Likes and Dislikes of Summer 2011...so far!

Half of our summer break is over already, so I thought I would make a list of my likes and dislikes of this summer so far!

Likes-

*Sleeping In- I have trained Malorie this summer to sleep in until at least 8 or 8:30am.  This may not sound very late to most people, but in this house that's late!!  Now some days of course when I'm really tired she still gets up at 7am, but for the most part we are sleeping in and enjoying the extra rest.  Hudson stays up kicking late at night every night, so the later mornings especially help me get the rest I need at 6 months pregnant.

*Family Vacation- We took our first family vacation to Destin, Florida this summer.  We went with my dad and Rudy and had a great time.  Malorie was a perfect angel on the 12 hour car ride...which we were really worried about because her track record in the car has not been so good in the past.  When we got to Florida Malorie saw the white sand and instantly thought it was snow.  It was too cute how excited she was to go play in the "snow."  We went to the beach everyday and sat out under our umbrellas.  Malorie took a while to warm up to the waves in the ocean, but eventually loved it.  We ate really good seafood.  I am totally not a fish lover, but I actually found several types of fish I enjoyed. Eating fried food every night was completely out of the question considering how bad my reflux has been lately.  We really enjoyed just spending time together as a family and with my dad.  It was a much needed relaxing week before we headed back to Texas and reality.

*Sonograms-  We have had 2 sonograms of Hudson so far this summer.  We go back next week for our 3D sonogram.  It has been so fun to find out what we are having and watch him get bigger and bigger in my tummy.  He is a very active little boy!  The last time we had a sonogram he was making a fist and punching my bladder.  I think we are going to have a little mover and shaker on our hands when he is born, but we couldn't be more excited to meet him.  I am hoping to have him in my mid-October that way I can be off through Christmas break.  Brian is also hoping to take several weeks off after he is born through Thanksgiving. 

*Swimming- We are really enjoying our community pool.  Malorie is much more willing to swim this year on her own and even in the BIG pool.  She still swims with a swim ring, but after going to Florida and watching other kids in the water she will even put her face in.  This is a big deal in this house considering last year she didn't want any part of the water except the kiddie pool.  I think we will wait until next summer to put her in swim lessons.  She is still very stubborn and wants to do things in the water on her own time, but she is at least enjoying it!

Dislikes-

*IT IS HOT- This summer has been ridiculously HOT!!  This last week it has been 102 everyday.  This is way to hot for a 6 month pregnant girl.  When I was pregnant with Malorie it rained almost everyday in the summer, so it was much more bearable to be pregnant.  We have been doing a lot of staying at home, but I get out at least once or twice a day and it is just plain hot.  I am praying that it will cool down a little bit in September and October, but I highly doubt that is going to happen in Texas!!

*Hudson's Room-  One would think that this would be on my like list because I finished my babies room, but that is not the case.  I thought that putting his room together would be relatively easy, but boy was it not.  I decided to do stripes on the center of his walls because I thought that would be easier than painting all of them.  We have textured walls, so straight lines did not happen.  I had to go back over and touch up every stripe with the original wall color which was very time consuming.  Then his letters didn't turn out how I expected them to so I had to redo them and add a things to them to camouflage my mistakes.  I also did 3 paintings for one wall.  I decided to keep those simple so they turned out pretty easy to do.  After all the furniture was put together and everything was put into place the room turned out perfect.  We are still missing all the little boy clothes, sheets, towels, and blankets but I love the way the room is looking right now.  Malorie can't seem to stay out of there, and she asks daily when Hudson is going to get to sleep next door to her!

Entertaining-  Malorie just finished her first year of preschool, and even though she only went part time she is definitely missing it.  She has always been really good at playing by herself and finding things to do at home to stay busy, but that has not been the case this summer.  She constantly wants to be going somewhere and doing something.  I totally understand where she is coming home because I am far from a home body.  That is why being a stay at home mom is out of the question for me.  I guess Malorie is the same.  She can't wait to get back to school and play with her friends.  I have tried to get her to practice learning her letters and numbers, but she is stubborn and school at home is not for her.  She wants to learn on her own terms, so we continue to read to her daily and hope that she is picking up more than she is telling us.   

Reflux- I never knew that acid reflux could be so bad.  I have to watch everything I eat, when I eat it, and how I eat it.  Then I have to sit up and move around for an hour every time I eat or I will be miserable.  I have tried 3 different kinds of medicines, but my doctor finally said that I am just going to have to take the meds and deal with it.  He says it will continue to get worse for the next 3 months and as soon as Hudson is born I should have some relief.  I am learning to deal, but this stuff is horrible.  I can't have cinnamon, garlic, fried food, or any carbonated drinks...including Vanilla Cream Dr. Pepper's from Sonic (this would be the most difficult thing for me!!!)  I really feel for people who have to deal with this all the time because it is no fun!!!

All in all this has been a great summer so far.  We are having lots of fun as a family and resting up before this new baby comes.  I look forward to the next 5 weeks and what they have in store for us!!!

Shelley