Kinard Family Chronicles: Eight Years? That Can't Be Right!

It seems like it was just yesterday that I was driving to Charlottesville for the first time with my Sorority sister to meet my blind date for a Sigma Nu Fraternity party. Twelve years later, here we are...married for 8 blissful years with 2 crazy daughters and another pigtailed cutie baking away in my belly. Eight years!? How could that be? Time if flying by too quickly, which also means that we are getting old!

The Kinard Crew has been trucking right along this week, getting into our new summer routine in our new house.

We've made lots of trips to the pool and even enjoyed a fun cookout with neighborhood friends in their backyard. I've discovered that the best time for the pool is from 5-7pm! The girls get sufficiently worn out before bedtime, I can feed them both dinner for under $3 and I don't have to argue with them over sunblock!! It's pretty amazing.

The girls had summer camp at their preschool this week and loved seeing all of their old friends in their new preschool classrooms for next year. Their favorite day was water day where they got to wear their swimsuits to school and play outside in the water all day.

Hailey has been busy inviting everyone she meets at preschool, Kroger, Church, gymnastics and McDonalds to her new house and her new pool. She is definitely a little person, with her own opinions and an incredible imagination! She's taken me, Lainey and her babydoll on some pretty awesome adventures this week. Her favorite adventure seems to be to go on bug hunts in the backyard and at the pool. She impressively managed to carry around a drowned moth in her hand for the full 2 hours that we were at the pool this weekend! She has also informed us that she has a baby girl in her belly and that her baby makes her back hurt and makes her tired, so she has to rest. Hmmm...sounds familiar. Within minutes of meeting Bug, she will not only invite you to her house, but she will also whisper to you, "I have exciiiiiting news!! Mommy and me have babies in our bellies!!" Then she will lift up her shirt and make you feel her baby "kick" and then attempt to lift up my shirt (or dress!) and show said stranger my ever expanding belly and/or maternity granny panties!!

Lainey's been all about being "A Big Gurl!" these days. She has to do EVERYTHING by herself. Even if she can't actually do the task she's attempting. This means that it takes us twice as long to do anything, and that I'm spending more time correcting her "Big gurl" tasks. She has to get dressed herself (and her shoes belong on the wrong feet...always and her socks go in the refrigerator), she insists on using the same cups and utensils as her big sister (and in turn needs to change her clothes multiple times a day), and she has to climb into the car and her carseat all by herself (which takes a good 10 minutes). She even gets her own diaper and wipes and lays down on the ground and tries to change her own diaper! Yes. It's gotten ridiculous. The positive side to this endearing new trait is that she's also turned into quite the neat freak! (Wonder where she picked up that characteristic??!!) She puts her dishes away, throws away her garbage and diapers, pulls out the vacuum if she sees crumbs on the ground and is constantly straightening up the house and wiping down the furniture with baby wipes!

Baby girl #3 has been all about kicking and eating these days!! My favorite part of the day is when I get to lay down with Bug before bedtime and she puts her head and hand on my belly to feel her baby sister kick. Bug loves to feel her kick and I love seeing her reaction. I have to fight back the tears when Hailey starts talking, singing and praying to her baby sister. (She gets along much better with her little sisters when they are stuck inside Mommy's belly and unable to steal her toys!) Baby girl has also developed quite the appetite in the past few weeks! This Mama can't seem to get enough food! If I'm not sleeping, I'm eating, and if I'm not eating, I'm thinking about eating! If I didn't have two crazy girls to chase after ALL DAY LONG, then I'm sure I would be surpassing my record breaking 75 pound weight gain that I had when I was pregnant with Hailey. Yes people. It's not a typo. 75 pounds!!!

Poor Doug has been so busy at work, that he's hardly had time to sleep more than 2 hours a night for the past 2 weeks, let alone relax by the pool and soak up the summer sun with his girls :( He is in desperate need of some down time and we're all hoping that he gets it soon!