Little Miss Thomas won the sibling competition on which one was born the earliest from their due date. She arrived yesterday 19 days early.

She is just perfect and looks like a good combo of both her brothers. No red hair this time… she has lots of dark hair just like her daddy. She’s stolen our hearts already.

My father-in-law was in CA on business all last week. He was suppose to take the red-eye back to NJ on Friday night, but due to Hurricane Irene, his flight was cancelled a few hours before take off. They told him the next time they could get him a flight back to NJ was Thursday… 6 days later. Yeah… not happening.

So, we told him to try and find a flight into Harrisburg and we could pick him up there. Luckily enough, he found one. The boys were so excited to go to the airport to pick PeePaw up. They even made him a sign. When we were waiting for him to get off the plane the boys were just giddy. When they finally saw him coming they started jumping up and down and screaming his name. It was PRICELESS!! Huge smiles all around. Totally heart warming. Owen and Benny sure do love their family.

So, it’s coming down to the end. This pregnancy has gone so fast and has been my easiest of all three. I wasn’t sick as long, I had no complications, and the summer heat wasn’t as bad as I thought.

I also was lucky to have a lot of ultra sounds as a precaution to monitor any signs of pre-term labor since we never really knew what caused it with Benny. The last one I had was at 28 weeks – the end of June. She looked great, was still a girl =) , weighed approx. 3lbs. 8oz and was very tall. In the 92nd percentile to be exact. The first time the ultra sound tech took her leg measurements she looked puzzled because the numbers were so high. Then when I told her my husband was 6’4” it all made sense. Those long legs have been poking me over the past several weeks too. I’m constantly pushing her feet back in from my right side or out from under my ribs.

She’s a pretty calm baby. She doesn’t move around a lot. The only time she “busts a move” is when I’m in bed at night or if I haven’t eaten and she’s hungry. She’ll poke, twist and turn until I eat something. Oh – and she does not like when I rest the laptop on my belly. She’ll squirm until I move it off.

The boys are so excited. Owen wants to buy everything pink at the stores for his sister and Benny thinks the baby can hear him if he talk to my belly button. He’ll even bring his toys up to my belly so his sister can hear them. He was insistent that she hear his new “Lights and Sounds” CARS cars. Benny also like to give her kisses on my belly button. So sweet these boys are. They will make great big brothers.

But, I couldn’t go though another pregnancy w/o something eventful happening. My bad foot has been swollen for most of this pregnancy. When I was 33 weeks I was flipping sides in bed and accidentally kicked Chandler. He had no idea what was coming at him and bit my bad foot. The very swollen one. Well, within 2 days the foot got very infected from the cat bite and I ended up in the hospital for 2 1/2 days on IV antibiotics. The docs just wanted to make sure the infection didn’t get into the screws in my ankle or pose a threat to the baby. All is well now and I’m back on my feet again.

This pic of me is at 35 weeks (I’ll be 37 tomorrow). Mike took a picture of me at 35 weeks with Benny so I wanted him to take another at 35 weeks with Baby girl so I could compare. I thought for sure I was going to get much bigger with this pregnancy because it was a girl and my third baby, but I’m not much different than last time. Everyone at work can’t believe I’m as “small” as I am for being at the end of the pregnancy.

Monday I went to the doctor and little miss is already starting to get ready to make her entrance. I was 2-3cm dilated and 80% effaced. The sibling competition has already begun. Owen was 10 days early, Benny 17 days. Her due date isn’t until 9/17! So, she could come any day now or she could just hold on tight for a few more weeks. Only time will tell.

I still can’t believe we’re going to have another baby REAL SOON! We’re nervous, scared and excited all at the same time. In fact, I’m more nervous now than I was for either of the boys. Maybe it’s because she’s a girl and I only know boys. I don’t know. I guess it’s normal to be nervous. I’m sure as soon I lay eyes on her sweet face for the first time all my worries and nerves will fade.

Time to soak in these last days of being pregnant. Enjoy my belly bump, baby hiccups, and her little twists and turns. Before I know it, she’ll be in my arms and we’ll be a complete family of 5.

My sister came to visit last weekend and she wanted some pictures of her boys so we decided to have a photoshoot. We started with the backdrop stand in the driveway… great light and overcast, but the boys kept squinting, so we moved it inside.

Jenny’s boys love the camera. My boys… not so much. And I thought I would have good luck since I haven’t had the camera out much this summer. Boy was I wrong. Owen was OK… Benny was horrible. If they could just listen and follow directions we’d be done in 5 minutes, but it was not an enjoyable experience. At least I got some great pics of Jenny’s boys, two good ones of O, and one so-so one of Benny.

I have a few more of Benny I may be able to salvage, but the difference in lighting from inside to outside makes them look so different. I know… nothing a trained eye would notice but I do so it bothers me. I’ve given up hope for perfection in my photography, but I’m still a little picky when it comes to some things. Luckily I’ll have a new subject in a few weeks to take lots of pictures of and she can’t tell me no!!

Can you believe it…. Kindergarten is right around the corner for Owen. My first born is about to start school. WOW. But Mom is handling it OK so far. I know he’s super excited to start Kindergarten, so it makes it easier on me. I just love seeing him happy and excited.

This week we had a “Meet the Teacher” appointment where we got to meet his teacher, talk to her about Owen, see his classroom, and he even went on a scavenger hunt around the room to find all the important things like where his cubby will be, the bathroom, etc. His favorite area was the reading center that had lots of books and a fun black butterfly chair to sit in. He was puzzled when he saw the pencil sharpener. With crayons and markers being the main writing instruments that he uses to draw and color, he’s never had to use one.

We also found out this week that one of his friends from Preschool will be in his class as will 2 of his T-ball team mates. I think this will make it easier for Owen seeing familiar faces. I know the one thing he’s apprehensive about it not knowing anyone and making friends. I thankful there are kids he knows in his class to calm his fears.

Owen’s already made a partial transition to the world of real school by attending summer camp this summer instead of Preschool. This is the center in which he will go before and after school. He’s in full day Kindergarten, but our work schedules don’t allow for us to put him on the bus and pick him up at the end of the day. He’ll get the bus at the center and the bus will take him there after school for us to pick him up. I don’t want to disrupt this routine, so we won’t be taking him to Kindergarten on his first day. Because I won’t be there on Day 1, I used the “Meet the Teacher” event as an opportunity to take some pictures of him in his class. It worked out well because it was a one-on-one event and my camera and I didn’t have to disrupt any other students.

T-minus 13 days until my O is officially in school. Time just flies. Wasn’t he just a baby yesterday? He’s growing up so fast, but I am enjoying every minute of it.

Owen isn’t Picaso, that is for sure. He didn’t get my creative genes and for his age, his fine motor skills could be better. But these 2 masterpieces he’s done over the summer make me smile for a few reasons.

1) 6 months ago Owen couldn’t even draw a “stick figure” that looked like a person. Now he can and he’s getting better.
2) His drawings of people are always positive and usually involve family.

This first drawing he made for Mike for Father’s Day. It’s of them golfing.

This next one Owen drew when his summer camp celebrated Christmas in July. At first I thought the one with the big circle around the belly was me, but I was wrong. It’s Santa followed by Owen, Benny and the baby. =) I thought it was soooooo sweet he drew a picture with the baby.

I know I will tresure these for a long long time. These wonderful pieces of art by my son.

Back in July I took the boys to Knoebels with Mimi, Pop Pop and my sister and her family. Let me tell you, those 4 boys *LOVE* each other. It’s amazing the bond they have. Alex and Owen and Benny and Roman are the best of buds. They had so much fun with each other. When they get together they have “meetings” and they have “passwords” to enter the meetings. It’s so neat to see them interact in new ways as they get older. Just wish they lived closer so the boys could hang out more often.