my July to December list

Last Thursday we found out some big news: a baby boy is on the way! Graham Christopher Luce. I found out a wee bit early, but even so, I am 18 weeks, which means this pregnancy is getting very close to being half way over! Especially since the doctor has already told me he will need to be born several weeks early, due to my past vertical c-section. So we're looking at 4 months before he arrives, and I have a list of "want to's" that feels like it's a mile long to try and complete before then.

Here are some of the heftier items on my ever lengthening list:

1. Potty training Adrienne. If nothing on the list but this got done, I could live with that. It's always been a personal goal of mine to never have more than one child in diapers at a time, and if we can keep the dream alive, I would be a happy mom indeed.

2. Move Adrienne into her big girl bed. She and Marianna have bunk beds and will be sharing a room just as soon as the switch is made. I'm nervous because she is the greatest sleeper on the planet, and I hate to mess with something so good. But it has to be done, and Nathan says now is better than later, so we are looking at the transition taking place sometime in the next few weeks.

3. Establish an everyday routine starting in August. Summer has been fluid, to put it mildly. No two days ever look the same, and routine is something of the distant past. But starting when school starts up, I'd like for us to get on some kind of general schedule, that will include time for chores, school, playing, resting, etc. I'm hoping having this established for several months before the baby comes will make it easier to keep it up after he is here!

4. Finish all Christmas shopping by the last week in November.

5. Plan and implement Graham's nursery!

6. Sew. I haven't sewn in 6 months, and I want to get a few things cranked out for all three of the kids before our little guy gets here.

7. Work on building some age appropriate aspects of independence in each girl. There are a lot of things I do for Adrienne and Marianna that I know they could do for themselves. I do it because I can, but come December, some of those things I'm going to need the girls to take over and do themselves. I figure it's better to get them used to doing it now and ease into it, rather than throw a curve ball at them once the baby arrives.

Will it all get done? I'd be kind of blown away if it did. But I don't see anything wrong with setting the bar high and going for all the gusto. We'll see how it goes but one thing is for sure, come December, whether these things are in place or not, Marianna and Adrienne will be the proud big sisters to a new baby brother. And compared to that, none of the other things will seem all that important.

my camera makes a comeback

I'm afraid the month of June went by without a single picture snapped, and after 5 months of extensive usage, I'm sure my camera was wondering, "Why the neglect?". I think I'm going to have to blame the heat for the month long absence. I definitely prefer taking pictures outdoors, but around these parts, June was brutal. July has actually been much, much nicer, resulting in the camera's return from sabbatical.

On the 4th we went to lunch with Nathan's family, and afterwards I tried to get a shot of the girls I could use for a new 20x20 frame I got for my birthday. I'm toying with the idea of using one of the two I got of the girls together, but it's hard for me to commit to any picture that is going to be that large. Any thoughts on which one I should use? Nathan thinks one, and I think another.

reality check

I had the Today Show on one morning last week, and there was a lady on talking about time management. She gave a handful of shocking statistics, with one in particular totally blowing me away. According to her information, the average stay at home mom spends 4 hours per week playing with her children. Not a working dad, or even a working mom, but a stay at home mom. Wow.

After the shock wore away, that number made me sad. It made me realize how easy it is to lose sight of what it's all about, because I don't think many stay at home moms go into the venture anticipating just over 30 minutes a day spending quality time with their kids. That is so outrageous! Yet I can see how it happens. Life. Busyness. All of it can creep in, and without intentionality toward something else, the things that really matter can go away without you hardly even noticing.

It was really a wake up call. Not to spend more than 30 minutes a day playing with the kids, but to think about carving out sections of time throughout our day for nothing else than sitting down and doing things with the girls. It made me see how important it is to prioritize our reading, puzzle making, picture drawing, game playing time together. Those are the things I want to do every day, not just the days that happen to be slow and I have a few extra minutes before it's time to run the next errand or change the next load of laundry.

What are my girls going to remember about their childhood when they grow up? Who can say, but I sure hope many of their memories are filled with things they did with Nathan and me, spending time together.

life

I've disappeared for the past few weeks, but not for any particular reason other than life has been good and busy and filled with summer things. Most days involve swimming, and my two little fish wouldn't have it any other way. One of the first words out of Adrienne's mouth in the morning is "Pool?" and Marianna has made it clear that the summer out of doors is misery if she's not in the water. Because of that, we're grateful Nathan's parents have a pool ready and waiting just ten minutes away!

We've also had some really good news about our baby on the way. Several weeks ago I went in for a nuchal translucency ultrasound that would screen for trisomy 18 and several other things. Both the ultrasound and the blood work indicated nothing other than a perfectly healthy baby, and we are thrilled and grateful. I feel nothing but peace as we move forward with this pregnancy, and that is something I know is straight from God.

What else? I am just about to dive into John MacArthur's 12 Ordinary Men. I thought Toy Story 3 was amazing. The girls are teaching me patience in this hot summer season as dawdling seems to be the order of the day getting in and out of the car. I love patriotism and the 4th of July. For some reason the summer has brought my picture taking to a total halt, so I have zippo to update. My summer blog break is now officially over.

back in the saddle

We were gone for seven days, and I feel like it has taken me almost that long to catch up on everything again. Traveling can really take it out of me evidently. Up until today, a nap was in order every single afternoon since we got back on Wednesday. I'm not complaining or anything; a nap (and I mean one longer than 15 minutes) is a welcome part of any day lately. I'm just giving the reason behind the delayed update.

Our trip was fantastic from beginning to end. We began in New Haven, Connecticut where we toured through the quaint little New England city with Nathan's older brother Micah. Micah has lived in New Haven for the past three years, so he was able to give us a wonderful tour of Yale, a New England beach, one of the two mountains of New Haven, and the local airport where he is currently getting his pilot's license.

From there we headed to Boston, one of my all time favorite cities, to go to a game at Fenway, walk through the historical part of town, and go whale watching. The weather was amazing and the city is picturesque in every way. Best of all, we finally got to see the Red Sox win!

We ended the trip with a couple of days in New York, and again, the city is amazing! Nathan and I have been twice before, but seeing it through Marianna's eyes made it exciting all over again. We toured the city from a water taxi, went to the Museum of Natural History, explored FAO Schwartz and Toys R Us, had lunch at the American Girl Place, and experienced Mary Poppins on Broadway. It was such a whirl wind, but every bit of it was terrific.

We knew the pace and scope of the trip was not really two year old friendly, so Adrienne had an adventure of her own, which began with my parents and ended with the wonderful Pepper family, who she was with the first three weeks of her life before she was able to come home. She had the time of her life as well, but we were so happy to get home to see her by the time Wednesday came around!

The normal ho hum pace of life has been very nice over the past five days. Vacation is fun, but it's hard to beat home sweet home.

oh diapers, where art thou?

Today was packing day, because in the morning we are off for a 7 day vacation to Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York! We are all thrilled about the trip, but this packing...whew. It has really taken it out of me this time. 7 days worth of packing for four has left my mind boggled and my body beat. Or maybe that's the new baby on the way. Or maybe it's both.

I think my strategy in attacking this project was flawed from the get go. Instead of packing for one person at a time, I began packing for all of us in stages. I'd do a little in our room, then head to Marianna's, then to Adrienne's, then back to Marianna's to put back everything that Adrienne had just pulled out of Marianna's bag, then back to Adrienne's to see what she was pulling out in hers. It's been crazy. And in the midst of the craziness, I realized that I had lost 100 diapers. Gone. Vanished. Diapers of all things. I scoured Adrienne's room then Marianna's, and I found nothing. I knew I had bought the giant pack of diapers from Sam's just a week ago, but knowing that doesn't mean squat if I couldn't find them. So it was off to Target for me tonight to buy a new pack.

When I got home, I found all the diapers in the girls' doll house. We are now definitely covered for the trip.

So once we finally get off on this trip, what do we have in store? A visit with Nathan's brother in New Haven, which includes a tour of Yale (where he works) a hike, and a visit to a terrific ice cream parlor. A 3 day trip to Boston where we will go to a Red Sox game, walk the Freedom Trail, and do a little whale watching. We are wrapping it up with two days in New York where we plan on visiting the American Girl store, and seeing Mary Poppins on Broadway.

We can't wait.

And we can't wait for that new little baby either. I wasn't really going to leave you with just that snippet. We are expecting this next little one early December, and we are so excited and ready to see what God has in store. I don't know everything the next months hold, but I couldn't feel more sure that God is in control, and He will be walking us through every step of the way.

saying goodbye makes me sad

And after two nights in a row of saying goodbye to my TV friends, I'm feeling blue. Isn't that silly? But I do. Eight years of 24 and 6 years of LOST, and now, in back to back nights, they are over. I knew it was time, but I still don't like the moment when goodbye actually comes.

Goodbyes make me want to grab a pack of sour straws and do something frivolous or get a tall Chai, curl up with a book, and read until the blueness lifts. I think the book without the Chai will have to suffice for tonight, and hopefully by tomorrow I'll be as good as new.

But for tonight, I will mourn. Goodbye 24 and LOST. It's been a fun ride.