Well, this week I will be 37 weeks pregnant. I keep telling myself that I'm not ready to have this baby boy yet, but really, it wouldn't be so bad for him or me to have him now. Those last few weeks are always the longest, but I'm trying to be patient and wait on God's timing.
Meanwhile, Megan asked if she could do some more maternity pix of me, so I of course obliged. As soon as Kevin got home tonight, she and I took off and left Kevin and Jody fixing dinner while BJ took charge of the little ones. We were only gone about 1/2 an hour and we had dinner ready to cook when we left, so don't feel too badly for them.
We tried out a couple of fun places for shooting the pics, this was actually in the neighbor's backyard. I thought it was sweet.
This shot was out on the edge of town. It may have been the first time I've ever just sat in the middle of the road, but not a bad idea for a fun photo.
My favorite photo from the whole day. I don't know why, I just love it.
Last night, at dinner, Aunt Jody told all the kids they had to say a bible verse to get their pizza. So one by one they raised their hands and said a verse. After a couple of kids had said a verse, Jadon raised his hand. He waited patiently until Jody called his name at which point he said, "Why did the chicken cross the road?"
Last year I chronicled the Fab Five turning Five. Well, unfortunately these kids just keep insisting on growing up. Ilese turned six a couple of weeks ago, but before the big event, we did get a shot of all of them together as FIVE 5 year olds.
I have a shot of them turned around, but I thought this was much sweeter. That's Uncle BJ in the background rounding third.
Pretty soon Katy will be six and then a couple months after that, Micah and the twins. Five 6 year olds just doesn't have the same ring to it. But they will all be in school this year. Micah and Ilese are in 1st grade and Katy and the twins are in kindergarten. They just keep getting bigger don't they. I suppose if they have to do that, I'm pretty proud of the kids they're turning out to be.
This weekend was one of the hottest of the summer. So what do we do? Have a softball tournament of course. Kevin and his brothers played 5 games between 9am and midnight Saturday. The kids and I headed over for the afternoon, for some fun watching the game as well as some playtime at the park. Poor kids, they really wanted to play, but they were just baking in the sun. That certainly didn't stop this kiddo's fun. 
When you're two years old, nothing makes a 95 degree day better than digging in the dirt. 
Giant slides with Daddy and Sister aren't bad either.
Jadon wasn't the only one having fun. Micah discovered this bag toss game and loved every second of it.
And of course, we can't forget the whole reason for the trip: for Daddy to get dirty!
The kids and I left before the tournament was actually over. But what we saw was pretty fun. We stayed until the end of the fourth game. All three kids were incredibly well behaved, but I figured 9:30 was long enough to push my luck. The Rodies had managed to win every game up to that point, so it was pretty hard to leave, but the kids had to sing at church at 8 the next morning. We probably shouldn't have stayed that long. Kevin called as soon as the last game was over at midnight. And the Rodies won!! Needless to say, they were pretty excited. This has been a pretty tough year for our guys so I was glad they pulled out a great win at this tournament. Let's just hope they do so well in the next couple of weeks. I've completely lost count of the number of games being played this week and next. Let's just say, it's a lot. But it's certainly fun to watch them win!
Kevin and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary last Friday. We thought about taking a cruise sometime this summer, but apparently pregnant women are not welcome. Something about being away from any hospitals in emergency situations or some other such nonsense. Anyway, we decided to take the train to Chicago for the occasion.
We had an absolutely fantastic time! The kids stayed with Aunt Jody while we were off and of course we knew they were perfectly safe. Except for the time that Jadon fell into the neighbors stagnant, nasty pond in the backyard. Thankfully, Micah was there to pull him out. A fantastic story, that I am tired of telling because of the strain it puts on my poor heart.
Back to our trip, Kevin and I had a great time. The train was a great idea! Not only was it nice for Kevin to avoid the responsibility of driving, it was significantly cheaper than driving! Parking at our hotel was $50/ night and that doesn't even account for the cost of mileage to and from Chicago. We also decided to just take the trains and buses around town, rather than taking cabs in the city. We were just a few blocks from the El, and it was really quite convenient and certainly a new experience for us.
We stayed at the Avenue Hotel, just a half a block from Michigan Avenue. It was beautiful. These funky chairs are their trademark, don't ask me why.
And they have a heated pool on the roof of the building with a great view of the city. Unfortunately we forgot to get a shot at night, but it was very cool.
After we got into Chicago, we went to Navy Pier for dinner and stayed for the fireworks that night. They weren't very long (they do them every Wed and Fri and that could get pretty expensive) but they were very cool.
Thursday, we went to the Cubs/Astros game. That was my anniversary gift to Kevin. (I suppose his gift to me was the trip in general, you know, since he makes about 98% of the money in our house) We left for Wrigleyville early in the day and just spent a couple hours wandering around, enjoying all the excitement.
It really is a fun atmosphere. The game was great! The Cubs won 12 to 3 with back to back homeruns in the third or fourth inning. Kevin actually got a photo of Milton Bradley's homerun swing! 
Micah loved that. If you've never been to a Cubs game, it's quite an experience! The stadium was full, as it always is and it seems like everyone you meet is a die hard fan. I'm sure many baseball teams have great followings, but there is just something special about the Cubs. (K says it's WGN broadcasting nationwide and I'm sure he's right. Even though I was raised a Cardinal fan and really am not all that interested in the Cubs, I thought the whole thing was awesome!
After the game, we went back to our hotel and my brother joined us after he got off of work. We walked over to Gino's East, just a block away and got one of their famous deep dish pizzas. If you're ever in the Chicago area, Gino's Pizza is a must.
Friday we spent most of the day on Michigan Avenue. We didn't really buy much, we just had a good time walking around together. That evening, we took the River Tour from Navy Pier, my brother gave us tickets for our anniversary. It was really neat. Chicago has some really interesting buildings and I thought it was cool despite the fact I don't care a bit about architecture.
The best part was just the fact that we got to spend three uninterupted days together: something that doesn't come very often and will surely come even less once the baby is born.
Mom to four beautiful blessings including a brand new little guy. Laugh and cry with me as I navigate the joys and perils of motherhood and homeschooling.
