The Beach and The Baby Girl

We have been computer-less for the past week so excuse the lateness and lengthiness of this post. And I can't use any of Adam's cool editing programs at the moment so this will also be a little sloppy. I'm just glad to have the internet back! On to the good stuff....

Last Saturday was Adam and I's 5th wedding anniversary. Part of me can't believe it's already been 5 years. Sometimes I feel like it was last week we were unpacking all our wedding gifts into our crappy little rental house in North Vernon. Then other times it's hard for me to remember what it's like to not be married with kid(s). But then I think about how my grandparents celebrated their 53rd anniversary this year...5 years is just a drop in the bucket! It's crazy to think about.

We wanted to do something special to celebrate 5 years and I said we should definitely get away now while we can! Once Baby Girl arrives it will be awhile. So we (ok, me) decided we should spend the weekend at a bed and breakfast in St. Jospeh, Michigan. We had never done a bed and breakfast before and Adam riddled me with questions like "Will there be a tv!? Do we have to share a bathroom!?" You can tell where his priorites lay. ha! I wasn't exacty sure what to expect either, but it was wonderful!! I would recommend The Dove Nest Bed & Breakfast to anyone looking for a quiet and relaxing stay.  The landscaping was beautiful, the atmosphere was quiet and the hosts were very sweet. Our room had fuzzy bathrobes (yes, really!) and they left chocolates on our pillows. The best part: we were served a delicious three-course breakfast each morning!

our room

view from our window

the gardens next to the patio where we ate breakfast each morning

The proprieters have an aviary housing over 100 doves and pigeons! Hence the name, Dove Nest Bed & Breakfast. They had these few living next to the house for guests to admire. That is, if you like birds....which I don't.



goofball

 We had a different breakfast both mornings we were there. On Sunday morning I was a total dork and took pictures of our food....


course #1: yogurt and granola with fresh fruit



course #2: sausage, kale and egg casserole

course #3: pear streussel...with icecream

 The weather was perfect while we were there. High 70's and not humid at all. We spent most of Saturday, our actual anniversary, at the beach reading and laughing at all the suckers around us with their kids toting 10 beach towels, coolers, sand toys, umbrellas and so on. That night we went out for a nice dinner to celebrate.

Silver Beach

enjoying the beach...preggo style

the lovebirds at dinner

You know that Brad Paisley song "Letter to Me?" If I could write my 17 year old self a letter it would say, "you can't imagine the blessings God has in store for you." At 17 I thought I knew exactly how my life would turn out...and it certainly didn't involve Adam. Even after 8 years of dating/marriage I feel so honored he chose me for his wife. At the end of the weekend we said what we always say after a date - "we should do this more often!"

enjoying the beautiful views and the perfect weather

Adam playing photographer trying to get a cheesy love pic. I included this just to make our kids gag later. haha

BABY GIRL UPDATE:
In case it wasn't obvious enough in all the previous pictures, my belly is really growing! I'm 32 weeks now and boy do I feel it! My feet are swollen, my back hurts, I can't find a comfortable sleeping position, I have to pee every 30 minutes and I'm so freaking tired. And can I just say...WHAT is WITH the HEAT!!?? For a matter of record keeping: The temp today was 102 degrees and the heat index was 115!! Which broke a record from 1934. Sheesh.
For whatever reason, this pregnancy has definitely had it's share of hiccups. The most recent is my bloodwork came back showing that my iron and B12 are low, in addition to my already low blood platelets. This girl is literally sucking the life out of me! So now I have to take prenatal vitamins and folic acid twice a day and get weekly B12 injections until delivery. We also had another ultrasound this week. At my last appointment my uterus was measuring small and they wanted to double-check Baby Girl is growing okay. Although, the dr and I both agreed it was probably because she always lays transverse (sideways) and hadn't stretched out the uterus. I could totally tell something wasn't kosher. I just didn't feel right. If that makes sense.
I'd been feeling kind of rotten and was nervous about the ultrasound. Me? Nervous? Yes, everyone is surprised. But it turned out that Baby Girl had pretty much turned and was head down for the most part. Which I think is why I had been feeling bad. The ultrasound actually turned out to be the highlight of my week. Not only is she growing fine, but is measuring in the 61% percentile and already weighs over 4 lbs. We could see she already has some hair. And we even got to see her smile!! I had been feeling sort of down and totally over being pregnant, what with all the extra annoyances. But when I saw that little smile, I knew it was all worth it. We were also able to schedule the c-section. August 23rd is the big day! The end is in sight, only 7ish weeks. What's cool about August 23rd is Abi's bday is Sept 23rd and our anniversary is June 23rd. That's a lot of pressure for the next kid.

It's amazing this little miracle is growing inside me

VBS and Father's Day

It's been pretty crazy this week at the Megel house so this post is sort of a "catch-all" of everything worth remembering. Last week was Vacation Bible School (VBS) at church. For some reason I still can't figure out I signed up to be Crafts Leader and was in charge of crafts for 150 kids ages 4 through 5th grade. This turned out to be waaay more exhausting than I thought and I was seriously tired by the end of the week. But it was great to work with kids in a "classroom" setting again and help out a wonderful ministry. Abi got to go to the nursery everyday and she had so much fun. This was the most she had ever been away from us with someone who wasn't family. Her besties were in there with her so she didn't even blink when I walked out the door each morning! And it was pretty cool to have her run to me screaming "It's Mommy!" when I picked her up. She did manage to get pink eye from one of the other kids, which is so awesome. Who sends their kid to childcare with pink eye!? She even got her own little t-shirt like the big kids and it was super cute to see her look so grown-up.
 

You will notice Abi's smiling skills are beginning to improve



Picnic lunch with Emily, Nicholas, Ryan, Traci, Harper & Hadley

Today is Father's Day and Abi "helped" make breakfast in bed for Adam. We made him brown sugar and cinnamon pancakes, sausage links and scrambled eggs. When we brought it upstairs to him Abi ran into the room and yelled, "Wake up, Daddy! Happy Fadder Day!" It was sooo cute.


Abi helping herself to Daddy's breakfast

After church Adam chose Cracker Barrel for lunch. Then after a delicious meal it was home for long naps for the whole family. It was a nice relaxing day. Abi, and her soon-to-be sister, are so lucky to have such a great dad. It's obvious how much he loves all three of his girls. He loves spending time with Abi and misses her so much when he's away from her. No matter how late he gets home or how tired he is, he always makes time to take Abi for a bike ride or play blocks. Of course he does all the other important dad stuff like work hard and sacrifice to provide for us. Those things I hope she'll appreciate much later. But for now, she loves her daddy because he makes her feel safe and loved. It makes me feel gushy inside knowing what high standards he's setting for when our girls choose their future husbands.

POTTY UPDATE:
Abi has peed a couple times in the potty since the last potty post. But mostly she just sits there. We ask her constantly if she wants to sit on the potty and her answer is always the same: "no thank you." But we will not be defeated! I took this absolutely hilarious picture of her this week and just had to share. I know some day she will be mortified when she sees it. But I was mortified when she threw a hysterical fit in Hobby Lobby last week...so now we're even.

 

Camping

Over the weekend we went camping in Brown County State Park with Aaron, Sarah & Eli. Abi had her first camping experience last summer when she was about 7 months old, but she didn't really get to do any of the fun things you're supposed to do while you camp. This year was much different!

Adam "The Expert Packer" Megel

Abi and Eli are absolutely two filthy peas in a pod. They always have such a blast running, playing, wrestling, dancing, digging and whatever else mischief they can find. We get so much entertainment just from watching them be silly. Plus it is so precious how much they love each other.



Abi got this mini-tent for Christmas and it was the perfect spot for camping snacks



Aaron's hammock provided hours of hilarious fun

Luckily our campsites were in the shade and we never did get too hot. But once you got out of the woods it was a scorcher so we took advantage of the park's pool. Which, by the way, is only $2 admission and was super-nice. Abi was really brave and had a blast! We even made a trip to the concession stand for nachos and candy.

too cute for words

After swimming we made a detour to climb the very tall and not-safe-looking fire tower. Then it was back to the campsite for more playing and relaxing. We love camping but shew, it's a lot of work! I was pooped by the time we got home. But the fun times and wonderful memories are all worth it. Abi took her first camp shower, which went surprisingly well. She also tasted her first s'more, which she was not a huge fan of. Judging by the picture, it was too messy and sticky for her little diva fingers. ha!



fire tower



Adam and Eli being silly

 

 We finished off the weekend with lunch and cake on Sunday to celebrate Dodie and Grandma's birthdays!



Summer Projects and Playing

Abi has had some serious energy lately. I'm not sure if it's her 2 year molars, a growth spurt or maybe it just seems like she has more energy because I have less. Luckily Adam has been home to help wear her out. He takes her for bike rides, plays outside and he took her to open gym last week. The last few days if we've been in the house trying to get things done she is seriously like a wrecking ball crashing around the house. She climbs on the dining room table, takes everything out of the cabinets and dumps all her toys. Today we decided to try using up some energy by going to the library and stopping by Donner Park on the way home.

It has been such a blessing having Adam home this summer. Not only has he been Abi's energy absorber, but he's been helping with lots of projects around the house. We have quite a list of things we (ok, me) want to do before he goes back to school. Most aren't very fun or exciting. I did an intense purging of the fridge and washed all the shelves and drawers. We defrosted and cleaned out the deep freeze. Yesterday Abi spent the day with Mamaw Deanna and we repainted the front door. We've been wanting to do it since the day we moved in.....three years ago. It took the entire day and Adam did most of the work. And it turned out great! It's amazing the difference a little paint makes.


I should have paid more attention to making my pictures match



A Toilet Triumph!

We've been talking to Abi about the "Big Girl Toilet" for a few months now. She goes in spurts of being interested and totally uninterested. I haven't pushed it too hard because she's only 20 months and didn't know how ready she was. But as it gets closer to Baby Girl's arrival, potty training works it's way up my to-do list. My original plan was to say goodbye to paci over the summer. But Adam has been trying to convince me for weeks that potty training would be a much better use of our energy. And I must say, the idea of not having two kids in diapers IS quite appealing. As for Abi's bedtime paci addiction, well...no comment. Then this morning I got the encouragement I needed to start "Operation Potty".....ABI POOPED IN THE POTTY FOR THE FIRST TIME!!! She has sat on her little potty countless times but never done anything. I think a lot of the problem was she didn't understand what she was supposed to do. So this morning when she was acting like she needed to go, I rushed around and put her on the potty like I have done many times. She sat there about 10 min eating pretzels and watching Animal Planet before she FINALLY did her business! Adam and I clapped and cheered and she looked at us like we were crazy. I really wanted to take a picture of her first "success" but Adam said absolutely not. ha!


Enjoying her reward for a job well dumped...a cookie!

In comparison to the excitement this morning, what I was originally going to post about seems less monumental. But still worth remembering...

Saturday morning Traci and I set-up our booth at the first Columbus Farmer's Market. I would consider the day a success and the weather was beautiful. Although I am concerned about spending all my profits on Lemon Shake-Ups and yummy-smelling foods!

We spent the rest of the day at Mike and Marianna's enjoying volleyball, cornhole, lots of food, a bonfire and time with friends. Despite the chilly weather!


My favorite thing about this picture is Abi & Eli trying to stop themselves from running out and joining the game

Traci & Harper's first ATV ride!