Beginning of October

Earlier this month we went to Sandbridge Beach (just south of Virginia Beach) with Steve's family. We had such a good time relaxing and spending time together. It was a much needed break from the stresses of moving. Mya really enjoyed playing in the sand and the swimming pool at our place. It was a great time for her to bond with Tia, her grandparents, and great grandparents. She has always been such a mommy's girl that it can be frustrating, especially for others who want to spend time with her. That is slowly, but surely improving, though! She really warmed up to everyone on this trip...especially her Aunt Tia!
Steve and I have been working on getting the nursery ready. We've almost finished it, just a couple more finishing touches like wall hangings, waiting for a curtain rod, and a bookshelf. It looks really cute...we painted 3 of the walls green and an accent wall blue. I was really nervous to do this, but my friend Sommer (who is a wonderful decorator...wish she lived closer) has done it several times with great results. It turned out great! Grandma Bower helped us purchase a 12 piece bedding set...animal themed in green, blue, and brown...so cute! It's come together really nicely. We're really excited to have a "real" nursery this time. The kids' rooms are so cute, I just love them! We put some finishing touches on Mya's room, too...some beaded curtains. The new house is really starting to feel like home. It's just amazing how many projects we'd like to do in our "move-in ready house"!!! I think it's never ending!
Mya has started dance classes with her friend Emma on Tuesday nights. She really seems to love it. The girls have gotten really close and it's so fun to watch them play together. Mya really looks up to Emma (who is about 6 months older) and will follow her ANYWHERE!!!!! They do some basic dancing (the hokey pokey, mainly), tumbling (somersaults), and baton! I still can't believe they give 2 year olds real batons! But the girls love it and the dance studio is so much closer to our house than driving to Huntington for gymnastics. She seems to like it more, too. She's warming up to her teachers...she was always panicky with her gymnastics teachers because they had to pick her up for certain things. She will actually let them help her more than she'll let me (she's afraid I'll take her baton away). Which is so great. I love to watch her participating as part of a group, listening, and TRYING to follow directions.
I still can't believe how big the Mya and her friends are getting. I got Mya some new shoes the other day...she measured a size 7! I've been putting her in 5's. She looks so big with her real tennis shoes. And she's getting so tall and thin...really looking like a little girl. She's got all of her numbers down...she knows them when she sees them (to 10), and I think she recognizes the entire alphabet now. She still LOVES to read and will let you read to her as long as you will. She's always singing these days, too. Christmas tunes are her favorite right now. It's so cute to hear her singing in the mornings while I'm in the shower.
I need to go through her clothes soon and get rid of the ones she's grown out of. We've kept everything in case the next baby was a girl. I've been putting off going through her things because I know I'll have memories of her in those old outfits! It just seems silly to leave them packed in the basement when someone else can use them. I doubt we'll want to put pink and purple on our little boy when he gets here, and we're pretty sure this will be our last baby!
Mandi is coming over in a couple days to get some pictures of Mya in her Halloween costume...so hopefully Hannah will be able to wear some of her winter clothes from last year.
We also got some wonderful news from our good friend Mandi...she also, is pregnant. She just found out and is so excited. Our friend Mary (Michael's mom) is pregnant, too. Holly (Maddie's mom) just had her second (a boy like our next). Our babies will be close in age just like our toddlers are. I'm really excited. It's so nice to have such great Mommy and baby friends. I really hope that our kids maintain friendships as they grow up. The kids all feel like part of our family. It's been so fun watching them grow and change together.