We took a little vacation to Charlotte Saturday night. I really have been wanting to go swimming and float for a while with this big belly! Besides, a little mini vacation was just the break we needed before having a new baby. We stayed at a hotel that had free dinner, drinks (adult and pop), popcorn, and breakfast. We went swimming before dinner, after dinner, and the next morning since that's all Maddox wanted to do. That was fine, that's why we went! In the couple days before I kept telling her we were going to go swimming and she kept saying "swimming? Grammy's house?" I guess that's the only place she remembers swimming before. My family checking out this picture may notice that this swimming suit doesn't quite fit as well as it did at Christmas and spring break! My tummy is too big now! After leaving the hotel on Sunday we drove up to Dan Nicholas Park which is awesome! Jeremy hadn't been there before so we had to take him. It has a lake with paddle boats, petting zoo, carousel, train ride, animal viewing area, snake house, mini golf, and a great playground. It's all about 50 cents to a $1 each. Such cheap fun! First we rode the paddle boats and fed the ducks, which Maddox had been asking to do for a few days by then.

At the petting zoo Maddox ran around looking and petting all the animals she could. She is DEFINITELY her mother's daughter in this aspect! She loves petting the goats and sheep and was so animated about it. She just darted from one fence to the next jabbering away about what she saw and telling us about it. It was funny to see how excited she was about it. At the reptile house she also had no qualms about petting the snake. She just about squeezed it a little too hard. I even got Jeremy to pet the snake, which he's scared to death of. I said "if your 2 year old will do it then you can".

Mommy is in sheep heaven! I gave them one "Maaaa" and they all came running to me. They know I'm their friend.

I guess Daddy wanted to document that Baby sis was with us. Only 2 weeks left!

This is the first time Maddox rode the horse by herself without me standing next to her with a hand on her. She made Mommy a little nervous but did just fine. She loves the carousel.

After we rode the carousel Jeremy and I played a round of miniature golf where I beat him 39 to 43. I only mention it because he's still upset by it and can't stand to lose to me. It may have been my FOUR holes in 1 vs. his one that caused the problem. He had an off day. Maddox threw her ball around and just watched very patiently. We headed to the playground after that for a little while before we drove back home. It started to rain just as we decided it was time to go. Worked out perfectly! We spent 4 hours at the park . . . so much to do! Maddox was strangely brave at the playground and went down all the big slides and even the tunnel twisty slides by herself. It was a nice change.

I guess the next thing on our list to do is have a baby! Last week I was dilated to a 3 and 50% effaced. We'll see what this Thursday's visit brings!

April's Activities

I haven't blogged about anything in quite a while! Thought I better post some random pictures that I've taken over the past month. Sometimes Maddox wakes up from her nap and doesn't let me know that she's up. She'll usually play in her room or her sister's room quietly. One day I heard noises in her room and this is what I found. On an earlier warm day of spring we went up to Horizons Park to hike around, have a picnic, play at the playground and play some frisbee golf. I know I always post pictures of Maddox swinging, but how can you not when she's this joyful about it?

Awww, how cute.

Jeremy did a 10K in April here in Winston. I didn't really take any pictures that were worthwhile except this one. At the race start they had the Winston Salem State University marching band march over from another area and then they played during the race. WSSU is a primarily black school so the marching band is not exactly what I grew up with in Savannah and was really cool! Maddox loved them and was a little disturbed when they left. This was the look on Maddox's face when she saw them marching over and playing. Try to tell me she won't be a band geek like her mom!

At church one day Maddox's class got bandaids that said "God heals us!" and in the car on the way home she was being really silly with it. She started by sticking it over her mouth and then stuck it on her nose.

This morning we went to Thomasville for the Spring Daze Festival. It was Main Street full of crafty vendors, plants, food, and other things like that. They also had chain saw carving and we stood out and watched for about 30 minutes. It was pretty hot but leave it to resourceful Maddox to find a shady spot under her Mama's belly. If you look closely you'll also notice that I have no ankle bones anymore.

Only 31 more days until baby sister is born! No, she still doesn't have a name. I'm still feeling good. I am completely ready to be past the heartburn and inclined sleeping though! I think my ankles are only so swollen today because I had a concert last night and a standing rehearsal the night before. Too much standing 3 days in a row. I've also been having lots of Braxton-Hicks, most of which don't hurt, just noticeable. We're getting excited about meeting our new daughter!

Easter

Maddox and Grammy colored Easter eggs in Florida. Maddox wasn't very interested at first and then made big messes when she got interested. Being gentle with eggs is not her thing, so she'd plop them in the cup, splashing color everywhere and then stir them with her whole hand in the color. Oh well, we went swimming after she got done and washed it all off.

Grammy had an Easter Egg hunt in FL for her too. Most of this hunt was with real eggs so Maddox broke most of them.

How many people does it take to find an egg?

Saturday Daddy took Maddox to an egg hunt at church while I worked. She came home with way too much chocolate.

Sunday morning we looked for eggs in our own backyard and flowerbeds. She still needs lots of help and wants you to hold her hand and help her look. Everytime she found one she'd suck in her breathe like it was a big surprise.

We went across the street to utilize the neighbor's tulips for Easter pictures. Maddox had no desire to look at the camera though, but playing with her eggs is pretty cute too.

Maddox didn't at all want to pose with Mommy either so this is about as good as it gets. She's even got her little white lace Easter gloves Grammy bought for her. Isn't this tree gorgeous? It's another neighbor's. It makes for a great Easter backdrop though.

"Open, Mommy?" She's already got an M&M in her mouth. Some of them had goldfish in them but when I'd open those for her she'd say "No, close it."

One of Maddox very favorite things to do is empty the grocery bags after we go shopping. She'll pull everything out of the bags for me and I put it away. And she does this all excitedly. Last week in FL Grammy came home with grocery bags and I said "You'd better get ready quick. She won't stop emptying until it's done!" She found her winter hat in the car on the way home and wanted to put it on so I had to take a picture of the hat/Easter dress combo.

I started my 32nd week today and will have a new baby no later than 7 weeks from tomorrow! Wow, how time has flown by! My c-section is scheduled for June 1st but I'm still sort of hoping I go into labor on my own in May, even if the end result is a c-section anyway. Lots of walking going on here!

Playing in FL and the beach

If these pictures look as dark and grainy on everyone else's computer as they do on Dad's I'm going to have to reblog all this when I get home. But here it is for now.
Today we went to the beach down at the condo and spent a few hours. It took Maddox a while to figure out that she could get dirty and actually play in the sand but eventually she started digging and building. The water is cold so she didn't want to even stand in it but she enjoyed chasing the waves and having them chase us back and running away. We built a fort around our spot on the beach. She (with some help) would fill up the bucket, pat it down, and tell me to dump it out.

This one's strictly for documentary purposes only. My sisters and Jeremy know why.

Sitting on the beach watching the plans fly overhead.

Maddox also loved pouring water all over with the watering can but of course she wouldn't fill it up herself so I made many trips back and forth for her.

We've been swimming at Grammy's on this trip. The pool is a nice 88 degrees and feels almost like a bathtub. When we got here from Orlando Sunday night it was about 7pm and she couldn't wait to get in the pool. She and Grammy checked the temperature out and then she came running to the bedroom saying "swimming suit, swimming suit!" This is the first time she's actually been excited about it and not had to warm up to swimming. She won't even let me hold her any way except by her holding on to my thumbs and she's jumping off the side and sort of trying to float on her back.

One morning we went to the park where she went down the slide what seemed like hundreds of times and climbed all over. We wore her out that morning and she took a 4 hour nap when we got back. She had a lot of catching up to do though with some 9 to 10 o'clock bedtimes for the past few nights and lots of time spent outdoors.

So someone tell me if all these pictures and the space center pictures look dark, shadowy, and grainy and I'll re-do them when I get home. To me they all look like crap so I hope they don't really and it's just Dad's fancy photography computer. Just one more day of fun in the sun and we head home Friday. The week has been too short! I better get out to the pool and relax while I can!

Kennedy Space Center

Maddox and I took off for Florida again for this year's spring break to visit Grammy and Papa. The week started in Orlando because they had plans to watch a golf tournament with my Uncle Jim who lives there. So the first day we went to Kennedy Space Center. It is a wonderful place to see! And you actually get a lot for your money! $40 included all the stuff around the visitor's center (which is plenty already), 2 Imax movies, a shuttle launch experience (that only Grammy and Papa got to ride since I'm pregnant), and the bus tour that has 3 stops and you see tons out there! It has really been developed since I was last there and is very interesting. Maddox was so good all day, from 9:30 to 5, and never got fussy, walked tons, and even when she got tired cuddled for a little bit and then went some more. Have I mentioned how easy going my kid is?? Here's the building where they build the shuttles, or fix them after use to re-use and take them out to the launch pad.
There's a launch pad that they'll be using next week. The shuttle is already on it but you can only see the tip of it from this side.

Maddox loved what we call in our family the "dancing water". She and Grammy, and she and Mrs. Teeter, and she and anyone willing to, had to check it out.

Maddox is driving the moon rover. She is currently infatuated with the moom, so the space center was a great place to be for her. One of the bus stops is completely dedicated to moon exploration and had 3 movies about going there and landing there. She loved it!

See that tiny pink dot on the blue bench? That's Maddox standing in front of a very large rocket. I couldn't even get the whole rocket in my picture.

This was one of the early rockets that went to space in the 1960's. Just enough room for 2 people to sit and not even stretch your legs for days.

Grammy, Papa, Maddox and I in front of the Rocket Garden.