We were busy. Enjoying the weather, going to concerts, directing concerts, preparing for big work things, setting up big girl beds.
Some May highlights.
Tulip Time. Slane and I met Ema, Ella, and Aunt Brenda for an afternoon among tulips and the parade. Slane insisted I cover her ears for the entire first half of the parade, and Ella drank coffee. The girls had fun and slept well.
Inauguration. Slane and I watched the ceremony with Ahsan, and Q got to represent Hope as a delegate (gown and all).
Goo Goo Ga Ga. We have finally switched Slane from an obsession with the Disney movie Cars to Lion King. Yes, she loves the mommy and we watch that scene 10 or 12 times before we convince her to let us keep watching the rest of the movie. We often spend Saturday mornings all cuddling in bed, and one of those mornings Slane kept saying, "goo goo ga ga." We could not figure out where that was coming from. She kind of knows there is a baby coming, and maybe she was slipping into baby mode or something. Until one day we were watching Lion King, and when Hakuna Matata came up, she said it again, "goo goo ga ga." She was trying to say hakuna matata!
Grinnell Heritage Farm. We bought a share this year in the farm, and the daughter of the owners is Slane's age. They had an asparagus picking event so we went to their farm for a few hours. It rained the whole time, but we did eat a lot of asparagus, and explore the greenhouse, and Slane got to plant a pea plant. She loved it and still asks to go back to the greenhouse.
Commencement. Ahsan, our host student from Pakistan, graduated from Grinnell. His parents came from Pakistan and his brother flew in from Texas (he is at Trinity). We had fun hosting them, getting to know them, eating their food and dressing Slane in the kameez and salwar they brought for her. I'll get pics of that up soon (the pics are all on the computer at home and I tend to post from school). We were proud to see our kid graduate and enjoyed being able to help him out for a few years. Slane will miss her big brother. We do have an open invitation to Islamabad.
They Might Be Giants. Memorial Day weekend was crazy busy, but so much fun. Saturday was rainy so we took apart the day bed in Slane's room and set up her big girl bed. Except for paint and another dresser, that room is new baby ready, and Slane is intermittently sleeping in her big girl bed. Sunday we made a good breakfast and then took Ahsan to the airport. We had tickets to Every Family Rocks, so after the airport and an excellent brunch at the Drake Diner, we headed to the state fairgrounds for the shows. We didn't realize there would be so much else to do, so we made a frame with our picture in it, and Slane did an obstacle course, and we listened to some of the other acts. We did the instrument petting zoo, and ran into some friends from Grinnell. Slane loved the show! She knew some of the songs and the look of pure joy on her face while she and Q were dancing was priceless! She was so into it that she fell asleep a few songs before the end...she is still asking to listen to the Alphabet CD in the car. Then on Monday we went to the family picnic for Grandma's birthday and got to play with several cousins around the same age (give or take a year).
Grandma Camp. Yesterday we swung by Ema's to pick Slane up. It was reunion on campus and Q and I were both working in different capacities (that is his job, I was just doing child care, and as it turned out, rock wall supervising and security at the Harris party), so Slane went to Grandma Camp. She had so much fun! She got to feed chickens and pigs, and ride a horse (I'll have to get that pic from my mom), and "drive" my dad's truck. She was just all smiles when we picked her up. She is at an age where most of the time she is just a lot of fun to hang out with (though she is also testing the waters with a few tatrums here and there).
Other stuff. We had a Level 2 ultrasound a couple of weeks ago. Dr. T asked if there was a history of heart defects in the family, and I have a cousin who was born with a hole in her heart among other issues, so we got the big guns for an ultrasound. It wasn't much different than any other ultrasound, except that they took video of the baby's heartbeat and checked a few other organs as well. We did not find out the gender and that is making my students crazy. They don't understand why one wouldn't find out in advance. Pregnancy is going well otherwise, though I have had a lot of foot and ankle swelling and am extra sweaty.
