Pre-K Promotion

Madeline had her Pre-K promotion last week and I have to share some of the photos and videos because it was the cutest thing ever.  

It was a rough start with schools when we first moved to Austin. We had them in a daycare up in North Austin and after a few weeks, we realized it was a horrible fit. Madeline was screaming and crying everyday when we dropped her off (which is so unlike her!) and there was a lot of turnover even in the few weeks that we were there. We had no back-up plan, but decided to put in our notice at the daycare anyway. We were frantically looking for daycares or pre-schools and kept striking out. One night, we randomly discovered St. Martin's Lutheran and called the next morning. They had a spot for both Madeline and Luke (which can be hard to find!) so we went down that afternoon for a tour. We immediately loved it and enrolled them even though it was a long, traffic-y drive from our apartment. Shortly after, George got a new job downtown and we decided to move downtown, just a few minutes from the school. It all felt so stressful and chaotic at the time, yet it all worked out so well and we are so so sooooo thankful that we made that series of decisions. 

One of the things we love about St Martin's is that it is set-up as a preschool rather than just childcare. They have a really good curriculum, we're constantly shocked at the things they know. They have "specials" throughout the week (library, music, art,  gym, science, sign language, Spanish). The gym teacher has been teaching them bones in the body and Madeline legitimately knows more bones than I do! Both kids love their teachers and have made lot of little friends. 

And another one of her practicing one of the songs with George...

30 weeks

Hi Everyone! Since I last posted, I've become a lot more pregnant. :) I'm now 30 weeks and feeling pretty large, but really good. And I know from past experience that I haven't seen nothing yet! Just like its big sister and brother, this one seems to be a mover. I've been feeling tons of kicks and wiggles. We've started getting some baby stuff out which is making it really sink in that we'll be a family of FIVE really soon! I'm so excited and anxious to know who is inside of me...a baby boy or baby girl. The anticipation of meeting the baby is my favorite part of pregnancy. For now, I'll enjoy my sleep. 

Here are a few recent pictures of me and my growing belly. 

The kids had so much fun with Easter this year. Luke did Easter eggs for the first time and did his best to sabotage Madeline's masterpieces. 

They also had a blast doing our Easter egg hunt. George hid all of the eggs in a nearby park and then we let the kids loose. Madeline is fast and competitive and was on a mission to get as many eggs as possible. Luckily for her, Luke wanted to open and then eat the candy in each egg as he found them, which slowed him down. Haha! I love them and their unique little personalities. 

While George was hiding our eggs, a really nice couple at the park saw him, ran back to their house, and then gave him a bunch of huge Easter eggs stuffed with toys. They had Easter plans that fell through and were looking to get rid of the eggs and toys. Luke and Madeline totally scored. 

These pictures of Luke crack me up. He loves chocolate and was on cloud nine with all of his Easter candy.  

Finally, here are some pics of the kids at my last appointment. Madeline came with us to my 20 week ultrasound so I thought it would be fun to bring both kids to my appointment last week. I think it helps them understand what's going on and what's about to happen. Since the kids were there, my doctor did a quick ultrasound to get some pics for them. When we got back to school, Luke told his classmates that he saw the baby and showed them the pics. It melted my heart. 

Baby #3!!!!

We have some big news to share....Baby Lucas #3 is coming in July!!!! 

That's right! The due date is July 25 and I am just over 19 weeks now. We are all very excited for this addition to our family. Like last time, we will not be finding out the gender of this little one. We LOVED the surprise in the delivery room with Luke and are looking forward to that again. The hardest part of not knowing the gender is having to come up with both a boy name and a girl name, and so far, we haven't been able to come up with either. If you have any suggestions, send them over! :)

It's been a pretty smooth pregnancy so far. I tend to feel really tired during the first trimester, but my energy quickly goes back to normal as soon as I hit 11-12 weeks. Unrelated to the pregnancy, it has been a really bad cold and flu season in our house again this year. I swear the kids and I have been sick every other week. Meanwhile George hasn't gotten sick once. Guess all of that spinach he has in his smoothies is paying off! 

The kids are excited about the new baby, although we found out last time that it doesn't totally hit them until the baby is actually born. Over the past couple weeks as I've started showing more, they will comment on my belly and the baby every now and then. I have an ultrasound next Friday and we're planning to bring them so they can see who is in that growing belly. 

One morning when the kids were home with me, we decided to do an impromptu photo shoot to reveal the baby news. At first they cooperated...

 

Then they got really silly... :)

 

And then Madeline turned the camera around me, slippers and all! Haha!