Catch Up Post Before the New Baby

So I've meant to blog every month but here it is October and I haven't blogged since the end of July. I'm (hopefully) days away from our new baby being born so I figured I'd better get one more post in to catch up the last couple months before the blog is dominated by new baby photos. So here's a random array of pictures from the past couple months:

Before the end of the school year last year, we went to the circus. The girls liked it (except for some loud noises which they still talk about), but these pictures were on my phone instead of my camera so they never got downloaded. Tessa wanted to ride a pony but once she was on she wasn't so sure about her decision.

I thought if Tessa had a hard time there's no way Aubrey would do well on the pony, but she begged to take a ride and she actually did well, riding by herself and everything and seeming to enjoy it.

I decided to have a pregnancy picture around 7 1/2 months. It's blurry since Tessa took it, but you get the gist. Aubrey had to be in the picture and show off her belly too.

Tessa started gymnastics class at the YMCA in September. She loves it! We had a hard time the first 10 minutes or so of her first class where she was too scared to participate; but once they were allowed to run and jump around, she decided it was going to be fun. She's been loving it ever since.

They do circuits on the mats, the balance beam, the bar, and Tessa's favorite the trampoline. She picks up new things quickly and is really having fun.

Over Labor Day weekend, we took a mini family vacation down to the Houston area to visit our friends the Bakers. Last time we lived near each other, they had two young kids and Tyler was still in Optometry school. Our families have definitely grown! It was so fun to catch up with them and the kids had a blast together.

We went to a fair they had in our town and surprised the girls without telling them we were going until we pulled into the parking lot. They were so excited. We only rode a couple rides, but the carousel was one of the favorites. I couldn't ride anything in my pregnant condition so Tyler got to be the designated adult since Tessa and Aubrey were too little to ride by themselves.

After Tessa got over her fear of the rides, they finally rode a motorcycle ride together and decided it was the best one.

This is Abby's first day of 1st grade. I only got a few pictures of her as she walked out the door and then they sat on the camera for weeks. She still loves school and doesn't even mind the fact that they have to wear uniforms.

Tessa and Aubrey are home with me all day. Luckily Aubrey is old enough now that the girls play together well. Dress up is still among the favorite things to do.

Grandma's house has the perfect ledge in front of the fireplace that the girls love to use as their stage. This particular day we had wardrobe changes so we had to get multiple pictures.

Finally, last weekend the Air Force Base in our town had a free air show so we took the girls for an afternoon. As we parked and walked to where everything was, we got to watch some of the airplanes doing tricks in the sky. The girls thought the trailing smoke shapes were pretty cool.

They had some pretty cool planes on the base where we got some good photos. The girls loved it all until the very end (see below).

They had lots of jump houses and other free activities for the kids among all the booths and vendors. We had to stop for a picture by the Geico gecko because he was so cool.

In doing so, they talked us into signing up to play their game for the girls to get a free item, and look who stopped by to be in a picture with the girls:

The real Geico gecko!

This was our last picture of the day, however, because about 5 seconds after this picture was taken, the first jet took off for the air show right next to where we were. It was just downhill from there because it was too loud for the girls. Tessa cried and had to be carried the rest of the time with her ears covered and her face firmly squished into Tyler's shoulder. Abby and Aubrey were luckily content with just covering their ears as the jet screamed past over and over. It was really cool to me and Tyler, but there was no more stopping or taking pictures after that. We just walked back to the car and finally got the girls to look one last time for the jet when we were far enough away that it wasn't so loud anymore. But overall it was a good activity and the girls talk about it fondly, so it was definitely worth the trip.

We've had a fun summer and beginning of the new school year. Now we're just anxiously awaiting this new baby girl to join our family. We'll keep you posted...