Postpartum

For as many times as I used this mirror to document my ever growing belly, I thought this would be an appropriate final shot. 

As for all those pregnancy woes?  The sleepless nights, aching hips, and contortions required to tie my shoes... The endless  worrying and trips to the bathroom... Packing on the pounds and perfecting the waddle?

All completely real, and all completely worth it.

Emma's Blessing

We blessed Emma this past Sunday.  She was a delightful little angel all day long- as is generally the case with this sweet girl. 

 She looked so sweet in her blessing dress, and Jason gave her a beautiful blessing. 

We were so grateful to have my dad and Jason's mom here to celebrate with us.  Leah and Adam were both born and blessed in Utah, and this was definitely a different experience not having the same numbers of family joining us.  We felt the absence of the family that couldn't be with us, but felt equally blessed to be surrounded by friends who love and support us here in Indiana.  We have felt such an outpouring of love from church, school, and neighbors- we have found a different kind of support system here, but nothing beats a visit from the the real thing!

Fie-Woo Twuck, Hey!

I took the kids to the fire station today with our Moms and Tots group.  I did it for several reasons-

1. (The obvious one) Adam loves fire trucks.  He loves to sing a song about the fireman who sleeps at the fire station- listening to him sing the words makes my heart melt.

2. We don't have family in town anymore- it's back to the Three- now Four- Musketeers.  A slew of adorable pictures from Emma's blessing will be coming soon.

3. The cocoon of healing has officially, although not unofficially, closed.  Emma will be six weeks old tomorrow, so I no longer have that excuse as to why we're not getting out and about.  But it's still the excuse I'm using as to why we're eating out of the freezer tonight instead of a freshly home-cooked meal.  Baby steps, right?

4. I had to prove to myself that this year's trip would be better than the one we took 2 years ago, when we all looked like this.  I may be smiling in that picture, but I was dying on the inside.  7-week-old Adam screamed the whole time we were there- wouldn't nurse, wouldn't sleep, wouldn't calm down- and I had JUST moved to Indiana.  I didn't have any friends yet, and this was my first Moms and Tots.  I was supposed to be making a good impression on my new peers, but instead I was a flustered new mom that just couldn't pull it together.  At least that's how I felt. 

And today's trip was 1,000 times better.  I chatted with friends about preschool, losing baby weight and whether or not we will survive supporting our husbands through graduate school.  Emma slept.  Leah and Adam had a great time playing in the dirt because the fire trucks and firemen weren't there.  Duty calls.  But it was still a great outing for all of us.

First Day of Preschool

After waiting what felt like forever (for her), Leah's first day of preschool finally came!  I was worried about getting us all up and out the door by 8:30, but Miss Emma took care of that for me by waking up every 90 minutes all. night. long.  Just to be sure we were up on time.

Leah set out her first day of school outfit, shoes, and backpack last night, and Jason gave her a special back-to-school father's blessing.  When he was done, she asked him if she could give him another one, just for extra good luck.  She was a little disappointed that her teachers were the age of her grandmas instead of her mom, so I put a picture of the two of us into her backpack to help her remember me through the day (her idea, not mine).

We had a special breakfast, took a bunch of pictures, and were there before the door was even open.  Leah has lots of friends from church in her class, so she wasn't nervous about meeting new friends, and the beloved sand table was set up- something she has been talking about all summer.  She headed straight for it after we said good-bye, leaving me just a bit sniffly and snapping a few more pictures.

Adam has been getting ready for preschool, too- wearing his monkey backpack and insisting it was his "first day prekool, too!"  He was pretty quiet as we dropped Leah off, then announced, "I miss Leah already, Mom! I miss Leah already!"

But a visit to the playground and a quick stop by the post office, as well as a playgroup with some of his friends quickly took up our morning.  Before long it was time to head back to school and pick Leah up again. 

She announced that it was "the best first day ever!", and we headed to McDonalds for a special first day of school lunch (something we do maybe once every 6 months or so).  She had plenty to say about the rules of the class ("it's just like at Joy School!"), the friends she sat next to in the arts and crafts room ("Tarin! and Juliet!!!"), what she learned about during quiet, listening time ("it was so hard to be quiet!"), how well she navigated her scissors project and which portion of her snack she ate.  I'd say her first day was a success for all of us.

Highlights

We seem to be taking less pictures this week- dealing more with real life, but still loving every minute we have together. 

Sometimes awake-

Sometimes asleep-

Occasionally outside-

Usually inside- admiring every inch of Emma.  (Adam had pointy elf ears when he was a newborn, too)

Taking it slow, but loving life every day.  Only once in a while wondering, "What did we get ourselves into?!"

Froot Loop Jammies

It's officially a tradition-

Emma- 3 weeks

Adam- 2 weeks

Leah- 2 weeks

Any guesses that they're siblings?

Visitors

We were all so excited to have my mom and sister Allison come out to visit us.  Even though I spent most of our visit resting and recovering (gratefully), Leah and Adam had a fantastic time with their two live-in playmates.  They got to do every activity on Leah's list- and then some- and had so much fun every day. 

My favorite activity to watch was the hunt for fairies in the enchanted garden (aka our backyard). 

Adam's favorite activity was a tie between flying in the blue helicopter-

and playing Angry Birds on Allison's phone-

And Leah loved all of the dressing up, making-up, and making believe.

Emma loved that Grandma and Auntie Al were in Indiana on her birth day-

 And at the end of the trip, we were all so sad to see them go.  It was wonderful having them here.