Well, here I sit, still very pregnant.  The irony is not lost on me that I've spent the majority of this pregnancy worried about preterm labor, and I'm writing this at 39 weeks 2 days, making this my longest pregnancy yet!  Every evening before bed, I think, "Could tonight be the night?", then I wake up, only to feel like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day.  I'm trying to make the most of these days where my life is very predictable and "easy", especially the hours that both kids are in school and I have some time to myself, but some days are more difficult than others when you factor in the aches and pains of full term pregnancy.  Anthony laughed at me last night because the act of changing into my pajamas and putting my hair up left me out of breath!  This little boy is getting big, and for the first time in ANY of my pregnancies, I had a foot lodged in my ribs yesterday.  Man, that hurt, and the resulting "pop" when he pulled it back was even worse! When I got pregnant this time, I had already promised myself that I was going to go as natural as possible, so it was difficult to decline when I was offered a membrane strip or an induction on Thursday.  Castor oil isn't looking like the worst idea at this point...


This new school routine has been an interesting change for the kids.  Connor is more content since he's constantly doing something new.  Everyone told me that first grade would be a rough transition and that he would be exhausted.  He is tired by the end of the day, but I think school is right up his alley.  Alaina loves school, and sometimes I regret not enrolling her in full-day kindergarten, but even the four hours every day takes its toll on her.  By 8:30 last night, she was so tired that she was delirious.  This photo was taken at 7:30.  Even Connor is sleeping later in the mornings, despite an earlier bedtime.


Last weekend was Tour De Fat here in Fort Collins.  The biggest streets in the city are shut down for a costumed bike "race".  In terms of people-watching, move over, demolition derbies!  I didn't really want to go, because there's honestly not a whole lot I WANT to do these days, but I'm sure glad I did!  Nana, Papa, Anthony, and the kids rode, but next year, it's on with the costumes!








Here are a few of my favorite costumes:


Ron Burgundy from Anchorman


That's some dedication to a corn costume!


These old hippies cracked me up.  Since we were sitting right next to the live DJ, they got off of their bikes right here and had a dance party instead of riding.  When I grow up, I want to be an old hippie.


The Knight Bus from Harry Potter, complete with driver.


Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle on a tall bike


Awesom-o from a particularly funny episode of South Park.  Nevermind the fact that I can't look at this picture without feeling like this guy is trying to steal my soul with his freaky eyes.


Jellyfish


The Mario Kart gang




Computer geek costume


These old BFF's just singing with a banjo.


Whatever the heck this fridge is supposed to be doing.


The parade went on for hours, and I'm actually kind of glad that I got to watch and see all of the costumes instead of riding this year.


Our crew was near the end.


We've had record-breaking heat hear for the past two weeks and Connor was soaked in sweat by the time he got to sit down.


A few more awesome costumes...like this guy from Up.


Dedication!


I couldn't let everyone else have all of the fun, so I had a little dance party with the pregnant nun next to us.  I was hoping to shake the baby out, but to no avail.


...and now back to waiting!

It's official!  We have a first grader and a kindergartener!  Connor and Alaina were so excited for school that they woke up at 6 A.M. in anticipation.







We looked high and low for Alaina's school shoes this year.  We started off at Payless, where I refused to buy anything with characters on them and she didn't like my choices.  Then we went to Kohl's, where the selection was picked over and once again, we couldn't agree.  When she could tell that I was getting frustrated, she would say, "Actually, I think I really do like these shoes!", but the disappointment was written all over her face.  Since we only typically buy one pair of shoes and one pair of boots per school year, I had to make sure she loved them and that they matched most of her wardrobe.  We then visited Famous Footwear (too expensive and not enough colors on the styles she liked), Target and Walmart (poor selection and quality), Gymboree (not versatile enough), and finally, the Sketchers outlet.  The clouds parted and sunbeams shone down upon these shoes that matched all the criteria:  pink/purple, light up toes, glitter, and hearts, in our price range.  Hallelujah!




Pretty excited to show off her My Little Pony backpack!




Anthony couldn't have been more proud when Connor picked out Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.







Our last family pic before baby?




Walking to the bus stop







Daddy having a hard time letting his baby girl go!




My biggest fear was that they'd be scared to get on the bus.  Luckily, they were more excited than anything, especially since they found their neighbor friend to sit by.




In my quiet time, I worked on my meal plan for the week and went grocery shopping in peace!  It was lovely!  When I picked up Alaina, she was excited to tell me everything they did that day, and when she got home, she told me that she just wanted to relax.  In the afternoon, we picked Connor up from the bus stop.  I thought he would be exhausted, but he had such a great day, he was still flying high on adrenaline!




We had a snack, then the kids played with Hailey (the neighbor) for about an hour.  Their true exhaustion hit during dinner, when they both just sat at the table and stared.  Connor asked to go take a bath and Alaina couldn't even hold out for that.  It was a big day and they were both excited to go again!

Wow, I can't believe this is my "end of summer" post.  The kids meet their teachers tomorrow and start school the next day.  This summer has been full of getting accustomed to a new house, "new" state, new routines, and waiting...and waiting...and waiting...for a new family member.


Said little man is putting on approximately an ounce a day now, thus taking up more and more space in my abdomen.  It's all about the Tums these days.  You know it's gotten bad when you're flipping through this week's coupons and get excited that Tums is now offering fruit chews!  If I had more than a few weeks to go, I'd be all over that!




A couple of weeks back, we went to the Larimer County fair.  It's the first county fair I'd been to since my 4-H days, so it was weird to walk right past the 4-H building and straight to the good stuff - the rides!  One of the sponsors had some tractors and machinery set up for people to sit in.  Connor was in heaven!




We were pleased that they also had free bouncy houses and inflatable slides.  These days, free is a rarity!







I think it's funny that when we had our awesome Lagoon membership last year, after the first few times, it was like pulling teeth to get the kids to want to go.  This year, even the generic Dumbo ride at the fair got rave reviews!







I was bummed I couldn't go on this ride.  Guess I'll just have to leave it up to the goofball dads.







More slide fun.







The kids loved the funhouse!




It was a beautiful night!




More tractor play on the way out.







I don't use pop-up flash often these days, but I couldn't resist this photo.  I have so many that look just like this from when Connor was just a tiny guy.  Countless hours were spent playing in the van with Daddy!




Ever since we've been back from Utah, I've thrown our summer schedule out the window.  It's been nice to sleep in a bit while the kids watch cartoons and build with Legos.




I am gifted lots of drawings these days.  I don't want to ever forget their little stick figures and "I <3 p="" s.="" u="">



Anthony finally got his diploma and was able to fill his dapper frame!  He hung it in his office and has received many compliments!




We celebrated Papa's birthday.




Connor took over the grilling duties that day.




This weekend was New West Fest in Fort Collins.  Old Town is basically shut down to make way for a music festival and carnival.  The concerts are free, so Anthony was able to go and see Ben Harper last night.  Nana, Papa, Anthony, and I took the kids in the morning to have some fun on their last Saturday before school.










After a couple of hours, Nana and I went back to our respective houses, and I enjoyed a day of laying in bed while dealing with some lovely Braxton Hicks, which I've been experiencing more and more frequently.  I was grateful that Anthony and Papa stayed at the carnival and showed the kids a good time while I relaxed.


Who knows what the next few weeks will look like?  It would be nice to get the kids into a bit of a school routine before we have any baby action, but I reach term on Thursday (woo hoo for not needing any interventions to get here!), so after that, baby boy is welcome to make his debut!  I wonder how many more blog posts between now and the big day!