The Grazer

I think I can actually hear the parents of my childhood laughing with sweet revenge as I coax Adam away from the table after his 45 minute lunch.  Just like his mom, this boy loves to take his sweet time when it comes to meals.  So yes, my parents wish that I would have a child just like me when I grow up came true, and yes, it is incredibly annoying!  At least he's eating though.  Some of my other children prefer to pop up and down from the table 14 times before they are done, and then ask for a snack 20 minutes after I've cleaned up the meal!  I'm not sure which is worse!

Another favorite pasttime- playing in the car!  This boy will crawl around the car, happily pushing buttons and shoving as many CDs into the player as he can fit for as long as I will let him.  Makes for easy unloading of the groceries, although yesterday I discovered yellow crayon scribbles on the ceiling of the car.  In the words of Jason, "We just can't have nice things!"

Check out those flats!

Adam loves saying the prayer.  With a little prompting, he can get through each word on his own.  This morning he decided to take a variation on the norm-

M- Dear...

A- Dear...

M- Heavenly...

A- Heavenly...

M- Father...

A- Fruit snack... (giggle, giggle)

As for the belly debate in the last post, I think I'll be sucking in both sides from now on.  Today Leah informed me, "Mom!  Your bum is big and round just like your belly is big and round!".

Thanks, sweetie.

Out The Window

I've started making a mental list of all the pieces of my daily routine that I expect to disappear once the baby sister comes.

History- When Leah was born, I was working full time.  I worked the day I went into labor.  I worked for a few months after she was born.  The transition to full-time mom was huge, and it was hard.

By the time Adam was born, I was a fully committed stay-at-home-mom who was moving across the country just 6 short weeks after giving birth.  We lived in a very crowded, half-packed apartment for 4 weeks, then finally moved into my parents home for the last 2 weeks before heading out to live in Indiana.  All.  Alone.  It was another huge adjustment, and it was hard.

This time around, I don't foresee much change.  We aren't transitioning careers, we aren't making a huge move.  We're just continuing on with life as ususal, becoming the 4 Musketeers instead of the 3.  I do realize that not considering this to be a huge change is a huge mistake.  This baby girl is going to turn our lives upside down (happily) and it is going to take a good long time to figure out what our "new normal" is.  In addition to constantly asking my closest new-again moms what the biggest and hardest changes are this time around, I've started the list of all the things I'd better just let go of come August.

The first thing to go will be sleep.  We'll just give that up right away.  For the past year or so, Leah has only napped when I lay down with her.  Perfect for today, when we are all ready for a nap at the same time, not so perfect when I can't set aside the baby sister to take a nap with her nearly 5-year old sister.  And let's not even mention nighttime feedings right now. 

Second up, my beloved "house that cleans itself" housekeeping regime.  It goes something like this- heavy housework on Mondays (laundry, menu planning, sweeping/mopping/dusting/vacuuming up all the grime the weekend brought home), Tuesdays- grocery shopping, Wednesdays and Thursdays, general maintenance, Fridays- clean out the fish bowl and get ready for the weekend by vacuuming, sweeping and mopping again, Saturdays- clean the bathrooms, Sundays- turn a blind eye to the weekend mess for one more day.  This is all on top of the regular bed making, kitchen cleaning, tidying up that we deal with every day.  I love the way this schedule works, because you just do it.  I hate cleaning out the fish bowl, but every Friday, I know it's time to just get it done.

Third major change- daily activities and general getting-around-town with the kids.  When Adam was born, I was completely terrified at the thought of being alone with my two kids.  What if they both needed something from me at the same time?!  It took a good long while, but we are deep into our groove by now.  I can handle just about anything the kids throw my way, but add a third into the mix, and I'm a bit anxious about what I can really handle on my own.

I've started doing as much as I can with the kids while I can.  Monday we went to a park and the local zoo.  Today we decided to go on another adventure- this time to an enchanted forest.  Leah was thrilled to be on the look-out for unicorns, and Adam braved the dozens of stairs and steep switch-backs.  He only insisted that I carry him for the last 20 minutes of our 2 hour hike. 

It was precisely the kind of adventure we won't be having anytime soon after the baby sister comes, but that's okay with me.  It was a delightful way to spend the morning as the 3 Musketeers.

I thought I'd document the belly that I lugged around on our hike, but couldn't decide which picture is more accurate- sticking out or sucking in?  Probably somewhere in between the two.

A Different Seven

Tomorrow is our 7 year anniversary.  What more can I say?  

Three homes, three degrees, three fish, almost three children.  

Seven years down, eternity to go.  

 And we couldn't be happier.

Upcycling

I have been saving toilet paper and paper towel rolls for a few months now, in hopes of making a marble run like the one from this website.  With two sick kids at home and date night canceled (darn you, pinkeye!) I decided today was finally the day to build the masterpiece.

Nevermind that it looks like I taped trash all over the wall of our toy room because- hey!- that is exactly what I did!  But the kids loved it.  Adam especially was fascinated by the process of sticking a marble in one end and having it pop out at the end.  Yay for cheap fun!

And nevermind the horribly listless look on his face and squinty eyes in this picture-

because the kids both have pinkeye and are miserable.  Adam especially is horribly congested and looks and sounds awful.  I have (again) renewed my commitment to obsessive hand-washing and toy disinfecting.  Jason and I were supposed to go out for our 7 year anniversary dinner tonight, but that will just have to wait.  We all snuggled up and had a great family movie night instead.  Now we'll just hope that Leah's prayers to "help mine and Adam's worser eyes to get better" are answered soon.

Seven

We have finally reached month 7.  Leah has been asking if it's month seven yet since the first day of month six.  We have been reading "What's in your tummy, Mommy?", a book that counts down to baby's birthday by months, and while Leah realizes that we have to get all the way through month nine, she has no real idea how long that is going to take. 

I feel like someone has flipped the third trimester switch.  Last week I was energetic, happy and vaguely aware of the fact that I am pregnant.  This week I am suddenly finding myself uncomfortable, irritable, and exhausted.  I have fully committed to my maternity clothes, and I'm back to wearing tennis shoes most of the time to deal with my aching legs.  Hard to believe there are still three months to go, although I am still nowhere near ready to deal with the one way out of this situation... not ready for labor just yet.

I've never had a 3D ultrasound picture, but this one I got at the doctor's office today made my resolve to get through the next three months all the stronger.  What a darling little face!  Leah said, "She's so cute!" and once I explained to Adam what he was looking at, he said, "Baby!  Goo-goo, ga-ga!" (something he says to my belly several times a day).  This baby girl is already so loved!

Tuesday

I made eggs and muffins for breakfast.  After spying the cheese, Adam could think of nothing else.

M- Adam, do you want milk or water to drink?

A- Cheese!

M- Milk or water?

A- Cheese!

M- I know you want cheese.  You can have cheese on your eggs.  Do you want to drink milk or water?

A- Orange juice!

It's another one of those days...

Monday Monday

I was all set to write a post tonight about how rainy days and Mondays always get me down...

Today we got both- woke up to the rain and the laundry, menu planning, grocery shopping, and general recover-from-the-weekend that usually accompany Mondays.  And on top of all that fun, Adam developed a bad case of the whinies in the night, and Leah decided today would be a great day to be disagreeable (although when I told her that, she reminded me that sometimes I'm disagreeable, too.  Like when I "get her breakfast wrong".)  I think we were all counting down the minutes until Daddy walked in the door. 

And when he did, everything turned around.  He taught a fantastic Family Home Evening lesson about Mother's Day, complete with trivia about Mom, the cutest "Moms wear many hats" story, a game about what makes Mom happy, and a surprise foot rub!  It was great (and he only got a bit of encouragement on the lesson topic from me, the idea of which I got from here.

I was showered with hugs and kisses and "I love you's", as well as a few chocolate treats.  It definitely brightened my day, and made me all the more excited about Mother's Day!  So I guess this Monday wasn't that bad after all.

...And these pictures came from our recent family bike ride.  I love the tulips in the background of the top picture, which I have been cutting and bringing into the house as they begin to wilt... 

... something that Leah hates.  Today it even earned me a "sit-down-on-the-couch-with-me" moment, where Leah cleared aside the pillows, patted me a spot beside her, and proceeded to tell me that I shouldn't cut the flowers any more because she loves them and now our garden looks ugly.  I tried to reason that now our house is beautiful inside and out, but she wasn't buying it.  I just couldn't win with her today.