Happy 2011!

My first resolution is: actually think about making resolutions.

Perhaps less of a resolution and more of a task for today: take down at least one of the Christmas trees. Perhaps start with the one that has been up for more than 1 calendar year.

Guess when the baby will be born!

If you are the winner... I don't know... I'll text you the code to visit the cute baby in the hospital and let you hold him.

Let's take a nice picture

Christmas Eve... cute new jammies... sitting in front of the tree... what could possibly go wrong?


Oh yeah...

Christmas Card

In my quest for a scaled-down holiday season I only sent out Christmas cards to grandparents. However, the digital version is here for everyone else to enjoy. Have a very merry and more relaxed Christmas!

The Third Trimester Lament

Feet
When did we grow so far apart?
Thank goodness for boots
I miss you.

34 weeks

alternately titled: A Little Slower Every Day

The cold weather is actually a welcome change because I don't feel obligated to chase after bike-riding munchkins, climb into tree houses (except to retrieve my paycheck... and I'm not making that up) go on long exploring hikes or participate in any activity that requires a bathing suit.

What we have been doing involves putting up Christmas decorations, sitting by the lovely fire, crocheting Christmas presents, indulging in some fabulous movies and wasting too much time at the doctor's office as scheduled appointments increase in frequency. Baby participates by pushing his knees, elbows and bum out to be patted and petted by any siblings who happen to be nearby.

11 random things I'm thankful for

This is a list that could go on forever but I decided to limit it to just a few.

1. Talking to small children - if you need a fresh perspective on life, you should discuss it with a 4- or 6-year-old.
2. My job - I'm glad every day that I get to do something that is fun but lets me put my family first.
3. The garage - Joe lets my car live there and I don't have to scrape windows.
4. Scooby Doo Meets Batman & Robin - you arrived just in time to entertain a not-feeling-well little boy.
5. Being pregnant in the winter - sitting by the fire and crocheting hats and toys for the new baby is so much more cozy than feeling like a midsize killer whale at the pool.
6. America's Funniest Home Videos - if you've never watched this show with two little children and a scoop of rocky-road ice cream, you should give it a try.
7. Joe's job - how many people get to say they get to work for honest, competent people in a company that actually cares about you and your family?
8. Pie for breakfast - I can't wait for all the delicious leftover pie to eat later this week!
9. Various conveniences of the modern age - washing machines, text messages, movies that appear in my mailbox, delicious low-calorie pudding, shopping online, Egyptian cotton sheets, waterproof boots, Kitchenaid mixers, Dancing With the Stars, blogs, DVD-players in the car, take-out Thai food, telecommuting, Dr. Pepper, waterproof eyeliner, the iMac.
10. Friends with skills - people who knew how to sew and an online tutorial resulted in some maternity jeans that actually fit and look good!
11. My awesome, handsome, super-cool husband who has a plethora of talents and who will run to the store for rocky-road ice cream at 11pm.

I hope that you too can find a million things to be thankful for this year.

30 weeks

Being in the '30s' seems a little surreal - we're actually getting there! Not too many more weeks and we'll have another little bundle.

Sprinkle/Star Wars/Hiccup is getting big and wiggly. All the sudden I feel a lot bigger. I don't know why it seems different this time around but I can see and feel the different parts of the baby shifting around. Joe sat in the back of Sunday School yesterday with his hand on my belly, feeling little knees poking and wiggling all over - we thought it was so funny. Of course we maybe should have been paying more attention... sorry Bro and Sister West!

He hasn't (yet) started hooking his toes into my ribs or trying to stretch out full-length, like Minnie always did. How are babies so strong? I thought she would puncture a lung. If I put on my seatbelt or wear a waistband that is tighter he sits and elbows and punches and fights against it. Long car rides are the best.

I've gained 20 pounds and I hate looking at the scale. I think I'm in the nesting stage because I work on the house a lot - I keep the kids' room obsessively straightened up, I've turned into a Person Who Makes Everyone's Bed and I've put new flooring down in three rooms all by my very own self! I took pictures but haven't posted them. Oh! I also made a car seat cover (again... haven't posted pictures) and I'm working on a cute crochet hat for the little nugget. I hope his cute brown blankets and clothes make up for the fact that I have no plans to take down the pink-and-orange curtains in his bedroom.

Internet names

Lisa has cleverly pointed out that the blog names Bart and Lisa will not work with the upcoming baby boy (if it had been a girl, Maggie would have been perfect). Yeah yeah... totally a critical decision, right? It's either that or go back to mourning the loss of Kurt Warner on DWTS. I miss you Kurt! And seriously, WHO is voting for Bristol Palin? Anyway, at Lisa's behest, I've been thinking of other threesomes. Here's what I've got:

Ellie, Crash and Eddie


Violet, Dash and JackJack


Candace, Phineas and Ferb
Thoughts? Suggestions? Votes?

Sharing 101

I've moved the kids into a shared room. They've always had their own, so this is uncharted territory for us.

Lisa's room is bigger than Bart's, with two windows and she chose it herself when we moved here. Unfortunately, the bigger room is also closer to ours and further away from the hustle/bustle of the rest of the house, making it the ideal room for Hiccup. I know plenty of people with 2+ kids per room so it seems silly to feel bad for her but hey, I had my own room growing up and asking her to move in with her little brother gives me guilt.

A big sell for the idea of a shared room was: a bunk bed. What kid doesn't love sleeping at unusual heights? We've had a bunk bed frame for more years than we've had actual children (a cast-off frame from Joe's mattress-delivery days that we've hauled with us for 4 moves.) However, we've already had one bunk-bed related incident, so Joe spent all day Saturday welding up new, higher safety rails for the bed frame we already had. The kids spent all day Saturday climbing up and down their new jungle gym.

The other half of my bribe was: you can both pick new bedspreads. If you know me, this is a big concession. Most kiddy color combinations and character-inspired patterns make me itch. Also one child has a level of indecisiveness (inherited from her father) that makes shopping experiences pure torture.

This trip wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. Granted, confronted with rows and rows of pink, flowers and ruffles, Bart escaped to an adjoining aisle to indulge his taste for All Things Super Hero. His sweet little heart could only be satisfied with the complete Iron Man sheet set but he agreed to a solid black bedspread of super soft fluffiness. Lisa carted around 4 entire comforter sets for half an hour (feeling textures, comparing all coordinating sheet patterns) before deciding on this one.

OK. Cute right? I was actually a little surprised. But she could never pair the comforter with something as tame as pale green sheets. No... we got these instead.

I vetoed a feathered accent pillow (it was $20 people!) but she was all right with it and said she would add it to her Christmas list. Is there a show for Amercia's Next Elementary School Fashion Star? Look for her in the final four.

The space villian and the Spanish beauty

This year the kids did not want to dress up as a pair. One child wanted a licensed-character, out-of-the-box costume and the other... well... she had her own ideas. I borrowed this gorgeous flamenco dancer dress from a friend (we had a little bookclub costume exchange) and thought she would be so excited because the dress was all the way from Spain. Then she had herself a right little tantrum because apparently red is not pink enough and... well... I stopped listening. But after scouring all the costumes at the local Buy-and-Large and bribing her with a new red lipstick for her very very own, she mysteriously changed her mind.


And I'm glad she did. Because she was ever so lovely.

This was a birthday party outfit and instead of being a regular princess, she wanted to be a Halloween princess. Have I mentioned less than 5 million times how much I love her beautiful hair and how much fun I have doing it?