Celebrations

Lots has been going around the Nester home.  These kids just keep getting older!! 
Even the unborn one - baby is now 17 weeks old - 7 oz, and 6 inches long!  Apparently the size of an onion.
We have had an inkling of this nuggets gender for a few weeks now, but feel it best to wait until the next scan (a week from tomorrow) to make the big announcement. :)
No big momma belly pics yet - been feelin' large & incharge though. 
Well...definitely large.

The twins are now 18 months old.  A year and a half.  And just wild.  They get into all sorts of mischeif.  I have to look back and laugh because otherwise I think I might cry.  haha.  They are always climbing on stuff, so I am generally not surprised to see them in odd places like the back of the toilet - the top of a dresser - tippie-toeing on the upright part of the couch reaching to climb up and open the window - or their favorite - the table.  It's just a crazy non-stop energy fest around here.

Megersa has been reminding us that his birthday is coming up soon.  And yes indeedily.  The countdown is now on one hand only.  We considered a big blowout birthday party for him, but every time we asked him for a "theme" he just mentions motorcycles or monster trucks.  I suppose that could be a theme, but I searched long and hard about how to incorporate that into a toddlers birthday party...I came up pretty short.  So, one night as I was discussing my dilemma with a friend - I questioned if she knew of any monster truck rallies or a motorcycle parades in the area.  She mentioned the Frederick Fairgrounds and their annual events - which includes all sorts of demolition derbies and vroom vroom stuff!  :)  Megersa was more than happy to trade in a party for a chance to see his favorites up close!  When I asked him what friend he'd like to bring with him, I'll admit, I assumed he'd say Cale...but I was surprised to hear that he requested the prescence of Cale's 6 year old twin girl friends.  .....he can't be interested in older women already, can he?!?   haha.
The fair is not until mid-September, so more on that to come.  We will have him pick a place to eat for our family to go to in the meantime.

Cale started school today.  It was a surreal experience.  As I packed his lunch box up last night the images from my childhood came flooding back.  I loved opening my lunch to find the goodies I prepared for myself!  This time, I'm the parent.  The adult.  One of the ones responsible for his education....for sending him into the world and hoping he can thrive!!  He didn't attend any sort of preschool, so this step in his childhood was particularly monumental to me (having had him by my side every day for the past 5 1/2 years).  And as I watched him break his hand-hold from us and walk himself on the bus I didn't tear, because it all went so fast!  I don't know how I pictured this day...but I thought it would go slower.  As soon as the busdriver closed the door, we got a few waves - then off they went.  ...and he was gone. 

When Tim and I brought him home from the hospital we laughed in disbelief that they were letting us leave the hospital with him!  "That's it?  You're confident that we're gonna be okay as parents?"  Even now it makes us chuckle.  Today was the flip.  Bus #509 came promptly at 8:32a, and took that same child, confident that he was going to be okay.  The day went normally for me...naptime was a bit quieter.  Okay, a lot quieter...but we were all eager to get him off the bus and see how his first day went.  The bus driver told me that he broke the rules by eating on the bus, and that he stepped out of the busline to join the "walkers" while he chased a caterpillar...but other than that, he seemed fine.  He survived.  And it'll happen again tomorrow...and the next day, and the next.  That first day of kindergarten is so final.  That day starts the new chapter of your life being bound by the school clock.  For the next 20+ years we will be repeating some form of this routine.  Strange right?!
I feel old.

Lastly, Daddy Tim IS getting old.  About a month and a half before he crosses the border into his 30s.  Ha ha. :)  He and I were able to get our FIRST night away from the kids since Cale's been born.  Yes, for real - that long.  It was fun.  We went to downtown DC and stayed in a hotel, did some sightseeing, and ate.  It was really a great time and I didn't worry about the kids at all.  It actually went too darn fast.
Back to the grind!! :)