Swim Team?

Grace has been working hard all summer on her swimming skills. Each day she acquires more confidence in her skills. She still does not make it off the stairs unless mommy is in the pool or if her floaties are on her arms. Part of this is due to the fact she is only 40 inches tall and the shallowest part of the pool is 42 inches deep. But she does do a lot with mommy in the pool. She will swim to the second lane from the stairs where mommy is standing waiting on her to dock for a moment before turning back and swimming to the stairs. She is really good at kicking her feet and blowing her bubbles. We are working on arms and learning how they can help us go faster. She now jumps in and swims to mommy, making sure to get big splashes for such a little body. She also enjoys shallow diving on the stairs for various toys, the latest are the princesses off her 3rd birthday cake. Thank goodness her mother is a pack-rat and saves everything.
She has already decided that she wants to be on swim team next year. But she doesn't want anyone to write on her. Her best friend is on the team and we have seen him at time trials and at one meet. The parents write the children's names on their backs, their ages and then on their arms or legs the swim events, and lanes. Grace doesn't like this at all. We have our work cut out for us if she plans on doing the team. I am leaving it up to Mrs. Lara - she can convince Grace of almost anything. I think a purple sharpie may be involved.
Mommy is enjoying the pool too. It relieves some of the pressure of the ever growing belly and seems to keep the swelling down. It is also proving to be good exercise. Grace is napping in the afternoons again (yeah!) and eating regular meals plus snacks. Mommy also doesn't feel like such a whale. We are still trying to find time to show off to Daddy. We will keep practicing as we await our trip to the beach and later to Cortez, FL.

Disney

Well, we made it through Disney in three days and four nights. What a whirlwind trip. Grace had a great time seeing all the characters, giving hugs and kisses, getting signatures in her autograph book and multitudes of pictures. We have over two hundred pictures from the three cameras and some from the nice folks at Disney too. If I learned anything, it is do not go in June, especially five months pregnant. Talk about drinking water, long walks and swollen feet. Plus we took a two hour nap everyday in the middle of everything. Except for the ride home, stopping every hour, I did well in all the parks. I appreciated staying on Disney property and the ability to go to the hotel whenever I wanted. The food was also great, with lots of healthy choices and fresh fruit available even at the food court in the hotel.
Grace's favorite thing changes with whomever is asking the question. She loved eating lunch with Cinderella, dinner at Chef Mickey's and the Nemo the musical presentation in Animal Kingdom. She also loved being there with her cousin, Taylor, despite the fact he pulled her ponytails frequently. By the end of the trip we were all saying "here be go" toddler speak for here we go and "bye, bye Nemo, bye, bye Dori" Taylor's two favorite characters. Grace on the way out said goodbye to everything, even the castle.
We missed out on the new ride Toy Story Mania in Hollywood studios, due to an 80 minute ride wait at 6:30 at night with no fast passes available. I personally missed out on all the roller coasters again, fourth visit in a row. I also sat out the safari ride in Animal Kingdom due to signs and speaker voices saying "Expectant mothers should not ride this ride." In all, we had fun, even Tom the pack mule enjoyed portions of the visit. He is not a big Disney fan, but would do anything to see the joy it brings his daughter. She is ready to go back tomorrow. Better tell Papa to start saving now. Although it is partially his fault for raising a daughter who is a Disney geek and loves Disney as much as her own four year old. However it will be a while before we are all caught up on our rest. Grace started on the way home.

Ultrasound Picture

Yesterday was the normal level 2 ultrasound. We went to the perinatologist again just for reassurance that everything is good. They were very kind and made sure that I was comfortable and relaxed. This baby is just like her sister in that she doesn't follow directions well. She was continually stretching out her legs and throwing her arms across her chest. It took several tries to get all the necessary angles for the doctor to see that everything is present. Everything looked great and seems to be developing normally. She is measuring right on target for her due date, Oct. 24th. Grace can't wait for her to get here. She wants to hold her, feed her, play with her and talk to her. We have tried explaining that the baby won't be able to do all those things right away, but Grace doesn't quite understand. Grace has seen the pictures and was able to pick out the baby's foot. I will go back to the perinatologist at 28 weeks for another scan and I hope to take Grace with me. As for names no definitive answer yet but we are looking at a few possibilities. We'll let you know when we come up with something.

In the meantime Grace and I are spending our summer by the pool in the morning with our good friends. Then we rest and back out to play and rehydrate in the sweltering heat. Dance camps start next week and I hope to work several over the summer for some extra dough. We are also cleaning out closets and making a few trips to good will in order to get rid of some of the clutter. I say some because it seems to multiply overnight and I know it will never truly disappear.

Our countdown to Disney has officially reached the one week mark. We are excited but dreading the heat. We plan to take breaks and spend time in the pool as well as wear light clothing and drink lots of water. Grace is excited to eat with the princesses as well as Pooh and Mickey. She wants to ride all the rides, but not the scary ones. Hopefully we will make it without killing each other. We are going with Grandma, Papa, Aunt Anna, Uncle Jason and Taylor; should be interesting. We are only going to have three days there which should be just enough time to see what we want and bankrupt the accounts for summer, if the gas getting there doesn't do that first.