Hands On Homeschooling

Earlier this year I had been going back and forth on whether I should send Parker to a mother's day out program or just try and do some structured learning activities at home. I had almost made up my mind to put him in Mom's Day Out once a week when a few of the ladies from my playgroup were telling me about a homeschooling program specifically designed for toddlers and preschoolers called Hands on Homeschooling (www.handsonhomeschooling.com). After much research and reading tons of reviews I decided to give it a try so I ordered the 2 year old curriculum and received it today! I've been going through it this evening and I really like the way it's set up and the different activities it uses to teach each concept. It's not so specific that you can't expound on each lesson but its also not too vague. I also really like that each day incorporates a bible lesson and activities and crafts to go along with them. They use a school year of Sept. - May so to keep up with the different activities that go along with each holiday we will start in Sept. too, although you are not limited to start and finish during that time frame. I can't wait! I think Parker is really, really going to enjoy doing the different projects and activities everyday!

As for a little social time away from me, I'm going to also start a weekly bible study in Sept. so Parker will go to the nursery during that time. I've heard the nursery does activities with the children during the bible study so Parker should really enjoy it! All in all I think I've made the right decision but I am going to continue to pray about it and trust in the Lord that I'm making the right decision for both of us!

Bobby's B-day!!!

Bobby turned 26 yesterday and although I didn't feel so well Parker and I tried to make it as special as possible! So we made him a Happy Birthday banner. Parker did a great job coloring it and making it extra special for Dada! Here's some pictures of the artist hard at work!

And here is the finished product!

Bobby had a pretty rough day at work but he had been telling me all week that all he wanted to do on his birthday was watch the All-star Baseball game and order pizza and that is exactly what he did. He watched all 15 innings (an All-Star record) while eating his calzone. All in all I think he had a pretty good Birthday!

First Ultrasound

We had our first ultrasound yesterday and everything looked perfect. We saw a healthy but extremely wiggly baby! At first Dr. Stella (my OB) tried to find the heart beat using only the doppler and was unsuccessful which made my heart jump into my throat but as soon as she put the ultrasound wand on my belly she found the baby right away! She said right now the baby is about the size of a lima bean. She has also gotten a new ultrasound machine since I've had Parker and it was really nice. We were able to see the babies heartbeat, legs, arms, head and even its spine. We weren't able to get any pictures b/c although Dr. Stella is a great OB she is not so technically inclined. I will definitely have pictures next time and maybe even a video I can post.

I go back in 4 weeks for a checkup and then in 8 weeks I will have another ultrasound to find out the sex!