Where Are You Going, My Little One?

Time is such a fickle friend.  In so many ways.  The days are long in terms of just getting through.  But the years are short.  And the day -- just to spite the previous statement of them being long -- goes by quicker than I think, and I don't have enough time for all the things I need and want to do.  Such irony.  I'm sure it's just the stage of life in which I am living right now. 

I wish I had more time to record my thoughts about this.  But I don't.  This is a song title post, by the way.  If you're anything like my mom, grab a tissue.

But the gist is this:  Lynnaea starts kinder in the Fall.  And my heart is breaking just a bit already.  Especially when I really stop and think about it.  Today I started envisioning dropping her off at her first day and walking away.  Hoping she won't be too afraid.  Hoping she will find friends.  Hoping she will be a friend.  I started having emotions well up inside of me just thinking about it.

Was it really already so long ago that she was the same size and age as Katherine? 

I am trying to be the best mom I can be.  I want to be the kind of mom my sweet Lynnaea deserves.  Some days it is very, very hard.  But I love her fiercely and I know I will miss her so very much when she isn't here all day.  She's my helper, really, in these crazy days of 3 children.  Sometimes I don't fully realize just how much of a help she has been these past 3 months since Katherine has joined our family.  But every once in a while, I'm given the opportunity to see how much she has helped me -- and to realize just how much she has grown.

She currently loves all things unicorns.  So Saturday, when we went on our mommy-Lynnaea date (trying to do this once a month with both bigger kids now that Katherine has arrived), I bought her the unicorn lollipop, but she bought herself the stuffed unicorn with her own money. 

How grateful I am for my precious girl.

Pre-Thanksgiving

I name this post thusly only because we are a mere 4 days away from Thanksgiving.  In a way, I think it hints that I may write a blog called Post-Thanksgiving...  I wouldn't hold my breath.  I'm batting about zero in my blogging lately.  It still cracks me up that I used to blog almost daily and now I'm lucky if I blog once a month!

Ah well.  Life does have its priorities.  Mine have just changed over the years.

Jeremy just finished outage.  Good gravy that was a long 5 weeks.  6 days a week on 12 hour shifts.  I was starting to feel like a single parent.  And it gave me such appreciated and admiration for those women who ARE single parents.  It's no joke how much work it is to raise littles.  I often take for granted the help that Jeremy brings to the table at the end of the day.  I sometimes don't realize just how much his presence helps our home and family run more smoothly, just because he's here to help take up some of the effort.  So it's probably good for me to have opportunities to be reminded.

Last night he and I went on a date.  We don't go on many dates, but I wanted us to squeeze in at least one more before this little girl arrives.  and time is running short.  7 more weeks until my due date, but I have already started having Braxton Hicks contractions (thankfully only one day so far).  Though I'm definitely tired and feeling quite beached-whale-like and ready to be done with pregnancy, I am not so done that I want my baby to come before she is fully ready to come.  So I'm hoping to avoid any further contractions until after the 37 week mark, when lungs are fully developed, etc.  But anyway, back to our date...  We took the kids to my parents' house where they had fun playing with cousins.  Corbin has been pretty clingy with me lately, so I am always hesitant to leave him.  But, though he had a couple of meltdowns, they said overall he did great.  My sweet little guy.  Jeremy and I went to Olive Garden for their never-ending pasta bowl (but I don't have a lot of room in my body for food these days, though you will see a picture which will make that statement seem like a lie!), so my never-ending pretty much ended after the first plate.  I did have a little of a second type, but then passed it to Jeremy (who also helped me finish the first plate).  We left with our tummies full.  And we headed to the movie theatre to see WONDER.  Jeremy is not a big movie person, so I rarely ask him to watch a movie with me at all, much less in a theatre.  But this one I kind of felt like he would like, and I really wanted to see it after I read the book and found out they were making a movie.  The book, as is typical, was better than the movie, but the movie was awesome.  Which should tell you what I think about the book.  I did my share of crying, though.  Such a heart-felt and touching movie (and book).  It is one I would recommend.  And I was right about Jeremy liking it.

In other news, since my last post, I have gotten another year older (hello, 37!) and had a blast hanging out with Julie and April in Birmingham.  I got a milkshake up there at this place called K&J's Elegant pastries that probably should have put me in a sugar coma -- and which did nothing for my waistline.  Haha.  But it was for my birthday, so I figured it was all good.  The kids had their own ice cream cones (which you'll see pictured below).

We went to the Peanut Festival, sort of.  We went on Pre-K day, so it was free.  No rides or concessions, though.  Just the educational stuff.  The kids don't know any better, so they didn't care.  They had fun.  We wanted to go as a family in the evening and let the kids experience the fair, but then Jeremy got called into work and that plan got dashed.  So we'll just do it next year when he's sure to be off during fair time.  Plus I won't be hugely preggo then, so maybe it'll be more enjoyable for me!

We also went to the parade.  It's nice that my dad lives a block off Main Street, so we can enjoy watching the parade.  I love the marching bands.  But I think I could do with about 1/3 of the pageant winners.  I always forget just how many pageants they have here until I watch the parade and see float after float of waving princesses.

So that's a very brief overview of the last month.  Now here's a few pictures.  We'll start with the big beached whale one and move onto better ones ;).  Okay, actually, that picture is the last in this group.  And I'd forgotten that we had Halloween in there too.  So here are our Halloween pictures this year.  Lynnaea wanted to be a spider.  She wore black shoes for trunk or treat, but it happened to be the same day as dance class (where she was allowed to wear her costume), so she used her ballet shoes and then changed.  Corbin was my dinosaur.  I was a magic 8 ball, because I had to do something with this gigantic stomach ;).  We only did trunk or treat and said Halloween was done.  Other than doing the Hila-ween party on my birthday, but I didn't actually snap pictures of that.

And the rest:

 Julie made me a delicious mint chocolate birthday cake.  Because I think mint and chocolate is the perfect combination.

 Corbin had blue monster ice cream in B'ham.  Lynnaea had strawberry.  In the future, I'm avoiding this much food coloring for Corbin.  I think he has a sensitivity to it, and it's not really great for our bodies anyway.

 These were at Pre-K day at the Peanut Festival.  Christina and Connor joined us.  They loved being on the tractor, and then being a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. 

 And here they are collecting the peanuts that were poured from the cement truck during the parade.  I love the happiness on Lynnaea's face here.

 Above is me and the kids at Aplin Farms.  We went there to pick out our pumpkin and just check out the farm animals. 

 The kids loved visiting the library while the monster was up over the book drop.  This was another dance day.  They also loved that their grandma was the one who made this monster.

 The days have gotten so much nicer, and some days we would just go out front and draw with chalk.  The kids love it.

 Again at Aplin Farms.  Same trip as above, but for whatever reason, this one loaded way down here.  Just my cute little pumpkins.

And this is at the Pre-K day at the Peanut Festival.  It was a picture taken by one of the HIPPY ladies, which is why Christina and Connor are kind of off to the side.  That was a hot day.  Blah.  I'm so glad the cooler weather has arrived and seems like it's here to stay.  For a little while at least.

October, Supposedly

So my calendar says it's October.  The weather outside my door says it's more like the end of August.  LOL.  I'm ready for Fall, y'all!  I can't get in a hot chocolate drinking mood when the thermometer outside keeps reading 90 degrees!

It's been a crazy little while.  Natural disasters abound, and, though not horribly impacted, our little corner of the world did get quite a bit of rain and wind from two hurricanes in the last month (Irma and Nate).  These are the times I'm grateful for the counsel of a living Prophet.  Our little family can be better prepared, but at the same time, I am grateful for what we have done thus far to prepare.

My in-laws came for a visit for about a week.  The kids LOVED having them here.  So did Jeremy and I.  We took them to the beach so they could experience the Gulf Coast.  Jeremy took each of the kids into the ocean and into the waves.  They both really loved it.  The anxiety mom in me had to just trust that he had a good grip on them.  It is insane how much I love my babies.  Not really insane.  Just something I had no concept of until I became a mother.  Or maybe I'm just a crazy person...

So just a few pictures, because what else can I do?  I'm so behind I'll never catch up.  So I just start somewhere ;).

 Here's our little family at the beach in Florida.  It was a nice day, and a Monday, so not many people there.  Plus we went to a State Park, so had to pay.  But totally worth it for the covered picnic spots and bathrooms.  And fewer people.

 Lynnaea spelled her name in the sand.  She has gotten so good at writing her name!  Sometimes, when I look at her, I can't believe she is almost 4 1/2. 

And this is what I've been doing:  getting fatter.  Hahahaha.  We have a baby girl growing and wiggling around in there.  Which means I keep growing too. 

I had other pictures I thought I'd saved somewhere.  Like of the kids in front of a peanut by the Krispy Kreme.  And on the carousel at the mall.  But since those didn't end up being where I thought I'd saved them, I guess I'm done ;). 

We're going to do a Hila-ween party for the first time in 4 years.  I'm excited.  Maybe I'll even get around to posting a blog about it ;).  One can hope, right!?!

Summer-time

I'm such an awesome blogger anymore...

But let's be real.  Other than those people who actually have popular blogs and, usually, lucrative ones, not that many people seem to be doing the blogging thing much anymore.  It's all about the facebook and twitter and instagram.  Of those 3, I think I'm signed up for two.  And I only use one.  Sort of...  I've gotten out of the habit of sharing a ton on facebook lately. 

But since I've grown tired of getting anonymous comments (that are sales pitches for ridiculous products I can learn about by following their link -- no thanks) on my most recent post (though, if I counted, I'm pretty sure I'd learn that it was one of my most commented on posts...), I've decided to write a new one ;).

So what gives with my 1.5 month hiatus? 

Well, we went on vacation.  More on that below.

And I've been reading a ton.  I tend to go in phases.  Currently I'm in my "all I want to do is read" phase, and I've largely been doing just that.  I've read over 10 books since the end of May, and since some of those were 500+ pages and not the most engaging books ever, I'd say that's quite an accomplishment for me. 

And I'm totally using the pregnancy card.  Because it's true.  And exhausting.  I feel lots better than I did during weeks 6 through 10.  But I'm still really tired and take a nap almost every. single. day.  It's sort of ridiculous.  And it also means I lose out on that really productive time when the kids are down for a nap -- because now I'm napping also ;).  Growing a human is no joke.

Speaking of which, I'm a little over 17 weeks.  Starting to feel the baby move.  Going to listen to a heartbeat tomorrow.  And then the next appointment will be the ultrasound.  And I'm seriously thinking about finding out gender.  We already think we know.  But if I can get confirmation on that, we can down-size some of our baby stuff.  Because I'm pretty sure this will be our last one.  Granted, Heavenly Father may have other plans for us, and that's fine.  But this will be our last intended pregnancy (at least as of this moment...).  Because, for the record, this doesn't get any easier as you age ;).

So anyway, that's what life has been like these last several weeks. 

And now, to re-cap our vacation.

We flew out of Atlanta.  And we'll never do that again.  Too crowded and too much extra hassle.  But we survived.  Then we rented a car at SeaTac.  Something else we'll never do again.  Let's just say this trip was all about trying out new things -- and learning what we won't do again.  LOL.

The first full day at Jeremy's parents' house, the kids got lots of farm life experience.  Corbin loved the chickens.

 Then we went to one of Jeremy's brother's house and they have rabbits, goats, chickens, and ducks.  The kids loved petting the bunnies.  AND both the goats gave birth while we were there (on two separate days), so Lynnaea loved "herding" the baby goats.  She also learned that a goat does not lay an egg.  Which was her previous supposition.  I wish I'd have taken some pictures of her with the baby goats.  But, true to June and early July in Washington, my allergies acted up something fierce, so I tried to stay inside a lot. 

 I did a lot of napping.  And most days this cutie was my nap partner.  He is pretty much the cutest sleeper ever.

 We attended my friend's daughter's wedding near Bainbridge Island.  It was a beautiful day and a beautiful venue.  And a very beautiful wedding. 

 So I snapped a picture of us waiting for dinner.  Much to Lynnaea's chagrin, we had to leave before the dancing, because it was getting too late, and we had over an hour drive back to my in-laws'.  But we really enjoyed being there for such a special time.

 Corbin felt quite overwhelmed at times.  He kind of made my in-laws' house his "new normal" and preferred to be there.  This was Saturday when I took the kids to Bremerton to stay with my mom.  He pretty much clung to me most of that night.

 We enjoyed seeing a lot of the family on the 4th of July.  But I didn't take any pictures.  I was pretty lame about that this trip.  And then, since getting the pictures off my phone isn't always the quickest process, I was pretty selective about the ones I chose.  So now you get to see Corbin sleeping on Jeremy on the way home in the airplane.

 Which leads me to say this about our return:  that was the most horrific beginning to a travel day ever.  We left my in-laws' at 3:10 in the morning.  Lynnaea had eaten a piece of pumpkin pie for breakfast.  And then puked it all up all over the rental about 15 minutes before we reached the car rental facility.  So we had to stop to get gas and spent 15 minutes changing her and trying to clean out the car as much as possible. 

We returned the car, had to haul 2 car seats, 2 backpacks, 2 pieces of luggage, and 2 kids (one of whom smelled like puke) to the shuttle for the airport from the car rental facility.  We got to the Southwest line (which was loooong) and mid-line, Lynnaea said she had to throw up again.  Which she did -- in my hand.  So we frantically ran around trying to find a bathroom while Jeremy stayed in line with all our bags to check in, because hey -- we got there about 45 minutes before our flight was to leave and hadn't gotten anything checked in yet as far as bags go.  So I changed Lynnaea again and tried to wipe her down as much as possible.  Get back to the ticket counter and Jeremy is up at the front.  30 minutes to flight departure and we still haven't gotten through security.  I really didn't think we'd make the flight.  All our stuff was late-checked. 

Tender mercy of the trip:  the sniffer dogs were out at the security lines which seems to mean it's a lot easier to go through security.  Jeremy's bag was flagged (a bunch of electronics mixed with the squeezie pouches apparently looks suspicious), but even with that small bump, we arrived at our gate just after family boarding had ended (we were A boarding group, but we'd missed that too).  But the kind lady at the beginning of B let us go first (bless her). 

Once on the first flight, Lynnaea puked in the puke bag one more time.  And then she slept.  And so did Corbin.  Sadly, our first flight was the short flight -- to Oakland, CA.  Corbin was still in his pajamas, so we changed him in Oakland.  And pretty much it was time to board there.  On the second flight, Lynnaea had more tummy troubles (but on the other end), and we visited the potty twice during the "fasten seat belts sign" is on phase :/...  But I think they understand with kids.  Lynnaea pushed the flight attendant button in the bathroom as I was washing my hands, so I had to hurry and open the door to assure them we were fine.  And then, after that, I made Jeremy take her the last time.  And then, thankfully, the rest of the flight was pretty uneventful.  Just long. 

We made it to Atlanta, and the other tender mercy of the day:  so did all our late-checked bags.  We finally got to our car and started the 3 hour drive home.  But we stopped at Cracker Barrel to eat, so we didn't get home until 10.  By that time, Corbin had cried himself to sleep. We still had to throw Lynnaea into the shower so we could get all the vomit smell off of her.  AND, we had to strip down her car seat and wash all that PLUS all the vomit clothes. 

For now, I've pretty sworn off flying.  My current plan is to drive out next summer and see how I like that.

Life back home has been fun.  Several pool days out back.  Enjoying popsicles, S'mores, and hot dogs.  Trying to "cook" in a home-made solar oven.  Looking forward to cousins arriving soon and having snow cones. 

So now I'm somewhat caught up.  And it's getting close to my bed-time ;).  Oh!  We signed Lynnaea up for dance.  She's super excited.  I have to learn how to make a tight bun.  Hair is not my forte.

Outage 1: Weeks 3 and 4

Yeah, I got a little behind.  Story of my life ;).  I have my to-do lists most days, and it is miraculous when I manage to cross everything off the list.  And if blogging isn't put on the list...  Well, it definitely doesn't get done!  So now I just have to remember what we did since Fall Farm Day!

We've celebrated plenty of foodie "holidays," (no surprise there!).

So, we decorated a pumpkin for the library pumpkin contest.  It had to be decorated like a book character.  Lynnaea chose Emily Elizabeth from the Clifford books.  Her mother (a.k.a. me) has no creative or artistic abilities whatsoever.  Bless her heart.  But I guess that's okay, since it was supposed to be done mostly by the kids.  So we used a lot of acrylic paint (and had to exclude a very unhappy-about-said-exclusion Corbin, due to the fact he wanted to keep putting the paint in his mouth).  And we hot-glued on the hair.  It was a very stressful project for me, but Lynnaea ended up loving this pumpkin.  So much so that she refused to leave it a the library for it to be in the contest.  Sigh.  Oh well.  It was just for fun.  But poor Emily Elizabeth wouldn't have met her demise quite so quickly had she been at the library...  Tuesday night, Corbin managed to get his hands on her.  You should see her now.  We call her no-hair/half-face...  I'll let you just imagine.

Those were the before we took her to the library pictures...  Tuesday we took her to the library, and I hoped Lynnaea would let her "go to a sleepover party" at the library...  Corbin now gets into the car by himself -- and thinks he is the coolest ever by getting into the driver's seat.  You should see the grin he gives me...

Here are Lynnaea and Emily Elizabeth, ready to go to the library.

Then we brought her home and Lynnaea pretty much carried her around everywhere.  And swung her in the swing too.  It was really, really adorable, as I watched from the kitchen window. 

***  And now I'm even more behind.  I started writing this before my birthday.  It's now 2 weeks past that.  We'll see what I can do quickly here!  I'll just cover the rest of October (minus Halloween!).  That was pretty much when outage ended anyway ;).

So some afternoons we just sit out back and enjoy the day. Especially during the cooler days we had at the end of October!  The kids were pretending the railing was a car.  So cute!

 On one of the days Jeremy had off during outage, he was digging outside.  Turns out there are a bunch of beetle larva in the dirt, which Lynnaea thought was cool.  So she carried this one around in a shovel for a long time and called it "lorva."  Then she got brave and started carrying it in her hand. Turns out those things have pincers and it bit her.  So Jeremy squished it.  Which broke Lynnaea's heart.  The next morning, while she said prayer for breakfast, she asked Heavenly Father to bless the lorva that Daddy squished with his boot and she's not too happy about it.  Hahaha.  Out of the mouths of babes.

 Later in the week, we worked on up-cycling some THRIVE cans for Halloween.  Lynnaea helped me paint (yes, in the pretty dress) while Corbin slept -- since he couldn't paint with that paint -- he tried to eat it.  But when he woke up, I gave them the non-toxic tempura paint and let them go to town (after Lynnaea took off the pretty dress).  They pretty much painted themselves all over.

 A few days later, the weather turned nice and chilly.  We sat out in the sunshine a bit for the warmth.  I always welcome the chilly Fall weather :).

 I snapped a picture of Jeremy and Corbin on a morning Jeremy was home...  Probably a Sunday, but I don't remember.

 And then there was the day that we celebrated National Bologna Day.  With lunchables.  I love that Lynnaea poses with me for everything (and you can see Corbin in the mirror -- he had his own too!).

During the week, we did HIPPY pre-school...  One day we made puppets to go along with Jump Frog Jump.  And Corbin made his "cheese!" face.  I love this face!  More than words can say.

We acted out scripture stories one night for Family Night.

And Lynnaea had her first "real" dentist appointment with a cleaning!  She was a rock-star!

Fortunately, Daddy was off work that day (his crazy schedule), so I didn't have to take Corbin along for the ride.  That would have been stressful.  LOL.

On the 29th, we went to the Corndodgers Farm.  I wasn't super impressed, so probably won't do that again.  But Lynnaea had fun and rode a horse and held a bunny (above).  And Corbin sat on a kiddie tractor and loved that.  I'd given blood earlier that day, so I was feeling pretty crummy because it was a hot day.

 On my birthday, Corbin and I chilled.  This was right after he woke up from his nap.  Sweet little boy.

Phases

I must be going through a blogging phase.  And a picture-taking phase.  It's funny how I do that. 

This past weekend was Conference weekend.  So we hung out at home and {attempted} to get a lot out of it.  I say attempted, because of the two littles who run around making noise and such.  It's a good thing the talks are also available online and in the November Ensign!  I'll need to read a bunch of them ;).  I did get a lot out of the parts I heard, though.  Specifically finding joy.  And also about parenting.  Really good stuff.

On Saturday, Lynnaea and I took a picture with this doll.  My mom made it for me when I was a little girl.  And now Lynnaea plays with it.  One day, if she treats it kindly, Lynnaea can have it to give to her little girl -- if she has one.  It's kind of a special thing.  I'm glad I held on to some of the things I held on to.  Sometimes I could border on pack-rat...  But sometimes it's worth it ;).

Lynnaea actually paid attention to some of Conference this time.  Which was cool.  She would ask who each speaker was, and she recognized the Prophet, Pres. Thomas S. Monson.  She brought out her rocking chair to sit in and watch, since we were watching on the tablet in the living room.  Corbin wanted to sit in a rocking chair too, so we pulled the glider chair over.  I laughed when I saw this and said they must be preparing for old age ;).  Haha. 

We hung up the leaf wreath!  It actually looks really cool!  After a couple days, the leaves started to curl up.  You can really tell in the picture, but it really gives it a neat effect!

Jeremy was off work today, because they have started outage and he is scheduled tomorrow through Saturday.  Let the fun begin, right?  Blah.  It was nice to have him home for a 3 day weekend, though.  He kept the kids buy while I worked on my never-ending to-do list.  I was able to go by the frame shop and start the process of getting some of our pictures framed (one is a painting by Jeremy's grandmother).  I returned some too-small "lazy Susan's" to Bed, Bath, and Beyond, and then picked up a few things at Target.  All without the kiddos, which means it went tons faster!  And, I got to sport my sunglasses, because guess what!?!?  I have my trial contacts -- and they are working!!!  Today was the first day in about 3 months that I have worn my contacts all day long with no awful results!  No sensitivity, no huge red spot on the whites of my eyes!  It's amazing!  So maybe I developed a silicone sensitivity.  I hate, in no uncertain terms, that I will be throwing away 6 pairs of otherwise perfectly fine contact lenses.  But life is life...  Next time I won't order a 2 year supply.  Ugh.  So anyway, this is what I did at a red-light, just for fun :).

Later in the evening, as I prepped dinner and continued my big list, Jeremy spent lots of time with the kids outside.  It's been a beautiful few days here in Alabama!  And since he knows he won't have much family time for the next 3 to 4 weeks, with outage, he took the time today to hang with the babies.  They loved it.  Including the porcelain doll Lynnaea has decided she is in love with and plays with like a real baby...  I had to glue it's face and hair and eyelashes (courtesy of Corbin) back on over the weekend.  The face and hair had come off years ago and we just never fixed it...  We were going to throw it away, but then Lynnaea saw it and decided she loved it.  And thus we bought super-glue, and I fixed it.  We keep expecting it to break again, with the way Lynnaea takes it outside and it falls on the patio pavers and such.  So far, it's been a hearty little thing.  Go figure.  Anyway, so Jeremy hung out with "glass doll" (as Lynnaea calls her) too.  Hahaha.

And finally, here are me and my boy.  Yawning.  I guess all that outside time wore him out!