"Mommies to be" in Washington D.C., Part 1

Over Memorial Day weekend, on the top of Pinnacle Mountain, Mom and I decided it would be a good idea to go visit my best friend, Lara. Lara and I met the first day of high school in White Hall, Arkansas. We both got lost and have been best friends ever since. Fifteen years later, at the end of November, Lara called me and told me she was pregnant with her first baby!! A couple of weeks later, Brian and I found out we were pregnant with our second. Once Lara and I were far enough along in our pregnancies to realize our due dates, we noticed our babies were almost exactly a month apart. Their son was due on July 22, and our daughter was due August 21.

Anyhow, back to the trip. Mom and I thought it would not only be a good idea to go visit Lara while we were both pregnant, but also a good idea to make it a surprise. I contacted Lara's mom, Donna, and told her our plan. She thought it was a GREAT idea and said they would all be home the week of July 4th. Since we had the "go ahead," we bought our plane tickets and planned our trip.

 

Our departing flight was scheduled to leave the Little Rock at 6:00 a.m. That meant Mom and I were up that morning at 4:00 and Kayla was up WAY before her bedtime.

 

About six hours after our flight departed Little Rock, Arkansas, we arrived in Washington D.C. Lara was under the false pretense she was coming over to have lunch with Donna. Little did she know we were waiting for her in Donna's dining room. When I came around the corner and she saw me, she immediately started crying. She said it was the first time in her life she was legitimately surprised.  

 

Food has always been a priority for Lara and I. One of our traditions is making puppy chow together. So, naturally one of the first things we did was make a trip to the grocery store so we could get all of the ingredients for our favorite dessert.

 

The Motseks and Cahans are dog people. Actually, the dogs are more like members of their families. Their names are Holly, Bentley, and Sadie. Kayla had so much fun with them!

 

The second day of our trip, we made a trip to D.C. to do some sight-seeing. Our first stop was the Pentagon where Gary (Lara's dad) works. We parked at a mall called Pentagon City and then walked over. This was the last photo we could take before entering the Pentagon. Once we got inside, Gary gave us a back stage tour that only the highest level of security clearance is allowed to see.

 

Kayla has always been a fan of trains. She thought the metro ride from the Pentagon to downtown D.C. was awesome.

 

Once we got off the train, we headed for the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. This is the oldest building associated with the Smithsonian.

 

The Capitol

 

Planes inside the Air and Space Museum

 

Lara and I stood on a massive scale and had our weight projected on different celestial bodies. The great news was our moon weight was only 67 pounds. The bad news was our earth weight was 395!!!

 

 They had so many cool things to see at the museum, but one of my favorites was the "Spirit of St. Louis". 

 In the children's section of the museum, the kids actually got the chance to sit in the cockpit of a Cessna and play with the control panel. Kayla was a natural!

 

They also had a model of the lunar module.

 

 

Once we got back to the house after our big day out, we kicked up our swollen ankles up and felt each other's babies turn cartwheels.

 

It was a great second day at the Motsek home.

 

Playing Catch Up

I haven't blogged in about three months, and just wanted to put a couple of old pictures in here to get caught up.



Kayla wore her Cinderella pajamas for PJ day. She was a "Friendly Frog" in Ms. Lisa's class.

Ready to feed the ducks!

 We have to stand on the tables so the ducks don't bite our legs.

 

In May, Kayla was invited to a fourth birthday party for Chloe -a girl in her class from daycare. The party was at a place in Fayetteville called the Glitterbox and she had a blast!!! The girls got mani/pedis and were pampered like crazy. It was a great party!

 



I thought the statement on the wall was very appropriate!! If you can't read it, it says, "It's not easy being a PRINCESS, but somebody's gotta do it!"

I got to hang out with my sister, Rhyan, and her beau, Sam, on Mother's Day weekend in Little Rock. It was a great time for family!! And we got to climb Pinnacle Mountain which is about a mile hike up a really large hill. Since I was six months pregnant at the time, I got quite a few looks on the way up!

 

The Rogers Aquatic Center openned up this summer. I took Kayla the second or third weekend it was open. She had a blast, but pretty much spent the whole time jumping to me from the side of the pool.

One of our favorite mommy/daughter things to do is go to Auntie Anne's pretzel store at Pinnacle Hills Promenade and get a coke icee and pretzel. Then we walk down to the water fountain so Kayla can put her feet in the water and throw five or six coins in the fountain.

 

 

Kayla went to vacation bible school this summer for the first time. The theme was "Stand Strong for God". She LOVED it! One of her favorite parts of attending VBS was getting to ride the shuttle that ran from our church to Highlands United Methodist where the camp was held.

 

This is a photo of her and a friend she made there.

Since Kayla has been about one and a half years old, she has loved throwing rocks in water. We modified our rock-throwing a little bit this summer, and converted it into Barbie throwing...and swimming. Her dolls' first outing was to Lake Windsor.

 

 

For the past three years, Dad has lived in Clarendon working on getting his retirement, while Mom has been in Little Rock. Occasionally, they meet in Fort Smith on the weekends instead of making the full drive to one another's houses. Sometimes, I drive Kayla down to Fort Smith so she can spend the weekend with them. Mom took this picture of her while swimming in the Aspen hotel swimming pool.

Kayla got about 5 inches cut off of her hair the week before her fourth birthday party. It made her look so grown up!!