Big Changes...

Goodness - It's seems like a lot has happened since the last post!

Our close friends, Jim and Deb, and their son, Levi and dog, Otis stopped by for an evening visit - Fun times!
Ben took his first swimming lessons - Parent and Tot Swim - 2 weeks - M-F every night at 6:30. He was probably the most stubborn in his class, but did make a ton of progress - from clinging to mommy's hip on the first day to doing some good kicking and even jumping off the side of the pool and going down the slide! Here he is with daddy...

Today, we had a nice time at a sweet park in a nearby town - lots of equipment and even a splash pad... I took a ton of pictures, and I couldn't decide which ones to post, so here are a bunch.

Oh, and we made a very tough decision to switch Ben's daycare to a pre-school-type center. It was very tough to say goodbye to his daycare provider for the past 2 years... But, so far, he has been liking this new daycare. We chose to make this transition *before* the baby came, to make it a bit easier on Ben... Hopefully, it works out for the best!

I'm at 36 weeks at this point - Overall, things have been going fine. I've had a few days of pelvis pain that were pretty rough, and I tend to have a post-lunch crash that knocks me on the couch for a hour... But, we are getting close to being "ready" for this baby to make it's entrance. The nursery is ready and the baby's car seat is installed in my car.

(Cute story - Ben woke up from a nap and I told him that daddy was putting the baby's new car seat in my car, so let's go see it. He was pretty excited to "see it", and I didn't quite get why... We get to the car - he says - "Where's baby brother?" I guess that he thought the baby came with the car seat... I said, "Oh - the baby is still in mommy's tummy: See?" (pointing to my *huge* belly). He replies: "Open it" and lifts up my shirt, wanting the baby to just *come on out*... If only it were that easy, Ben...)