Third Trimester

Today I entered week 28 which marks the third trimester!  Only a few more weeks to go, but Little Sister is giving me a run for my money.  I'm starting to swell, so I'm not able to wear my wedding ring anymore (I guess an extra 20 lbs. will do that to you).  My back is really starting to ache, and I've had quite a bit of trouble with heartburn the past few days.  I also am not sleeping well, waking around six times at night, several of which usually require a bathroom break.  The good part about this is that all of this is totally normal.  I complain, but I am so very thankful to be pregnant with a healthy baby girl.  My next OB appointment is on Tuesday.  I will be tested for gestational diabetes, and we'll get to hear her heartbeat again (which I love!).

Here's a picture of me in all my third trimester glory:

In other news, our little project-lover, Daniel, helped Daddy fix the sprinkler system today.  One of the sprinkler heads wasn't popping up, but the boys were able to fix it:

Pool Party

Today our family attended a "Winter Kids 1/2 Birthday."  The ideas was that some of the kids in our playgroup have birthdays during the Winter, but never have an outside pool party to celebrate... until now!  As you'll see from the pictures, there was a huge blow up water slide which Daniel loved.  In fact, I think he spent more time in that than any of the other kids.  There were also two smaller pools and water tables, but Daniel really was only interested in the big pool/slide.

It was a BBQ, so we stayed for lunch and then headed home.  I think we were there for almost three hours, and Daniel loved every minute.  He also napped today which was pretty needed considering he had a big day and hadn't napped the past three days.

It was a fun family event, and I'm glad we got to be with so many of our friends!

There were lots of kids... this is a small sample of the fun!

We also made a trip to Lowes for a few necessities.  While we were there, I snapped this photo of our cutie who was very happy to show us how the riding lawnmowers work.  I won't share the photo of him when we had to leave.  ;)

Friends Arrive

Our good friends, Ryan and Wendy, and their two boys, Emmett and Lincoln, just moved from Portland to Kansas City.  Ryan will work with Bobby in the same hospital system (but not at the same hospital).  

The boys all played together really well.  We hung around the house and went for a walk in the neighborhood.  We look forward to many more playdates and outings in KC together!

3-Year Pediatrician Visit

This is just a quick update... Daniel went for his 3-year pediatrician visit today.  He's a happy, healthy, thriving 3-year-old!  Statistically speaking, he's 36.75" (33rd percentile) and 31 lbs., 8 oz. (52nd percentile).  No immunizations this time, and he doesn't go back to the pediatrician until he turns four!

Happy Birthday!

It's hard to believe we have a three year old!  Daniel had a great birthday weekend.  Grandpa and Grandma came down to help celebrate.  Yesterday, at Daniel's request, we went to Best Buy to look at the washers and dryers and vacuums and made a stop at Kohl's to look at their vacuum cleaners and toys.

Later in the day, Amy and I took advantage of the babysitters and headed out to celebrate our 12-year anniversary with a nice dinner on the Plaza.  We had a great time and are very thankful for Grandpa and Grandma for watching Daniel for us.  Or was it the other way around?  Before we left, Daniel said, "Don't worry, Daddy, I'll keep an eye on everything for you."  And he did.  He was very well-behaved, did very good listening, and they all had a great time together.

This morning, Daniel opened a few remaining birthday presents and we had a small cake to celebrate.

Helping me build his new balance bike

I think he liked it!

In the afternoon, we went out for dinner and made a point to go somewhere that let us spend some time looking at one of Daniel's very favorite things - water fountains.  We also may have had a second piece of (cheese)cake... :-)

Which one to get??

It's amazing how fast these three years have gone.  Two years ago, we had just moved to Kansas City, were still in an apartment, and everything felt very chaotic.  One year ago, we were settled in our house, but our biggest stress was that Daniel still was not really talking (only 10 words).  If you spend any time with him now, you'll know that talking is not an issue.  He. Does. Not. Stop.  And we love every minute of it.

This is the last birthday he'll have as an only child.  We're so excited to meet his Little Sister in a few months and can't wait to see what the next year has in store for us.

Our three-year-old boy

As I've done the last two years, I made a slideshow of pictures from the last year.  It's so fun to look back at all the fun and exciting things we've done.  And it's so fun to see how much he's grown.  Here is the video:

And in case you are feeling nostalgic, here are the videos from the last two years.

One Year Slideshow:

Two Year Slideshow:

Too cool, dude!

Our sweet neighbors, Ralph and Andrea, gave Daniel a few goodies a couple of weeks ago.  One of the goodies was a pair of sunglasses.  At first, he had no interest, but yesterday he actually asked to wear them.  I was more than happy to oblige!

Birthdays in Iowa

We spent last weekend in Iowa and had a great time.  On Friday afternoon, we celebrated Daniel's 3rd birthday (a week early).  He had cake and ice cream, got lots of presents, and enjoyed being the center of attention for a couple of hours.  It was a fun party and I loved seeing Daniel open his presents, give thank you hugs to each person, and be very excited to play with all his new toys.

Friday evening we celebrated Great-Grandma Munyon's 80th birthday.  We had a nice dinner out with family and got to watch her open some presents.  Daniel was very helpful and even offered to open them for her.

On Saturday, Aunt Danielle and Uncle Leo had cousins Bennett and Oliver's first birthday party at Papa's house.  We loved seeing them eat their first piece of cake and Daniel was nice enough to blow out their birthday candles for them.  It was great to be able to spend time with our nephews, see them take a lot of wobbly steps, and be there for their first birthday party.

Lots and lots of pictures were taken over the whole weekend - special thanks to Amy's cousin Chris for taking pictures during Daniel's party so Amy and I were able to enjoy the festivities.  Rather than post just a few select pictures, I'm including a link to the whole album.  Enjoy!

Click here to see the pictures!