Field Trip

Carter had his very first field trip yesterday.  All six kindergarten classes at his school went to Lucky Ladd Farm for the day.  We have gone there every fall but decided to skip this year since I knew Carter was going anyway (plus I've been trying to slow down a little - sometimes).

I signed up to chaperone (even though it was 8 days before my due date).  I was extremely tired from not sleeping much the night before but otherwise felt fine.  I'm so glad I got to go and see Carter and all his new friends enjoy the farm.

There are 21 kids in Carter's class and there were 12 chaperones.  So most of us were assigned two kids - our own and a friend.  Carter got paired with Ian.  They held hands most of the day and luckily Carter never pulled him down as he always wanted to be at the front of the group (which is pretty amazing considering how muddy it was).

Luckily Ladd was extremely organized.  There were probably at least another six classes at the farm besides the ones from our school (as well as the public).  We had a dedicated director the whole day leading us around and keeping us on time.

Our group got to start off in the play area.  Carter and Ian spent most of their time in the corn box and on the giant slides.

Next was the wagon ride (no hay!).  Carter loved being at the front and getting to spot all the wooden animals along the trail.  Ian is next to Carter and Whit is next to him in this picture.  Whenever I visit for lunch, Carter is usually sitting with Whit (and usually his twin Charlie who is also in their class).  Whit is hilarious and I think I spend more time talking to him than to Carter!

After the wagon ride the kids at lunch.

And then the kids learned about the lifecycle of a pumpkin.

Carter got to hold up one of the pictures displaying the lifecycle.

Next was the corn maze.  Our director led us through the maze instead letting anyone explore but I don't think there is any other way to handle a school group!  There was another class with our class the whole day and Cade (our neighbor) was in that class.  I got this picture right before we went into the maze.

Carter with Charlie (Whit's twin - they look completely different).

After the maze the kids got to pick out a pumpkin to take home with them.

As we waited for the kids to finish getting their pumpkins, our class randomly started gathering at the official picture spot so we encouraged the rest to join and got a group shot (with Ms. Colasso).

The last activity of the day was petting the farm animals and feeding them.

It was a super fun day at the farm and a great field trip.  Carter got to finally ride the bus which I think enjoyed on the way to the farm but not going home.  He told me when I picked him up that he got bus sick.  He never threw up but he said his tummy hurt afterwards.  Ms. Colasso did say when they arrived at the farm that their driver drove super fast (and there are a lot of curvy roads to get to the farm).  She said it was a little scary and the kids were all dramatically yelling out like they were on a roller coaster.

When the kids got back to school, there wasn't much of the day left but Carter did come home with this drawing ...

38 Weeks, 5 Days

We have a plan!  I am scheduled for a c-section on Monday at 7:30 am!!!

This morning I had an ultrasound with the purpose of estimating this baby's size.  Everything was very normal (even small), except for his belly (just like Rylan).  The ultrasound tech said she actually couldn't get his entire belly on her screen to measure it because it so big.  She said the measurement she gave us would most likely be smaller than his true size because of this.  Ultrasounds are usually 1 to 1.5 lbs off with weight estimates but she was pretty sure that the baby's actual weight is only higher than the estimate.

Here are the estimates:

Femur: 36 2/7 wks
Humerus: 36 3/7 wks
Head Circumference: 37 6/7 wks
Abdominal Circumference: 41 1/7 wks
Weight: 8 lb, 4 oz

So, a short and fat baby is what the ultrasound is predicting!

Everything looked great in the ultrasound though.  No red flags and he looks perfectly healthy.  His heart rate was 135 bpm and the fluid amount still looks great.

I'm up to 172 lbs so I've put on 47 lbs so far - eeekkk!  I put on 40 lbs with Carter and 45 lbs with Rylan.  I'm very much looking forward to working out again!!!

When the doctor checked me I was only 1+ cm dilated and about 70% effaced.

Now if only baby boy can hold on a few more days until our planned date!!!

Word Problems

I had no idea kindergartners already did word problems during their math block!

Recent Pictures

A few weeks ago I had a doctor's appointment during Rylan's Lil Sluggers session.  So we had to do a makeup class and the only one for his age that was at a time he could do was a football class.  He LOVED it.  He really wants me to sign him up for football this coming session but I'm trying not to over-commit (haha!) with the baby coming.

The other day as we were walking to school, Rylan begged Carter to hold his hand and Carter was nice enough to oblige.

Rylan and I taking a selfie at the zoo ... we miss Carter being at school 5 days a week and not getting to do this stuff as much any more!

Lil Sluggers ended a couple of weeks ago.  This was by far the worse session we've had - the coach was horrible and didn't teach the kids a thing.  However, Rylan still had fun.  And of course he was excited to get a medal at the end of the 8 weeks.

Michelle's little boy (Gray) did the soccer session during the same time slot as Rylan's class.  At least it was nice having someone to talk to.  And Rylan and Gray also do gymnastics together and have become good friends.

We finally got Carter a new bike.  It's a 16" bike which he'll pass on to Rylan next summer when we get him a 20" bike.  We've been extremely lazy about teaching Carter how to ride without training wheels so he still has them.  But I hope to take them off very soon!  We took this picture before a family walk/ride around the neighborhood.

A few weeks ago one of our neighbor's backed into our fence when pulling out of their driveway.  We had our fence company replace the panel (and our neighbor paid us for it) but we didn't get to check their work before they left.  Unfortunately the panel they used was very scratched up and looks horrible.  We haven't paid them yet and are trying to get them to replace it again.  Fun!

Rylan still hasn't figured out if he's left or right handed.  He often "double-fists" has crayons.

At Carter's parent-teacher conference (which I still need to blog about), Mrs. Colasso gave us two websites the school uses for the kids to practice math skills.  Carter has been obsessed with doing the programs and will spend an hour every morning before school at the computer (both boys get up way too early!!!).  One of the programs automatically gets harder as a child completes tasks (and there is no way to reset it).  Unfortunately when Carter logged in this morning, it was suddenly really hard for him.  And I don't want to explain to him how to do something too much because then it'll just get harder.  Maybe we'll just do the other program for awhile!

I've still been bribing Rylan to keep it together at soccer practice.  For every 2 practices that he doesn't cry about being knocked down or not winning a game, we've been going to Chuck E. Cheese and getting 10 tokens.  This is the boys' favorite game ... I may be failing as a parent.

Monday was "Bring a Parent" for Rylan's gymnastics class.  I can usually watch through the window in the lobby, but I honestly don't pay too much attention (it's really hard to see him because he spends most of the class on the far side of the gym).  Plus that's when I catch up on going through all the papers I've accumulated over the last week.

I took a couple of videos though of Rylan on the tumble track and trampoline.

He's gotten really good at doing a seat drop!

Carter went to birthday parties for two of his kindergarten classmates this week.  Mack had a party at Pump It Up on Thursday after school.  Luckily Carter was able to go because his soccer practice was canceled that night since they played a makeup game the night before.  We've been to tons of birthday parties at Pump It Up, but Mack's parents added on the pirate package to the party so the kids got to do things like find treasures which made it different.

Yesterday Carter went to Dax's party at Goofballs.  He was about 20 minutes late since we squeezed in the Haunted Museum beforehand but still had plenty of time to have fun with his friends.  The bumper cars were the best part!  Carter did them so many times in a row and just kept spinning that I was surprised he didn't get sick!

Last night Ashley and Carter watched our boys so we could go out to dinner without kids.  They are super busy trying to pack up their house in the next week to move across town but Ashley still insisted they wanted to watch the boys.  Plus she'd already told her kids that ours were coming and they have been asking all week when Carter and Rylan were coming.

We had planned to find a place to eat in downtown Franklin but forgot that yesterday was Pumpkinfest.  Luckily our first choice of restaurants (McCreary's Irish Pub) actually had a table available!  It wasn't quite the same when you can't get a pint but Brian was able to get a Guinness (with a shamrock, of course!).

Since I'm not going to be able to easily volunteer at Carter's school once the baby arrives, I volunteered to start helping with Box Tops.  So when we got home last night, I trimmed Box Tops, checked expiration dates, and bagged them into groups of 50.  I only had to do the 6 third grades classes so it didn't take too long.  Each month the class in each grade level with the most Box Tops wins a trophy and a treat for all the kids.  Our school makes a few thousand dollars a year off the Box Tops so it's definitely worth doing!

Haunted Museum

We had another crazy Saturday this weekend!  We started off with Rylan's soccer game (which included his team party afterwards because it was his last game of the season), then Carter's soccer game, then the Haunted Museum downtown, then Carter had a birthday party to attend, and then Brian and I went out to dinner while Ashely and Carter watched our kids.  All these things were back-to-back but we made it to them all.  We were all worn out on the way home last night - both boys passed out in the car after just a few minutes.

Carter actually had two birthday parties after his soccer game to go to but he also really, really wanted to do the Haunted Museum at the Tennessee State Museum that we did last year.  So we decided to do a short trip to the museum and then go to the later party which we'd still miss part of.

The boys got to dress up in the Halloween costumes for the Haunted Museum.  Brian and I had to finish up Carter's costume yesterday morning too before we left (as well as make the cupcakes for Rylan's soccer party) which made our day even more hectic.  But I think it turned out great.  Life would be a little less hectic if someone made a Lego guy costume but homemade ones are always cool.  And Rylan is obviously a Ninja Turtle!

Apparently we went to the museum a lot later than we did last year because it wasn't nearly as crowded.  That helped us move through the museum a lot quicker.

There were lots of fun games for the kids and they won little prizes after each game.  Carter's range of motion was a little limited for the "throw the spider in the cauldron" game.

Amazing he stayed on his feet for the limbo!!!

I was very surprised that Carter was able to sit down without too much difficulty!  The boys stopped to listen to a few ghost stories along the way.

And made a few crafts.

Unfortunately Carter and I were able to stay only about 30 minutes (Brian and Rylan stayed a little longer) but we had to park pretty far away and there just wasn't enough time.  The boys still had fun and were super happy that we went.  Carter's costume got tons of compliments too!

Fall Party

For the last couple of years, Missy has a Fall Party at her house.  This year though only Rylan got to go since Carter is in school five days a week now.  Missy went all out and even rented a bouncy house for it this past Monday!

The kids loved it but Rylan loved this four wheeler even more!

He was actually a really good driver!

We all also each brought a pumpkin and Missy had supplies to decorate them.

There were about 15 kids there and we stayed a few hours.  The kids all had a blast!

37 Weeks, 6 Days Appointment

I had another checkup on Thursday.  Everything still looks good.  BP was 102/62 and I was up one pound since last week.  I saw another doctor in the practice again this week (mine was out of town).  Baby's heartbeat was good, and I am about 1 cm dilated.  I have an ultrasound on Wednesday and the doctor didn't think anything would happen before then.

I'm still extremely swollen, especially on my right side.  I attempted to get a picture of my ankles but that's a hard angle to capture!

I've also started to go numb on whatever side I sleep on at night.  Especially my hand and lower arm.  My right hand and wrist have been going to sleep or getting really sore during the day now too.  Apparently, when you swell, it can also affect your nerves.  The doctor said I basically have pregnancy carpal tunnel.  Yay :)

Otherwise, I'm doing good!

More Race Photos

I pulled these photos off the Facebook page for the race the boys did last weekend.

At the starting line (Rylan is behind all the kids with Brian and me) ...

Carter taking off ...

There goes the rest of us!

Carter "flying" over the finish line ...

Rylan finishing up after pulling it together ...

End-of-Season Baseball Celebration

Since our last baseball game ended quickly because of lightning, we didn't get to do a celebration after the game.  So we all met up on Sunday for one final practice and treats.

Coach Jeff organized a couple of games for the kids to play - one throwing and one fielding game.  Carter ended up winning the throwing contest (you had to hit a bucket turned upside down on a tee).  They've been doing this drill for half the season and Carter rarely hits the bucket - he hit it on his first try each round!

After those games, we played two innings of parents versus kids.  Carter was the leadoff hitter and had one of his best hits of the season.  Unfortunately the parent who was playing short stop didn't seem to understand that we were going to let the kids win (duh!) and caught the ball in the air so Carter was out.  He was so bummed!!!  No one else ever got out.

Rylan helped out in the field some when the parents were batting.  Most hits we super soft grounders because everyone was scared of hitting a good one and hurting one of the kids!

After the game it was time to cupcakes!  Christopher is one of the head coach's sons (he has twins).  Carter and Christopher did speech therapy together last year and are still good friends (along with Rylan and Jack Henry who spent a lot of time together playing games on Ms. Kristin's phone while we waited in the lobby at Crockett).

Next it was trophy time.  Coach Jeff did an amazing job of complementing every player after every game before handing out a game ball.  I have no idea how her remembered something good each kid did every game while still coaching.  Jeff also said a little about each boy before handing them their trophy and I got Carter's on video.  As usual, I had to split it into 2 videos because the file is larger than 100 mb ...

Carter was of course super excited for another trophy!

This one is pretty cool too and not generic like all the other sports he's played (his name and team name are actually on it!).

We also gave gifts to all of the coaches (which I organized this season).  Since there are four coaches, we got them all these Wahoo pennants and had the kids write their names on them.  We also gave our head coach (Jeff) a $100 gift card to Dick's.

Carter should be able to stay on the same team in the spring.  I'm not sure how many kids are returning but Coach Jeff and his boys will definitely be there.  I'm sure Carter is ready for it to already be spring!

Pumpkin Carving

Our last activity for Saturday was carving pumpkins.  We usually only do the Mr. Potato Head push-in decorations because it allows the kids to do the decorating mostly themselves.  But I had bought some carving patterns and tools on clearance last year so we decided to try carving the pumpkins this year.

We tried really hard to get the kids to scoop out the insides but they were not at all thrilled with the idea.  Rylan and I worked together.  I pulled out most of the seeds and then tried to get him to scrape the sides.  He put his hand in a couple of times with the tool but I don't think he actually got anything out before giving up.

Carter worked with Brian and was a little more willing.  I think he pulled out two handfuls of seeds before giving up.  There were lots of eww's and bad faces but at least he tried it!

Carter helped Brian with punching the pattern he picked out on the pumpkin and then Brian did the actually carving.  Rylan didn't help me at all.  We had a football game on, and he decided he wanted to watch it on the couch (and fell asleep in about 2 minutes).  We decided it was time for bed and finished the carving ourselves.

I did the skeleton for Rylan and Brian did the ghost for Carter.

The boys were super excited to see the pumpkins in the morning.  And since they get up when it is still pitch black outside, I was able to easily light them up for them.