Phases...

Life is always changing. The moon, the seasons, the daily journey of the sun...we have so many practical reminders that life down here is never static, always in motion. So why do we so often feel "stuck" and certain that things will never change? I am nine months pregnant. I even have a c-section scheduled for this week. I still feel deep in my bones like I will be this large and slow forever. I can't seem to grasp the change that is coming. I hit this same inability to believe in change with our young kids at times. I am certain when they hit a bad sleep pattern, bad period of behavior that we will be stuck in it forever. It is part of what makes that phase so overwhelming honestly. But then, a few weeks later, I look back and realize: we are sleeping through the night, he did remember to say yes mam, she is being more patient with her brother....Life is always changing and me with it. Some of the changes you see coming, some surprise you, but atleast for me it is not in my nature to constantly expect them and look forward to them. And yet, God promises to use "all things for good" ....all changes are in His caring hands. We are praying our whole family can not only simply adjust to changes in life but enjoy them this week!

Nesting

is a real thing....I am a good sleeper and I rarely have trouble falling asleep or quickly going back to sleep at night. Residency trained me well and I consider sleep a precious gift; one that I am quick to embrace. Last week, though, when our five year old woke us up at 2:30am...I was wide awake. I spent an hour lying there and thinking of things I needed to do: how the flower pots needed new pansies, how there are several Christmas gifts that I actually wanted to make, how I did throw away my nursing bras after Hannah and I really would need to buy new ones....Finally at 3:30 am I got up to write all these things down. Pages, I wrote. Finally at 4:30, I crawled back into bed with the peace of a very long list. Nesting is a real thing.

Yesterday, I was working earnestly on my list. I sat down at the computer to complete the "order baby luggage tags" part of my list. I looked at several sites, spent atleast 15 minutes, trying to find the best price with my slow midday internet connection. Finally I found what I needed. I quickly went to order the tags and as I clicked on it they requested I enter a first and last name. Here's the problem...we don't have a name yet. Took me twenty minutes of earnest list energy to engage my brain and remember I don't have a baby name yet. Nesting is a real thing...

A few days ago I took all four children to the Virginia Living Museum 45 minutes away for part of our school day. My husband desperately tried to talk me out of it. It was on my list though, to take the kids to the museum before the baby came. Despite the fact walking is terribly uncomfortable and I am as wide as I am tall, I took all four children through the museum for the morning. Nesting is a real thing...

I have sewn new curtains. I have made pillows. The closet chaos that has been tolerated for quite some time has been attacked with great gusto in the past week or two. Recently an inspector came to inspect our "slowly in process" deck work and I ended up telling him about how I thought it was wrong for the government to have building codes that private homeowners were required to uphold. If we want to do it the wrong way, it's our own foolish decision. I'm not sure he knew how to respond. Do not mess with a third trimester pregnant woman. Nesting is a real thing....

Halloween

If Halloween was any indication, Christmas will be VERY exciting in this house. We really didn't have a chance to play up Halloween this year. The candy, the costumes were very last minute; the jack-o-lantern didn't get carved, but instead drawn with a black Sharpie marker. We were busy running errands until almost 5 o'clock on the night of Halloween. And yet, they were jumping and leaping rather than walking to a few neighbors homes that we visit each year. They got it; they understood it and it was all wonderfully fun for them (and hence, for us!). They had decided to all be superheroes, but at the last minute, John Mac insisted on being Tigger and Henry felt that he had to carry a light saber in order to protect everyone in the dark. Hannah was Superbaby, but Superbaby stayed home with Not-so-Super-but-very-slow-Mommy to keep her early bedtime.

This is a picture I took recently of Hannah at the end of her nap. She works very hard to keep up with everyone around here and while she mostly compensates with long good night sleeps, she occasionally has a good nap.

And here is a recently picture of Henry and John Mac in their matching hoodies. My children all think that matching clothes are the greatest thing right now, regardless of gender, etc. It is funny because people always tell me our boys look alike, and yet, with their very different personalities, I can't quite see it. This picture is about as close as I've gotten to thinking that maybe they have the same bloodline.....