Starting the Goodbyes

As I knew it would, our time together went by too quickly. Way before we were ready, it was time to tell Grandma goodbye. We decided to give her a send-off Maryland style: with some Broom's Bloom crab soup!

Of course, we made the mistake of going on a Saturday at lunch time when the sunflowers were in bloom. 30-40 minute wait time? Not fun. Also, it was hot.

Catherine & Seth enjoy some shade.

Actually, maybe Seth isn't really enjoying it. He looks pained.

Catherine is a camera hog and Russell looks like a dweeb.

We love soup! Even when it's too hot for soup!

Seth roams through the sunflowers, in desperate need of a haircut.

Catherine lets her Rapunzel hair flow in the wind.

All the time.

Disney needs to dedicate more time to all the tangles Rapunzel gets in her hair.

The good news is that the entire Mikesell clan will be here for Christmas, so it's only goodbye for a few months!

Cousin Time!

I have some fantastic memories of growing up near my cousins. We played in Garth's treehouse, put on ridiculous plays for our parents, and spent a lot of time running wild. It makes me sad to realize my kids are lacking in cousin time--their closest cousins are almost six hours (and $50 in tolls) away. Which is why we take pictures like these--they may not remember, but I want them to know that they did get to hang out with their cousins and it was AWESOME! Please note that Seth and Catherine got left out of all these pictures because they are just too darn big to be lounging around in diapers. 

The diaper brigade: Adleigh, Aaron, Russell & Breydon

"I'm too sexy for my pants..."

 

Aaron loves his Bubba. 

Especially when she has food.

Not pictured: our evenings of playing games together.

Pretend this is us playing a game, not making a grocery list.

What? Grandma bought the boys matching outfits?

Yes, this was the best we could get.

Attack Russell takes out Aaron...

...before moving on to smaller victims like Breydon.

One day Breydon will be twice Russell's size and seek revenge.

Shady Maple

I wanted to take everyone up to Amish country while they were here. And Amish country always means a visit to the Shady Maple Smorgasbord and Grocery. It's worth the drive just for the bulk spices and hard-to-find candy (candy Legos!). 

The Smorgasbord is delicious, and wonderful, and all-you-can-eat. But not much fun with little people. Next time we will be going on an adults only trip. 

This one (who normally loves food, all food, all the time, refused to eat because his high chair had wheels and he HAD to drive it. And of course we were seated right by the entry...)

Jon's polygamous marriages have left him with many mouths to feed.

#sisterwives

Our new discovery this time: doughnuts!

Yum!

Kilgore

We celebrated Seth's return to school by enjoying a day at the waterfall (sorry, Seth!). We weren't the only ones--there was definitely a group of homeschoolers celebrating Not Back to School Day there as well. I was a tiny bit jealous. 

Aaron was SO HAPPY that Aunt Bubba came back to play with him.

He adores her.

This princess loves the water.

Whoever invented these is getting millions.

The dirt and water brigade.

Catherine insisted I take her to the top of the falls.

Also, I need to buy a zoom lens.

Aaron & his Bubba

The Kilgore crew (minus Mom, taking the picture).

Pregnancy cheeks already? Darn.

Seth Goes to Second!

(Check out that hair! We don't believe in doing hair on the first day of school. Or ever.)

After the shortest summer break ever (two months!), Seth was thrilled to be heading back to school. And I really do mean thrilled. After a summer of Mom-enforced reading, writing, and math, he was sure school would be a break (and honestly, it is). Plus, FRIENDS! And GRAPE JUICE AT LUNCH!

His teacher this year is Mrs. Morehouse. He says she is the nicest teacher at the school. He lucked out and ended up in class with his friend Gabe. They even share a locker/cubby in the classroom. I told his teacher it's probably best if they not sit near each other. At least not if she values silence in her classroom. 

Seth loves riding the bus, loves his teachers and peers, and loves eating the cafeteria. He is not a fan of sitting in a desk for so long, writing, or homework. But he still mentions  how happy he is to go to school in his prayers several times a week. So the cafeteria food must trump the deskwork!

I still have my struggles with the public school system, but I'm happy that Seth is happy. And the poor kid will just keep having to do extra work at home because his parents think he's ready to be doing multiplication instead of even vs. odd numbers. 

How do you feel about this, Seth?

I still miss him every day, but I am happy he is where he needs to be right now. 

The Baltimore Zoo, in 10,000 Pictures

My mom's original plan was to take all of us to the aquarium in Baltimore when she came to visit. But the "no strollers allowed" rule combined with the price tag ($400 for an aquarium trip, anyone?) made us reconsider. And so, with the kids in matching outfits supplied by Grandma, we headed to the Baltimore Zoo:

(No Russells fell off the bench during this photo, despite his best attempts)

On the tram ride to the zoo, Grandma was very popular: 

Grandma needs two more sets of arms so she can also hold Aaron & Russell: 

We saw the new penguin exhibit first, and it was a big hit:

These two don't care about the animals.

They care about food.

This may have been the only picture of Seth I snapped.

That kid does not hold still.

Two princesses

Heels are great for climbing fake rock walls

The toddlers try to get the animals to wake up

Strollers are also great for nursing mommies who need a place to sit.

The Aaron Russell and the Russell David

There was much bonding over food in this stroller.

Checking out the giraffes

Checking out the dirt

Catherine loves all things tiny.

She spent probably 20 minutes watching these tiny (poisonous) golden frogs.

She wants one for a pet.

The princess stroller

 

An amazing shot of all the grandkids looking at the camera!

All the grandkids plus Grandma on the phone!

All the grandkids plus Grandma NOT on the phone!

And Seth has Breydon in a headlock!

Aaron roaming the gorilla exhibit

It's not a zoo trip without a carousel ride!

Even better when the carousel is playing music from Tangled!

How many kids can we fit in one stroller? 

It's rough being the only grandkid too big for a stroller.

You have to sneak in a break where you can: 

Post-zoo boy cousin bath.

Seth was excluded based on his hugeness: 

And post-zoo-bath cousin book time: 

I love that all our kids are book lovers. 

Thank you for spoiling us all with a zoo trip, Mom! 

Down Time

We took a break between our adventures to enjoy a day at home. Aaron enjoyed his claim over Mommy's lap (take that, Breydon!):

But he also loved hanging out with his cousin "Wuss-uhl": 

Aaron and Russell share a special bond based on giant-head-to-skinny-body ratios and a general love of all food. Aaron LOVED feeding Russell and having Russell crawl around and chase him. 

I'm pretty sure this picture is my mom's version of heaven:

Happily surrounded by ALL her grandbabies 

(Adleigh missed the picture but is definitely not far from the fun).

I hate having my family so far away.

Ready or Not!

When we moved into our new neighborhood, our first conversation with our neighbors (who we really like) involved the phrase, "Wow. You have a lot of kids." I was a little surprised--to me, three kids is a small family. But we quickly realized that while the older families in the neighborhood often had 3-4 kids (a few had 5), the younger ones like us had 1-2. We happily accepted our roles as the ones with lots of kids who run around without shoes (or clothes, in Aaron's case), and as one of the only non-dual-income families. Unless you count me teaching piano. See? We are totally dual income. I can pay for TWO WEEKS of groceries with my piano money!

But now we figure it's time to go big or go home: we are officially crossing the fine line between a (barely) socially acceptable family of three and a "Don't you know how this happens by now?" family of four! 

I tried to keep it a secret for as long as I could. I was hoping to make it to 20 weeks, but when your calling involves parading around in front of people for two hours every week, people got lots of chances to watch my growing belly. My good friend called me out in the hall at church at 14 weeks, so I figured it was time.

Conveniently enough, my mom was going to be in town the week they wanted me to have a dating ultrasound. I lured her to the appointment with me, claiming I needed help with Aaron during a doctor's visit. She was a little suspicious since we were clearly NOT at a traditional office. I told her the truth as we were walking to the ultrasound room. 

The good news is that we have a perfectly healthy baby on the way. The better news is that this baby is due February 17th--the day before Catherine turns five. The best news is that it looks like Catherine will be getting a sister for her birthday! I thought I wanted this baby to be a boy, but I felt pretty early on that she would be a girl. And then I realized how excited I was to have another little girl in the house! Catherine is quite excited, too. She has proposed various names for the baby, including Emma, Elsa (of course), Luna, and (the most favored name) Catherine Again.

Little baby Catherine Again

Pregnancy #4 has been pretty standard. The morning sickness has lingered longer than usual, I've been more tired than usual, and my body is already feeling some aches. Guess I'm not 20 anymore! But so far the heartburn has been minimal (Aaron's pregnancy almost killed me--heartburn starting at 6 weeks and NEVER ENDING. The old wives' tale about heartburn and baby hair is clearly true). 

We are so excited to have this little girl join our family in February!