Toddler Shenanigans

Before Lil’ A had much interest in wearing big girl undies herself, she sure did think brother’s and sister’s were such fun.

If only she thought they were enough fun now, many months later, to be done with diapers completely.

Oh well. In any case, here’s some silly photos of my silly girl…

Generally her favorite game was to wear them around her ankles and try to run around the house as fast as she could.

Then she’d fall down.

And laugh.

And repeat.

Until she’d fall someplace that hurt.

Pretty typical toddler stuff. :)

Or on the head is funny…

And H’s monkey boxer briefs make for good bloomers under her flower skirt?

8 Days Past Due

Yep. We are ready. Been ready for about a month…

The Waiting Game

I am truly perplexed as to why the term ‘game’ is used at the end of this phrase. Since when does waiting EVER feel like a game? Waiting in line at the store. Waiting for visa paperwork to come through. Waiting for your toddler to eat her breakfast (Lord help us all). Waiting for the light to turn green.

Nope. Not what I would call games, really.

I’m waiting for a baby to make an exit from my body. Don’t think about the details of that too much. It’s amazingly miraculous and slightly strange at the same time.

The majority of women around the world have spent time waiting for this occasion for themselves multiple times. I wonder if any of them would say it’s like a game?

I’m more than ready. I’ve had all my ducks in a row for three weeks now, since I was deemed 37 weeks and full term. “Could be any day now” everyone says. And it could be. Or not.

Due date is officially tomorrow. But everyone knows babies never come on their due dates. My babies have been 2 days late, 4 days late and then 2 days early. So there is really no telling. I just really hope we don’t go for a record with 6 days late this time around.

But it’s hard to wait. That’s what I’m saying. At literally ANY point during ANY day I could go into labor. Then I’ll find myself riding a train towards the hardest work and worst pain (I wish it weren’t true, but it probably is) of my life. Can’t get off that train. Train is coming anytime. I’ll need lots of mental readiness and physical endurance and energy for that train ride.

BUT I DON’T KNOW WHEN THE TRAIN IS COMING.

For one who loves planning and preparing, this waiting is no game. This is hard stuff.

On the flip side…

When the train ride ends (and it ends very abruptly), I’ll have in my arms a tiny human being who’ll grow up and call me Mommy. Fourth time around I know the swelling of heart and love that is waiting for me at the end of the train track. That’s some kind of motivation!  I’ll also have the ‘If I can do that… I can do ANYTHING’ superwoman feeling that (hopefully) comes after delivery.

I also know through and through that pregnancy, childbirth and motherhood are huge privileges. My heart breaks often for those who long to experience these things and aren’t able. I struggle often to understand why God allows this to happen to some women. And so I do not take it for granted for myself.

Those are the things I’m trying to focus on. And I’m praying a lot. And I’m trying to keep my space uncluttered and ready. And I’m hoping my two year old truly understands that her baby brother will not be her live baby doll. And I’m praying some more and anticipating my baby boy in my arms.

Could be any day now.

;)

Lil’ A Two Year Portraits

I snapped a few photos of my littler girlie this summer in Ohio. I call them her two year portraits, but I took them very late. And I’m posting them even later!

She truly, truly lights up my life…

I Love My Bookworm

Mike has always spent a lot of time reading to our children. H got the most of it, cause he was the first child and all. And he has definitely picked up our love to read. He makes me so proud. It’s actually quite a challenge to keep enough books around for him. He’s 7 and he’s already venturing into the Chronicles of Narnia and the like.

He reads almost whenever he has the chance. Rarely does he even take a short car ride without taking a book with him. We’ve also learned that the most effective discipline is to take away his reading time before he sleeps at night. Boy does he hate that! He usually reads about an hour and a half before he turns out his booklight to go to sleep and he treasures that time.

So here’s a collection of pics of our dear bookworm…

These Days…

These days a trip to the grocery store looks like this for me…

And…

 

And shopping with Grammi…

And then there’s this time she build a tower of tortillas and cheese to stand on in the Costco cart…

We get a lot of smiles. And yes I let her do all these things if I’m in the right mood. She’s my third child. I’m 9 months pregnant. It’s not worth the battle. Do you understand?

And we give a lot of smiles. She was pretty happy at Lowe’s on this day.

This was a shocking moment when she sat by herself for a little while building towers with blocks. She does play by herself occasionally. But more often she’s by my side. Or climbing on me. Or talking to me. Or ‘helping me’.

This day a special friend took the kiddos on a little walk (ride) to pick out whatever they wanted at the gas station. That was so very special for them! Love you Aunt Chele!

This girl is teetering on top of a stool or getting into some cabinet many times a day. I honestly gave up trying to stop her. All I can do is hope she doesn’t harm herself.

This day she climbed into the sink and was quiet for too long. I should have known. Eventually she called to me for help. Help doing what you wonder? Help washing her canvas shoes in the sink with them still on her feet. Aaaaand they weren’t even dirty.

These two were in the courtyard recently when a bunch of guys were working to install a playground border and fill it with mulch (pic down below). I found them happily sitting at this tiny table playing tic tac toe on an erasable tile.

They’re so sweet when they get along.

Here’s the finished mulch area around the playset. Doesn’t it look lovely?!

“Fishies!” at the store with my fun little companion.

Just chillin’ eating applesauce (her fav) and doing a little reading…

Bathtime cutie.

For several days in a row she insisted on wearing brother’s pajamas to bed. It was pretty fun. And random. Her antics literally never end.

And that’s my days these days. Pretty great.

Aaaahhhh Pregnancy

Here I’ve gathered a list of some of my thoughts about pregnancy.

1. Watch Your Mouth

A colleague actually used the word ‘huge’ to describe me the other day. And he yelled it down the hall.  A couple other passers-by offered to punch him, but I just laughed. Sort of.

2. So Far Away

At 6 months pregnant the baby was already so low that I struggled to bend over. The floor is just SO FAR AWAY. This causes things like cursing or crying when I’d drop something (again). It also meant that I had to enlist help with my shoes. Months ago I taught H how to buckle my sandals, which was most helpful. Aaaaand kinda humbling.  Just the other morning Mike was dressing our toddler and putting her shoes on her. 9 month prego me sat patiently on the couch next to him and waited my turn for him to put my shoes on for me. The number of similarities between a 2 year old and a 9 month pregnant woman are striking. But let’s not think too much about that one…

3. The Burning Heart

There’s nothing quite like waking up in the morning and having your dinner bubble up into your mouth like you’d only just finished the meal minutes ago. I get it that the baby takes a lot of my body’s resources to grow. And also that at this point he’s hogging the space that my stomach and all my other organs used to call their own. But 12 hours later and my body still can’t have digested a meal? Doesn’t seem quite right. Please pass the Tums.

4. Don’t Cut it So Close

People who park their car just a little too close to my van in parking lots and parking garages really have no idea what they’ve done. One time I stood in the narrow space between our two vehicles for a couple minutes really and truly thinking I wasn’t going to be able to get into my own van. I did in the end, but maybe I should paste a big sign on my door (“9 month pregnant woman… DO NOT PARK CLOSE) so that people know to give a little extra space?

5. Hippie Medicine Cabinet

I’m suddenly ingesting more ‘medicine’ than ever before in my life?! Except most of it is hippie stuff (as my husband would say).

Zypan for heartburn, Magnesium Lactate (calcium) to help with extreme ligament pain, TUMS (the non-hippie black sheep of the bunch… don’t tell my midwife, ha!), Gentle Baby tincture (to give me a ‘gentle’ birth… as if…), real food prenatal vitamins, and Chlorophyll (for building up my blood).

Timing all of these concoctions throughout the day is interesting, but I actually do feel pretty good and quite healthy for being 9 months pregnant and I think I can contribute it partially to how these items are contributing to my health…

6. Litter of Pillows

And there’s the pillows. I just finished Tales of a Modern Midwife by Peggy Vincent. The author was joking about all the pillows she had in her bed by the end of pregnancy… “I gave up thoughts of sleep and gathered together the pillows I’d collected as pregnancy advanced, the pillows that forced [her husband] to huddle ever closer to the edge of our bed. One night, fighting for an extra inch of territory, he muttered ‘I don’t see how your belly can still be so big. I swear you’ve already given birth to a whole litter of pillows.’”

Ha! I’m certain Mike can relate. Except I don’t believe he even fights for an extra inch. He takes his 12-18 inches of the bed and deals with it. I think he did use the word ‘sliver’ to describe the amount of bed he’s been relegated to these days. Lucky for me he is such a good sleeper that he honestly doesn’t care (right honey?). Maybe I’ll take a few more inches for myself, he probably wouldn’t notice anyway.

7. Catch Some Zzzzzzzs

I have never taken so many naps in my life. Ever since I found out I was pregnant I have napped nearly EVERY day. It’s a pretty big priority. Incidentally, the inability to stay awake during the day was the thing that initially tipped me off to this pregnancy!

Sometimes this daily-napping feat requires careful planning since most days I’ve had three other kiddos around during my naptime, not to mention lots of other life stuff going on. But when a Mama wants to nap, A MAMA WANTS TO NAP.  Thankfully, Lil’ A still takes a long nap and my big kids are accustomed to having a rest time in the afternoon. They do independent, quiet activities and generally have good enough behavior that I can disappear for an hour and nothing tragic happens.

These daily naps have really helped me make it though my days.

8. She Gets It

And then there’s this little lady. I think she truly understands that her baby brother is in my belly and is going to arrive soon. She pushes around on the belly for him because that’s what she sees the midwife do every time we go in for an appointment. She kisses him and tells me “He mooooving Mommy! He galking Mommy!” I keep telling her that she’s wrong about the talking part but she doesn’t quite get that.

She tells me that she’s going to hold ‘baby brudder’ on her lap. And then she tells me that he’s going to sleep on her shoulder. It’s the cutest thing ever. I can’t wait to put him in her arms…

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This whole pregnancy thing will be in the past soon. Baby boy is due two weeks from today! That is no guarantee that he’ll be here by then. But it won’t be long, in any case, oh my!!

Sweet Preparations, Fourth Time Around

Baby Boy’s due date is still 17 days away. And I realize it could be longer even if I’d like to be in denial about that fact.

But we are ready. All my ducks are in a row and that brings me such peace. He’s got his little corners in the master bedroom. He won’t take up much space, that’s for sure.

Each day my excitement to meet my son grows.

First Time for Everything… Maternity Portraits

There is a first time for everything! I’ve never really even seriously considered having maternity portraits taken before. But when my friend offered to do them for me, I rolled the idea around for a bit and then said yes.  It didn’t feel easy for me at this stage to commit to picking out a cute outfit and ‘doing myself up’ for photos. But I was hoping that after it was all said and done, that I’d be glad that I’d said yes.

And I SO am!!!

I did enlist another friend to curl my straight little hairs and do my makeup. I’m really really glad I did that too. Some people are just reaaaallly good at things like that when others aren’t, if you get my drift… (Big shout out to Brittany!)

So here you have it. 8 months pregnant. The talented photography work of Jami at Colour Me Hope Photography should get all the glory here. She works miracles and made it so relaxed and fun.

 

 

I know I’ll treasure these photos. Thank you Jami, truly! And looking through them is making me even more expectant and excited to meet my baby boy. What a miracle pregnancy is and I’m so grateful to have this gift.