Sweet September.

It is here and I cannot believe it.  Summer is officially over as we have entered into September.  Fall is my favorite season and I am so excited for all that it brings.  The weather starts to cool off, the leaves change, the kids go back to school, summer travels end, good television returns (finally), and of course it's my birthday month.  This Fall I will be in the last trimester of my pregnancy and we will be even closer to Ryan's graduation.  Did I mention I love Fall!

Gymnastics.

Landon had his first day of gymnastics class tonight.  There are only 4 in his class-him and 3 other girls.  There are a few other classes going on at the same time, so there is a lot of action in the gym!  He was pretty shy at first but warmed up rather quickly.  We watched from a little viewing area up top and every once in awhile he would look up at us with a huge smile and wave.  It was so fun to see him interacting with others and following directions!  He was having so much fun!

This was the best picture we could get from the viewing area.  It was so neat to see him try things he had never done before without any reluctance!

It is hard to see in the picture, but he is holding his ribbon that says "awesome."  He was pretty tuckered after class and of course asked to eat immediately!  He must have burned off some energy as he ate twice as much as he normally does for supper!

Kadence had a hard time watching because she really wanted to participate.

"I do that Mommy!  I do that!"

So we tried to explain to her when she was a little bigger she could go.  Landon had learned about letters during his activities and told us he was going to help Kadence learn her letters-too cute!

The Hills.

My parents and the four of us took a trip out to the Black Hills for a few days.  I remember my parents always talking about wanting to take us there growing up, but we never did it.  I thought this would be the perfect opportunity for us to go considering we live only 6 hours away.  We planned the trip the end of May and booked the cabin to stay in.  It sure came up fast.  This was the cabin we called home for three nights.  It was at the base of Terry Peak and gorgeous!  It was quite spacious for the 6 of us as it slept 10 adults.  We had planned on my sister and her family joining the trip but they were unable to.  We cooked all of our meals at the cabin and had a lot of good food!  The kids had an abundance of room to run around and play and they loved it.

The lower deck included a brand new hot tub.  The kids thought it was "too hot," which it was for them.  But they had an absolute riot playing on the ledge.  Unfortunately, I was unable to partake in the lovely hot tub and beer festivities.  I should have taken more pictures of the inside of the cabin, it was absolutely gorgeous.

We stopped at Bear Country USA on our way in.  I was a little skeptical about the experience because it seemed to be a little spendy.  Once we got into the gates all skepticism was gone.  It was one of the neatest outdoor exhibits I have ever experienced!

This is my favorite bear photo.  I just think it is crazy how you drove right through the bears and they were just hanging out.  There were so many I wish I would have counted!  We did see buffalo, antelope, sheep, arctic wolves and some other animals, but the bears were the best!

After you drove through the route with the animals, there was "babyland."  There was a bunch of baby animals-so darn cute.  Those little bear cubs were my favorite!

It wouldn't be a trip to the Black Hills without visiting Mt. Rushmore.  It was such a gorgeous day and we got some great photos.  Landon loved the "big rock with the faces," it was adorable.

We walked down a ton of steps to get some different views and the kids did awesome!

Next came Needles highway and Sylvan lake located in Custer State Park.  The scenery is absolutely gorgeous!

What a great place for some picnicing!  Kadence and Grandma and Grandpa played in the water while Ryan, Landon, and I did some hiking and rock climbing.

It was so fun to see the boys having an absolute riot climbing rocks.  Landon has a ridiculous amount of coordination for his age and wanted to go up as high as he could.  I see a shared hobby in their future!  I trekked along for most of the climbing but opted out when I had flashes of my pregnant belly making me fall forward!

It made me a little nervous at times...but they were having so much fun I didn't say much.  Too cute.

So beautiful!

We drove through Spearfish Canyon and stopped at Roughlock Falls.  This was probably my favorite part of the trip.  It amazes me how beautiful nature is.  We hiked along the river and took in the scenery.

The kids had an absolute blast and ran most of the way.  It is so fun to see mine and Ryan's love for nature and the outdoors show through in our children.  They are so happy outside where they can run free.

They really are such good friends already.  They had so much fun playing and exploring together.

A view of Roughlock Falls and the beautiful clear water!

These are only some of the many gorgeous pictures we took.
We also headed into Deadwood for a night and walked around a little bit.  We had perfect weather the entire time and did everything we wanted to do.  The kids were so good-considering the amount of time spent in the car!  There was great conversation and many games of cribbage in the mix as well!  The only thing that would have made the trip a little better would have been a stop at one of the winery's for some wine tasting...next time!  What a great and much needed vacation!

Band-aids.

It is that time of year.  The band-aid season.  Both of our kids have gotten quite a few bumps and scratches this summer but it seems to have heightened the last couple weeks.  Luckily, Dora band-aids are like magic and instantly fix even the bloodiest owies.  It makes me laugh as both of the kids seem to be going through "the band-aid" stage at the same time.  We have gone through an entire box of Dora band-aids in just one week.  I am beginning to think we should buy some stock...

Dragonflies.

Landon was a very busy boy the last few days catching dragonflies with Grandma Sue.  I think he would have done it all day for three days straight if we would have let him.  Grandma caught the first ones, but then Landon was able to catch them on his own.  Kadence joined in as well.  They each have containers full of dragonflies that they have been hauling around the house.

So much fun!

Big Girl.

We switched Kadence from her toddler size bed into a twin bed a few days ago.  Grandma Sue brought her the headboard yesterday and Kadence was very excited for a place to store all of her animals.  She tucked them all in her headboard and when I checked on her before I went to bed they had all joined her in bed.  She sure likes having her "big girl" bed, "like Landon's" as she would say.  If her stuffed animal collection keeps growing, we may have to upgrade her to a full sized bed!

Love her!

24 Weeks.

24 weeeks already!  It is hard to believe how fast the last month of our lives has gone.  This is definitely my most photographed baby of the three.  Although he/she has been photographed the most, we don't really have any great pictures!  Again, baby was in a difficult position, luckily the ultrasound tech was able to get most of the pictures she needed so that I don't have to pain through yet another ultrasound!  Arin was able to come to the ultrasound with me, so her excitement deterred a lot of my anxiety this time.  Although I debated, I decided that I just didn't want to know the sex of the baby after all.  Experiencing the surprise with both Landon and Kadence was just so amazing that I didn't want to give that up.  Besides, I never was much of a planner anyhow.

Everything on the ultrasound looked normal and baby is growing appropriately.  He/she is 1lb 6 oz and in the 62nd percentile for size with a heart rate of 170.  Baby had the hiccups almost the entire ultrasound and it was neat to see what I have been feeling inside!

My baby belly continues to grow by the day, although it feels more like by the minute.  Although I know I am bigger than I was with the first two, I continue to catch grief from a lot of people for not being very big.  It is nice to hear for sure, but I still feel large and in charge!  I have been able to keep exercising on my treadmill but with the summer weather cooling off, I am missing my stress relieving runs.  I try to stay positive and remind myself that I have the rest of my life to run, but it is hard when you can't do something you love so much.  I have also been picking up some more shifts at work which has been very nice.  I love being able to share in my patient's lives at such a happy time.  It has also been enjoyable to spend time with the little newborn babies and it excites me that soon I will have my own again.

My goofy children were feeling left out, and wanted to take pictures of their "baby" belly's, too.  It is quite funny how often they both talk about the baby in my belly.  I never experienced that when I was pregnant with Kadence because Landon was still a baby himself!  They say some pretty funny things but  definitely the most said statement from both of them is, "Mommy, my baby is hungry."  They must think that if they tell me the babies in their bellies are hungry, I will let them eat whatever they want.  Hilarious.