Countdown..............

Hello, all! It has been awhile since the last posting. LOTS of things have happened: Weiss is growing, growing, GROWING and becoming more opinionated and mischievous, Logan is staying busy with work, and I finished my classes for the semester----YEAH! We've been squeezing in some last minute things before Mr. Klein Bennett Stanley makes his grand debut, which we are all looking forward to. I've noticed I haven't been as prepared for the "second child" because I've been busy with Weiss--chasing him around all day and doing his activities. Klein's room should be finished this week (I'm 38 weeks now--39 tomorrow), so that will be great. Weiss slept in a bassinet in our room for the first six months, anyway, so if Klein got here, it wouldn't really matter, because we plan to do the same thing with him. The boys' rooms have been a major undertaking---Mom and Dad have helped tremendously with painting both rooms (I'll have to post pictures at a later time), and Cinda is doing the "detail" work in Klein's room for his striped wall, which is looking awesome. We had some setbacks, however; she had to get stitches in her hand and then got the stomach bug, so we had plans to work last week, but it was a no-go. (It's soooo nice having an interior designer as a mother-in-law!)
My dear sweet friend Hannah threw me a baby shower, despite the fact she is due just a few weeks after myself. (Thanks so much, Hannah!) Alana, my dad's sister, made a surprise visit, which was great! I was excited to see her. That same weekend we had a fun wedding to attend, and I was sooooo thankful the reception was indoors! (Thanks Lauren and Blair!) That was two weekends ago, so that packed weekend was our last "hurrah" before we started slowing down to prepare for the entrance of the new kid on the block!
Weiss has been busy with swimming lessons this month; he is doing progressively better as he gets more lessons under his belt! He loves the water and will jump off of the dock at the lake, but he is just more tentative when he begins lessons with someone new. It didn't take him a long time to warm up, however! Martha is the swim coach at Faith Academy, so I really like her and feel she is doing a great job as his teacher. Speaking of water---Weiss got out on the tube behind the boat for the first time on July 17! Logan and Weiss were hanging out on the tube, and we sort of had to "sneak" the ski rope to Logan so Weiss wouldn't freak out. He loved it, though, and did really well. If we would have asked him if he wanted to go, he would have refused--that's why we had to go to Plan B. He may be doing private lessons with Martha in the month of August; she is really great with him and the other kiddos.
Recently, Weiss saw "Toy Story 3" in the theater; it was his first "theater movie." He is now obsessed with "Toy Story 1," "Toy Story 2," and all of the cute characters. He got a toy Rex that you squeeze and he roars. He now takes Rex everywhere. (This is pretty unusual because Weiss has never attached to a toy like that before.) He takes Rex to certain parts of the house with him and wants him to go places with us. It's pretty cute. Weiss is still into Thomas the Train, so he is always building elaborate track set-ups all over the house. He builds these great tracks---some with double- and triple-decker bridges, but then won't run his engines on them! (I guess it's all about the creation process for him!) I've even caught Logan sneaking a few pictures...I think he is envious!
Klein is getting bigger, and the midwife says to be prepared for any day now! My midwife group doesn't induce, so I am being very patient at the moment. I am content because I know all of the work that is ahead since I am a "veteran" now...haha! I am excited for his appearance, but I am okay with waiting, because I don't want to go through what we did with Weiss (3 weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit....not cool).
Logan has really helped me out lately by hiring someone to clean our house. She cleans Dickey and Cinda's home, the dental office, and also several of Cinda's friends' homes. Nettali has been a such a great help; I think Logan likes it now that our house is staying clean! I could do an "okay" clean, but I DESPISE mopping. I LOVE to vacuum and do almost everyday, but mopping and putting on sheets are not my forte. I could work in the yard all day, every day (if I didn't have a 3 year old to watch!), but working indoors is not my favorite. I think Logan has figured this out. Now that Nettali is cleaning, I have devoted my additional energy to ORGANIZING, cleaning and sorting! It is coming along at a slow pace, but Logan and I are both making progress in the house AND garage! It is a wonderful, freeing feeling!!! Anyway, enough about the nesting!
I will hopefully keep everyone informed about Mr. Klein's arrival. I will probably be more likely to post on Facebook, but we'll see how that goes! I know I will be SUPER busy with my two--wait--THREE boys (including Logan!)