Almost There

We have had a lot of fun over the past few days. With the anticipation of Hannah's arrival building every moment we have been taking the opportunity to spend time together as a family enjoying each other and the people we love.

On Friday we got to go to Salem to Grandma and Grandpa's house to visit with them and see Zach's Grandparents. We have not had a chance to visit with them in nearly two years and had a wonderful time. Auntie, Uncle Andrew and Whitney were all there as well and we got to sit outside and enjoy the sun while Grace and Soren ran around. Those two crack me up because they miss each other so much when they don't get to see each other and are always asking about the other one, but when they are together all they do is fight. Soren loves to push Gracie's buttons and who could blame him when she provides such a satisfactory reaction. We really had a good time.

Saturday we had more nice weather so we took Grace to the park. She discovered the "big swings" on her bike ride with Daddy the other day and wanted to go back. We played there for about an hour and a half before we had to come home for nap and bedtime. She is getting so much braver! She will now climb up on the structures and go down the slides without any request for help. She explored everywhere and did such a great job of taking turns and sharing with the other kids. I am so proud of her and love watching her have so much fun. After nap time the Hoovers came over for dinner and Grace kept Ashley busy until Ashley had to leave for work. She was such a good sport. She sat on the floor and went through all the play clothes with Grace and then sat right where Grace wanted her to during dinner while everyone else got to go outside. When I asked Ashley if she minded r if she would like me to stay at the table with Grace she just smiled and said it was no problem. Grace was thrilled. After dinner the two neighbor girls came outside also and the three girls played together. The older of the two neighbors is 5 and she is very outgoing. She hid an Easter egg for Grace to find and read her a book. Grace was loving it.

Sunday was more mellow. We went to church in the morning. Grace, as usual, would not stay in the nursery so she came to Sunday school with Zach and I. We co-teach the 12 and 13 year olds but it is very difficult to both teach when we have Grace with us. I am a little nervous about what it will be like when we have both girls. Perhaps I will be able to convince someone to watch Hannah for us during that hour. Sunday evening Andrew and Whitney came over for dinner and cards. Zach and I kicked their butts at hand and foot. It was lots of fun.

On Monday Yea Yea(my mom) came down for a visit. I spent the morning doing my Monday chores so we could just enjoy our afternoon. She graciously did the grocery shopping with me in the afternoon (not exactly a fun outing) and then babysat Grace so Zach and could go out on one last date before the baby arrives. I think I may have talked her ear off because I spent most of nap time talking about what has been going on since her and I last had the chance to catch up. Zach and I had a nice date. We went out to dinner at Olive Garden because I really wanted pasta, then picked out a new doll for Grace (she will be getting her new doll when she comes to visit us at the hospital the morning Hannah is born) and then went to Sweet Life for dessert. Mom spent the night with us last night so she did not have to drive home too late.

Today was all about Family fun. We had pancakes for breakfast (okay, this is not that rare a thing in our household)then went to story time, the kiddie pool at SPLASH and the mall this afternoon. Story time is our usual Tuesday morning activity but it was the first time Zach came with us. He asked if Grace always just watched the other kids or if it was just this time, to which I had to respond "no, she is always that way". She is such an observer. In addition to reading the couple of books we sing several songs, all of which have hand movements or sometimes full body movements. Grace wont do any of them. She sits on my lap and watches everyone else do it. I try to model them for her and help her to do them but she will have none of it. She still really likes going though and I think it is good for her. Maybe one of these days she will get into it a bit more. After story time we went to the "little pool" as Gracie calls it. She loves going out there because she can swim by herself without needing to hold one of us or wear her life vest like she does at the pool near the house. She played for over an hour. Zach would throw balls for her to go find and then she started throwing them for him to find. She kicked and splashed all around just having a great time. When we had to leave so we could go home for lunch and nap time she came without a fuss. After nap we went to the mall to play in the play area because it was raining too much to play outside or take a walk which had been her first choice. Sadly, the play area was closed for maintenance so we just walked around the mall and looked in some of the stores. Zach had the idea of getting her a BIG SISTER t-shirt to wear when Hannah arrives but we could not find one. Luckily Zach remembered that Rhonda had all the stuff to do iron ons so we found a plain shirt for Grace while we were there that Rhonda could print BIG SISTER on. We came home and Grace wanted to watch a movie as a family so we made our dinner and sat down together to watch The Princess and the Frog. It is such a cute movie. After the movie was over we put Grace down and did the Hannah chain. It now has only one link and the reality of her arrival is setting in.

I am so excited for how soon Hannah will be here. We are praying for a healthy baby and Mama. I will post pictures as soon as possible (hopefully on Thursday). Wish us luck!