What a Wonderful Vacation!

My apologies if this post is all over this place, I'm trying to remember all of the details to include!

Our family took a trip to Chicago this week that was fantastic!  We thought it was important to do a big trip as a family of three before the little one arrived, and I wanted to still be mobile for the trip - I remember feeling much less mobile as I approached 30 weeks with Peanut and wanted to take advantage of the feeling good second trimester, so we took the holidays as a time to really focus on our family.

The trip also helped take my mind off of being out of the rink - it made the adjustment to staying at home a little easier.  Anyway, let's start talking about the trip!

We took the train on Sunday morning, which had positive and negative aspects to it.  We didn't need to worry about parking or traffic which was ice, and I was able to walk up and down the aisle a few times to keep the blood flowing well.  We also had access to a restroom, which although not the best bathroom I've ever been in was nice to have being pregnant.  We did need to worry about carrying on all of our bags to the train and traveling from the train station to the hotel with bags in tow and no car seat for our toddler, so that made us hesitant to use taxi cabs.  We ended up walking, A LOT, which was good but tiring as you can probably imagine!  All in all, taking the train worked out well, because we have a friend who lives in downtown Chicago and were able to hang out with him for a couple of hours and grab lunch since we couldn't check into our hotel right away. 

Over the course of five days, we walked probably about 25 miles total we think.  It was good to get moving and stay active, but my pain levels did increase quite a bit at night and my body took a while to adjust to all the walking.  We all took quite a few baths and did some serious lounging at night to recover.

On Monday we walked from our hotel to Shedd Aquarium and Field Museum.  That was probably the hardest walk of the entire trip.  We were sore from the trek between the train station to our friend's apartment to our hotel with all of our bags, a stroller, and a kiddo and it was the longest walk of the week.  Not only that, but we took a detour on accident that made the trip even longer and still had to walk through Shedd and the Museum!  We all enjoyed Shedd quite a bit and Peanut had a great time in the kids zone of the Museum, so overall the trip was worth it :).  The only thing we were seriously disappointed in was the aquatic show at Shedd - it was a lot of talking and not a lot of watching the animals swim.  It didn't hold Peanut's attention well and the seating was VERY uncomfortable. 

Tuesday we decided to take it easy with the walking and just shopped on the Magnificent Mile and then headed to the Winter Wonderland at Navy Pier.  Peanut had a blast going on the carousel and tot train!  She went on the carousel 6 or 7 times and rode the train 2 or 3.  We also got a caricature of her drawn that turned out super cute and also made a bunny at build a bear (we got a bear too, but that was pre-made). 

Wednesday we toured Willis tower and then headed to the Art Museum.  We passed the bean on our way which was neat to see and Peanut actually napped on the trip there.  She woke up at the top of the tower and was pretty freaked out at first that we were on the glass.  Ha ha!  Once I picked her up she settled back down and was in a great mood :).  The Art Museum was more of Daddy's thing, but Peanut and I really enjoyed the miniature rooms.  Daddy loves Renaissance art.  He also went to the bar with his friend that night while Peanut and Mommy had a girl's night in the hotel room.

Thursday was our final day in Chicago and we took it easy by grabbing breakfast in the morning, finished some packing, and headed to the train station.  We hung out in the train station for a few hours and grabbed lunch with our friend while we waited to depart.  All in all it was a great trip!

Now it's time to prepare for the festivities!  Merry Christmas!!

And So It Ends...

I gave my last lessons as a coach this afternoon (technically yesterday now).  It was all very surreal.  JoJo, Pey, and I had a great time in our lessons but I left quickly before I broke down into tears.  Then I bawled all the way to the grocery store and walked around like a zombie.  Today is the holiday show, and I know I am going to be a disaster. 

No matter how prepared I was for this, how right this decision is for our family, or how much I am looking forward to our new little one being born leaving the rink is a difficult thing for me.  More difficult than I even anticipated.  It is the end of a very long chapter in my life - 20 years!  Pretty long considering I've only been alive for 25, almost 26 years. 

I'm not sure what the point of this post is, I think it's just a way for me to get my thoughts down since it's after 3 AM and I'm exhausted but my brain is going 100 miles an hour and I can't fall asleep.  Peanut is sleeping in our bed right now with her daddy and I'm downstairs on the couch so that I don't wake them. 

Hopefully I'll get some sleep tonight.

Missing Gymnastics Today

Peanut and I both slept in today, which was needed for both of us, but makes me feel very guilty!  We'll have to make up these lessons in the next session I guess, since we're missing next week too (although that one has been planned for a while).  :(

My mommy guilt prompted me to pull out her gymnastics mat so she could practice.  She jumped around a few times and then moved on to other toys.  I don't think Peanut feels nearly as badly as Mama. 

General Update, Gymnastics Session 4 Weeks 5/6

Wow I haven't updated in a little bit!  Oops!  Life has been incredibly crazy here.  I'm playing catch up in a lot of areas even though I've been going 24/7 it seems like.  Why so busy?

- Peanut has hit the "twos" running!  Talkative, tantrums occasionally, always on the run, jumping, very opinionated, and wanting to swim with Grandma daily (something new we started the past week or so)

- I am feeling more and more pregnant each day.  I have decent energy for not sleeping well at night but at times feel very uncomfortable.  Speaking of the pregnancy, our anatomy scan is soon and I keep going back and forth on whether this baby is a boy or a girl!  In the beginning, I was certain this was a boy, and I think I'm still leaning that way.  But more and more I am questioning the possibility of girl #2.

- Daddy has been working around the clock it seems.  He's busy, busy, busy, and we're both worn out by the time the kiddo goes to bed. 

- I've also been trying to get everything all set for Christmas.  Buying gifts, wrapping all of the presents (we tend to buy quite a bit as Christmas is a really big holiday for us), sending Christmas cards, etc.  This alone seems like a full time job!

- Wrapping up things with work.  I am done working soon - very soon! - and I'm trying to finish up odds and ends that I can before I go.  This is definitely an interesting transition, and one I'm learning how to cope with as I go.  It's taking more effort and energy than I originally anticipated on the work front, and all the prep I expected on the home front (loss of income, planning for the future, etc)

- Budgeting.  This time of year is always difficult to keep up with because of all the extra spending, but I'm doing my best to stay on top of it so I can adequately plan for next year.  I am a budget enthusiast.  This is my cup of tea :) I know that's a bit unusual.

- Getting ready for our family trip soon.  I don't want to give specifics, but relatively soon we are headed out for some much needed family time.  This is taking a decent amount of planning in terms of transportation, lodging, food, activities, etc.  With a two year old, we don't want to fly by the seat of our pants any more than we have to!

I think that's a fairly decent run-down of why life has been so hectic lately.  I'm looking forward to a hopefully slower pace after the holidays.  We'll see if I'm lucky :).  Peanut has done well at gymnastics the past two weeks, although this past week it took some coaxing for us to get out the door to go to lessons.  I'm not sure why, because as soon as we were in the car she was excited to go like she usually is.  Oh well, two year old moment I suppose!

Gymnastics: Session 4, Week 4

Peanut has really impressed me the past few weeks at gymnastics.  She has really come out of her shell socially, and is interacting quite a bit with the other kids.  She is great at encouraging others and is very athletic for a two year old.

This past week in lessons was light in attendance due to Thanksgiving.  Peanut did beautifully, and eagerly completed the assigned tasks with no issues.  Highlights from this week included:

- Parallel bars bear crawl by herself for the first time!
- Hands over head, feet together, jumping down the tumble track multiple times
- Improved straddle jumps on the trampoline
- Greatly improved straddle forward roll on the floor
- Handstand practice mostly by herself for the first time
- More confidence walking on the beam by herself
- No fear on the hops section of the high beam

Gymnastics: Session 4, Week 3

The past week or so has been exhausting.  Ben and I have been running ourselves ragged with very little down time.  Peanut is making things even tougher because she's sick and teething (all four molars, poor thing!) and has understandably been very irritable and is not sleeping well.  We are both ready for a break but work has been making that difficult.  Hopefully soon.

Thankfully, gymnastics went well again this morning even though afterward was a bit of a disaster.  Ben's grandma came to watch and had a good time seeing our kiddo doing tricks.  Peanut did everything today without issue and with a huge smile on her face, even though I had to wipe her nose 10,000 times during the 45 minute session.  She has really warmed up to everyone at the gym and is making friends, which makes me very happy.  I love seeing her interact with the other kids!

Newer items they/Peanut did in gymnastics:
Straddle forward roll on floor (pretty good!)
Handstands against a mat
V-Seat on the beam (we got it!)
Arabesque on the beam
Hops on the beam (she did it!)
Jumping with feet together and arms up on the tumble track (success!)

Gymnastics: Session 4, Day 2

Peanut was a rock star in lessons today!  She listened well, was excited to try everything, had a giant smile the entire time, and was very friendly.  She smiled and chatted and offered high fives to everyone.  She made her Mama incredibly proud, especially since she's been so shy around others the last 6 months or so.  Way to go kiddo!

On beam they did a v sit for the first time, I think that was the only new skill of the day.  Peanut did pretty well with it but needed a little help. 

So, so proud :)

Happy Halloween!

Peanut had so much fun trick-or-treating!  It was the first year we've taken her out and she had a blast!  I expected the fun to last for a few houses and for her to say, "all done", but all three of us went up and down one part of our street and she probably could have kept going.  I didn't want her out too much longer because it was cold and wet and her nose was running.  So after a half an hour of being outside, we came back home and let her hand out candy for an hour and a half to the other trick-or-treaters.  She had fun doing both parts and was oh so cute as Minnie Mouse.  I love that kiddo :).

Gymnastics: Session 4, Day 1

A lot of kids were having off days in gymnastics yesterday, but overall the group did a decent job.  They started off doing the obstacle course on floor and Peanut did awesome!  She rolled down the wedge mat in the tube, did back walkovers on the curved mat, did forward and backward rolls down another wedge mat, donkey kicks over french fry mats, and did the sack race jumping down the side.  She happily did that three times and would have kept going.

Then they went to bars.  She did everything they asked her to do, but she made some shrieking noises while she did it.  Forward roll on the first bar, holding herself up (with help) and kicking her legs up in pike on the parallel bars, and hanging and swinging on the high bar.  Then a cartwheel before starting again.  We went through almost three times.

After bars came beam.  The kids were supposed to either walk across the low beam and step over the pumpkins or hold onto parents hands and hop.  Peanut hopped okay but was very hesitant to walk over without help.  She did successfully complete the task a couple of times.  Then the kids were supposed to side step on the higher beam and Peanut did that okay although at times it turned into a bit of a shuffle.  Then they walked backwards across the second low beam.

From beam the group went to the trampoline.  Seat drops and safety stops and then we went to tumble track.  Peanut got two stamps at the end - a Happy Halloween stamp and a Happy Birthday one!

Peanut is TWO!

My sweet, sweet girl is two today.  She is so loving and caring and she makes me smile more than anyone in the world :). 

She currently loves tomatoes, fruit and yogurt squeezes, smoothies, dried cherries, fruit snacks, cheese, chips, apple juice, and m&ms, although there is quite a bit of variety in her diet.  Her common meal choices are grilled and fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, hotdogs, tacos, and naked burritos from Qdoba.  She also eats lasagna, spaghetti, chicken noodle soup, chili, and many other things.

Our little lady loves gymnastics, Elmo's World, Sesame Street, singing the ABC's, dancing (although not in a dance class quite yet), swimming, and taking baths.  I hope to enroll her in swimming lessons soon if possible and a dance class in about a year I think.  She also loves to be outside and tries to tell me what the weather is - although most of the time she thinks it's raining even though it's not.

She is quick to give hugs and wants a lot of snuggles with Mama and Daddy, especially right around bed time.  Her pronunciation is pretty adorable as some of the sounds haven't fully developed yet.  For example fruit snack = noot nack, apple cider = apple hider, Uncle Sean = Uncle Hawn, and Aunt Olivia used to be Gibwa but is now Aunt Awa. 

Our kiddo asks to go to Grandma's House almost daily and the play car she got for her birthday she has named Jack because the neighbor boy, Jack, has a car that looks just like it.

Happy birthday, Peanut.  We love you SO MUCH!

Gymnastics Session 3, Week 8

Last Wednesday was the last lesson of session 3 and the kids had a blast doing activities they don't normally do.  We started on the rings over the foam pit and the kids tried to hang on and swing before falling.  Peanut didn't really hang on... haha.  Then the kids played with the parachute and giggled the entire time as they ran around and sat under the umbrella of fabric.  From there the kids went to the big beams and Peanut loved it.  A lot of the other kids were scared or nervous but she wanted to jump off onto the mats!  She walked forward and backward, and did kicks down and back three different times. 

After beam the group went to trampoline and then to tumble track into the pit.  On trampoline Miss Lina drew pictures of jack o lanterns for the kids which they loved.  At the end they got a special treat - Halloween stickers!

Cleaning is in Full Swing...& sweet Peanut moments

Peanut's birthday party is a little less than two weeks away, which means a full house deep cleaning spree is currently happening.  Spot cleaning the couch, organizing the closets, washing the walls and baseboards, wiping down cabinets, etc.  I've also been incredibly busy making decorations for the party.  It's a lot of fun to prepare for but it's exhausting!  I've been going basically non-stop for two weeks or so now. 

Peanut is getting close to two, and therefore sometimes has moments of pushing the boundaries and a slight attitude.  However, she also has moments of incredible sweetness.  Today, she wanted me to make a slide for her out of the couch cushions and every time she went down the cushion she called up to me Love you, Mama!  My heart melted a million times over.  I love you too, Peanut :). 

Gymnastics: Session 3, Week 6

Peanut did great today but she had moments of being a real stinker.  Sometimes the terrible twos start to show :). 

The kids started out on the obstacle course, where they crawled across a flat ladder that was elevated - she did pretty well!  Then they did forward roll/backward roll/forward roll holding a french fry before moving on to a forward roll on the floor beam.  After that came a jump up on to a green mat - she was really trying, she just couldn't quite make it up with a jump, and a jump down off of the green mat.  Next was a cartwheel station and then they ended with a hopscotch center. 

After three rotations of the obstacle course we headed to bars.  Peanut was a little whiny at bars, which is unlike her, but she did what she was supposed to do the best she could.  Forward roll, dead hang and walk with your hands across - she needed a lot of help with this, and hanging pike to toes on the bar at the uneven bars.

From bars we went to beam/floor.  Peanut was a stinker here.  There were pumpkins on the low beam that the kids were supposed to jump over and she kept kicking them over intentionally.  I was getting a bit frustrated with her because she knows better.  Then Miss Lina helped the kids do forward roll on the high beam with mats.  It wasn't explained very well to Peanut so she didn't get what she was supposed to do at first, but after the first time through she picked it up better.  Peanut also walked across the new second floor beam all by herself!  And she jumped down from the high beam onto the soft mat.  So proud :).  The floor rotation was a forward roll up a wedge mat, which Peanut did for the first time all alone!  Yay Peanut!  Then climb over the arch mat and do forward roll down, jump in the leaves and jump over the french fry mats.

Then we went to trampoline and Peanut was really trying to do the straddle jump - squeeze exercise Miss Lina asked the kids to do.  I was very impressed.  She didn't straddle very far, but she was really trying, more than many of the other kids. 

After trampoline was tumble track, and Peanut jumped her way down the track twice but was being a bit of a chicken when it came to jumping in the pit today.  Which was very odd since the whole time she wanted to play in the "blocks"

Time for a ghost stamp and we were done!  Overall a pretty good day :).

I have been seriously slacking! ...and tales from the toddler bathtub

Wow, I've missed a couple of updates about gymnastics!  Peanut is doing fabulously, she's really coming into her own.  I don't remember everything about the last few lessons we've had, but I'll share the highlights :)

• Peanut can now participate in sack races!  The kids all got into pillow cases and hopped down a mat and she held her own - she did a really great job!
• She can jump down from mats without hands to help now - she's a pro :)
• Peanut is very close to doing the forward roll on the bar by herself.  She just needs a little bit of help at this point
• She can walk across the floor beam all by herself although she's not confident in her ability to do that yet.  It takes some coaxing
• Peanut does not quite get the concept of the backward roll.  She still looks pretty freaked out when Miss Lina helps her to do it. 
• She is awesome at jumping down the tumble track now

I think that covers the major highlights from the past few weeks.  I also have some bathtub tales to share:

When Peanut gets close to the faucet in the tub I ask her to "scoot, scoot please.  Thank you." She has now taken to saying that phrase to herself over and over in the tub - it's pretty cute.

Today Peanut grabbed the big cup we use to wash her hair with, filled it with water from the bathtub and tried to drink it.  Except, the water splashed all over her face and she said "AHHH!".  Then I asked for her to repeat, "Bath water is yucky to drink" and she stated, "Bath water is lucky to drink".  She almost got it right - ha!

I will be back with potty training updates from today because today starts day 1 of potty training.  Yay Peanut!

Beeble Ultrasound #1

At my first ultrasound, they estimated my due date to be May 1st - in between my guess of April 30 and the Dr's guess of May 4.  Baby's heartbeat was strong, 152 I think.  I'm relieve and excited that everything appears to be going well so far!

Beeble Prenatal Appt #1

Today's appointment went as well as it could have!  We just met with the nurse to discuss family history and current medical information.  We decided to have the same testing done this time around that we did with Peanut, which means we get an ultrasound done between 11 and 13.5 weeks - yay!  Since they need a specific time frame for the ultrasound, we also get an ultrasound tomorrow to date the pregnancy.  I'm excited to see Beeble for the first time, and praying that all is well.  It's so hard not being able to know for certain that everything is A-Okay. 

The nurse we met with today was fantastic and did a great job of answering all of our questions and giving us a ton of information.  I also did gave blood (a lot of blood) for testing, and left a urine sample.  Exciting, but I'm trying to keep track of things a little bit better than I did last time.

So excited to see Beeble tomorrow!

Gymnastics, Session 3 Week 3

Today was a pretty good gymnastics lesson!  The class started late, but once we got going Peanut did really well :).  Miss A and her mom came for the first time today and I think she had fun, so that's good.  Grandma M came to watch and Peanut loved that!

The group started on floor with an obstacle course.  Forward rolls up a wedge mat (new this week) and down another wedge mat, cartwheel stations, straddle jumps over cones, walking across the floor beam, and hops with their feet together over french fry mats.  Peanut walked all the way across the floor beam by herself today (YAY!) and managed to do the forward roll up the wedge mat with minimal assistance.  She did great!

Then we went to bars.  Forward rolls on the single bar, walking across the first set of uneven bars, and then another forward roll on the low bar with swings from the high bar on the second set.  Peanut was a rockstar today.  She did it all and she held on well!

From there we went to beam/floor.  Large steps on the low beam with kicks on the high beam and on floor they did forward rolls, hops, climbing up the ladder, jumping down, and hopscotch.  Peanut did okay on this station but we weren't there for long and she gave a little bit of resistance (nothing much, though).

Then the kids did trampoline and tumble track.  Although Peanut didn't do the doggie drops that Miss Lina requested, she jumped fabulously and had a blast in the foam pit. 

Great day!

Gymnastics: Session 3, Week 2

Apparently I forgot to write an update for gymnastics last week, so here it is!  Miss Lina had a helper last week named Adam, who tried to be great with the kids but Peanut was not having any of it.  Every time he came around her, she froze.  She would just stare at him and stand there until he walked away, then she would do all of the exercises like she was supposed to.

The class started off with a floor obstacle course which was a lot of fun for the kids.  A forward roll, some donkey kicks, some frog hops, a cartwheel exercise, some hopping, letter puzzle, etc.  The kids went through two or three times each.

After the obstacle course we moved to bars.  Unfortunately Adam's luck didn't change there because he dropped Peanut during the forward roll on the bar - she doesn't always hang on and he wasn't fully prepared.  That earned him the evil eye from the kiddo.  Ha!  The kids also moved from side to side on the mini bar set and then worked with Miss Lina on toes to the bar on the large bar set.

From there we went to beam/another floor combo.  With seven kids in the class last week they needed more than just two beams to keep the kiddos occupied.  Peanut did great!  Climbing up the ladder, jumping down off the mat, forward rolls, etc. on floor and walking on toes/forward roll on the low beam with kicks on the high beam.  She's really come a long way since the beginning.

Then we went to trampoline, Peanut's favorite :).  We ended on tumble track and the kids jumped into the pit.  Peanut was fantastic!

Tomorrow is another gymnastics lesson.  Grandma is coming to watch and then she is taking Peanut home with her, since we get to have our first appointment for Beeble tomorrow.  I'm really excited and a little nervous.  I hope we get to see Beeble on an ultrasound!

Emotional

When we found out we were expecting Peanut, I was an emotional disaster that day and the next.  Worse than I had ever been before.  Up until today, I've had great control over my emotions with this pregnancy.  I'm not nearly as bad as I was when I was pregnant with Peanut, but I've been on the verge of tears all night.  Issues that I don't want to deal with from work, too little sleep, and a tiring day with family have drained me.  I want to collapse into a puddle of tears and not come out for a week.  I'm struggling. 

I can't wait until the end.  I feel like I am counting down the days and it just can't come fast enough.  (Not the pregnancy, something else.  Just wanted to clarify).  I feel like I'm drowning. 

Peanut Update

Peanut has really blossomed these past couple of weeks.  At 22.5 months she is such a smart kiddo!  She is starting to learn her ABCs and loves "singing" the song with people.  Peanut can also count to 10, knows a lot of her colors and animals/sounds, and can recite lines from her favorite books.  She knows most of the words for her favorite songs and sings often.  Her vocabulary has tripled in recent months and she is so sweet with words and affection, saying "I love you Mama" and giving lots of hugs and kisses.  We are working on recognizing letters, she's pretty good with the letter "M". 

The only issue we've had is difficulty sleeping the last few nights.  I think she must be getting her two year molars or going through a growth spurt.  A sleepy and overtired kiddo is not the happiest kiddo.  She also does not like anything on her hands so she wipes them everywhere - it can make for a gigantic mess very quickly.  Other than that things are pretty good!

Pregnancy, 6 Weeks + 4 days

I'm starting to feel pregnant already, at 6 weeks and 4 days.  Part of me is relieved, since I was nervous that my nausea went away early on.  Today my boobs feel heavier and larger, my stomach feels full and slightly bloated, and I feel achy and tired.  Smells are also really bothering me lately - chicken, trash, dirty diapers, nachos, etc.  Hopefully these are all signs that things are progressing normally.  I don't think my boobs felt this way until much later on when I was pregnant with Peanut. 

I am concerned about how I can keep this a secret until 12 weeks though.  I know you usually show earlier with each pregnancy and with feeling uncomfortable I'm worried that people will start to question.  I am also pretty slender, so having a little bloat is fairly noticeable I think.  Since I don't see the doctor until 12 weeks (I see the nurse at 8), I want to make sure that we know this is a viable pregnancy before the news gets out.  Hopefully we can keep everything under wraps.

Gymnastics: Session 3, Week 1

The gym was empty yesterday for Peanut's class.  I love the new group!  Ginny is still in it from before, but everyone else was new.  It seems like a good group of kids/parents.  The class started out with an obstacle course of sorts that included a lot of frog jumps, barrel rolls (Peanut did it on her own for the most part the last time through the course!), a tunnel (that Peanut actually went through!) jumping, and letter puzzle.

Then we went to bars and Peanut did an awesome job of hanging on.  I was so proud!  Miss Lina is officially back as our instructor and she was pretty surprised at how strong Peanut has gotten.  Yay kiddo!

After bars the kids went to beam.  Walking backward on the low beam and forward up an inclined beam Peanut was a rockstar.  I just held one or both of her hands and away she went.

From beam the group headed to the trampoline and Peanut jumped and seat dropped all over the place.  Then they jumped down the tumbl trak and into the foam pit.  Peanut did awesome!  She had so much fun and I was one very happy Mama! 

One Down, One to Go

We shared the news with Ben's family over the weekend.  His mom, sister, and grandma had a fantastic reaction when I told them.  Ben took care of telling his dad and brother, who apparently also had a good reaction.  Although Sean didn't get it at first...haha.  When Ben told him there were 4 of us in the photo, he asked where their grandma was. 

I was disappointed when we came back home from our trip though.  Sean said congratulations, but Ben's dad took it upon himself to tell me he was 50% excited and 50% scared because of the complications we had last time.  That rubs me really wrong.  I understand being concerned, because I have my own concerns now and then, but that shouldn't take away from the excitement.  I'm half excited for you....who says that?? It hurts.

We are telling my parents tomorrow.  I'm excited :) but I hope their reaction isn't a disappointment.  I have been waiting for almost a year to get pregnant.  We have been trying for so long. 

Today marks six weeks pregnant.  The nausea has returned some and the exhaustion is setting in.  I'm also cramping a decent amount which is probably because I overdid it a bit this past weekend.  I can't wait for my first appointment with the doppler/ultrasound to make sure everything is A-OK in there. 

Preparing to Share the News

I'm having a really difficult time this pregnancy with preparing to tell our families.  I'm not quite sure why. 

At 5 weeks, 1 day I have not had a doctors appointment yet and I won't have one for another three weeks.  That appointment is only with the nurse, and I'm not sure if we will get an ultrasound.  I know they won't use the doppler, because the doppler doesn't work until 10 weeks.  Hopefully everything is okay with the baby, I have this odd feeling that something is off.  I pray that my feeling is wrong and that it's just maternal anxiety. I felt really strongly after getting the positive pregnancy test that this baby is a boy.  That feeling has subsided a bit so we will see how the pregnancy goes.

We have to tell Ben's family tomorrow.  Well, I'm telling his mom, sister, and grandma.  He's telling his dad and brother a day or two later.  Why tomorrow?  We all had a extended family vacation (cruise) planned for next summer.  They are planning on booking the tickets by Friday.  The pregnancy puts a damper on that for us, because babies less than 6 months old can't cruise with the cruise line we planned to go on.  We could possibly go on a different cruise line, but it would alter the original plan...we'll see what they decide to do.

How are we telling them?  We are printing out family photos and giving them as gifts and then saying, "You want to know what's really special about this photo?  It's the first one of our family of four!"

We are telling my family at my mom's retirement dinner.  She's retiring after this week.  I tried to get her to go out to dinner this week so we could tell them before we left for the weekend, but no such luck.  She wanted to wait.  Oh well, we'll tell them soon!

On Our Way to 2!

Thursday morning I took a pregnancy test and lo and behold, I'm pregnant!  It was my first cycle charting.  We are so excited :) We have wanted this for about 10 months now and Peanut will be an amazing big sister.  Based on my ovulation date, we are due April 30.  My first doctors appointment isn't for another few weeks, and is only with the nurse.  I don't see my doctor for about a month and a half.  Crazy!   With Peanut I think I had an ultrasound at just under 6 weeks, and I'm 5 weeks along tomorrow and still so far out from an appointment.

I need to come up with a nickname for this baby so I can tag my posts :).  Hmm...let's try Beeble?  That's one of my favorite Peanut words.  It's only fitting that the baby's older sister came up with his/her nickname.

Gymnastics: Session 2, Week 8

I was so excited last Thursday when we arrived at gymnastics and Miss Lina was back!  We've missed her.  Peanut was being coy at the beginning but warmed up completely after a little while.  She did fantastic and participated in everything with very little prompting.  I'm so proud of her!

A basic rundown of what the kids did: warm-up exercises, beam, floor obstacle course, bars, trampoline, and pit.  :) Can't wait for session 3 to start!

Gymnastics: Session 2, Week 7

There were only four kids in the class yesterday, so that was a nice change of pace from the 6-8 that we've been having.  Less kids = less chaos :).

Peanut did okay at lessons, but not as well as she normally does.  Maybe just a hard time adjusting back to the regular routine of having Mama come to class?  Who knows.

The group started out with some stretching and Peanut had a pretty tough time paying attention, so she needed a lot of help.  We've been struggling with active listening lately (I think the terrible 2's are starting to set in), so she was pretty preoccupied watching everyone else instead of the teacher.  She did the moves, though, if I put her into position.

After stretching was the beam.  Peanut walked all by herself across the low beam twice!  Yay kiddo!  She also walked backward and sideways on the high beam but she was not interesting in crawling or bear crawling up the inclined beam.

From beam was the bars rotation, we only made it through once before she needed a break.  She was starting to melt down a little and I decided it would be better to sit and watch then cause a scene.  The kids did a little extra station after the normal bars work and jumped into hula hoops before doing a back handspring on a different kind of mat that rolled across the floor.  Peanut and I practiced the back handsprings on an exercise ball at grandma and grandpa's house later because she found it fun :).

Then the kids did an obstacle course, with a climb up ladder, hop down, under a mini tunnel (which Peanut did!), donkey kicks/jumps over the American flags, and a back handspring exercise over the circle top mat.  We went through two or three times with the class.

Finally it was time for trampoline and with only four kids, they all got to stay on the entire time!  Afterwards, the kids did forward rolls down the tumble track - Peanut didn't need any help! - and then jumped in the pit.  Fun!

We also signed up for the next session, it looks like we'll have gymnastics Wednesday mornings starting in September.  Woo hoo!

Gymnastics: Session 2 Week 6

Unfortunately, I had to work during Mackenzie's gymnastics lesson last week, so Grandma M had to take her.  Apparently they tried lots of new things!

From what my mom told me, the class did a warm-up of trying to catch hula hoops on the floor.  Apparently Peanut didn't really get although she did start to understand at the very end of the exercise - haha.

The class also did the normal bars rotation and then did an obstacle course with backward rolls (and a tunnel, which Mackenzie refused to do) and some work on the beam.  Miss Kristin had propped up one end of the low beam and the class was supposed to crawl across the inclined beam.  Peanut wouldn't crawl, but she did walk from what I heard.

Peanut also got an extended time on the trampoline for some reason, which I'm sure she loved.  Hopefully the other kids didn't mind!

I'm looking forward to seeing Peanut in action this Thursday!

Gymnastics - Session 2, Week 5

Today was another very busy session at the gym.  We picked up some new kids in the class because the gym offers 4 week segments or 8 week segments, so this is the start of the second 4 week session.  Eight kids participated in the class and one older tag-along kid did the exercises behind the others - which was frustrating, as she was probably 8 or 9 and the class is meant for kids ages 18 months to 3 years. 

The class started with the matching exercise, and I think the kids are losing interest in it.  At least Mackenzie seems to be.  Hopefully they'll start warming up with something different next week.  After warm-up it was time for beam.  Three rounds of jumping over stars on the low beam and walking on tip toes on the high beam followed by a round of kicks on both beams.  Mackenzie did a great job.

From beam we went to the obstacle course - forward roll, donkey kicks, walking backward on the floor beam, jumping over the flags, back walkovers over the mat.  Mackenzie did donkey kicks on her own for the first time today!  They still need some work, and she struggled a little bit, but she did it all by herself!  And her forward rolls were awesome today - she did a great job!  She also jumped over the flags without prompting/help - we are making great progress!

After the obstacle course the kids went to bars.  Mackenzie still struggles with hanging onto the bar a bit, and she did not love the forward roll over the bar today.  She kicked the french fries and swung a little bit from the high bar, and did her best to try the push up position.  We went through the bars rotation three times and she decided she was ready to be done with bars, so we took a break until the other kids were finished.

Then she got to go to trampoline.  Mackenzie is starting to get the jump your feet out, jump your feet together exercise.  She still walks them out and in though, ha ha.  On off turns when the kids weren't jumping they played with the balls.  That station was by far her favorite today, which it normally is but even more so because of the balls.  She wasn't sure if she'd rather be jumping or throwing the toys.

The kids finished up in the pit and Mackenzie was having a great time - then they got stamps.  Overall a good day for the kiddo but I can't wait until the class size goes back down a bit - talk about chaos.

Gymnastics: Session 2 Weeks 3 + 4

Hmm...must have forgotten to write an update last week!  I think the only notable items from last week were that the kids started working on backward rolls using a few different mats and that Peanut started to really enjoy working on cartwheels.  She needs a lot of help with the cartwheels but she was giggling and really happy while working on them.  She also held onto the high bar for a really long time all on her own! 

This week was pretty chaotic.  There were seven kids, and I thought the cutoff was six but maybe I was wrong.  One of the parents wasn't really paying attention to their child and another had two kids with her, which made it tougher since the kids rely so much on the parents at this age level. 

Rather than go through an entire rundown of what the class did for the hour, I will just point out the highlights for Peanut this week.  She held on to the bar while doing the forward roll for the most part so that was a huge accomplishment for her.  She also swung on the rope all by herself - I helped get her into the right position and gave her a push since she was over soft mats and she held on!! YAY!  Other than that we were really just trying to stay on task since the class was a bit all over the place. 

In other news, the Olympic Opening Ceremonies for London 2012 was today.  I am so excited that another Summer Olympics is here!  I love watching the gymnastics, swimming, and diving on TV.  Go USA!

Gymnastics: Session 2, Day 2

Peanut did great at gymnastics today!! The class started out matching Olympic gymnastics pictures - the different events, the gymnasts, etc.  For the first time Peanut really tried to help me find matches and took them to the bucket on her own.  We found quite a few matches and the warm-up was over quickly.  After the intro activity the group did stretches together.  Mackenzie did straddle, pike, tuck, and tabletop.  She also was the only one in the group to touch her toes and jump like Miss Kristin asked.

From warm-up the class started on beam.  They could hold American flags while doing beam if they wanted - Peanut held onto the flag for the first rotation of walking forward on the high and floor beams but then didn't want to hold it anymore.  During rotation two they walked sideways and Mackenzie did great with that and then rotation three they did on their toes - she needed a lot more help with that one.

After beam was obstacle course/floor.  The course was forward roll, jumps over flag strips/donkey kicks/baby cartwheels, pushup position, and back walkover.  Peanut did two out of three forward rolls all by herself!  The other time she was trying to do it but ended up rolling on her side instead.  She was excited to do everything and was listening really well.

Following obstacle course we went to bars.  Forward roll on the bar didn't go so well today, Miss Kristin had added a blue rolling piece to help with the forward roll motion and Mackenzie wanted to just play with it instead.  She was not holding onto the bar at all during that station.  We also did the kick the french fries and she did great with holding herself up on that one, and then they did squat/touch their toes on the low bar and then hang and swing from the high bar and she did that pretty well on turns two and three.  She didn't hang on or touch her toes on rotation one.

Then the group did another floor rotation with cartwheels and forward roll.  They went through twice and Peanut did her forward roll both times by herself.  YAY!!!!  I'm so proud of her and she was so excited.

Finally it was time for trampoline - Mackenzie still loves the trampoline.  I actually really like the way Miss Kristin does the trampoline now because its much more even with the rotations.  Peanut did some good seat drops but Miss Kristin was trying to get them to seat drop and then stand back up immediately and she wasn't getting that.  It will all come in time I'm sure :).  Another great day at gymnastics, I was so proud of Mackenzie and her listening skills!

4th of July Fun

We decided to take a mini vacation up to the cottage to celebrate  the 4th of July this year.  Peanut had so much fun!  She loved paying in the lake, splashing in her baby pool and sitting around the fire. We also had a play session with Nathan and Katie Eldridge's daughter, Audrey, who is 16 months old (Peanut is 20 months old right now).  The girls seemed to have a great time together!  Ben brought up some kid safe sparklers and pop-its and Peanut had a blast with those as well.  The pop-its were a huge hit - Peanut went through a few boxes in one sitting!  Overall it was a wonderful visit. 

On Wednesday (the 4th) we decided to head back in the morning to attend my family's annual 4th of July pool party.  Peanut had a wonderful time playing with all of the kids in the pool and ate a huge lunch of hotdog, grapes, melon, pasta salad, and ice cream cake.  She was completely exhausted by the end of the day from all of the fun! 

First Forward Rolls by Herself!!!

Mackenzie did forward roll all by herself today for the very first time!! In class she needed me to help her just a tiny bit - one finger push to make it over, but when we were hanging out at home she did it all alone - both on an incline (cushions from the couch on the floor) and flat on the couch too!  I'm so proud and wanted to make sure I updated.  At 20 months old she's doing somersaults all alone after 9 weeks worth of lessons.  Awesome!!!

Gymnastics: Session 2, Day 1

Today was the first class of the summer session.  We decided that since things are pretty busy in the summer, we would just do one gymnastics lesson each week instead of two.  Unfortunately, since Miss Angelina isn't teaching the little kids lessons in the summer we had to get a new teacher.  She was okay; her name is Miss Kristen.  Isla and Abigail from Peanut's last session were there today, and Ginny is supposed to be back soon - her mom just had a baby last weekend.  It was great for Mackenzie to see friends!  There were also a couple of new faces - Jackson and Anna Joy (mom was Lisa, I believe).  Miss Kristen seemed to take a liking to Mackenzie so I think the session will be a pretty good one.  We miss Miss Angelina though!

The class started out with some stretching and positions.  The kids worked on pike, tuck, straddle, and table top.  Mackenzie did okay with the stretching and positions, but it was a slow adjustment since the class started with something new - they had never done that with Miss Lina before.  Then they went to bars.

On bars, the class did forward roll like normal on the first bar, then they went to a set of parallel bars (like the guys compete on) and held on to kick the french fries off.  Mackenzie held on and I was so proud!  She did it all three rotations of bars :).  On the bigger uneven bar set the kids just held on and swung.  I only had to help Mackenzie hold on one of the three times - she's getting better!

From bars, the class did a floor rotation.  They did forward roll down the wedge mat, and Mackenzie did her forward roll with only one finger of help from me!  YAY PEANUT!  After forward roll, the kids did a back walkover/handspring exercise with Miss Kristen.  It was the same exercise they had done with Miss Lina so that was nice.  Then the kids did cricket legs on the V-Sit mat, followed by donkey kick stations and a cartwheel.  The kids went through the floor rotation three times also.

After floor it was time for trampoline.  Miss Kristen had a different way of rotating through the trampoline so that all of the kids got to jump - it was a tough adjustment for the class, but hopefully they will pick up on how it works soon.  Miss Kristen tried to get the kids to do legs out and in on the trampoline and pull up into tuck position, but Mackenzie didn't really try.  She did do great on the seat drops though - that kiddo loves to bounce on her bum!

Then the kids went to the foam pit - but unlike in Miss Lina's class they didn't do anything down the tumble track.  They just ran down and jumped in the pit.  Mackenzie loved to play with the foam blocks - she like to say buh-locks!  The class finished with a woody stamp on their feet and a flower stamp on their hand.  Mackenzie got a high five and a hug from Miss Kristen too.  She's so happy to be back at the gym after having a couple of weeks off!

Week 8, Day 2 - Gymnastics Make-Up Class & Day 3

On Tuesday we went to a make-up lesson because of the holiday a few weeks ago.  Miss Joyce was the coach Tuesday, and she did great with the kids.  It was a good class to go to as a make-up because almost all of the kids were around the age of a year and a half to two. 

Miss Joyce started the class with some stretching and bug exercises.  The kids pretended to be a bunch of different bugs - bumble bees, inch worms/caterpillars, butterflies, etc.  They also did straddle stretch, pike stretch, and v-sits.  Miss Joyce did a good job of keeping the kids entertained by being upbeat and energetic.

After stretching, the kids did floor.  They rolled down the wedge mat with bean bags, chirped like a cricket with cricket legs, jumped like a frog (Peanut finally understood how to do this - yay! She did great!), did back handspring exercises, smashed the bug, and did the handstand mat.  Peanut did such a good job and sat in line with all of the other kids and participated.

From floor the class went to bars.  Miss Joyce did things a little differently and Peanut really responded.  On the low bar the kids grabbed on and touched their toes to the bar.  Peanut hung on!!!!!  All by herself!!! I wanted to cheer - Okay, I did cheer quietly :) I was so proud!  Then she hung on the first uneven bar set to touch her feet to the butterflies and clap her legs together.  YAY AGAIN!!!!!  On the second uneven bar set she hung on a little bit but needed quite a bit of help.  Still, great improvement for Peanut.  SOOOOO PROUD!  Peanut went through the rotation three times and did great each time!

Then the class went to beam.  Forward roll on the floor beam, stepping over stars on the low beam, walking forward on the mid beam and then second time through walking side steps on the mid beam.  Peanut was awesome again.  She did the forward roll, she stepped over stars, and she walked forward like a pro.  When it was time to side step she was trying to cross her legs over like the big kids do!  She was so good :)  She went through the beam rotation twice and then rested for a minute before going to trampoline.

At trampoline Miss Joyce tried to get the kids to do a bunch of different skills.  Peanut kept jumping and doing seat drops instead, but the other kids were mainly just running around so I was just happy she was jumping :).  And no fits!  Yay Peanut!

The class finished up on trampoline and got stamps and ribbons for being twinkle stars.  I was so proud of Peanut, she did awesome!  What great progress for 8 weeks of class!

***I think I forgot to update with Day 3 lesson before but the kids did the same things they normally did, but started with the parachute for fun.  The class seemed to have a blast!***

Week 8, Day 1: Gymnastics

And so begins the last week of the term!  Crazy how quickly time passes!

The class on Monday started with the kids doing the bug matching game.  Peanut and I found three or four matches and she proudly brought them to Miss Lina - yay kiddo!  After the bug matching game the class went to bars. 

Then the class went to the beam.  On beam the kids did donkey kicks on the floor beam, walked backwards (trying to do so by themselves) on the low beam, and did kicks on mid beam.  Miss Lina was trying to get Peanut to straighten her legs and point her toes while she did kicks.  Peanut only needed her to lightly touch her toes and she would point them right away :).

After beam came bars. Peanut had a great lesson and participated well in everything - flips, catching butterflies, and toes to the high bar/chin above the bar.  Another little girl, Addison, was having a difficult day and her mom kept threatening to leave the class but they never did.  I don't think Addison really did much of anything through any of the rotations.

When the group had made it through bars they went to trampoline.  Unfortunately there were six kids, so the group had to rotate through the trampoline station.  Peanut loves the trampoline and was having a hard time taking turns.  I got her calmed down, though, until the class moved to the tumble track.  She had a meltdown - she did NOT want to leave the trampoline.  I gave her a warning and told her if she couldn't calm down we were leaving early and I followed through.  When her fit started to escalate we left right away and didn't do the tumble track or the stamp that day. 

I wasn't mad at all, but it's unsafe for her to be making so much noise and being so disruptive when kids are trying to do flips and other difficult things around her.  Plus, she has to know that throwing a fit is not the way to get what she wants.  We grabbed dinner on the way home and she was calmed down by the time we got home to eat.  :)
 

Week 7, Day 2

This week has been so crazy and so busy, but Peanut did great again today at gymnastics!  It was a little strange, because morning practices have stopped since we're getting into the summer term, and her class had the gym to themselves!

The class started off doing the hula hoop exercise where the kids try and jump through the moving hula hoops.  Peanut was having soooo much fun!  Laughing the whole time and running after the hula hoop.  She was doing as well as all of the other kids - which is better than she did last time they did this exercise.  She was actually really sad when warm up was over and Miss Lina put the hula hoops away.

Then the group went to balance beam.  Forward roll for Peanut on floor beam (donkey kicks for the rest of the class), hopping/stepping up from targets on the floor to the low beam, and scoops on the mid beam.  Peanut did the rotation twice through, although she doesn't always understand the scoops exercise.  She does more of a half kick, half scoop walk.  :) Cute kiddo, she'll get it.

After balance beam, the class went to bars.  Peanut did the flip on the low bar, tried to get the butterflies on the first uneven bars set, and did toes to the bar on the second uneven bars set.  She went through the stations two and a half times, and Miss Lina commented on how flexible she is!  She does not get that from me - haha.

Miss Lina asked Peanut if she wanted to do trampoline next and Peanut lit up and got a huge smile on her face as she tried to say trampoline.  So cute!  The class went to trampoline and again tried to connect doggie to belly.  Peanut did belly a couple of times but struggled to get doggie today.  She did a few butt to belly connections though - LOL.  Unintentional, I think.

After trampoline, the class did something completely new and lots of fun.  Miss Lina made a huge slide from the vault table down into the pit and the kids took turns sliding in.  Peanut loved it but got something in her eye the first time - it was really watering and she was having a hard time opening it for a little while.  That didn't stop her from wanting another turn though!  By the time she got her stamp at the end her eye seemed to be doing better and she was completely fine once we got in the car.

We also had a ton of fun after leaving gymnastics.  We came home and packed up some lunch and some bread and headed into campus to meet Daddy.  On campus we ate a picnic lunch and went down by the river to feed the duckies.  Peanut LOVED it - she giggled as the ducks came and ate the bread and crackers she threw.  The geese that were around made me nervous, there was one really mean goose that kept chasing us down and it was taller than Peanut.  I was worried that it would attack so I kept picking Peanut up and running to other parts of the grass.  She was exhausted afterwards, she slept for two and a half hours almost for her nap!

Week 7, Day 1

Mackenzie did great at gymnastics on Monday!  The class started out matching bugs, and with my help she participated and gave Miss Lina a couple of matches - yay kiddo!

From warm-up, the class went to bars I believe, where they did flips on the low bar, caught the butterflies one the first uneven bars set, and swung on the second uneven bars set.  Peanut went through the stations two or three times and was doing a pretty good job!  We just have to work on holding on still :).

After bars, the class went to beam, where they did forward roll on the floor beam, jumped from targets on the ground to the low beam, and walked backwards on the mid beam.  Peanut was the best one in her class at walking backwards on the mid beam!! I was so proud :)  She went through the beam stations twice, if I recall correctly.

Then the class went to the rock wall and the rope.  The rock wall was a bit of a flop, but Peanut had SOOOO much fun sitting on the bottom knot of the rope and swinging back and forth.  I held her legs closed so that she would stay on the rope and Miss Lina pushed her and held on to her back.  She was giggling!

From the rope swing, the class went to trampoline and worked on connecting the doggie jump to a belly flop type jump.  Peanut actually did it a few times, but I'm not sure it was intentional.  She is doing so well at jumping!!  One of the other parents actually commented on what a good job she was doing :).

After trampoline, the kiddos did something they haven't done before.  With Miss Lina's help, they side stepped along the high beam (the beam that all of the competitive gymnasts use) and jumped into the foam pit.  Peanut went for it and did great!  So proud :).  The class ended with paw print stamps.  Yay Peanut!

Gymnastics - Week 6 Wednesday

Technically today (Wednesday) is day one this week because there was no class on Monday due to the holiday.  Peanut did much better today than she did last week, thank goodness!  She was so funny this morning because as soon as we turned down the road that the gymnastics center is located off of, she repeatedly threw her arms up in the air and said Ta-Da!  Over and over.  She probably did it twenty times as we drove in.  Goofy girl :).

Class today started with the bug matching game again, and Peanut was sooooo not interested.  I think it's just above her age group.  She picked up a bug card or two but then just ran around instead of trying to find the match.  Some of the other parents were trying to help get her attention, but she just wanted to play on the wedge mat.  Oh well.

From the intro we went to beam, and Peanut did great!!  She did forward rolls with Miss Lina on the floor beam, she really tried to jump over the targets on the mid beam, and she walked backward mostly by herself on the higher beam.  She did the whole series twice and I was so proud!

After beam, the class did bars.  Peanut didn't hang on so well today on bars, but she tried.  She did the forward roll/flip on the bar, clapping feet like butterfly wings, and toes to the bar two to three times each, before the group moved to floor.

On floor, Peanut did all of the rotations twice.  She rolled up and down the wedge mat, she did the grasshopper chirp really well, she jumped like a frog onto the stacked mats, and then squashed the bug really strongly (yay Peanut!).  She also walked her feet up the mat to do handstands with my help.

Following floor the class did something new - they took turns on the rock wall and climbing rope.  Peanut did each once and she did try, but Miss Lina and I did most of the work.  Haha.  Oh well, she'll get there.

After the rock wall/rope climb, the class went to trampoline where Peanut did some great jumping and seat drops.  She also tried a couple of doggie drops/jumps (onto hands and knees).  Then the kids got stamps and we went on our way.  Hooray for a good day!

A busy holiday weekend!

Look at me getting fancy - another non-gymnastics post! 

Over the long weekend, Ben and I went up to the Grand Traverse Resort & Spa in Traverse City.  We left Peanut with my parents and it sounds like she had a blast!  Apparently she watched a ton of TV, but also went grocery shopping and swam in the pool at the MAC and played outside on the neighbor's playground structure and pet the neighbor's bunny. My mom said she also did laps around the kitchen/dining/living room and they bought her a new ball to play with inside. 

Ben and I got back yesterday afternoon (Sunday), but we had a wedding to attend that Peanut wasn't invited to, so we had one more child-free night.  Then, after we picked up Peanut this morning, we headed to the community pool for some fun in the sun and had dinner with Ben's dad.  Peanut is totally exhausted and was in bed by 8.  I'm so glad she had so much fun this weekend with Grandma and Papa!

Gymnastics - Week 5, Day 2

I didn't realize I hadn't posted about last Wednesday yet!  Oops!  Let's see if I can remember :)

Peanut had a rougher time than usual last Wednesday as well.  I really think the sunshine and warm weather has taken its toll on our little one - she's still adjusting to the exhaustion that happens after playing outside.  She's been napping a lot longer than she had been (anywhere from 2-3 hours when she was down to 1 hour or an hour and a half!) and she's been going down for bed earlier and sleeping in later in the mornings lately.  Unfortunately, I've been bragging to Ben about how well she's done on Wednesday mornings....of course, he came to last Wednesday (since he took the day off for our anniversary) - and she struggled more than she ever has.  Oh well, you win some you lose some.

The class on Wednesday started by playing the bug matching game again, but Peanut just wanted to run laps and go crazy.  I let her run all of her energy out, hoping she'd do the activities she was supposed to after the warm up.

Then the kids went to bars.  Peanut did okay on bars, but I had to really encourage her to do all of the exercises - forward flip, clapping feet like a butterfly, chin ups on the uneven bars, jumping and standing up on the floor bar.  It took a lot of cheering on my part, and Miss Lina was a huge help in motivating our little one.

From bars the kids went to beam and our Peanut was struggling.  She did one whole set of the forward roll on the floor beam, hopping over targets on the mid beam, and scoops on the high beam - but then she started melting down and wanting a break.

After bars the class went to floor.  We made it one time through with a lot of encouragement (rolling up and down wedge mat, cricket legs, back walkover, frog hops, smashing the bug), but then Peanut got a time out because she hit me when she wasn't happy about something.  We sat out the rest of the floor rotation (it was pretty short - her time outs only last a minute at this age).

Then they went to the trampoline, where she did great.  She really loves that trampoline.  She's getting off of the trampoline all by herself now and she does seat drops (although she can't get back to her feet afterward just yet).  She's come a long way.

Then the class went to tumble track and she did one pass down that.  She wasn't ready to leave at the end!  Just goes to show you that even when the day starts a little rough, things can turn around quickly :).

Hopefully this Wednesday will be better, there is no class tonight because of Memorial Day. 

Week 5, Day 1 Gymnastics

Today was a rough day at gymnastics for most of the kiddos, ours included.  The past few days have been extremely warm temperatures for May in Michigan (around 80!) and most of the kids were worn out from playing outside and enjoying the sunshine (Class runs 6:45-7:30, which is the start of bedtime hour for our little one normally.  I know that was the case for Peanut - she took a 2.5 hour nap today and she has been consistently napping for only an hour and a half most days.

The group started off doing a bug matching game where they jumped to different bug cards and picked them up then took them to the teacher.  Peanut brought a few different matches to Miss Lina with my help and did really well with this exercise.  Toward the end of the warm-up when she was getting tired of the matching game, she just ran laps back and forth down the mats.

After the matching game the kiddos went to bars, where they did a couple of new exercises.  They started out with the normal flip over the bar, then did a butterfly clap exercise with their feet on the mini uneven bars (Peanut actually held on while I helped her clap her feet together!  I was so proud, her and her daddy have been working on holding on to the bar and she got it!), they did the chin up exercise on the larger uneven bars, and then did a hop up stand up exercise on the bar on the floor.  Peanut did all of the bars exercises three times and I was so proud of her!

That's when things started to go south.  From bars the kids went to floor.  Peanut only wanted to do the back walkover exercise.  She completed the whole course once (rolling exercise up and down the wedge mat, bicycle exercise on a cat stretch mat, back walkover, frog hops, and a smash the spider jump down from the mat) but then wanted nothing to do with any exercises but the back walkover.  I convinced her to do a couple of the stations again, but then she just wanted to be in my arms and wait out the rotation.

Thankfully, the group was all losing interest so the kids didn't stay at floor for very long.  Unfortunately, we then went to beam and Peanut was melting down plus I was starting to not feel good (I was over hungry, over tired, and over heated - the gym is warm!).  Daddy came to the rescue - we tag-teamed so that I could sit down and he took over with Peanut.  He successfully got her to do the low beam (jumping/stepping over targets) and the high beam (ice cream scoops) and by that point the group was headed to the trampoline.

Peanut did some decent jumping on the trampoline and then the kids went down the tumble track once. 

Hopefully Wednesday will go a little bit better! :)

Peanut Randoms

Okay, this isn't a post about gymnastics or another activity, but I need to write it down to make sure I don't forget the incredibly cute things our little one says and does.  Brace yourself for the cuteness:

Instead of saying bumble bee, Peanut says beeble.  I LOVE that she does this.  Her Grandpa O'Brien says a bumble bee rhyme and when Peanut wants to hear it she puts up her pointer finger, wiggles her hand around, and says BEEBLE!  In fact, I love it so much that for the few days she actually said bumble bee, I would say beeble because I was so sad she was using the correct term.  Bad Mama, I know, but it was just too cute!  Thankfully she's been saying beeble again and it makes me smile every time.

On Mother's Day this year (Peanut is 18 months), we tried to get her to say Happy Mother's Day!  and instead she managed to say Happy BoBo Cake!  Too funny :).

There is a Michigan ABC book that we read all the time together - it's one of Peanut's favorite books.  A is for the apple blossom and Peanut says "apple!  apple!" over and over again while we are on the page.  On C is for cherry the rhyme reads "little sweet ones fill my belly" and Peanut points to her belly with a huge smile on her face

Peanut is really good at animal noises and for fish she moves her hand around to do "swim, swim, swim!"

Peanut LOVES the movie Despicable Me. The minions are her favorites and she tries to ask for the movie by name "depicapicapicable me!"

Daddy is said with an English accent in our house.  I'm not sure where she picked it up from, but she says "Dah Day" when she wants her Dad.  So cute.  Although she was a Mama's girl when she was itty bitty, since she's been about 15 or 16 months it's all about Daddy in this household.

I'm sure I'll think of more and update later, but these are just a few of the adorable things our kiddo does!

Week 4, Day 2

Peanut had another great day at gymnastics!  She's really getting the hang of waiting her turn and listening and being part of the group, which I love.  Today the kids started out playing on the real gym floor, trying to jump through hula hoops that we rolled around.  Peanut was a little young (as were the other kids) to really get the idea that she was supposed to jump through, but she was walking through the hoop if I stood it up on its side.  The moms were all laughing because the kids were awfully cute trying to do what they were supposed to!

After floor, we went to bars.  Peanut did great with the flip around the bar, walking across the mini uneven bars, and then doing chin ups on the larger uneven bar set.  She also walked across the floor beam by herself for the most part.  She did the rotation three times until it was time to switch.  She was so happy and talkative the whole time!

From bars we went to beam.  Miss Lina switched things up today and the kids hopped on and off of the floor beam, walked backwards across the low beam, and did "scoops" across the high beam.  Peanut needed help for the floor beam, but did awesome across the low beam, and then did scoops with a lot of help for half of a pass on the high beam until Miss Lina said she could just walk across it - then she did great with that!  Peanut did two full passes through the beam rotation and then took a mini break before it was time for trampoline.

On trampoline our kiddo was awesome - getting off of the trampoline on multiple occasions and trying to do seat drops like the other kids.  The group also did something new toward the end, where they all held onto a hula hoop and sat on the trampoline while Miss Lina bounced them.  There were lots of giggles from the group and the kids had a ton of fun.

After trampoline was tumble track for one pass and then stamps.  Peanut made it all the way down the tumble track (still working on jumping down it instead of running) and I threw her in the pit at the end.  She loved it - huge smiles.  A great day all around!

Just so that I don't forget when she gets older, here are the breakdowns of the kids in her gymnastics class each day:

Monday - Braelyn, Addison, and I'm forgetting the other names at the moment.  I will have to update later

Wednesday - Cole, Isla, Virginia (Ginny), Abigail

Week 4, Day 1: Gymnastics

Another great day at the gym for our little lady!  The group started out by doing a hopscotch exercise, that our kiddo didn't really get just yet.  She marched all around with her rubber star that Miss Lina gave her, and watched the other kids.  I was a little worried it might be a rough day, but she did fantastic after that!

After the warm-up, the group headed to bars.  Peanut did her forward flips on the bar, walked across the mini uneven bars and tried to hang on to the high bar (she didn't quite hang on though).  She also attempted some pushups with my help for the first time - absolutely hilarious and adorable all at the same time, and walked across the floor beam like it was nothing.  She did that three times, until the group moved to beam/floor.

Miss Lina announced that the kids could choose to do beam or floor, so Peanut chose to do a mix of both.  We did a full round at beam - forward rolls, kicks, side steps, then did a forward roll or two at the floor station and a back walkover, then went back to beam for some forward rolls and kicks and walking across the high beam.

After beam/floor, the group went to trampoline.  Peanut was bouncing on the trampoline with two other girls, since she doesn't really move all that much.  She was so funny trying to keep up with the bigger kids and managed to jump off of the trampoline a little bit!

From trampoline the kiddos went to the tumble track and Miss Lina tried to get them to jump through the hula hoop.  Peanut stepped through it, but she tried to do what she was supposed to.  She was so stinking cute I couldn't help but smile.  Then she got right in the foam pit and didn't want to get out again!  Too funny.

At the end of the night Peanut got her sticker and we headed home.  Back to go again tomorrow!  I'm amazed at how far she has come in such a short amount of time.  Unbelievable!

Gymnastics: Week Three, Day Two

Oh my goodness, I can't believe I forgot to write this post last week!  Last Wednesday was the best gymnastics lesson Peanut had done to date!  She did everything multiple times and was so excited to be there.  It was a great day overall.

The group started off on the actual gymnastics floor (the one older athletes compete on) doing a line of stretches and things.  They did a back walkover, then a forward roll, some donkey kicks, straddle jumps over the cones, a cartwheel, and a cat stretching mat.  Peanut did these exercises four or five times through until the entire group changed stations.  She was awesome!

From the floor, the kiddos went to bars.  Peanut did the flip with me/Miss Lina, she walked across the mini uneven bars with very little help (I WAS SO PROUD!), hung on the high bar with some help, and walked across the floor balance beam all by herself.  She did awesome - bars isn't usually her favorite event but she did everything three or so times before she wanted to take a break and only do the parts she wanted (like walking along the floor beam - it's her favorite!).

After bars, the group went to beam.  Peanut did her forward roll on the floor beam, her kicks across the low beam, and side-stepped/walked across the high beam.  Miss Lina told the group they could walk forward, backward or sideways across the high beam so I let Peanut pick what she wanted to do.  Peanut did beam two times through before decided she wanted to rest a little bit.

When the group was finished with beam they went to trampoline.  Peanut actually jumped off of the trampoline a little bit which was exciting and she tried to mimic the other kids doing seat jumps and jumping to her hands and knees like a puppy dog.  She had a huge smile on her face the entire time and was trying her very best!

Following trampoline, the kids each did a pass down the tumble track and then had a party with Miss Lina in the foam pit.  After all the work we did to get Peanut into the foam pit over the last three weeks, she didn't want to get out at the end of the 'Party'!  Too cute.

Stamps and stickers all around to end out the day.  A great day at gymnastics!

Gymnastics: Week Three, Day One

Today Peanut started off the class with her Daddy for the first time.  It began really well, Peanut did the gallop between stars while holding his hands and then touched the ground and jumped up.  With his help she did the candlestick exercise.  She also participated in the bean bag activity, even though she ran instead of jumping.  Overall a great warm-up for our kiddo!

After warm-up, the kids went to bars and that's where things started to get shaky.  With Miss Lina's help, Peanut made it through the bars rotation one time completely, and then she fought with Daddy about doing it again.  She was having a rough night even before the class started, so I wasn't surprised we hit a snag on the bars. 

From bars, the group went to beam.  Peanut threw a huge fit for Daddy, so we switched roles for the remainder of the class.  With Miss Lina's help, I got Peanut to do the kicks on the middle beam and the side step on the high beam.  Miss Lina decided that Peanut just needed her to be goofy to participate :).

After beam the kids did floor.  Peanut did great with the back walkover exercise twice, and did one rotation all the way through the floor exercises (donkey kicks, forward roll, straddle jumps over the cones, cat stretching on the mats).  After one rotation though, she was ready to be done.  She wanted to go bye-bye until I reminded her the the trampoline was next - then she lit up like a flashlight.  She was SO excited.

The kids stayed on trampoline for a long time.  Peanut was all smiles.  Huge grins from ear to ear - and she even got off of the trampoline!! A HUGE accomplishment for our kiddo.  She stayed on the trampoline and had a blast for the entire time.

From trampoline, the kids did one pass each on the tumble track and Peanut actually went into the pit with Miss Lina and my help.  YAY Peanut!  Then the kids got stickers and stamps and said thank you and bye-bye to Miss Lina.  So sweet.  Another day at the gym!

Gymnastics: Week 2, Day 2

Mackenzie did great at her gymnastics lesson yesterday!  She continues to make progress and has a ton of fun during parts of the lesson so I think it's a success so far :).

The class started off doing frog jumps with bean bags down the mat and back.  Peanut needed help with the exercise but did pretty well participating.  After the warm-up we went to bars, where she did the exercises (flip on the bar, hanging from the bar, touching toes to the bar, walking along the floor beam) once through but then started losing interest.  She didn't hold on to the bar as well yesterday as she did Monday, but that's okay.

After bars the kids went to beam.  Peanut did the forward rolls on the floor beam but she wasn't very excited about it.  Then she did great with the kicks on the mid beam and the side step on the high beam.  It was her first time making it across all three beams.  I was so proud of her, way to go Peanut!!

From bars the class did floor.  Peanut did the floor exercises all once (back bend with walk-over on the mat, donkey kicks, forward roll down the incline mat, straddle hops over the cones and cat mat exercises) and then totally lost interest so we sat on the mat and cheered the other kids on while we counted.

All of the kids were losing interest so Miss Lina decided it was time to go to trampoline.  Peanut was great!  She bounced on her own with a huge smile, she tried to go down into the doggie position and seat bounce like Miss Lina asked her to, and she had a ton of fun.  We stayed on trampoline for longer than any other activity I think - the kids all love it.

After trampoline the kids did the tumble track and Miss Lina tried the slide when I reminded her.  It worked!  Peanut loved the slide and ended up in the foam pit three times I think.  Yay Peanut!!  I was laughing as Peanut went down the tumble track because the kids were supposed to straddle jump these foam blocks Miss Lina put on the track but instead Peanut pointed to each block and said "BLOCK!"  Then the kiddo who went after her did the same thing - Miss Lina couldn't help but laugh!

Oh!  I almost forgot...at the end Miss Lina gave the kids stickers instead of stamps, and asked what color star the kids would like.  Mackenzie (with a little prompting) asked for a yellow star!! I was so proud of her :).  Granted, yellow is the only color she knows how to say right now, but she still asked!

Week 2, Day 1 - Gymnastics

All week last week we practiced ta-da's, bouncing/jumping, and somersaults (forward rolls).  Peanut was doing really well at home and having a ton of fun, and I was excited to see what she'd do for Miss Lina in class.

The kids started out with a warm-up of galloping between stars, which Peanut started to get and was doing pretty well with.  Then they tried to touch their toes and she did NOT want any part of that.  They also did some forward rolls and Peanut refused (bummer!) and we practiced the candlestick maneuver that Peanut did but wasn't thrilled about doing.  Afterward the kids did the beanbag activity and Peanut participated, but they added an extra challenge with "french fries" that they were supposed to hop over and our little one just went around them :).

From the warm up area we went to bars, and Peanut started getting the hang of what she was supposed to do, but it will still take a while and that's okay.  She's still by far the youngest one of the Monday group so most of the other kids are old pros by now.  Peanut also walked across the yellow beam/mat on her own with me holding my hands out for her at the end.  She fell off (the mat is right on the ground so not really a fall) a couple of times but kept trying.  YAY PEANUT!

After bars the kids went to beam and Peanut would not do the forward roll but she did the kicks really well on the middle beam for about half a length and then she did the side step a few times on the high beam.  Making some improvements little by little, which is really good to see.

Following beam the kids went to the trampoline and it became clear we need to work on sitting and paying attention at home.  Peanut is little but because she's not in daycare or any other activities yet she's still new to really following directions.  BUT, Peanut "jumped" aka bounced on the trampoline by herself!!!! I was so proud.  That was Miss Lina's goal for her over the entire 8 weeks and Peanut did it in one week! Yay kiddo!

Then we did the tumble track - Peanut ran down the tumble track again and with the help of Miss Lina, finally went in the foam pit.  Twice!  I think Miss Lina forgot she was going to do the slide, but maybe they will try that on Wednesday. 

I am so proud of Peanut and the progress she's made already.  I'm not expecting miracles or a phenomenal gymnast, but the fact that she's learning and having fun (she LOVES the trampoline time) is so great to see.  Now we need to work on listening and following directions! :)

Week 1, Day 2 - Gymnastics

My husband and I decided to let Peanut do gymnastics twice a week.  Monday nights so that he can go with us and be a part of it, and Wednesday mornings so that Peanut and I can get out of the house since we are normally home-bodies and Peanut likes to go "bye-bye"!

Today (yesterday, now that the post is published) was our second day of gymnastics in the first week.  Once again we started with the bean bag warm-up.  During the bean bag game, Peanut decided that another little girl in her class needed to have all of the bean bags, so she handed them to her one at a time.  So much for doing the exercise, ha ha. 

We went from the bean bag warm-up to the bars again.  Today Miss Lina helped Peanut flip for the first time.  She was not a fan of the flip until the end when we started cheering for her...then it was okay.  Again Peanut didn't really want to do the exercise on the parallel bars, but she did a lot better on the uneven bars and put her toes up to the bar like she was supposed to.  I still had to hold her up though, Peanut isn't ready to support her own weight.  Once again the floor beam to walk across was a huge hit.

After bars station the kids did a floor/tumbling station.  Peanut started with the back walkover mat with help from Miss Lina and Mama.  She did an okay job but didn't really get it.  The kids were then supposed to do a forward roll down the inclined mat and then straddle jumps over cones on the floor.  Peanut didn't get that at all.  She did NOT want to forward roll down the mat and just walked around the cones.  Oh well.  There were a few cat themed activity mats after that - one to stretch your leg behind you and one for a v-sit type of stretch.  She wasn't really interested in those either.  She's still young - and she definitely wasn't the only one uninterested.

From floor/tumbling we headed to beam.  The same exercises they did on day 1.  Peanut did the step-kick exercise really well on the floor and did it with one leg on the low beam.  She did the forward roll on the floor beam once and then wasn't interested in doing it again.  She wanted nothing to do with the high beam.  Not a big deal, this class is just for fun right now :).

After beam we went to trampoline, which Peanut LOVES as long as Miss Lina is holding her hands.  I'm not sure if I wrote this out for Monday, but Miss Lina said her goal for Peanut over the course of the 8 weeks for class is to jump on her own by the end.  We will see :) I'm just glad she loves the trampoline. Again, no seat jump(?) for our little one.  She stayed on her feet, thankyouverymuch.

After trampoline they did the tumble track into the foam pit.  Everyone but Peanut.  Peanut just stayed on the tumble track and watched everyone else go in.

That's all for now, be back Monday or Tuesday for a new week of classes!

And So It Begins...

I decided to write this blog to remember the days when we were just starting activities.  Just as the infancy stage flew by us, I am sure that in the years to come we will look back and wonder how we got to the stage we're at.    For now, activities are just beginning - but soon, I'm sure we'll be running around town for our kid(s).

On Monday of this week, Peanut (our 18 month old daughter) started gymnastics class.  This is the first structured activity we've tried.  It's a Mommy + Me class that she is participating in on Monday nights and Wednesday mornings and is so cute.  The class is design for kids aged 18 months to 3 years old, but the older kids definitely get more out of it.  Her teacher is Miss Lina, a fun and sweet lady who really tries to get the kids involved.

Monday started out with a dance and warm-up that some of the kids will do at the recital the gymnastics center has.  We decided to opt out of the recital for now, since Peanut is still not really getting the exercises that they are doing.  She can participate when she's a little bit older and understands what she's supposed to do.  The warm-up began with a bean bag activity where the kids are supposed to hop from one end of a mat to the other and drop the bean bag into the bucket at the end.  They then return to the beginning and grab another bean bag.  Peanut participated in this, but isn't quite hopping yet, so she mainly just ran from one end of the mat to the other to drop her bean bag in.

The dance included shuffling from one star to the next and back, touching toes, jumping up, and doing what (I think) they call a candlestick activity - rolling on your back and standing back up again.  Peanut tried to play with the star and watched all of the other kids doing their tricks.  :) It's still fun and something different than what we do at our house.

From dance we went to bars.  Peanut waited her turn, learned what 'Ta-Da' was, was held up to the bar to learn how to flip, went to the parallel bars (she was supposed to walk across them but instead she just touched them, she wasn't interested in walking across), on the uneven bars she stood on the low bar and 'jumped' (read: was carried as if she were jumping) to the high bar.  The first day she just tried to learn how to hang on, but eventually she will hopefully hang on and touch her feet to the bar.  I think it will take a while, she doesn't have much upper body strength right now!  After the high bar was a low, fat  beam on the floor that she could walk across.  This was one of her favorite activities and she probably would have stayed there during the bars rotation if she could.

After bars we went to the beam station.  She was supposed to do a forward roll on the floor beam, which she did with some help from Miss Lina and me but wasn't thrilled about.  The low beam was meant for step kicks, which Peanut started to get the hang of.  The high beam was supposed to be side steps, but she did not want to do that.  She wanted to watch the older girls do gymnastics across the gym.

Then we went to trampoline.  Peanut's favorite.  Except she didn't bounce or jump on her own, only when holding Miss Lina's hands.  She loved it though - huge smiles the whole time.  So worth it.  Other kids did seat jumps (I think that's what they are called?) where they jumped to their bottoms with their legs straight out in front of them and together.  Peanut wasn't ready for any of that just yet.  We're still working on jumping :).

We finished with the tumble track - jumping (or running in Peanut's case) down the long trampoline that ends with the foam pit.  Peanut did not want to jump in so she just ran back and forth.  God bless Miss Lina for her patience!  She did really well and said that she would try a slide next Monday since Peanut loves slides.