Sandbaggin' Day!

At nearly 40 week pregnant, we headed to Dumont for the weekend to celebrate Sandbaggin' Day that my mom helped organize. It was a fun weekend and we all (barely) survived the heat. Ava enjoyed the parade and got tons of candy! Darren, Tyson, Josh, and my dad enjoyed some adult beverages later that evening while Rachel and I took care of the kids and my mom worked her tail off organizing and overseeing the event.

Sturgis Falls

A few weeks ago Cedar Falls had their annual Sturgis Falls festival. As many of you may know, I love this type of stuff. I love the carnival, the food, the vendors, the live music, everything that it involves. And I love introducing it to Ava!

Fun in June

Boy, I'm really slacking at this blog thing. I love going back and reading them myself so I'm going to be very upset with myself for slacking. However, as Ava has gotten older its gotten harder and harder to blog regularly. Lorinda and the twins, Max and Adam, and Lorinda's step daughter Madi visited in June. Ava wasn't quite sure what to think of two very busy boys invading her space, but I think she did a pretty good job sharing her toys with them. We enjoyed a day at the Falls with them and even baby Kai came along! The water was a little cold though! That same weekend we also attended Hannah's Sweet 16 party and got to see a lot of the Meinders Clan! Mari rented a bouncy house for Hannah's party and Ava had a blast jumping in it. Not sure who had more fun, her or Papa?

The Jiva girls threw a baby shower for me and another co-worker. It was unexpected, yet very appreciated surprise. I got some very useful gifts for Baby Malcolm, as well as some gift cards that will definitely be used here very shortly!

Father's Day was another very fun day. We headed to Beeds Lake in Hampton to have a picnic lunch with my family. The weather was perfect, so Tyson swam a little with Ava. She is like a little fish, loves the water!

After our fun afternoon with my family we headed to the Malcolm's for supper and to spend some time with Darren's family. Like always, Ava enjoyed roaming around on the farm and Sophie had a blast chasing kitties and who knows what other creatures out in the grove.

Baby Kai!

I can't believe I forgot to make a post about the best part of April! My blogging has been unsatisfactory lately and I promise to be better after baby arrives. At least while I'm on maternity leave, before back at work and real life kicks in! In my defense, this one was all typed up and I obviously forgot to post it! Anyway, the best part about April! I am an aunt! My nephew Kai Michael was born on April 9! He has been such a joy to have around and I've really enjoyed this whole aunt thing! Ava has been getting used to baby Kai and I think its been the perfect adjustment before she has a brother or sister of her own, living with us full time! She seems to love him by how much she talks about him and wants to pick out presents for him every time we go to the store. However, she is still a little reluctant to get too close. She hasn't wanted to touch him or hold him, but we've been able to give him a couple quick pecks on the forehead.

Malcolm: Party of 3

We took on last little family get-away as a family of three over Memorial Day. We didn't have much time off work, but it was the perfect long weekend. We decided to hit up Minneapolis! The only downfall of the trip was that we didn't get a single picture of the three of us together! Ava did a very good job on the ride up, but we also learned that having a toddler that is potty trained makes long car rides a bit more challenging than having a baby or toddler still in diapers. However, she did a very good job and had no accidents! We also learned that we now hate automatic flushers and why are public toilets so much louder than the toilets at home? We spent the weekend relaxing as a family. Enjoying the outdoor pool at our hotel, eating out, and hitting up Como Zoo. It was the perfect zoo for a toddler, plus the admission charge is free!

3+

Having fun in May!

This post is a bit belated, but we've been busy getting ready for baby! The circus came to town the first part of May and we took Ava. She loved it and hasn't stopped talking about the elephants, tigers, dancing dogs, and of course the miniature ponies. Unfortunately, we didn't get many pictures because it was dark and they weren't turning out the best. I had a wonderful Mother's Day. We had lunch with my family and spent the day relaxing and playing outside and at the park. Ava had way too much fun and crashed super early that evening, 5:30 if I remember correctly and slept until I woke her at 7:30 in the morning! I hope baby Malcolm gets the memo: We're good sleepers in this house! We've also been hitting up tons of garage sales and I'm expecting to hit up a TON more after baby arrives and we know whether we should be buying PINK OR BLUE!

29 weeks and a Glucose Test

Last week I went in for my 29 week check up. Baby's heartbeat has continued to stay at the high end at 169 this time. I also had the pleasure of doing my blood glucose test to heck for gestational diabetes. Always a pleasure. For those of you that don't know this is what the blood glucose test entails: After fasting the night before, you are given an 8oz "lemon-lime" sugary drink. This can be best described as flat Sprite with an added cup of sugar in it. It is extremely sugary and while not pleasant, I was able to choke it down. After an hour of the sugary drink working its way into your system, you are taken back to the lab once again where the nurse draws your blood. They then send that in to test your blood sugar level to determine if you have gestational diabetes. I passed with Ava, so sort of expected to pass this time. However.. WRONG! I about fell on the floor when my nurse called to tell me I'd failed. Now before they determine that you do, in fact have gestational diabetes you have to go in for a re-check. Which is basically the same thing as I described except its three hours long. Yes, you read that right... THREE HOURS. So needless to say, I have been here since about 6:30 this morning and should be done testing in about a half a hour. I should get the results sometime later today.