Enjoying the Wait

Today, August 28th, is the last day that we will only have one daughter. Tomorrow, little sister Stella arrives via induction. We've been anxious and excited to meet her and especially excited for Harper to meet her. Harper has said multiple times, "I want Stella to just come out right now".

{and also asked that my belly go back to a smaller size}

But as anxious and uncomfortable as I have been, the Lord just gave me a peace this weekend and reminded me to enjoy these last few days as a family of three. So that is just what we have done! 

Yesterday, the weather wasn't too hot, so we spent most of the day outside. 

Harper learned to play Bocce Ball.

We enjoyed popscicles

"Is my tongue purple?"

 She convinced Kevin to go down the slide with her. 

I'm pretty sure he pulled all sorts of muscles with this one...

And as only Harper can, she took some dance breaks along the way. 

We love this funny little girl of ours and just can't imagine how much we'll love having two of them!

"Wearning"

Earlier this summer, after making the leap to stay at home instead of working, I got an itching to teach something. Well, it just so happens I have a pretty smart toddler running around here who was in need of some learning. 

I compiled all my little activities and manipulatives, and we got to work! 

We started with colors, and here is a glimpse of what we did. 

Color sorting

We put together a color notebook, with poems and stickers. 

More specific color sorting

When green was the color of the day, she got to wear a 'bracelet' around to remind her to tell people about the color green. 

For Red Day, she added a red bow and red ladybug wings to her outfit. 

She painted on Blue Day

Orange was my favorite {of course}

We went on an 'orange hunt' and she found all the things in our house that were orange. Then we took pictures of them so she can tell others about what she found. 

~

She is much better at identifying colors now, and she loved her "wearning time" each day. After baby sister gets here and we settle into our new routine, I think we might tackle shapes, numbers, senses, letters, animals......the list goes on and on. 

Poor kid, it's probably going to get old having a former teacher as a mom. 

swim

Harper took swim lessons about a month ago. She went to the Owasso YMCA every morning for two weeks. There were about 4 other kids in her swim class, but it just so happened that on the last day, she was the only one there. So she got her own private lesson =)

The class was for kids under 3 and I was worried it would be more geared toward babies than kids Harper's age, but I was wrong. They really challenged her! She didn't like putting her face in the water, floating on her back, or generally being told what to do. So it was a good growing experience for her and she did great! 

Warming up to the water

Sliding before the lessons started. At the beginning, I had to hold her hand the whole way down. By the end of those two weeks, I wasn't needed anymore. 

Practicing with her swim instructor Miss Jen

Floating on her back. 

This look of serenity is a big change from the first few days of tears and "No No No No No" when she was supposed to be floating on her back. 

Using the paddle board

Walking in the "deep" water.

Oh, did I mention that it was a 'Mommy & Me' class? 

Yes it was. 

Did I mention that I was 32 weeks pregnant at the time?

Yes I was.

Did I mention that I did not like that?

No I did not. 

Coming out of the water after a big dunk. 

Kicking on her own.

Doesn't like getting that water in her nose. 

She also didn't like getting water in her ears. 

This was her prevention technique. 

Getting water in her nose made her sneeze during every lesson. And when I say sneeze, I don't mean a few times. I mean, like 12 or more times in a row. I think the sneezing wore her out more than the swimming. 

After every lesson, she had to go down the slide...

"Just one more time mommy."

~

"Now just 3, 4, 5 more times mommy."

She was proud of her certificate. 

Showed it to everyone who visited our house for about 3 weeks. 

Holding it up high, for all to see.