the waiting game

So this is the week of my due date--technically August 23 (Sunday). It's so weird thinking that at any time labor could start, I'd head to the hospital at the recommended time, and we'd become a family of four! But I'm ready. Everything is ready, actually. We moved the furniture around in Miss M's room to make way for the crib (well, we don't have a crib yet but the pack n' play is set up to mark the spot) this weekend, all baby clothes and washable items are clean, my hospital bag is packed and my body is totally ready! I'm tired of not being able to bend over and pick things up. I want to shave my legs comfortably again. I'd love to roll over in the middle of the night and not be dragged down by a basketball belly. But most of all, I want to meet this new little girl!

Last week we had a beautiful day and decided to take advantage of it, since it was Kevin's last full free week before school started and we didn't know what would be going on this week. So we headed to the beach! Now remember, we live in Central IL so it's not like we were able to relish squawking seagulls and splashing waves. Around here it's more like dodging geese (and their excrements) and taking care not to swallow lake water. But we do have a couple of nice beaches to visit in the area. We tried to hit up Comlara Park/Lake Evergreen, but apparently they're only open weekends now. So we drove to Moraine View State Park
and luckily, their beach was open. We enjoyed a very relaxing afternoon, and Madison love, love, loved playing in the sand and water!









Other news: this has been an exciting season for gardening! I have really gotten into all aspects this year, even the dreaded chore of weeding (admittedly, however, I've slacked off recently due to the struggles associated with bending over to grasp the annoying suckers). So far we've been able to enjoy the "fruits" of our efforts by consuming delicious green beans, cucumbers, sweet corn, and finally, tomatoes! Had our first round of BLT's last night and boy, were they good. Recent garden pics:








And one final pic for good measure. Miss M, at the exciting age of 3, has moved on to a "big girl" bike. Our neighbors found it as someone had pitched it curbside and thought of her. It's really in good condition...could use a couple new tires, but we can take care of that. And we found a pair of training wheels at a garage sale ($1) so we're good to go! She doesn't like to go fast and chugs along at a snail's pace for now, testing the brakes every 30 seconds, but hey, it's a start! We've got a beautiful bike trail system in town so before too long we'll be taking family rides. Maybe next year, when Baby will be big enough to ride in the trailer and M has mastered the bike thing. Here she is:




And yeah, yeah, I know...no helmet. We haven't gotten one yet.

For the time of being she's wearing a baseball hat to prepare for having something on her head. Of course, growing up *we* never wore helmets, but it's the thing now so I guess we'll confrom.

That's it for now. Thanks for reading if you've made it through this novel of updates. Hopefully next post there will be news/pics of our new little one!