Three more 'till Four!

We are just three weeks away from being a family of four! As the date draws closer, I am more and more excited, yet more and more anxious about being the mother of two. I am definitely nesting - which is probably why I spent yesterday morning shampooing the couch. Hey, it smells like dog and spilled milk - ew! I am constantly making lists of things that need to be done, but I am either too pregnant to do it (like painting Andrew's bedroom to match his new ADORABLE Tonka construction decor - well...maybe I WILL do that this week.), or it just not time, yet (Like sterilizing all the bottles and the breast pump...Yeah, it's too early for that right?) Working part time has been an incredible blessing. I'm not sure I'd make it three more weeks with a full time job and a toddler - if you are a mom who works full time, I salute you! Andrew's independence is increasing every day - at least HE thinks so! Some of his favorite pastimes these days are:


*Climbing on a chair to reach anything on the kitchen table. He is especially fond of ink pens. If there is nothing on the table, he will crawl up and just sit there (or stand there and play with the light fixture that hangs from the ceiling)

*Climbing on a chair to reach the light switch and play the on-off-on-off-on-off-on-off game. Mommy gets particularly frustrated when he flips the switch that controls the outlet that the fish tank is plugged into. Of course, the obvious solution is to pull the chair away. The problem here is that this chair was previously used to block the little gap through which he can reach the outlet strip and unplug all of the aquarium equipment. At least he's resourceful, right?

*Climbing on a chair to pull various items off the kitchen counters. Are we seeing a patterns here with chairs? Hm. This would be why anyone who visits the Shenk house these
days will find chairs against walls in various areas of the
house instead of pushed under the tables they belong to.

*Picking apples. We have three apple trees in our backyard which are the source of much amusement for Andrew. He will eat up to three or four apples a day of allowed. It is particularly amusing to watch him pick an apple, take one or two bites, then give it to the dog so he can go back and pick another one. Yes, the dog eats the apples, too!

*Putting anything that fits in his hand on his shoulder and pretending it is a telephone. I love watching this! He actually has conversations that start with hello, end with bye-bye, and include short periods where he "listens" to the person on the other end! So adorable!

*Pointing his finger at the dog (and sometimes strangers in Walmart) and shouting "NO, NO, NO!" I always thought I was patient and kind until my son started imitating me! Time for some self-reflection? Yikes!

Hope you enjoy these pics. From top to bottom they are: Being spoiled at Grandma's house; First trip to the zoo; cruising with cousin Hannah at Great Aunt Debbie's house on Grandma Day; Andrew's first haircut!

BE BLESSED!