Nesting time

I had a much stronger urge to nest in this pregnancy. However, this school year didn't allow for as much gradual nesting as I would have liked to have done. I did get to a few things here and there as I tried to procrastinate from the dreaded Pro-Teach! But most of the time I had a lot on my plate with a 2 year old, kindergarteners, pro-teach, several planned trips (which were great, but meant I didn't have much down time at home to work on pro-teach or nesting), oh and I was pregnant and exhausted! I recruited my friend Alison, and my sis Marissa to help me get some of the more daunting projects done (photo wall and craft room).  I decided to be finished with work after Spring Break. I could tell that my ability to be a good teacher was declining (I had little energy, and a lot on my mind), and it was a good transition point for my amazing long term sub to step in. Plus I would have a bit of time to accomplish all that was left on my to do list. So during Spring Break and my first week at home, I poured over pro-teach. I was determined to complete it before baby came, and I'm so thankful I did because I would have been a mess trying to do that with a newborn. The next weekend I NESTED. We are talking cleaned and organized like I'm not naturally inclined to do, it's such a strange and wonderful part of pregnancy. Keith LOVES when I nest, because it's just not normal (but he wishes it were!). When I ran out of things to clean I started to knock out some pinterest projects that have been nagging me. In my mind I was going to have the baby early in this week (based on what I had experienced with my first pregnancy) so I busted my butt to finish everything. EVERY cupboard, closest, and drawer is now clean and has a more specific purpose. As I passed my mental due date of April 14th (real due date was 4/23), and the week wore on, I still had the urge to nest but there wasn't much left. By the time my parents arrived on the 19th the only thing to do besides wait for baby was weeding the yard. Here are a few of the nesting pictures:

baby laundry and cloth diaper stuffing

building my new "craft cart" that my parents got me 

Everyone was ready and waiting on Baby

back in January Alison and Yogi came to visit and helped rearrange our room to fit in  the pack n' play 

Then Alison came back in April to help me with the nesting and she created this beautiful photo wall

Marissa helped me get the craft room back in order (first organized by Kelli while I was prego with Kendall)

Kendall's gift from baby, I had all sorts of gifts and projects ready to go for when baby arrived

one such project included baby name banners for the hospital 

Crafting with Kendall

Book sleeve for Kendall's side of the room

Baby's side of the room

rearranged and all ready for 2 kids

so we know how tall our kids are

and a way to keep our doors quiet

Story Time With Ms. Jill

 Kendall's been going with Aunt Kelli and Quincy to a great little story time at Primary Movements all year. We've loved hearing about books read, songs learned and crafts made. As well as all the connections she's making and relationships she's formed during this time. I've been fortunate to come along the past couple weeks, and I'm in awe of Jill! She does a wonderful job teaching and keeping these young kids engaged. I've also been so pleased to see Kendall listening, asking questions, following directions, and loving learning---my teacher and mama heart is full!

lots of great stories

and songs

and crafts!

Firsts

The first week of April brought with it a few firsts....

First hair cut - before

got a little nervous when we got there, but ended up loving it!

After

First trip to the dentist

She did great!

First try at body art

First pinata at Finn's first birthday party

Showered

With "round 2" babies my friends have started a tradition of doing a girls day out instead of a traditional baby shower. Thanks ladies for the pedis and dinner!

Easter

The Easter bunny brought Kendall a new alarm clock bright and early :) Then we headed off to a great celebration at church.

Kendall really got the hang of the whole egg hunt this this year! But she was also very generous when she noticed other kids without eggs.

We spent the rest of our day with Keith's family...hunting more eggs and eating a delicious family dinner!

We ended the day with a surprise birthday for Jeter.

Soccer Tot Season

I never imagined myself being the mom who put her kids in sports at an early age (and almost 3 seems very young!)...I'm not exactly athletic so it was just not on my radar! But when Heather said she was putting Liam into Soccer Tots we thought it would be something Kendall would really enjoy doing with her best bud. Not to mention it could help her overcome her shy tendencies, develop hand eye coordination and gross motor skills, and have a special thing to look forward to each week especially after the baby comes. SHE LOVES IT!!!!! I have to admit I got pretty excited for her, too, and even bought purple Adidas shoes for her :) Throughout the week she tells us about what Coach Reese has taught her and is giddy every Friday night when we tell her she gets to go to Soccer Tots the next morning. 

It's parent participation and so Keith, our resident soccer expert, gets to run around with all the toddlers (and I was HUGE preggo and then nursing a newborn, so it just wasn't really an option for me...and I'm ok with that!).

Best friends---when one of them gets sad the other runs to comfort!

They love this special daddy/daughter time each week

She even got her first sports injury---a fat lip and bloody nose from a face plant on the gym floor! Sometimes she gets distracted and just likes to watch the other kids playing :)