Apple Pickin' Fun

Just check out that cutie!  What a hunk.  ;-)

 We went with some friends to Eckert's Farm where we got to pick apples.  I am really starting to feel the, "if I don't do it now, I won't be able to in 4 weeks" syndrome.  I did this with Andrew too.  In my head, I keep telling myself that I HAVE to get everything done right now because in four weeks, I'll be out of commission for months.  I know life will go on, but with three kids, it will all be more difficult.  So, we're trying to cram everything in we can now and are loving it! 
Eckert's was super fun.  It was much better than I thought it was going to be.  I saw on the forecast that our high for that day was 72 degrees.  I knew we had to take advantage of the good weather.  I was so glad that some of our friends got to come too.  We all had a great time!

 We splurged and bought some over-priced tickets for the kids to be able to go on the rides.  I was glad we did.  They were in HEAVEN!  Here they are on the mini Ferris Wheel. 

 They had cute little John Deer bikes for them to ride.  They loved it and would NOT stop to pose for a picture if their life depended on it. 

 They even had a little petting area with goats and camels.  Andrew was really into it!

 Anna, not so much.

 Now, this is an embarrassing photo of me.  I realize that one me equals more than twice my kids.  But, look how happy they are!  We all put our hands up on the "fast" swings.  It was really quite enjoyable, even for the pregnant lady. 

 I know it looks like Andrew is squished but he really didn't feel any pressure from us.  Thumbs up Dad!

 Anna in the bounce house.

 Josh didn't know this picture was being taken, but here we are loading on the tractor.  We're ready for some apple-picking fun!

 The Thornocks...so sweet!

 And the Waldies, love them!

 We finally made it to the apples.  I guess in my head, I thought the trees would be a lot bigger.  It was SO much fun to be there.  We all got a bag to carry and we went to town!  I was curious to see how Andrew would do with all of this.  I thought he would just take off and leave us, (because that is ALWAYS what he wants to do).  Instead, he was really focused and concentrated very hard on which apples to put in his bag.  Mind you, he only chose the gross ones that had already fallen on the ground.  It wasn't until about the last ten minutes that he caught on to picking them off the branches.  

 That apple looks tough to get doesn't it?

 Don't you just want to squeeze that little cheek!

 It was great because we could eat the apples as we picked.  Andrew thoroughly enjoyed that!

 Family pic!  Again, I know I look HUGE but check out the faces on the kids.  Darling.  Their little personalities are just shining through!

 And, one last shot of the Thornocks!

The Big 26!

 Happy Birthday to me!!  Yes, I turned 26 last week.  My birthday often falls on Labor Day, which I love!  It gives my husband the day off and usually is bursting with sales at the stores.  It isn't a big holiday but makes it so more people can be around.  I am truly blessed to have so many sweet family members and friends.  Everyone showed me so much love on my bday.  It was great.  I love the cards the kids made for me.  Andrew held the crayon as Josh wrote these words.  Then he colored it front and back.  When you see your darling little boy and girl waking you up with beautiful, home-made cards and a rose in their hands, you realize, life couldn't be sweeter.  Look at Anna's picture.  It's the cutest thing.  She drew a picture of myself and some balloons.  Aren't those the CUTEST balloons you've ever seen?  It was so sweet. 

 Breakfast in bed, made with love by my sweet hubby.  I also got some beautiful roses!

 I got to choose the activities for the day, so we went to a park for the kids to play at.  It was awesome.  We've only been to this park once before and it was when the playground portion was under construction.  This time it was open and we were so glad it was.  People around here call it the Rocket Ship Park.  Coolest. Park. Ever.

 What a cutie!

 This is in the control station.  ;-)

 Here we are at the top of the rocket ship, about to take off. 

 This reminds me of the moon mobile from the Berenstain Bears. 

 At night, we went out to eat at Applebee's.  Andrew was going crazy before we got there, so we almost cut out the whole eating out portion of our day.  Once we were there though, he was a little angel.  Thank goodness.  He tried standing up in his chair and as he was standing he said very sternly and very loudly, "SIT DOWN!!!!"  He knew what we were going to say.  Then we did tell him to sit down and luckily he didn't put up too much of a fight.

 I've never laughed so hard as when we were desperately trying to light my candles.  Andrew kept blowing them out before we could get them all lit.  I think we ended up lighting the candles 4 or 5 times or so.  Everyone needed a turn, some more than others. 

Overall, it was a great birthday!

35 weeks...getting closer!

 Wow!  35 weeks.  35 WEEKS!!  That means only 5 more to go.  I feel so much more ready to get my body back than I did with either of the other two.  Or maybe I just forgot how uncomfortable pregnancy is.  With Andrew, I felt really great the whole time.  Anna's pregnancy was tough.  I think this pregnancy may have it beat though.  The hardest part lately has been my back.  I had some kind of back problem before and now it's just amplified one million times.  I never feel comfortable.  It's always hurting.  Sometimes it gets so bad that I can't even walk around.  I will say though that I have more manageable days than horrible ones.  So, I really shouldn't complain.
Another thing that didn't happen with the others is that my hands and feet get really swollen.  I know that's a super common thing in people who are pregnant, but it's new to me.  I never did that with the other two.
I'm still sleeping well, which is great.  I wake up a couple of times a night but usually can fall back to sleep quickly.  I had a big loss of appetite for several weeks but that has passed.  I was kind of excited because I thought it would mean that my weight gain would slow down or even stop since I was eating less.  Oh no, I've been gaining like crazy.  I'm already at the weight I ended with Andrew and I'm almost there with Anna's.  I still have five long weeks left too.
Overall, we're just so excited to have this little man here.  Andrew fusses at us when we forget to pray for Daniel during a prayer.  It's so cute.  We'll open our eyes after the prayer and he'll say, "bless baby Daniel".  Darling!  Brotherly love I guess.
In the picture below, you can see his hair on his head.  It's little but it's there.  That just makes me excited!

 You can really see his face in this one.  This ultrasound was done at 32 weeks, by the way. 

 I know these aren't very good pictures of me but I'm just documenting the growth!

Here's to five more weeks!

Finally the End

 I LOVE that picture shown above.  How 'bout it Mr. Hollywood! 
Believe it or not, I actually have MORE pictures from our beach trip.  Thankfully though, this is the end of it.  Phew!  So, enjoy!

 

Cousin Jacob! 

 This is Andrew blowing raspberries on Aunt Kellie's arm.  He thinks it's the funniest thing in the world.  What a boy!

 Stewart family picture!

 The kids made crowns with Aunt Amanda and would not take them off!