Look who's THIRTY!!

My older sister Donna turns the big 3-0 today and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to gush over her. We are only a little over 15 months apart so many of my childhood memories are of her. She is incredibly creative which I immensely benefited from as a child. My favorite of her creations was the “troll” house she made out of a book shelf. It even had a working elevator!! She was also the model student (she wasn’t a jabber mouth and performed every task with perfection) so teachers LOVED me before they even new me. Of course they quickly realized I was NOT Donna but I think the positive vibe in the beginning helped anyway.

She is a talented Landscape Architect and was able to use all of her skills on the new home Bevan and her were able to buy last year! She is very dependable, independent, and ambitious (if she wants something she will figure out how to get it).  She is also very generous and kind to everyone. Yep, almost a saint at 30. Oh, and she makes BEAUTIFUL babies. Check out baby Anna:

I’m sad to be so far from her and all my sisters but thank goodness for cheap long distance. Happy Birthday Ding Dong!!

(The picture of us at the top was Christmas morning 1989! Donna received a super “Oh Jenny” set dollhouse which included a house, tree house, barn, swimming pool, shopping mall, and a million other accessories. I was so insanely jealous but in the end it wasn’t a big deal because I’m sure I played with it just as much as she did)

Donna blowing in the desert wind! (2008)

Donna and Bevin know how to have fun, a one year old just adds to it:)

ONE Month to GO!

Overall this pregnancy has gone really well. My “to-due” list is growing longer by the day which means I’m on the downward slope! The baby is growing beautifully (with lots of ice-cream to help) and so far everything has been perfect at each doctors appointment. The anticipation of whether this baby is a girl or boy is steadily building. The kids change their predictions everyday and Charlie has come up with some great arguments of why each would be better. I just want a chubby, healthy baby to hold but our boy name list is almost non existent so a girl might make things easier…but then again we have a little girl and know exactly the fun that comes with that.

(I love how Seth in the picture is right next to my head)

I’m down to good old “blacky” for my Sunday wardrobe. My sister Donna was kind enough to send me some new jewelry (just because she’s nice) so I felt a lot more feminine this past Sunday.

We took a hospital tour last night which I didn’t think would be anything special but was actually a lot of fun. It brought back all the wonderful memories of having a baby and I just tried not to think about the “before” part when we saw the labor rooms. Sadly, there is no on demand room service like in Michigan (I had a piece of chocolate cake every few hours with Lucy) but the hospital seems very up-to-date and accommodating. Cheers to the last month of pregnancy and all that accompanies it:  rolling out of bed, Zantac, and all the comments at the grocery store!! Bring on April 6th!

The National Aquarium! (3-3-12)

We took a day trip to Baltimore last Saturday to explore the National Aquarium. There is an aquarium in downtown DC but we heard the one in Baltimore had a lot more to see and even offered it’s own Dolphin Show! It did not disappoint. Seth and I were just as mesmerized as the kids. 

There were fish, corals, turtles, sharks, jelly fish, dolphins and SO  much more!! We only lasted about three hours but we could have spent a whole day. We are all looking forward to a return visit. The consensus on our favorite sighting of the day was the Saw Shark, very intimidating.

 

The dolphin show was the other major highlight. It was my first dolphin show along with the kids so we were all really excited. The did all the tricks with the jumps being the most exciting!

When we all had enough of the animals we spent some time in the “kids zone". They put on a puppet show, played at a huge sand table, and ran around.

The aquarium did not allow strollers which led us to a predicament with what to do with Lucy. She’s getting better but she still will just randomly run off. Thanks to a last minute stop at Target, the monkey harness lived up to it’s claim. Yes, it’s a leash, but having it disguised as a sweet little monkey hugging your child takes away a bit of the awkwardness. She didn’t love it but we never lost her!

 

This picture is of the boys on the outside of the museum which is located right on the harbor. Overall we were impressed with the little piece of downtown Baltimore we saw. We can’t wait to go back!