where'd it go?

 it seems impossible that it's the end of august and the end of summer vacation already. we packed a bunch in this year, and it flew by! since i last blogged:
*zane took a reading course that was offered (free of charge) by my school district. this pushed our kansas city trip back about a week, but it was good that he got his foot in the door a bit with the special education director.
*we went to kansas city for 2 weeks! well, truthfully, we were in kansas city for most of it, but did take a long weekend trip up to iowa for some fun (trip will be it's own post)
*came home from kansas city and received our new living room couch(es)! we're in love.

 *we celebrated the end of the res beach season :( it was quiet the last few days we went, which made for a nice change of pace, but it really showed how late into the season it had gotten. looking forward to next year already.

 *zane got a NEW JOB! during our trip to the midwest, he was in touch with various administrators in my school district about a couple of opportunities. he even interviewed by phone at the omaha zoo, in a hallway. as we landed in boston, i checked my email on my phone and learned that one of the job opportunities was moving forward and they wanted zane for the position! it was a welcome treat to come home to! he will be teaching a small, 4th grade class, in the same school where i work. we are so thankful that this came along this year and he no longer has his long commute!

 *nola got her kindergarten classroom assignment, and we were thrilled to learn that she has the same teacher that avery had last year! i'm sure there are no "bad" kindergarten teachers at their school, but we were so happy with avery's experience and her teacher. nola did have a momentary sadness over being a "red bird" and not a "purple cat", like she was hoping to be, but i think we're over that.

*avery got her class list with her class teacher and i think was a bit disappointed at first that none of her good friends from last year were in her class. however, we all went to an open house that her teacher hosted and avery saw a couple kids that she knew and liked from the playground. she also got to meet a couple of the class pets and hear about the funny turtle named max who is still on vacation, but who seems to have quite the personality.

 *we celebrated my dad's birthday, complete with a homemade cake (linda's work, not mine) and ice cream. it was a nice night to hang out with family a bit and let the girls go wild on sugar.

 

*we also celebrated my parents 50th anniversary!! it was an awesome time seeing some extended family and friends that we haven't seen in forever and celebrating quite the milestone :)

*i've had a couple dr's appointments and everything is on track with cupcake. i think i grew exponentially while we were away, and i'm sure the excess of mexican food didn't help :) i just got word today that i passed my gestational diabetes test and that i need to start upping my iron, because like last time, i'm anemic again (and i've been feeling it). the girls are getting an absolute kick out of watching my belly roll around and feeling the heels and elbows poking out whenever i sit down for more than a couple minutes. yesterday during my appointment, the dr got a kick out of the lumps in my belly when she was doing the doppler (heartbeat in the 140's again).

(25+ weeks)

one new symptom: restless legs. as soon as i sit on the couch at night after the girls are in bed, my legs go wild and it's annoying as hell. luckily, once i go to bed and lay down, it seems to calm down and doesn't keep me up. i've heard it can be a side effect/symptom of anemia, so maybe if i get that under control, it will go away?
according to my due date and their tendency to do c-sections about a week before the due date, we're looking at the baby coming sometime the week of thanksgiving. i'll have a more definitive answer probably at my next appointment. and funny thing, my ob (once again! though this is a different dr/different practice) is pregnant and due a few weeks before me! what are the chances?

*we've had the last of our sunday night movie nights. i was slow to convince in the beginning that these would be a good idea, but i have to say they were a blast and i hope we can keep up with them next summer. it was fun to get to know some of the parents and kids that the girls hang out with.