Well unfortunately I haven't been bringing my camera with me, but Kate & I have been having a wonderful spring so far! Have I mentioned how lucky and blessed I feel to get to spend my days with such a sweet, loving, intelligent little girl? She is so much fun to be with! I hope she always knows how much her mama loves her and how very much I love staying home with her; there is nowhere else I'd rather be. I wouldn't trade these years at home with her for anything.
Here's a rundown of what we've been doing lately:
Monday (4/29): We went to the zoo with our playgroup. It is cute, but also bittersweet, to see how Kate really is a "big girl" now, playing with the other big kids and really interacting with them. I love all stages, so I'm not complaining, but sometimes I wonder where on earth my little cuddly baby went! How is it possible that I have a three-year-old now?!
Here's a few shots from the zoo:
Look at that beautiful face!
Hanging out in the kangaroo
Look at that beautiful hair!
Tuesday (4/30): Kate got a stomach bug the night before, so we had to skip music class :( So we just bummed around the house for the day, playing with her sidewalk chalk, reading books, and just trying to recover.
Wednesday (5/1): Kate & I had a special "Mama & Kate date" (as she calls it, ha!) at Olbrich Gardens. It's crazy how fast things spring into bloom here; when we were there just the Friday before, with Meghan and Adelaide, there were few things blooming. Maybe a couple daffodils here and there, but nothing substantial. Then just five days later, the cherry blossoms, the magnolias, the tulips... everything was ablaze with color. I know I complain about the winter a lot, but I don't think I'd enjoy spring nearly as much if I didn't have something cold and gray to compare it to! So we had a blast that day. Kate is just such a little chatterbox; that is one of the many things I love about having a three-year-old. When we're out and about just the two of us, we have all these great conversations. I love hearing her thoughts and getting a peek into her little mind! She's so excited about everything, too; she just kept exclaiming throughout the day, "This is so beautiful! What a great spring day! I love spring!"
Afterward, we went to the Daisy Cupcakery for lunch and cupcakes again.
Thursday (5/2): We had our second to last Tiny Tots class that day, and Miss Kay had set up this cool "obstacle course" complete with the tunnel, the scooters, the balance beam, so Kate was in heaven!
Tuesday (5/7): We went to music class (I love that program so, so much, and Kate does too) and really enjoyed that. It's crazy what she can remember; even after we came home, she was still singing perfectly several of the songs we sang in music... the right notes and words and everything. After class, one of the moms from the class suggested we go to the Dream Park right behind the building. I don't know how it is that I've never taken Kate there before, but it was fantastic! It looks like a castle, with lots of towers and turrets, so of course Kate was happy. And she loved the sandbox (although she was sad she didn't bring her sand toys), the balance beams, the swings... It was an amazing park! And since it was so gorgeous out that day, she and I went to the park by our house after her nap. She rode her little trike over (she was even wearing her new helmet, which she was so proud of!) and we had a great time playing in the early evening before Dan got home.
Wednesday (5/8): We met our playgroup at Olbrich Gardens again. We had a great time; there are some really nice people in this group, and a lot of the kids are fairly close in age (there was a girl who had just turned 2, and one who is almost 2, and then one who is 4) so Kate had a lot of kids there to play with. She is such a riot; it was probably only 75 degrees out (gorgeous but certainly not hot) but she was obsessed with getting her clothes all wet in these fountains. Then after about 20 minutes of that, she says, "I'm wet." Gee, honey, you think? So we had a great time there; I could spend every spring day in Olbrich, I think, just soaking up the beauty. Then we came home, had lunch with Dan (he's working from home today) and now she is sacked out upstairs.
Pregnancy-wise, everything is going great. I only had those two weeks of morning sickness, so I'm not complaining. A couple weeks ago, the baby was sitting on my sciatic nerve, which was uncomfortable, but luckily it has since moved so I feel much better. I'm still working out a lot; I go to the gym about 3-4 times a week, and now that it's nice out, I'm sure we'll be biking outside more. (This weekend we got a child trailer for Kate to ride in as we bike, so that should be fun. Can't wait to use that!) The baby is moving around a lot, and Dan got to feel it kick for the first time this weekend. I still think it's a girl, and after four dreams saying it was a boy, I finally had one that says it's a girl, so we shall see.... Kate certainly thinks it's a sister; she talks about baby Genevieve all the time. In fact, she tells everyone that she has a little sister coming in the fall, so then people (moms at music class, the teachers at the kids' club at the gym, etc.) say, "Congratulations on another girl!" And I have to explain that no, while we would be absolutely thrilled to have another girl, we have no concrete proof of what it is... just Kate's intuition.
But it's really cute to see how excited she is. She kisses my stomach all the time, saying, "I love you, baby!!" She reads to the baby (she has quite a few books memorized, which is absolutely adorable to hear her read) and she always wants to know the "size" of the baby (I have an app on my phone that will say things like, "Your baby is 23 weeks, the size of a mango"). And she always says what we'll do when the baby comes out; go to the children's museum, have ice cream together (that one might have to wait a bit!), go to the library, etc. She is going to be the best big sister!
Here is one more photo of her napping today after Olbrich. I can still see glimpses of my little baby when she's sleeping. :)
