Month of May

This month has gone by so fast, and I have a feeling the next 2 months, before this baby comes, will follow the same fast pattern.  Devin has one more month as a 1st year resident, and we are so looking forward to this 1st year being behind us!  We knew it was going to be brutal and we weren't going to see much of each other or be able to make many plans.  I knew being on my own with the girls would be my norm, and while I have had plenty of fun with them, I'm also excited to have Devin around more.  Devin has to take another round of boards in 10 days, and once that nasty exam is behind us, we really will be on the downward slope the rest of June as he finishes his "on-call" duty at the hospital.  Then July will start his 2nd year schedule, and 3 weeks into the month this baby boy is due to arrive.  During our "family planning" chats last year, my strongest opinion was that I did not want to have another baby during his 1st year of residency. I didn't mind being pregnant, but I did not want a baby while he was still on call and so unreliable in our family life.  Well...here we are a year later and having a baby as soon as we possibly could have after his 1st year, ha!  We have been SO BLESSED to be able to plan out when we want each of our kids, and it actually turn out the way we plan it.  We are 3 for 3, and I really feel incredibly thankful for the lack of struggle we have in getting our kids here.  

Well, that was a rant...back to the point of this post...a photo dump of all of the pictures I took on my phone in the month of May.  I know the month isn't quite over, but beginning on Sunday, we will be staying with another family we go to church with, and watching 5 of their kids for 10 days while the parents and oldest kid go backpacking around in Europe!  And that will wrap up the month for us.  

We did the Home Depot construction craft on the 1st Saturday of May.  It's free, it fills our morning and the girls love creating something.  WIN,WIN,WIN!  This month we made flower pot holders/basket.  Devin is usually the one to hammer the wood all together, and the girls paint them.  

This was the 1st Saturday in 3 months that Devin didn't have the pager on his hip, so we seized the day and went from Home Depot to the park/playground for a picnic lunch and played until the girl's nap time.  

It really is another level of fun when Dad comes to the playground.  

This is from one morning I caught Claire playing with Devin's toothbrush.  HA!  We always try to keep the bathroom door closed.  Even Emily is trained to close it after she uses the bathroom.  It is Claire's biggest temptation to get into mischief and make a huge mess.  From toilet paper, to water in the toilet bowl, to climbing on the counter and playing with the sink faucet, to opening the medicine cabinets and emptying all the contents all over the place, to playing with our toothbrushes....the bathroom is her FAVORITE place to sneak into and wreck havoc!  But then I catch her and she gives me a smile like this.  

Emily had a field trip to a wildlife rescue center.  Claire loved pretending like she was a big kid (she's the one in the pink jacket with pigtails.)

Emily's preschool class had a Mother's Day program that was so adorable.  They memorized and sang a ton of songs with hand motions to the words.  It was precious.

The weather this month was all over the place.  We had sweltering hot days in the 90s and it also snowed a few times with really cold temps.  We tried to be outside as much as possible, so most of my pictures are from various playground trips.  

I started the baby quilt for this little boy.

Going out to eat is a treat, so we document when it happens.  

Emily loves picking and collecting dandelions when we're outside.

While Claire likes to hang and swing from whatever handle she can find.

For the most part, they play really well together.  

More playground

Claire came and sat next to me on the bench to snuggle and kiss baby brother.

And yet another playground day.  This was from yesterday, which marked our playground record.  It was the most gorgeous Spring day.  Mid 60s and partly overcast, so we never got hot, but were comfortable in shorts and t-shirts the whole day.  We were outside from right after breakfast until 3pm when I finally came home to put them down for naps.  Then as soon as they woke up, we went back outside until dark when we came back to have baths and go to bed.  It was a playground extravaganza.  We hit up 4 different playgrounds, and I physically ran them to each one.  I did a total of almost 9 miles pushing them in their double jogger from playground to playground around town.  And that brings me to this morning...we are all a bit exhausted from our big day outside yesterday.  Emily is watching cartoons while snuggling right next to me on the couch as I type this, and Claire is busy shuffling her toys around the house.  It is another absolutely gorgeous day, so as soon as we get the energy, we will be back at the playgrounds to kick off our weekend.