32 weeks and Mini-Vacation

Wow, I'm a few days late in posting, but I have a good excuse... actually, more than one excuse! We took our mini-family vacation to St. Louis with the kids last Friday through Monday, which was a lot of fun (and tiring)... and when I got home, my computer was acting up and my screen is on the fritz. SO, it's in the repair shop, and hopefully I'll have it back soon! I am LOST without it! There's my excuse for being behind...

Our trip was really great! We packed up and were ready to hit the road when I got off work at noon on Friday. We were out of town by 1pm and got into St. Louis about 4:30pm. We went to Rachel and Bill's house to drop off our luggage. Pattie had been there helping Rachel with their kitchen remodel, and so we decided to go eat Mexican together. We enjoyed our dinner and the kids got to play along with the guitar player who serenaded us. :0)


After dinner, we took the kids to the City Museum. They had been there before and loved it. There is so much to do, and they had a blast crawling through tunnels and playing outside. It was really hot even after the sun went down, so they were thoroughly worn out by the time we left there at 10:30pm (they are open til 1am on Friday and Saturday nights)! We went back to Rachel and Bill's house and visited with them for a while, as they had been at a wedding when we arrived. The kids took a bit to wind down, and we all crashed hard that night.



Saturday, we got up and went to breakfast with Rachel, Bill and Pattie. We then headed out to the Magic House. That is a must-see attraction for families with kiddos. It was very educational, fun and entertaining! We spent about 5 hours there and the kids had a blast. We ran into a friend of mine from Springfield who was there with her college roommate and her kids! Small world.

We left there and headed to our hotel and decided that PF Changs was definitely on the agenda, so we called to make reservations for that evening. The kids wanted to swim, so we ventured down to the pool for a bit and then got ready for dinner. We met Rachel and Bill there and thoroughly enjoyed our yummy dinner! We even got a few complimentary appetizers from the manager, as we had to wait about 30 minutes past our reservation time. GOOD food and worth the wait.

Sunday, we got up and had breakfast at the hotel, then headed out to Grant's Farm. We picked the perfect day as it was a little bit cloudy and not nearly as hot! We got there shortly after they opened and had fun riding the tram and seeing all the animals. It started to sprinkle on us as we walked to see the Clydesdale horses and we decided we'd go ahead and go to the zoo that afternoon to take advantage of the cooler temps.


We stopped for lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings (when the GPS led us astray and we couldn't find the restaurant we were looking for). The zoo was pretty busy, and it did get into the upper 80s, so a lot of the animals were in their dens or in the shade, asleep. Thankfully there are several houses (Reptile House, Butterfly House, etc) which are air conditioned, so we visited all of them! I was pretty worn out from a lot of walking and the heat, so I sat while the kids and Bryan visited the Reptile House. I'm not much for reptiles anyway, as we all know!!

By the time we visited all the areas of the zoo, we were hot and tired!! We headed back to the hotel and decided to just order in pizza for dinner. The boys went to the pool again, while Kyndall and I watched part of a movie on tv. We had a little picnic in our room with our pizza and cinnamon sticks and vegged out that evening.

Monday was our last day in STL. We had breakfast at the hotel and got packed up. We finished the trip with a visit to the St. Louis Science Center. It was great!! The kids really enjoyed it, as well as Bryan and I! There was so much to see and do, and was very interactive. We stayed for about 3 hours or so, and then headed to Kriegers for lunch. It was quite yummy! We stopped by to say goodbye to Rachel, and she gave us some of her harvest from the raised-bed garden they put in. Yum. We drove back to Springfield through some big thunderstorms but arrived safely about 6:30pm. I even had time to do a few loads of laundry and we all got unpacked, which was nice.

Tuesday, I had my 32 week doctor's appointment. It was another quickie with a BP check (129/78), listened to Colton's HB (upper 140s), did the weight and measurement check, which was right on target at 32 cm at 32 weeks. The med student who I saw asked if there were any problems or questions... I just told her I was sleeping less and getting up more often at night. She offered a script for Ambien, but I opted to wait and see... I'm trying not to take any more meds if I can... and I've heard some crazy things about Ambien!! I have enough trouble with my pregnant brain remembering things now, without adding a drug to the mix that causes more problems with that!! So, we'll see if I change my mind at my next appointment. I go on Aug 13, which will put me at almost 35 weeks, so the doc may do an exam at that time to see if there is any dilation or effacement. It will be interesting to see if these BH contraction are indeed "practice" or if they are doing anything! I'm not sure when the last ultrasound will be-- probably in the last month, to see how big Colton is. Right now he's probably between 3.75-4 pounds, and around 17" in length. We are getting SO anxious to see him!!

Belly Pics:

In other baby news, we got his chair in last Thursday, and put it in his room. It looks good, but boy, that room is shrinking by the day!I know when we have our showers (3 in the next 2 weeks), it will get even smaller with all the paraphernalia and gear we'll acquire! Thank goodness we have a nice big closet in there. :0)

It was also announced this past weekend that Colton will have another cousin in 2011!! Not only will he be joined by a first cousin from Rachel and Bill in December, but another first cousin is expected to arrive in March-- proud parents, Joy and Roger!! They are over the moon excited, as we all are... The kids will have acquired 6 new babies (2 brothers, 3 first cousins and 1 third cousin) in less than a year's time. WOW. It's in the water people-- look out!! :0)

As I mentioned, we have 3 upcoming showers that I am really excited for; a friends shower on Aug 7th, a work shower on the 8th and a family shower on the 10th! I am so thrilled to be sharing this journey with our friends and family, and am anxious to see some people I haven't seen in a long time! I think these events are going to make it even more real that this is happening, sooner rather than later!!! Bryan and I have both commented that we are to the point that we just want him to get here... one of us probably a little more than the other! :0) We are making guesses as to if he'll have hair, and if it will be a little or a lot, dark or light? Will he get my brown eyes or Bryan's blue (we're hoping blue)? Will he be small or big, look like a Salmon or a Hood, or what if the dreaded happens-- he's ugly!?!? ha ha. I know it won't matter one bit once he is here... but we are having fun making guesses in the meantime.

Well, I should post this so as not to get too far behind! Love to all of you.