Wow-- I guess I should update...

It has been a REALLLLY long time-- like almost 6 months-- since I updated-- sorry!
Anyway, I had Joshua Spencer on September 20th, 2008. He came fast, and is very healthy! Clara loves being a big sister, and Josh thinks she is pretty cool, too! I will come back to post some pictures, but all is going well!
We bought our first house, and we will be moving in in a few weeks. I am so excited that the kids will have a yard to play in!
I will post seperate blog entries to update everything-- I swear! But I have to run right now-- Story of my life!

long time no update!

Wow! It has been a while! Sorry!
I started back to work and the first day of service was Aug 25th. You should have seen the looks on the kids and teacher's faces when I walked in with my big belly! My choirs this year are fantastic!!! I have a lot of boys, and they all really want ot be there. I am ALMOST sorry to say goodbye to them on Wednesday, but not quite!
My mother in law threw a great baby shower for me a few weeks ago. We didn't need a lot, but I got everything we were missing! Micheal and I truly appreciated everyone's generosity! The theme was Noah's ark, and my mom and I made a free standing Noah's ark cake. It was too cute!
Clara is doing well at school. She went through a few weeks where she was biting, but after us realizing she was (and still is) getting 2 molars, and after she bit herself once hard, she has stopped. She is impatiently waiting for baby Josh to get here and asks everyday if today is the day.
As for Josh, he is cooking away just fine! He is measuring just fine, and I am about 1 cm dialated, 50% effaced. I am glad that I only have three more days of work. I have such horrible hip pain. I didn't really have it with Clara. I guess my body knows what is going on and is in prep mode. I have had a few contractions. nothing major and nothing regular, but once in a while they will wake me up at night. Hopefully he will bake until Wednesday evening! We have everything ready, the bags are packed, and everyone is on alert.
Michael is doing well and anxiously awaiting our new baby boy. He will get to take a few weeks of family leave becuase he didn't break his foot this time (grrr) so it will be nice to have him home as well.

ALOHA!

We are back from a fun, relaxing, and kiddo free trip to Maui! We had such and amazing time! Clara stayed home with my mom, and she was a good girl and we made sure we called every night. It was so nice to be able to go somewhere and not have to worry about what Clara was up to, or into, but we missed her terribly and were ready to come home.
The weather was gorgeous and we did lots of touristy things. We drove to Hana, went to the aquarium, climbed through an old lava field to a perfect beach, watched the sunset, went on a dinner cruise, went to a luau, but mostly we relaxed. We really had no complaints about the trip. It was a very much deserved trip and now there seems like no time at all before Josh will make his grand entrance. I am 32 weeks now, and I am sporting a bikini by the waterfall of our hotel in the picture. I cannot believe that I am due in less than 8 weeks!!!!

3D/4D ultra sound pictures!

I had an exciting morning!!! I went to get a 3d/4d ultrasound of Josh! I wanted to make sure he is a boy, and as a perk, got some great face shots! He is definitely a boy-- I saw all of the bits and pieces! He is also very cute, and I think he looks a lot like his daddy!!!

Also, Clara got her first real hair cut this afternoon. Her hair was so long that it hung down to her waist when it was wet. Now it is shoulder length, and very cute. She sat Very still for the stylist and even let her wash her hair without a fuss. I think it made her feel very grown up to sit in the chair!

My little Flower girl

It has been an exciting week! My cousin Nichole got married and Clara was the flower girl! She looked SO cute-- and she did such a great job! During the rehearsal, she was all smiles. the little ring bearer, Kyler, ran down the aisle, but Clara kept her cool and walked and tossed the petals.

The morning of the wedding, Clara woke up, looked out the window, and said, "My Wedding!!!" Close, sweetheart... She took a nap and I woke her up about an hour before the ceremony. She wore a cute red dress with a brown bow and felt like a princess. She grabbed her basket full of flowers and was ready to go! The ring bearer chickened out and would not walk down the aisle-- he had to be carried by his grandma (the mother of the groom). Clara walked in front of them all by herself just like she knew what she was doing! She threw her petals, and did great until she noticed all of the people at the wedding staring at her. Then she spotted me and started running! She made it about 7/8 of the way by herself though. She made me SO proud!!!

The trip to the wedding was quite an adventure! We took a motor home with my mom, brother, his girlfriend, my grandma, cousin, and uncle. Michael was smart enough to stay home! We managed to get through, and I was semi comfortable with my large belly! Clara really was a trooper for spending so many hours in a small space.

The day after we got back, Clara, Michael and I went down to Laguna Beach for the day. It was SO fun and relaxing and a great way to spend time with daddy for Clara! We really missed each other! We checked out the Sawdust Festival, and then walked down to the beach. Clara was a little leary of the waves at first, but after about 5 min, she was having a ball and made daddy stay out there for over an hour! She was exhausted after this, and took a nice nap on the way home. It was a great day to spend together!

Schools out!

For me, at least. Clara is still in it! She LOVES school! It is close enough that I can walk to drop her off and then walk to pick her up. It is exercise for me, too! Clara always has fun and is listening to the teacher better. I think that woman has endless patience! She even brought home a little Father's day present for Michael-- her first craft! It was so cute. Her current favorite thing to eat is ice cream cones, and it is a perfect thing for a warm summer afternoon! We have been spending quite a bit of time at the pool, and she is getting to be a very brave girl. We are going to try to do swimming lessons later on this summer.

Little Josh is doing fine. He is getting strong. I had an appointment on Friday, and his heartbeat was 138, I gained no weight (yeah!) and he is measuring almost exactly what Clara did at this point. I am more than 25 weeks now-- only 103 days to go!!! It is so great being out of school. We have pulled down the clothes and baby things from the attic space and I am beginning to go through it. Wow-- I never realized how much stuff a baby can have!

Michael has been working a lot. It is a very busy time, and he has been helping up at the corporate building designing special events information packets. He is really enjoying it! It is more work, but it is also a lot more rewarding for him.

Is it summer yet?!?!?

Only 2 more weeks... and then I am free for 10 weeks!!! I am totally looking forward to it! My house needs so much cleaning and organizing before this baby comes! I am going to go through all of Clara's old clothes to see what we can use for a boy. I have a student that is due with a girl about the same time I am due with Josh, so I am going to give all of my girly stuff to her. I know she needs it. She will only be 16 when her baby is born!

Clara is going to start preschool on Monday. She is very excited. I am hoping she does OK. We have gone to visit, and she didn't want to leave, so I am hoping she will take off running and not look back. She is only going to go 2 days a week, but it will be SO nice when the new baby is here! In the mean time, it gives me a chance to clean out a few closets and keep organizing my classroom!

Well, Clara is getting...

A baby brother!!!

I am so excited!!! Everything looked great-- nice looking spine, strong heartbeat, and a wee-wee! Clara was mesmerized by the ultrasound. She loved looking at pictures of "her baby". She held the ultrasound pictures all the way home!
He measured 20 weeks, 4 days, which is one day behind my due date, but coincides with the date that I think we actually conceived.
His name will be Joshua Spencer Silver. WOO HOO! Now I get to go shopping!

Clara is trying hard to potty train. We worked on it this past weekend. I am not putting pressure on her, just giving her the guidelines and letting her get the hang of it. She seems excited, so we shall see what actually happens!

I have to brag a minute about my fabulous husband. He got me the most BEAUTIFUL ring for mother's day! It is white gold and diamonds and make me smile every time I look at it! He also cooked dinner for his parents and my mom. And he did the dishes! I think I'll keep him!

A Fantasic Passover!

Last night, we had passover with the entire Silver/Fastovsky/Steinberg Clan! It was SO fun!

Clara and Sammy played all night, though I did have to read her a book about kittens during the Haggadah for a while! We finally got to meet little Cayla, and she was such a jewel! Not one little peep, even with meeting so many new people. And of coarse, Clara was obsessed with the baby.

I am so excited that Michael's cousin, Michelle, is due with her first baby only 10 days after me! She looks fantastic though, and I have a huge gut! It was so great to see everyone all in the same place!

On a good note, #2 had a great strong heartbeat this week! 156, and it even kicked the doppler quite a bit! I will make the appointment for the big ultra sound this week, and then we will know if Clara is getting a little brother or a little sister!

Sleeping in the big girl room!

Guess who is sleeping in her big girl room?!?!? Clara is now moved in to the princess room, which she fondly calls "MY room". She absolutely LOVES it!!! She goes down to sleep so much easier! Of coarse, the first few nights were tough, but now, all we have to do is read her a story, and she is out. She Sleeps all night, and wakes up happy as a clam in the morning under her pink canopy. This is a HUGE sigh of relief for me! Next up (in a few months!): Potty training...

As for #2, wow-- this baby is active already! I am glad he/she is healthy! I have a doctor's appt this coming Thursday, and I will update you all then. In the meantime, here is a piture of me 16 weeks with #2 (no head!), and 17 weeks with Clara (green shirt)for comparison.

It was spring break for me this past week. It was so great! I did a lot of cleaning and organizing, spent some great quality time with Clara and Michael, and even got to have a play date with a friend and her kids. I cannot wait for summer to get to hang out with my family all of the time!

Michael got some great news this week-- he was made a trainer at Tower of Terror and a scheduler in Hollywood attractions! What this means for us is more money and a more regular schedule. We are so lucky!