First Day of Second Grade

Today Nick had his first day of second grade. I am so proud of him. It feels just like yesterday that we walked him to his first day of Kindergarten. He had such a great day. He has a great teacher (which will making going on leave easier), met a lot of new friends, and he is in a classroom right next door to me.

Go Cowboys!!!

We are anxiously waiting the new football season. As you can see Steven already has the baby's game day outfit ready, now all we need is the baby.
Check out the cute little booties that go along with the outfit, that's best part.

Go Cowboys!

7 Months

We are now 7 months along in the pregnancy with this little baby boy. We are all excited and can't wait for the arrival of the newest member of our family.

Gardening

Today Nick and I added a little color to our yard. Nick work so hard he planted all nine plants with little assistance from me. He was so proud that he knows how to carefully pull the plants from the small flowerpot. We had an opportunity to look at the roots learned why they were so important.

Independence Day

We had a nice fourth of July we stayed home the boys (Steven and Nick) tossed the football in the yard. We grilled burgers and sat in our front yard and watch the neighbors set off hundreds of dollars worth of fireworks.

Overall, we had a wonderful time just the three of us.

Happy 4th of July!!!!

Rainy Day Fun

What does one do on a rainy summer day, when a tropical depression is on it's way???
You find something that keeps him busy.
Today Nick painted as we waited out the bad weather. He worked really hard on his ladybug project. We have rain coming for the rest of the week so by the end we will have a whole bug family.

6 Months

As of today we are now 6 months into our pregnancy. I am feeling more uncomfortable each day. Now that we are into the summer months, I am getting more rest, unfortunately it is also much hotter here in Florida.
A few more months and the newest soccer player will be joining the family. I can already feel his goal kick.

Summer Fun

Summer is a great time for our family. Nick and I are able to stay home throughout the days and have fun. We still work on our school work reading, math, and science. However our days are also filled with fun like games (he is driving us crazy with the game Clue) and even staying up late (well a little later). He is very proud of himself he is now working on not just taking baths, but he has been actually taking showers, on his own. In just a few short weeks Nick will be a second grader. This is very exciting for him, he has been waiting a long time, especially since I will be in second grade next door. This could be a good thing or a bad thing????

Today we did some shopping. Nick ended up with new pajamas and flip flops. We were able to have a nice lunch together at a restaurant where Nick was able to make his own pizza.

We even got lucky on our shopping trip and purchased our first major item for the baby. Today we finally found the infant car seat and stroller. So we will now be able to at least bring the baby home (that will be a good thing). It took us so long to find the right one. One thing down, about a million things to buy!

What Parents do out of love...

Since we didn't know that Bloomie Jr. would be joining our family yesterday. We had to celebrate his first birthday today. As you can see from the picture Bloomie is one year old. Nick made him his hat and helped him blow out the candle. Bloomie wasn't alone in his celebration as you can see from below some of his new toy box friends came out to wish him well.
Of course it was mostly the bears that came. Happy Birthday Bloomie Jr.!!!

Nick's New Friend

For those of you who have been reading my blogger for some time, you may remember a class stuff animal named Bloomie. Nick was sad to see his friends go from first grade but even more he was very sad to see Bloomie go. At the end of the school year Nick's teachers raffled him off to one of the students. Nick of course was not that student. So he was determined that he too would find and have his very own Bloomie. We went to tons of stores only to find that we were not going to find him. So rather than wait for months and keep looking for him, Steven and I let our fingers do the shopping. After what seemed like a short shopping trip we found our very own Bloomie. We found him in all sizes and all colors. When Nick saw this he insisted on the tiny one. I guess by having the tiny one it feels like a baby.
Today after much anticipation Bloomie arrived in our mailbox.
Welcome to the family, Bloomie Jr.

The Newest Herod

On May 25th, our family went to our first ultrasound. The picture above is of our new baby boy. We really thought it was going to be a girl this time. However we were very wrong. If you are having trouble with the picture above he is on his back looking up. We watched how active he is inside. I of course could already tell that he will be a future soccer player, like his big brother. When we were there I thought it was suppose to be a 3D scan. I asked the tech person, but I guess I was suppose to ask for it and pay an additional fee. I guess she could tell that I was disappointed and just not aware because she ended up turning on the 3D part of the machine. She was so nice.
Check out the 3D picture.

By the time she turned on the 3D part he was getting a little camera shy. I think he also just wanted her to stop pushing on him. He has Nick's cute little nose. He is laying on his arms under his face. I was upset to see how skinny he looks, but as I was told from now until the end he will be gaining most of his weight. He only weighs one pound in this picture. His little head is not that big, he was swishing into the surrounding area and she was trying to turn the camera view. While we were at our appointment she measured and checked all major organs such as his heart and brain. Everything looks great.

We are all excited and can't waited wait until he is here!!!

Another Season Over!!!

Nick has finished playing his final game this season. Next season he will play with U8. When he is playing on his new team there will now be no girls. He will really miss his friend Courtney.
Nick is excited to say that he now has six trophies and this one has got to be the coolest.
I can only hope by saying goodbye to so many girl players and starting a new team that we are not saying goodbye to team lightning.

If you click on the picture you can get a good shot of Nick helping his friend Daniel (in the yellow goalie shirt) protect the goal.

Easter

Nick was excited when he woke up Easter morning to find some yummy candy and fun new toys. We have been going through the meaning of Easter with Nick and we are trying to move away from the whole bunny thing. It is really hard to do that when these are all the images the kids see and hear in school and on TV. So the toys were from mom and dad and the candy was from the bunny. He accepted this and it was our first step towards eliminating the bunny completely.
Of course it is so important to get those early pictures that of course he still has his bedhead.

Bowling Party

Today Nick went to his friend John-Michael's birthday party. He had so much fun bowling with his soccer buddies. As Nick gets older I can see his personality coming through. When kids are little they are like us. Nick has specific people he like and his friend John Michael is one of those guys. Nick wanted so bad to find the right gift for his friend. When he got home he was so excited and said John-Michael liked his the best.
One of his favorite parts was when he knocked down all the pins.

Soccer Spring 2006 Season

The spring season has been another fun season for Nick. His old friends are back and he has met a few new kids. Nick is now seven and has been playing with these kids for a few years. Since starting soccer at 3 years old he has found a love for the game. AT this time he really loves that his dad is still helping with many of the coaching duties. The thing I don't like about the season is that I haven't been able to be there for most of the games. This pregnancy has made doing everyday things difficult. I have been sick for most of the past four months. Work has been about all I can gather the strength to do. I hope that next season I will be feeling much better and ready for cheering. As for next season our team will be a little different. We will only have boys playing on the team starting fall 2006. This is the year U8 (under 8 years old) when the split the girls and boys. Just by looking at Nick you can see how much bigger he has gotten. So I guess it's time to split them.
As for the new baby, we are waiting patiently for his/her arrival next Oct. The doctor tells us to expect our new family member on the 7th. Currently we are continuing to talk to Nick about the changes that will take place next school year. We are excited to say that we have already felt a little movement. So we hope everything is going well inside.

He Nick is showing off a little feet work.

Busy, Busy!!

I just wanted to say I'm so sorry that I haven't posted in a while.
We are back to soccer for the spring season. Steven is helping with coaching again. So every night we are busy running around. So far the pregnancy has been rough. I have been very sick and very tired. So I have been trying to get all my work done and still take care of me. The boys have been great. So I can't complain.
This past week I was back to the doctor for my monthly check up. Things are going well. When I was there the doctor told me that we are now 9 1/2 weeks pregnant. I lost a few pounds, but nothing to worry about at this time. While I was there we were going to listen to the heartbeat. The doctor told me it was still a little too soon, but he would try anyways. It only took him a few seconds to find the baby. He was really surprised to be able to find it so easily. Joking around he said maybe he could hear it so strong because there was more then one in there. Of course, the look on my face told him that I only ordered one. Panic was that look...
Once I got back the color in my face. He gave me the expected due date of Oct. 7.

As far as soccer goes we spends Friday nights at the field. Nick is doing a great job playing and he enjoys being part of this team. Last night Nick was so excited to score another goal for his team. He did however need to be told by the ref that he could not use his outstretched arm to keep other players from the ball. Breaking the rules already!!!

BIG NEWS

We have recently found out that next year we will be parents once again. We really wanted this, however it only took us seven years after Nick. If pregnancy was easy and fun then I know there would be a ton more people in the world. Nick is so excited that he will be a big brother in just a few short months. He really doesn't realize how many months it really will be.

For the longest time I just wanted a girl. I see all those cute pink clothes. To be honest, I will be happy for either a boy or a girl.

I will be posting pictures through my pregnancy. At this time, I look no different. I do on the other hand feel different. I am so tired these days. Many days I am in bed by eight at night. I am also feeling very sick but surprisingly hungry. What a crazy time in my life.

Nina Ship

Today Nick with his Grandma and Grandpa Herod went to see a ship replica of the real ship of Christopher Columbus the Nina. He had so much fun. He enjoyed this because this year he was taught about these three famous ships. He was able to go on the ship and see the different parts of the ship. What a great learning experience!

Eric Carle

As a teacher and mother today one of my all time wishes came true. I actually met Eric Carle. For those of you who don't live on planet Earth he is the author of wonderful children's book such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Steven, Nick, and I were there 1 hour and 30 minutes before the signing began. We were the fourth group in line and we saw him the second he came through the door. There we were sitting on the floor of Kohls department store waiting to see this special person. Nick was able to tell Eric Carle himself that his very favorite book was the The Very Hungry Caterpillar. I was so excited to see him that I actually couldn't breathe and my eyes were welling up with tears. I know that neither Nick of I will ever forget this special day.

Monster Truck Show

VROOOOOOOM!!!!!!



This is what a mom of a boy ends up doing on a Saturday night. I end of going to the monster truck show and making a fool of myself. I think I cheered louder than all the rednecks around me. I know I can kind of get wrapped up in things. The pictures are hard to see but if you click on them then you are able to see some of our favorite trucks in action. Nick loves the Superman and Hot Wheels truck. As you can see from the pictures the Superman truck wasn't so lucky tonight. It ended up flipping over. I swear the more danger these people are in, the louder the crowd cheers. I think there is something really wrong with that. I of course love the truck Grave Digger. It is so cool with its red head lights and its cool jumps. One of Nick's favorite parts of the show was the intermission motorcycle stunts.
One thing is for sure those beasts are sure LOUD!!!!
I'm so glad I came prepared with ear plugs.