Our new baby- June.

Oh man, we really had you going there! We didn't have our baby, but we did get a baby in the house today. Miss Juliet called and asked if Henry could go to a place called GattiTown. No, it's not a mob-sanctioned restaurant- it's a place in Greenville like Chucky Cheese. Actually, Miss Juliet offered to take me too, but mama thought that would be too much to have four kids with two adults in a crazy place like that.

Instead, we made a deal- take Henry and leave Christopher. He was a little nervous at first and not very happy when his mom walked out the door.

After a nice long nap, we made a terrible decision and let papa go upstairs to get him up. Bad idea. We forgot that Christopher does not like beards. Especially papa's. After that shock, he and mama had to share some good cuddling. And I helped calm him down by rubbing his back and singing him all of the songs I know.

After a big supper, Christopher was feeling much better.

He sat with mama and chewed on our toys and eventually warmed up to everyone.

While he played with toys, mama got to take a ton of pictures of him. And she started feeling much better about the hopes of someday having a new baby in the house. We sure like babies.

Even papa got a few laughs out of Christopher, after Christopher decided the beard was safe.

Check out those 3 new teeth!

Thanks again to Miss Juliet and Mister Tony for taking Henry. And anytime you want to trade again, let us know!

Play-dough- Henry.

There are some perks to mama being overdue. She doesn't want to do anything, and she feels guilty enough that she'll do things like let us play with play-dough!

Mostly, mama hates having to pick play-dough out of all the little crevices. But it helps that she had Grams here for reinforcement.

For the first time, June got to play too. And she didn't eat any of it. She was so pleased.

We played for a good hour and a half. The best part for mama was that after my nap, I went back into the dining room and vacuumed up the mess on the floor. Maybe we will play with play-dough more.

Today was also our last day of summer school. This week was pirate week. We were so proud of the pirate hats we made.

I also painted a treasure chest that I filled up with play coins and money when we went on a treasure hunt with our treasure maps. Good thing I had this periscope!

Out for a walk- June.

Grams Cooper made it down to South Carolina late Monday night. And here we were letting everyone make us think mama wouldn't make it until Grams came. Now we're officially at the baby's due date and no baby. Not even after Henry sang mama's belly "Happy Birthday" three times.

Last night, it cooled down (to 94 degrees and only about 80% humidity!), so we decided to go outside for a bike ride. There was a picture of Henry on his bike, but it also included a backside picture of mama, and she's not letting that up on the blog.

I rode along for the whole hour long ride. Henry is really getting good on his bike. He's becoming much more confident about riding downhill. He still goes pretty slow, which is okay by us. I made my own fashion statement. I've got my "horsie precious" (otherwise known as my ankle brace) and my new horsie t-shirt that Grams and PawPaw brought me from Albuquerque. It was long enough that I decided it was also a precious (a dress) and refused to put any pants on. Also, check out a sweaty mom at 40 week.

About 1/8th of a mile from home, I decided to walk and I even got to push the stroller up the hill.

Big news! Guess who is sleeping in her big girl bed? This gal!

Last night, I was so pleased to be in my bed and slept through the night without any escapes. Tonight, I had a harder time going down. Good thing mama was at the store with Grams, because she would have thrown me back in the crib. Papa was much more patient and put me back in bed 15 times.

Who's the only person more excited about me being in my bed? This guy. He is so pleased that we're sharing a bed now. Mama is still keeping her eye out for a bed rail to lock me in.

On the baby front, mama blew right past her due date today with no baby. Dr. Hearn says she's still 2 centimeters dilated and offered to induce her on Saturday. We're still hoping we won't have to wait that long. PawPaw comes down next Monday and we're like him to meet the baby before they have to leave on the 21st.

On a side note to anyone who put in a guess on the baby poll, only 9 of the 26 of you even predicted that we'd go past August 11th and still not have a baby. So everyone thought this baby was coming- except this baby.

Artsy- June.

No baby yet- obviously. This morning we went out to the Botanical Gardens to ride bikes with John and Christopher. We had so much fun that everyone needed baths, and then the bath needed scrubbed after we got out. As Henry said, "It was so hot, there are waterfalls coming out of my head."

I started going to summer school last week and brought home my first art project. Lucky for me it was dinosaur week. I was very proud of my triceratops.

On Thursday morning, they had a dino waiting for me.

I got to glue on dinosaur bones too! School is the best!

Henry made a tree with ants.

And here's a fish project from Sea Creature week.

Some of you moms may recognize this project. We made these for Mother's Day. Henry had so much fun that we made another set for Miss Leah when baby Olivia was born.

This was the big project last week. We have a present waiting if this baby ever comes. Henry has worked very hard on the wrapping paper. This is actually his third attempt because he didn't like the first two. He even let me put on a few stickers.

We got these at our new baby class. Don't ask me what kinds of things we know about being a big brother and sister. Don't get me started. Henry colored both of these.

This is a pretty big deal. Henry likes tracing, coloring and dot to dots- all very structured kinds of art projects. Then, on Sunday night, he pulls out the big roll of butcher paper, cut a piece out, and drew a picture of our house! Complete with red bricks, a big tree, and a garage. He traced two cars outside, but didn't have the guts to try and draw a car on his own inside the garage. He spent a good 45 minutes working on this picture. All in all, we're pretty impressed with Buster.

Finally, here's a video of me playing with a doll tonight. Maybe some of this "new baby" talk is starting to rub off. I brought it a toy then spent a good deal of time rubbing lotion on her hands, before I moved on and got lotion for everyone else in the family.

Quiet weekend- no baby- mama.

We had a nice quiet weekend here. Papa took the kids to Greenville to go to the zoo, hoping that being 45 minutes away would be enough to get this baby business started. This kids had a great time and were even in good humor as they had to stop at the only natural food store in the upstate that carries Cramp Bark (which I heard is supposed to ease postpartum pain- the only thing I'm rally worried about). They also stopped at a mattress store and finally got June a mattress for her big girl bed!

Look who is so happy to be in the bunk bed!

Henry was even more excited for June to share the bunk bed at last.

But the joy did not last. We didn't even make it out of the room before Junie decided she did not want to sleep in the big bed. So she moved back to the crib and Henry was heartbroken. What he really wants is for June to sleep in the top bunk with him, but that's not happening anytime soon. Brandon was upset that she didn't want to sleep in the bunk, but I'm happy to keep her in the crib as long as possible. Our next plan of attack is to get a bed rail for the bottom bunk. That, along with the ladder coming down from Henry's bed, might make the bed more hospitable for June and much harder to get out of.

Henry spent Sunday morning earning quarters by doing chores around the house. A few weeks ago he decided he HAD to have a Joey Votto shirt (he's the first baseman for the Reds). He asked me how much one cost and I threw out the figure $15. He immediately pulled out his piggy bank and started counting. Surprisingly, he had over $11 in spare change! So he decided he was going to earn some money to get his shirt. It's been a great experience for him (and me) because I had to come up with chores for Henry to do (usually vacuuming and sweeping- our house has never been so clean) and we got to practice counting coins. Henry is getting very good at counting by 5s, 10s, and 25s now.

Here's what $15 looks like. We were all so pleased that Henry met his goal that we all had a sucker.

And here's the proudest boy in the world. We found his Joey shirt online, but could only find a youth size small for under $25. Well, at least he'll be able to wear it for a few years.

Coolest shirt ever. Now Henry has a Joey shirt, Brandon has a Jay Bruce shirt, June has a Sean Casey jersey (he's retired, but we still love him) and the baby has a few Ken Griffey, Jr. outfits. I'm the only one that remains unaffiliated.

Do you think Joey wears Winnie the Pooh glasses?

This afternoon, naps were cut short because we went down to the hospital in Anderson for a "new sibling" class. Biggest waste of time EVER. I'm sure there are some great classes out there, but this one was awful. First off, there were 4 kids. Us and two 3 year old boys. the nurse leading the class spent the first 20 minutes asking each kid their name and how to spell it. Christian, Everett and June had no clue. That didn't stop this woman. She just kept asking OVER and OVER. Then we listened to the same "Mama loves her baby and she loves me too" song four times in a row. We took a tour of the hospital. Instead of taking the time to point out that this is where mommy is going to have the baby and it's going to take a long time and mommy and the baby will both be tired afterwards, she instead asked "Can anyone find the phone? the TV? the toilet?" At least we got to look through the nursery window on the way out. At no point did anyone mention anything about how you need to be gentle with the baby, or that mommy will need time to recover, or that having a baby can be long, loud, and mama will be in pain, but that's why the doctors are there to help her. Before we left, we got to watch a video someone made walking through the hospital, showing the rooms and taking special care to zoom in on the toilet and toilet paper dispenser. Excruciating. Then we sang the "Mama loves baby" song AGAIN. Grrr. We stopped at Dairy Queen to ease some of the frustration.

June had her first conversation this weekend! When she got home from the zoo, I asked her what she saw. And she told me all the different animals she saw. "I saw tiger. I saw giraffe. I saw crocodile. I saw elephant. I saw BIG BEAR!" It's crazy how much she's talking now.

No news on the baby front. On Friday morning, I woke up at 5am with contractions. But they stopped by 10 am and haven't returned regularly. We're not superstitious people, but June was born the day after I finished the quilt I was making her. Just in case this baby is waiting for its quilt, I finished it up today. Here's the front.

And here's the back. It might have been finished earlier, but I didn't like the quilting and ripped it all out and resewed it today.

I'm very pleased how it turned out. For good measure, I'm putting the final touches on the quilt for our new Turner cousin that will be born at the end of the month. Maybe I can get it done tonight and officially be finished with all the 800 projects I've started in the past 2 months.

It's your move, baby Gus.

39 weeks- Henry.

You have have noticed in mama's effort to get the blog up to date, she been scheduling out one blog post a day. Well, mama is afraid that this baby may actually be born on of these days, so she's putting up the last three posts, just so she's all caught up. That's pretty lucky for you, especially those of you that still haven't updated your blog (Uncle Kevin and Uncle Adam!).

Here's your punishment:

Ack! That's a huge white belly! We try not to get too graphic on this blog, but mama just had to post this picture. now that the baby is too big to really move around much. This kid really can reallydo a number in there. Now that the baby is bigger, it spend most of its time trying to stretch out. So mama is lopsided most of the time, like in this shot where it just can't seem to get comfortable. At any given time, you can usually feel a knee or elbow sticking out at a weird uncomfortable angle.

Here's a slightly more appropriate picture. Mama at 39 weeks (at least her belly is covered). We could resist getting one more shot with the bump sign, even if mama is a big, sweaty mess. We think the doctor has given up hope of mama going early. She's 2 centimeters dilated and the baby is all the way down. This has been hard on mama because now it's head hits all the nerves going into her legs, giving her shooting pain if she stand up for too long. Over the past few days, mama has really been tired. Our good friends in the neighborhood have been really good about keeping all of us busy. And when mama is moving, she feels good. But yesterday, June and I went to school and this morning I went to the lake with John, James, Christopher, and Andy. And mama has found on these days when she's just bumming around at home, she tends to feel much worse. Or maybe that's because she could be just days from giving birth. You decide.

Here's a video for the strong of heart out there. Warning: there's a big belly moving around in this video!

This is humiliating in a number of ways. First, it's hard to find an angle to take a belly video that isn't completely unflattering. Second, it's harder when you're wearing an enormous purple mumu (it's hot down here, okay?). Third, if you look close, you might be able to see the Taco Bell stain on her belly from the run for the border she sent papa on earlier. Finally (and we don't think this is humiliating at all), that IS the Highlander theme song playing in the background. Mama finished Season 3 this week. It was so awesome, it's no wonder the baby was so worked up!

A boy and his bike- June.

Every since the Tour de La France, Henry has been dying to get out on his bike. We've gone to Clemson Elementary a few times to ride because the parking lots are fairly flat.

And we've been riding around our neighborhood too, which is not even close to being flat. Henry is getting much more bold about coasting down big hills and will ride very slowly down every hill but one.

And while he's trying harder to ride up hills, a one speed bike just won't get you over some of them. He and mama had a big fight this week about pushing his bike up the hill. He thought she would do it, and she got selfish and said she couldn't push a stroller, a belly, AND a bike up a hill. Eventually, Henry pushed his own bike up.

Henry's next big wish is for lights on his bike so he can ride at night. Papa said yes to the lights, but no to riding at night. At least we can see that his reflectors are working.

Check out my cute monkey jammies! Mama found I'm much happier if I get to hang out for a while in my jammies instead of getting dressed. So she's been much more liberal with pajama wearing. For instance, it's one 1:30 and I'm still wearing my "Dora precious" purple nightgown.

On Wednesday, mama finally came through on a promise she made Henry months ago- to take a bus ride! We met John and Christopher at the grocery station and we all rode on to campus to the Hendrix Center (the new student union). We ate a packed lunch, then headed to the campus ice cream shop and all got cones!

The boys were very excited that they got to ride in a seat together with no grown-ups. It was a great trip. All 4 kids were well behaved, if a little wound up, and the whole trip only took about an hour and a half.

This morning, Henry went to the beach with our friends while mama and I stayed at home. Mama was up at 5am having a few contractions and she thought today might be the big day. So she took the opportunity to FINALLY pack her bag for the hospital. Then the contractions stopped. But it was nice having a quiet morning and not have to spend it sitting in the hot water at the beach. So thank you, thank you, Miss Kerri and Miss Juliet for taking Henry with you.

Since I've had to ice my ankle at night, papa and I have spent some time on PBSkids.org playing the Super Why! Alpha Pig letter game. I'm up to about 75% accuracy. I like working on letters so much that I play the game by myself with our Boggle set. I even quote Alpha Pig by saying "Nooooow, where's the letter F?" "That's great!"

Crafts and such- June.

Henry is on to his thurd church school of the summer. This one runs every week on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. James, John and Andy all go too, so we've been carpooling. We really need to get a picture of 5 kids between the age of 2 and 4 and a half shoved into one van. It's really loud. But I think all the moms are enjoying not having to drive to Seneca twice a day.
Henry has brought home all kinds of cool crafts. Most of them are hanging on the wall in our bedroom. But there have been a few more delicate pieces that just couldn't be saved. This octopus is great, but the paint is flaking off the foam, so it got a picture and met its fate.

We really loved this piece. Henry glued down the sand, laid the play-dough grass and painstakingly set up the straw fences. Then they put the animals in their zoo! We were sad to see this one hit the trash can, but every time it got moved, everything fell over and mama felt too bad to see Henry try to fix it over and over.
Henry's teacher pulled mama aside to tell her how good her was a coloring and putting puzzles together. That's our engineer. He's giving the 350 piece puzzle another go and this time he's done most of it on his own without mama having to separate out the different colors. If you'd told us a year ago that our spastic 3 year old Henry would mellow out into this patient craft -loving, puzzle-building kid, we'd never have believed you.
Exciting thigs are happening for me too. I've graduated to a cup! And am pretty pleased about it, if I must say so.
I'm pretty good about being careful, but did have an accident last night that involved spilling a full glass of milk into mama's lap. Needless to say, we got sent outside for the rest of the night.
Also, this week I got to go to school with Buster! Mama signed me up for the 2 year old class to have some piece and quiet before the baby storm hits. When mama dropped me off Tuesday morning, i ran straight to my class with Andy and didn't even look back. Henry did tell mama that about halfway through the morning, June started crying and they brought me into his class. He said that as soon as I saw him, I yelled "Buster!" and was just fine. I played in his class for a few minutes then they took me back to my class. The teachers didn't mention it to Miss Kerri at pick-up, so the rest of the day must have gone just fine.

Here's a video of Henry and I playing our new counting game. As you can imagine, it got very loud as it went on.