CHKD run/walk for the Kids

Ready to Race!
These 2 pal around a lot together!

Erin and her Bobble - when he was running the 8K, Erin asked if they would say "Jim" or "Bobble" when he crossed the finish line!

The Nieter Runners

Anna is so sad the race is over!

We walked in the CHKD fun run/walk for the Kids again this year. Well, let me rephrase that, some of us walked - Anna rode, while Erin opted for a shoulder ride from Bobble. Anyways it was a great, hot morning and I'm always so moved by all the people that come out to support CHKD. Maybe it's the pregnancy hormones, but I get tears in my eyes when I go to that place because I'm just amazed at all they do there to help children. We are truly blessed to live close to such a special place. We promised Anna we were just there for the race, we wouldn't be getting a room this time!!!!

Anna's a big sister!

Anna is sporting her latest shirt which says, "I'm the Big Sister!" Anna will join Erin in the ranks of big sister in December. We are very excited, a little overwhelmed and knowingly complete with our 3rd child on the way! I'm thrilled to not be hugely pregnant over the summer as I was with the other 2 and think this will be an extremely fun Christmas. We know the Lord already has determined if we'll be seeing pink again or blue this time. We honestly don't care either way. Part of me really wants a boy, but would feel very comfortable with a girl. Despite everyone's first thought, Joe actually prefers to have all girls! My only fear with a girl, is not being able to find a name with as much significance as the other 2 girls! We did learn that I will have a high risk ultrasound to specifically look at the baby's heart, so we can be prepared if there is a defect. I have a 3% chance of having another baby with a heart defect, not really a good chance at all! So there you have it, an official announcement for baby #3! Now, I think I'll take a nap!!!!!

Can we keep one?

We have a little duckie family again this year. A mommy duck was blessed with 10 fuzzy little ducklings, and has only since lost 1(so sad). So every morning we check out the window for the ducklings and count them to make sure they're all there. Anna gets the biggest kick out of the little fuzzies. They have become very comfortable with our yard and come up very close to the house so we get a good look every day! Erin of course wants to keep one and have it as a pet! Ha! We have on a couple of occassions had to save them from other ducks and neighborhood kids, but that's as far as our involvement will go! It amazes me how momma duck keeeps her cool with 9 babies toddling around!

Rides at B.G.

Another Saturday, another Busch Gardens trip. It is so fun to watch the girls grow up and get to do new things each summer. Anna took her first ride on the Flutter Sputter and her first solo ride on the ladybugs. A couple of weeks ago Erin conquered the Big Bad Wolf. She claims she loved it, but doesn't want to do it again! Can't believe how fast time goes and how big they are getting!

What a week!

Well, it's been quite a week. The dizzy spell starting it off didn't make for an easy going, fun-filled first week of Summer for Erin. Tuesday was a recovery day for us and adjusting to daddy going back to work. Wednesday Anna had her first Speech Therapy appointment here at the house. I really liked our therapist, but get tired of having to answer so many questions about what she can and can't do. You think you would know everything your child has the ability to do, but then someone asks you, "does she ever do this..." and you just go blank. Our goal this week is to work on getting Anna to imitate sounds, so if you here me repeating animal noises or car sounds over and over again, you'll know why. We did both learn a few new sign language words, so I'm happy about that. There is one small issue the therapist is concerned about, so if you'll just pray that the Lord gives me peace about the situation and which avenue to pursue, I'd appreciate it. Thursday was a challenging day from start to finish. Anna is really testing her independence, so much that she felt she should be able to push the cart at Target while sitting in it. Didn't want my hands anywhere near it. Stupid me tried to squeeze a quick grocery trip in too, which led to opening a bag of goldfish in the store and letting Anna have full reigns of it and eating half of it. By 6:00 when daddy got home I declared myself off duty, fell asleep on the couch at 7 and was in bed by 8. Friday was a little better because we stayed home and played games and cleaned the playroom. So there's our not so luxurious week in a nutshell. Erin didn't complain much, she enjoys being home and doing art. Anna has taken to art now too and climbs up to the table and starts coloring with Erin. I'm just praying that next week is a little less stressful, then again, Anna will be closer to the age of 2 with every passing day!!!!!

Not as Planned

Where's the rest of them?

2 little blondies!

Going for a ride!

Well the only thing that went as planned this weekend was that we actually made it to the beach. It was a beautiful beach day Saturday morning, a nice cool breeze, but lots of sunshine. We had so much fun with all our cousins!

Everything else went awry when we were leaving the beach and I started feeling unbelievably dizzy. We were able to get home and then I spent the rest of the day Sat. and most of Sunday on the couch unable to do much of anything else. I've had these dizzy spells twice before and have been diagnoses with deep inner ear problems. It is like an ear infection, but I have no warning signs of it coming on and can only treat it once it happens. Usually after a day of Sudafed I'm better, but this one lingered on into Monday. So all our plans for this fun weekend went out the window. Joe did take Erin to Busch Gardens and I stayed home with Anna. I'll have pictures to post on that soon. At least it's the beginning of summer and we'll have lots more fun weekends, cause this one sure was a bust. I hope to get a referral to an ENT in the very near future to see how to resolve this annoying issue.

ByeBye Preschool!

Erin and her teacher Mrs. Wrigley

This is Parker and he and Erin have become quite close friends the past few weeks....keeping our eyes on him!

The end of Pre-school has come. Erin had her 4 year old program on Friday and said farewell to New Covenant. Luckily, Anna will be there in a year so we don't have to say goodbye for too long. I could not have asked for a better place for Erin. The teachers are so nurturing, loving, comforting and this little girl can tell you so much about the Bible. She is so excited about Kindergarten and learning to read. She'll go to Atlantic Shores next year for 1/2 day Kindergarten. I'm so glad it's half day cause I'm just not ready to let her go full time.

After the program we headed off to Chuck E Cheese with our good friends to celebrate the day. Chuck E made a special appearance which always makes her day.

Friday night we went to the school play Cinderella with Elena Kay and Jenny. The girls wore their princess dresses and got to sit on the front row. They loved the show and being princesses for the night.