrown up, not sleeping. Then there are also my very favorite badges, rocking babies to sleep, singing lullabies, smelling their sweet little heads for the first time, baby baths, tiny toes, and watching brother's fall in love! Oh how sweet it is, I can't wait!

Ten on Tuesday

1. Zane has recently requested to start writing letters to his Grandparents and Great-Grandparents. We started with Valentine's Day cards and last week we sent St. Patrick's Day cards to everyone. Unlike in the past he actually is writing in the cards, not just drawing stuff and putting stickers on the paper. He catches them up on various things ranging from his t-ball practice/number to our adventures in trying to catch a leprechaun at our house. His hand writing is greatly improved along with his spelling. I hope everyone enjoys getting his letters as much as we enjoy writing them.

 2. Rowan went to his four year old check up last Wednesday. He weighed in at a whopping thirty five pounds and is forty two inches tall, which apparently are the 40th and 50th percentile respectively, so he really is an average size four year old, even though he seems so tiny to me. He's doing all the things he should be doing, he can hear, and see, and did great getting his Pre-K shots. He was in rare form this particular day with quite the funny little personality as he talked to his favorite doctor friend!

 Later that day, after Zane came home, Rowan wanted to play basketball with Zane and the neighbor kids, but also wanted to be fancy. Here's the outfit he picked out to accomplish fanciness and sportiness. Oh and his new Sperry shoes arrived in the middle of this, so he needed to rock those as well!!!

 3. This week we have had a leprechaun on the loose in our house. Zane had one in his classroom as well, he must of followed him home. After Zane and I's sad attempt at a leprechaun trap (a box with a little hole in it and jelly beans inside), which obviously didn't work, Zane decided to enlist our resident engineer to build a new one. If there is one thing Zach is truly phenomenal at it's over engineering stuff, resulting in an amazing leprechaun trap. Somehow this amazing trap did not work. After multiple nights of setting it and our bait being eaten, we have decided he's tiny and can escape from the hole where the string goes in or he's huge and just reaches in to get the Lucky Charms/jelly beans. Sneaky little guys!

 4. Spring break started on Friday for us and this picture was Friday morning at 7:30am. This cardboard box was a solid hour of entertainment for these two. They have soooo much fun playing together this days, I love it. They have also been wonderfully behaved/extremely helpful the past two days while Zach has been out of town and I remain extremely pregnant.

 Rowan is in the box, head first at this point!

 5. The other big highlight of our spring break (and I'm not kidding) has been my ten dollar investment in an electric pencil sharpener. This was spurred on by our letter writing, but has been great entertainment for days. I have a house full of sharpened pencils and have done lots of coloring with the color pencils we never used before! Who knew it would bring so much joy to these kids!

 6. Friday's outing (we can really only handle one a day now a days) was to Dairy Queen for Blizzards. With the other two boys I had a blizzard at least once a week, often much more, since it was in the hospital at St. Louis. With little Thatcher this was my first one, at thirty six weeks. It was amazing, needless to say. Rowan, who seriously does not like ice cream, ordered a brownie sundae without the ice cream. Try that sometime when you're at DQ the worker guys there were highly confused by it, but Rowan loved his brownie, sans ice cream.

 7. We have been lucky enough to see little Alice three days in a Ro!!! Can you imagine my children's pure joy??? They are both very helpful, though possible a slightly over stimulating to a baby. Zane is getting very good at holding her and loves every minute of it.

Alice and Zaney!!

Today we babysat baby Alice while her daddy worked a little bit. Rowan was in charge of getting diapers, burp clothes, mixing formula, and making sure Alice was warm. Yes, that's his beloved blanket he let her use, greater love hath no man than to give his blanket to his cousin. He also held her a few times, but still needs quite a bit of help with that.

8. Yesterday's short outing to a bouncy place with Aunt Anna morphed into a trip to Norman/Same Noble Museum. The boys thoroughly enjoy Sam Noble and as an added bonus they were having lots of Spring Break activities including making frog masks and digging for fossils. The boys had a blast, I might have over done it just a tad and spent the evening making plans on how I was going to get to the hospital, who would watch my kids, and who would be in the room where it happens if I were to legit go into labor. We ended on Able taking me to the hospital, mom watching the boys, and Anna won the coveted prize of birth coach! Good news I did not go into labor so Anna may still have kids after all!

9. Today's outing was Rowan's choice, since Zane had spent naptime with Grandma. Rowan randomly chose bowling. After a failed attempt at bowling at Main Event, with the rest of OKC, we ended up at the ghetto bowling alley which was much cheaper and we only had time for one game, which was perfect. Both boys did great and I got to sit down for the whole thing. Win Win!!

10. Zach gets home tomorrow night so hopefully Thatcher can hang in there for a little while longer. I am highly annoyed that after weeks of eighty degree temps spring break has brought us some chilly temps, why??? I think it might warm up in the next few days, hoping we can make a trip to the farm before baby boy arrives. I go back to the doctor tomorrow, we shall see how everything is going. I'm fully miserable and officially tired of being pregnant!