Lost Time

After a trimester of what I would consider pure h-e-double hockey sticks (too dramatic?), I am finally getting ME back.  My sense of motivation has returned, along with a realization of everything that should have or needs to get done.  When I realized that there were only three more weeks left of summer vacation, I felt like it was my motherly duty to make up for lost time.  In contrast with the past couple of months, each simple moment has felt much sweeter...

A picnic in the park.

Cheesy orange fingers.

A proud tree-climber.

A hot day at the fair with my favorite people.

Building up her immunity. (Lovely.)

Sisters who adore one another.

Big imaginations.

Playing outside before sunset on a perfect Sunday evening.

 That big smile as Ava learns something new.  

 A family camp-out in the backyard.

That's more like it.

Even Caje was invited.

Pizza delivery.

More pictures of my kids eating.

 A friendly pillow fight.

A cozy campfire.  And an impromptu guitar serenade with silly personalized lyrics.

Fuzzy slippers on a sweet baby, who I may never stop referring to as my baby.

                  

I hope my kids can now look back on this summer and remember a few enjoyable, albeit condensed, moments spent together.      

School starts tomorrow and I can't wait to get up early and make Ava's first school lunch.  (Seriously, I have been anticipating this.)  I have a pretty amazing mom who I'm trying to portray, which means my kids can expect notes in their lunch bags, pancakes in shapes, picking outfits in advance, and books before bedtime.

I really dig this mom stuff. 

      

Human Again

So the word is officially out that I am pregnant with our 4th baby, who is due on Valentine's Day. (Please don't come on your due date, baby!) We are not afraid to admit that we want a boy this time, although we are fully expecting to discover that another sister is in the works.

What started as a summer full of motivation to sand and paint, create, and organize turned into a summer of laying around, nausea, exhaustion, and more television watching than I can stand. I'm sure I begged Carlos more than once to just put me into a coma for a month.

I've felt like a marionette abandoned by my puppeteer and plagued with bouts of nausea and the occasional dry heaves. I've felt like a terrible mother, giving my three girls little to no attention. I've felt like a lunatic for forbidding the use of the oven, as the smell of cooking can send me over the edge. And now as I enter the second trimester, I'm just looking forward to feeling like myself again...and maybe getting my hair done.

Carlos has been a trooper. He has accommodated me and all of my strange requests, and tried to keep the kids entertained. He even took the girls to Portland for a weekend so I could have some quiet time. Or more likely to get a break from his crazy wife. Either way, he took the camera with him, giving me at least one moment to document this summer.

Ava recently started playing her violin at our local Farmer's Market on Saturday mornings. It's a fun way for her to get her practice in. Plus, she thought it would be neat to make a few bucks...and a few bucks she did make. After only four weeks, she is nearly halfway to her goal of buying her own iPad. (She upgraded her goal after seeing how successful she's been.) Oh, to be 6 and adorable again.

Carlos brought her to the Portland
Farmer's Market while they were in town.

This is intense concentration, people!
(We're working on a look that's a little less fierce.)

Classic Ellia.  Happiest girl I know.

The Portland Zoo.
Keep in mind that I was not around to perform hair duties.

A lion.  (You're welcome.)

I'm sad that I had to miss out, but I have to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed my weekend free from all responsibility.  Except, of course, for the demands of pregnancy, which required me to feel sick, go to bed early, and fall asleep watching old episodes of Family Feud.


I am so ready to feel human again!!!