1.  I didn’t know for sure if we got a day off for the July 4th holiday since it is on Saturday this year.  I checked today, and we do get Friday off!  Do you have any idea how excited that makes me?

2.  This past weekend, I remembered I had purchased a pair of preschool scissors awhile back, so I dug them and the crayons and markers out.  For some reason, it seemed Rory had lost interest in coloring for quite some time, but the scissors changed that.  She spent a lot of the day cutting paper into little tiny pieces, which were really fun picking up off the rug, trust me!  I have been meaning to take a picture of her drawing her name, too.  She has a little trouble with the Y, and she did pretty well with this one, so I grabbed a shot of it! 

3.  I’ve been meaning to share this recipe.  I first spotted it in a magazine my step mom had when we were home for Memorial weekend, and I’ve made them twice already (and I can’t believe I didn’t take a picture).  So yummy!  I think they would be good with any fruit, really, especially peaches.  Nut-Topped Stawberry Rhubarb Muffins.

4.  It is really fun playing with all the baby stuff!  Rory helped me fold an entire basket of teeny tiny newborn clothes the other day.  She gasped, covered her mouth, and said, “OH!  This is SO cute!” at nearly every item she picked up.  You would also be surprised to know just how many times you can fold a baby sock in half!

Sitting in the carseat is especially fun.  (I think she looks so much like her dad in this picture!)

5.  So, when Jason changed his mind, I swore I would never watch the Bachelor again.  And technicallyI haven’t, since this season is the Bachelorette!  Ugh, I just get sucked in by these shows!  I’m cheering for Kiptyn this time around just because I think he’s the cutest!  And Wes?  Ish.  I don’t like that guy one bit.

6.  I bought this dress awhile back with every intention of photographing her in  it against my gray seamless paper.  I can’t wait to edit the rest!

7.  I’m pretty sick of wind.  But that is nothing new.

8.  The new Ice Age movie is coming out this weekend, and Rory and I really want to see it!  I love taking Rory to the movies.  She thinks it is the best thing ever to get her own little popcorn and “pop” and I can’t help but laugh at the sight of her little feet sticking up in the air as her 35 pound self tries to hold down the theater seat.

9.  This video is too cute!  If you can believe it, that is really a four year old boy singing and jamming out on his fly swatter guitar.

10.  After the long winter we had, it is nearly killing me to not be able to get out and do photo shoots in all the green grass and trees and nice weather!  And I always feel like as soon as the 4th of July comes, summer is practically over.  Time just goes by way too quickly!  But fall will be here before we know it, and I’m looking forward to all that has to bring, especially since we will be spending it with our little man.

If the way he acts on the outside is the same as how he acts on the inside…well, we’re in trouble!  I just cannot get over how different it has been being pregnant with him versus with Rory.  While Rory never stopped moving, this is something else.  My stomach and sides are actually sore to the touch from him moving around, and sticking out here and there.  There are times when he moves, and it causes me to actually jump from the shock and pain of it.  In fact, at the doctor the other day, I lied down for her to check his heartbeat, and she looked at me, paused, and said, “that just does not look like a comfortable belly.”  Very rarely is it perfectly round.  There is always a lump sticking out somewhere.

I have also been hopeful that since I’ve felt so much better this time around that this one would be willing to wait a little longer than Miss Rory did to be born.  He has not proven me correct in the last week.  I’ve had all kinds of cramps and contractions, and a few other things going on that caused concern for the doctor.  So I have been doing not much of anything and taking some medicine in hopes to slow all that down.  It has put me on pins and needles the entire week.  With Rory, my water unexpectedly burst in the middle on the night when I moved in bed.  After that experience and what has been going on this week, I feel like I can’t even move without being paranoid of the same happening!  I pray that he can hold out for a couple more weeks!

No matter what happens, we are all in great anticipation over when the event will take place, and all that is to come afterward.  I hope I never forget some of the conversations that I have with Rory about her Baby Brother.  We can now say that he will be born soon!  It’s hard to believe that we could be a family of four in just a matter of days.  I feel more and more blessed just thinking about it!

Josey has his high school reunion this weekend, and Rory and I are pretty much stuck in the house because of a few things going on with Baby Brother (I’ll update more later), so I’ve been trying to keep the two of us entertained.  Just a few things about this video…

1.  I was running out of questions very quickly.  Next time I will think them up in advance.

2.  The girl does not sit still.  Seriously.

3.  I have no idea what the “BLECH!” thing is all about.  It’s very lady-like, though.

4.  Lately she has been doing this thing where she turns her lips to the side when she talks.  Like when she says watermelon.  What is that?

5.  I am never surprised with any action or word that comes from her.  She keeps me entertained; that’s for sure.

6.  How is she really three years old?  How is she really going to be a big sister?  It just doesn’t seem possible that she can be so grown up.

Okay, so I started this post on Monday and didn’t finish.  So I thought I’d just roll it into ten on Tuesday.  Well, guess what…I didn’t finish that either.  And now today is Wednesday, but it is actually only a couple hours away from Thursday, and I’m not confident I’ll finish tonight either, so that is where my title comes from.

1.  Let’s go all the way back May 30th.  It was the most perfect weekend EVER, and we took full advantage.  We got the boat out and ready for the first time this year, and the Jacobsen’s (minus one) joined us at the river for a couple hours.  I didn’t think the girls would be up for going in the water because it was so cold, but that didn’t stop them.  They were in and out filling up their buckets and playing in the sand.  Joycee took a little bit of convincing, but eventually she warmed up to the idea.  It was so long ago that I don’t remember much else, but I do remember thinking that it was such a relaxing day.  And then the next day I was exhausted and did nothing but lie around and nap! 

2.  Oh yeah, that next day that I was so exhausted, we did go out for a little photo shoot.  I was wanting to get some official three year old shots, and had a special location in mind.  Well, things didn’t work out the way I’d planned, and then by the time we found a different location it was getting dark.  So I guess I will be trying again soon.  Here are a few from that night.  Doesn’t she just look SO grown up in that last one? 

3.  Speaking of photo shoots…I cannot get around like I used to!  There is no more getting my face on the ground for a shot, or lying on my stomach.  Heck, there isn’t even any more running.  I do get a lot of good shots of the back of her head, though.

4.  All of last week was spent on the couch for me.  I came down with an awful cold, and it was miserable.  Thankfully, that is over!

5.  Last Saturday, some of our good friends hosted a little get together and BBQ in celebration of our soon-to-be family member!  It is always so much fun spending time with them, and I thank them all for a great night and for caring about us and our family so much.  It truly means the world to us!  Rory spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa’s, too, so we got to sleep in the next morning.  That was a bonus!

6.  My baby belly is officially 33 weeks round.  I am starting to realize that the time is coming sooner and sooner, and I’m not sure how I feel about that yet!  I am definitely excited to meet our little man, but I am also nervous.  Excited to see what he will look like, to kiss his sweet cheeks, to see Rory as a big sister.  Nervous about all the logistics about actually birthing a baby and what follows, about how Rory will really respond once it all sets in, hoping that he will be healthy.  Lots of emotions!

7.  Rory has been going through what I think is another three year old phase.  I have been a little down about it because I feel like I can’t win some days with her, and I just worry that it is maybe in response to the anticipation of baby brother coming.  On top of it, she has been having a hard time with me leaving her, and that breaks my heart.  I know it is all normal stuff, but that doesn’t make it any easier.  Hopefully, it will pass soon.

8.  Because of the rough time Rory has been having, today I decided to leave work an hour early and take her to the zoo.  She was so excited when I got there to pick her up!  We had a blast, and at one point she even said to me, “Mom, the zoo is so SO much fun!”  She was most excited to see the bears, and afterward she skipped around singing “Bare Necessities.”  Actually, she was most excited to go down the slide.  The girl loves slides (what three year old doesn’t?), and for awhile I was thinking that I had just paid $10 for us to play on the slide. 

It was a nice evening, but the zoo visit ended when she tripped and fell hands first onto the sidewalk, and scraped her hands up.

9.  Rory got some of this Crayola sidewalk paint for her birthday (thank you, McCloud’s), and the stuff is awesome.  I really dislike sidewalk chalk because of the dusty mess it creates, but this is not messy at all.  I even sat my pregnant self out on the driveway and participated, it was that fun!  I definitely recommend it.

10.  During the course of typing all of this, and editing the photos from the zoo, I’ve managed to stay off of Facebook and haven’t done any blog surfing.  In other words, I have been productive!  And I was able to get it all done before Thursday!