out of the mouths

 

(Me in my 32 week glory)

 We drive Emerson to school each morning and pick him up each afternoon.  Because school starts at 8:00, Emerson would have to be at his bus stop by 6:40 am.  That is an absurd morning for a kindergartener, not to mention the fact he would be on the bus for a little more than an hour.  It is nice to have him home around 3:00.  He unwinds, plays with Ida, runs around in a zone of freedom and comfortability and eats us out of house and home before even having to think about going to bed.

I am a bit nervous to challenge the smoothing schedule once the baby arrives.  We will still take Emerson to school, but he will ride the bus home to the drop-off spot.  We will start practicing this schedule in a few weeks.  I beat myself up too often wishing for the unchangable....moving our house a few roads west into the school boundary affording us the luxury of pick-up and drop-off at our driveway.  But, the reality is, we love our house and our school, so I will change my outlook instead of the unchangable.

This morning was a wonderful drive to school involving a conversation something like this:

Mom: (Feeling the baby kick) Oh, I think the baby just woke up.

Emerson:  When will Ida have babies?

Mom:  When she is a mommy.

Emerson:  Do you want to have babies, Ida?

Ida:  No.

Emerson: You don't want to have a baby when you are a mommy?

Ida:  No.  Mommy can have all the babies.  I don't need to.  I will just be a princess.

Emerson:  That's a good job.  You don't want to be a doctor anymore?  I still want to have a restaurant, but I'm not sure.  I'm just a kid so I have time to think about it.  I could be a librarian.  We will see later.

Mom:  How many babies should I have?

Ida:  You are going to have three...Me, Emerson, and the baby.

Mom:  Should we have more than that?

Ida:  No.  That's it.

Emerson:  I think we should.  I love babies.  I want a big sister!

I'm pretty sure a big sister is out of the picture.  Can't wait to meet this little one.  Any guesses on what we are having?

Side note:  Skinny jeans are SO comfortable while pregnant, so no one tell me I look like a tub.  I will probably wear them anyway.  And, now that I hit "big," does your opinion really matter anyway?

nesting

My urge to nest is driving me (and the rest of the lovely people in our house) CRAZY!

This is what our house looks like right now.

Isn't it going to beautiful?!

I want it done NOW, but I understand that my impatience is driven by the hormones of being 7 months pregnant mixed with the excitement of buying a house I absolutely love.

I am STILL so excited and consumed with ideas for each remodel project which leaves my sewing machine very dusty these days. I plan to leave it in the basement.  Sewing is the last thing on my mind right now.

Plans 

 entryway

baby's room (me) and bathroom (Josh)

dining room

living room

kid's room

master

kitchen

basement

I found these love notes on the wall of our bedroom while I was cleaning.  The animals were for me and the note for daddy.

 I think he reads it every morning before heading off to work.

buddies

These two are inseparable after school.

I stood at the kitchen sink cleaning up after a delicious ravioli dinner with brown buttered green beans and watched the kids play.  The window was open so I could hear them giggle and squeal about something floating in the big driveway puddle.  I felt so grateful.  I hope they are always best friends.  And, I hope they will always find entertainment by imagining outside.

Josh was fixing the kitchen sink.  It has a slow leak that drives me crazy and him crazier.  We will remodel the kitchen sometime, but until then, we are going to squeeze every last bit of life out of the one we have.  I listened to him clink and pound with only his lower half visible.  A few minutes later he jumped up and gave me a kiss.  I knew the sink was fixed.  I felt so grateful again.

There is something extremely satisfying about the simple life.

This weekend we will be enjoying a football game and a treasure hunt.  Pretty simple.

beans

Beans.......huh, what do I write?

While you all see beans in a bag, I see family healing and love.

Ida and I visited my grandma to pick up some beans. 

I hadn't seen her in a while and I missed her.

We picked up right where we left off.

Ida thinks "she is such a nice great grandma."

My grandma is the nicest grandma ever, always looking for the good and trying to make the world a better place.

And, she washed, snipped, and cut all the beans for me!  That is such a grandma thing to do.

I am glad we are all moving on after the divorce of my parents.

It makes life happy.

Who ever thought 8 pints of blanched beans ready for the freezer would carry such a history and story behind them?

I ate a huge bowl of beans with dinner and I have to say they were the most tender and sweet of the year.

it's the stripes

Here's my belly at 29 weeks.

I'm starting to feel big.

Today Ida and I were at he deli counter getting our turkey when the worker asked me when I was due.  You should have seen her eyes when I told her November.  They just about popped out of her head while she mumbled, "Oh, you still have a long way to go!"

I smiled and replied, "Am I big?"

She giggled so uncomfortably, making the answer obvious.

It could be the stripes! 

a little sewing

We made it through the first week of school, every single one of us.  I am proud of how we all worked together to adjust to our new schedules.  I still find myself fighting a sadness from not having Emerson at home with us during the day.  He is just still so young....I want him to hold onto that freedom for as long as possible.  Whenever I feel that way, I focus on the positive way school is changing Emerson by allowing him to practice what Josh and I have taught him outside of the home.

Anyway, Emerson needed a little resting mat for school.  He had no idea I was making him one from fabric Ida and I picked out from the fabric store while he was at school.  Ida thought he would absolutely LOVE the dinosaurs.  He did.  He was so surprised to see it on the counter when he got home.  I hope he can feel a little of mommy and Ida with him at school each day.

i copy out of order

I read NieNie Dialogue.

It is one of my favorite blogs.

I started reading it two years ago when I first came across Stephanie's awesome "Back to School" Feast idea.  I knew two years ago that I wanted to copy this idea for when our kids started school.

Last Friday was our feast.  The invitation magically arrived in the mailbox which instructed the kids to dress fancy and bring a smile.  Ida died with excitement when I said "fancy."  That is something she can definitely pull off.

The Menu

Homemade Fettuccine Alfredo

Lemon-Rosemary Chicken

Artichokes

Strawberries and Nectarine slices

Lemonade

Chocolate cake with homemade ganache frosting

It was delicious.

We all really enjoyed it. 

The kids made me feel like such a great person, thanking me over and over for making a feast.

I love being their mom.

we did it

I am so happy and proud to announce that we all, including me, had a great first day of school.  I only teared up twice. 

Emerson awoke happy and excited.  I rolled out of bed feeling so relieved that Josh would be conquering the morning with us.  Ida followed along really wanting to go shopping with Mom by herself.  Dad kept the motor running in a timely fashion.

By the end of the day, Ida and I were missing Emerson and very happy to get him back.  Picking him up was fun.  He adores his teacher, stating "Mrs. Reed is GREAT!"  I completely agree.  She is the exact teacher that he needs this school year.  Ida likes her hair.:)