Second Time Around

Being pregnant this time has been so much more different than I could have imagined.  I know every pregnancy is different, but just as I am carrying differently, I am handling things differently, too.

We scheduled Boy's birthdate officially on the 6th of July.  We've actually had it scheduled for a month or so now.  Booking an O.R. (wow that makes it sound like I'm checking into a hotel or something) so early in advance means that I'll be the first case of the day.  This was such an advantage last time.  Doctors are fresh.  Plus I have a full day to recover.  With such advanced planning, S and I recently turned to each other and said, "You know this means he's going to come early..."



There is no denying I am more tired this time.  Partially because I am playing mom already to a very active and spirited 2-year old.  Partially because it's true: subsequent babies are bigger--I swear.  At least this one carries that way.  I will be in the middle of doing something with the Bean and I'll have to tell her that Mommy needs to lay down for a minute.  She accepts this and goes on doing what she's doing.  Awhile later she will stop what she is doing and tell me that she needs to lay down now.  It's endearing, but it does make me feel a little bad at the same time.  Luckily, being more tired is probably the only complaint I have.


I was working on some wall art to put up in Boy's room and as I was sanding I was reflecting a bit on this pregnancy. 

I remember being sort of frantic with the Bean, trying to get everything done and done perfectly.  I paid attention to every little detail.  This time days will go by and I'll wake up in the morning and think, "Wait, am I still pregnant?"  It's strange, really, that there is such a sense of calm this time.

Naturally, I am not looking forward to the early a.m. feedings.  I am trying to prepare myself mentally as best as I can to be prepared for it to be a New Baby=New Experience.  But I am looking forward to holding this little bundle of boy.  I am looking forward to dressing him in brand new adorable monkey and froggy onesies.  I am looking forward to watching him grow and explore his world. 



Perhaps I am most looking forward to the kind of relationship that he and Bean will develop.

Bean has adopted an old cabbage patch doll of mine.  She carries him around calling him by Boy's name.  I didn't suggest this idea.  She came up with it entirely on her own.  It is so sweet to see her take Bean's Boy to breakfast with her, to push him around in a stroller, to hear her say, "No, no, like this Boy!"  Or when he starts to "cry" or "get an owie" she immediately makes it all better. 

I'm not so naive to think that they will never argue and I expect to throw a few "Don't do that to your brother!"s out every once in awhile.  Maybe it stemms from growing up an only child; I am so excited for Bean to be able to be a big sister.



Just as quickly as the third trimester aches and pains with Bean's pregnancies faded soon after her birth, they have immediately been brought back to memory with Boy's pregnancy.  I know that it will be over soon but I still wonder how in the world I can possibly stretch any further in the weeks to come.  But I still find myself being amused by watching hands and feet make their way across my belly.  Pregnancy is one of the strangest, most wonderful things I've ever experienced.

Easter Time

I said it with Halloween.  Having a kid around to help celebrate the holidays with sure makes them a lot more fun. 

To start our Easter celebration, Bean and I did a unit in "preschool" on Easter.  We kept it more focused on the Easter Bunny thing this year (although I was amazed at how well she grasped the concept of the Resurrection in nursery.) 

My favorite part of preschool is science.  Naturally.  This week we talked about the sorts of things that bunnies and chicks eat.  Carrots were easy but I struggled with finding something that we could taste that might be found on a chicken's dinner plate.  Then I thought of oats.  It might be a stretch but it sort of resembles chicken feed.

I had been craving Oatmeal Cookies so I took the opportunity to bake some with her after our lesson.

On Tuesdays we usually do an art project together.  This week she made a bunny mask.

I always plan art projects right before naptime.  This way I tell her that it has to dry while she has a nap.  Check and check.

Here's her showing off the finished product a few days later.  We still have it out.  Along with our homemade weather vane.

I think Bean's and my favorite thing about Easter this year was dyeing the Easter eggs.  I inherited a few old scrub tops from work and they make perfect "smocks."  I was glad that she had it on, too, as there were naturally a few spills.

I should have known that she would think dropping the tablets in the vinegar would be the bomb.

Once the dye was ready I really let her run the show (with supervision, of course.)

She made some beautiful eggs.

I had to sneak one to make my own, of course.

The Saturday before Easter was actually S's 30th birthday!  I took the day off work so I could stay home and celebrate the occasion.  Per his request, we still headed out to our town's Easter egg hunt.  The park was within walking distance which was especially nice.  At one point, the line of cars to get into the parking lot probably stretched as far as our subdivision!  (Okay, slight exaggeration, but still.)

This was the first egg hunt for all of us.  I figured that Bean and her running skills would probably acquire a ton of loot in her age division (0-2.)  I didn't take into account that it would be the parents searching for their kids while their kids looked on safely from the sidelines.  Geez, people.  It's candy.  You would have thought it was a hunt for gold.  Bean had her eye on this blue egg the whole time we were waiting and some guy literally snatched it out from underneath my hand.

Still, Bean made out with some pretty good stuff.  And she was happy.


                                               

They had some fun things to do.  We were able to get Bean on the slide before the line got long.  Then we headed home because it was, in fact, freezing that morning.

While Bean helped me make lunch, S went out and hid her eggs.  She had so much fun looking for the eggs she had colored!

S's birthday celebration started soon after we got back from the morning egg hunt.  We hadn't opened presents yet, but Bean informed her daddy that she "wanted to go back and open daddy's soccer ball so they could play."  I just hung my head while S laughed.  At least she waited until Saturday to tell him what she'd gotten him for his birthday.  And we had a blast playing soccer for awhile.

I secretly saved up every penny I got on my own for several months so that I could buy S's present without him having a clue what I was getting him.  If you have never heard of a Camp Chef, it is a beefed-up outdoor stove.  It is awesome.  Not only can we take it camping, but we are going to try and do some canning outdoors on it later this year.  (S's parents did that last year with the same stove which is, I think, when I decided that I must buy one for S--and hope he lets me borrow it!)

The afternoon ended up being gorgeous and we spent most of our time outside.

I made a sort of "Choose Your Own Adventure" date for S.  We dropped off Bean at my sister's and enjoyed an evening all to ourselves.  The whole point of the date was for each activity to be a surprise but I stink at keeping things a surprise (apparently Bean does, too.)  It was still a lot of fun!

We picked up Bean late that evening and went home to have some birthday cake.  This cake is out of the Worldwide Ward Cookbook, labeled The Best Carrot Cake, Ever (or something along those lines.)  It truly was delicious!

That sure was a lot of candles to light...

Happy Birthday S!

It truly was a perfect day.

The next day was Easter and, of course, I had to work.  But luckily we were able to still squeeze in some Easter fun that morning.  Bean got dressed up in her new dress.  I told her it was time to find her Easter basket.  S took her in our front entryway and waited for the Easter Bunny to come.  I made all sorts of noises which I think only ended up confusing her--and even scaring her at one point. 

We'll work on it.

She actually searched for awhile.  I love this picture because you can see her basket hidden in plain sight.

The Easter Bunny brought her the goods this year: Peeps, a chocolate bunny, a Cadbury egg, malted eggs (how does the Easter Bunny know that these are, in fact, mommy's favorite candy EVER?!) and of course jelly beans.  She also got a cute wind-up bug, a lovey chick, a boat for her bathtub and some butterfly stickers.  I'd say she did pretty good.

A Bit about Blogging

So I have a really lame excuse for a hiatus in blogging lately. My dear, beloved picnik.com went out of business (BOO!) and I've been stuck wondering how to edit my pictures when I'm away from my laptop (and since I blog away from my laptop quite often, that presents a problem!) Also I hate the new blogger format.

However it didn't take long and there is now a great new, free online photo editor: picmonkey! Picnik, picmonkey...I'm starting to wonder if picmonkey coming to existence within weeks of picnik going away is merely a coincidence. There are an awful lot of similarities.

Anyway, I'm back in business.  For now.

(I just love this picture.  Even if a speck of dust on the lense makes me look like a raccoon.)

I've been thinking a lot lately why I even blog.  It takes up a lot of time and sometimes I feel like I'm just repeating the same thing over and over.  In fact, I've gone back and read through my blog (mostly the family one) before and realized that I had the same information in multiple posts.  I guess it would do me well to go back and read my old stuff more often!  Anyway.  I've actually been thinking about why I blog since SPARK last fall.  Remember I was going to post about that someday.  Okay, seeing as I'm closer to SPARK #4 than #3 I'll probably just wait now.

There was this panel of "professional bloggers" that they invited to come speak to us at SPARK and I think the whole point was to motivate us to want to blog more.  Or better.  Whatever.  I ended up feeling completely uninspired and it actually turned me off of posting on my creative blog.  These were just business ladies (might I add a little snooty, too--especially the gal from Le Petit Elefant--wow she sure was special) out to make a doller at the end of the day.  I started noticing that most of the fun crafty blogs that I have favored for a long time were alternating giveaways and new sponsorships with mildly interesting posts.  If this was the real world of crafty blogging I wasn't sure I wanted to be a part of it.

Then I noticed that the amount of people whose blogs I frequent were posting less and less.  So then I wondered if ANYONE even blogs anymore, let alone reads my little corner of the web.  I sure have been tempted to just cancel the whole emjh blogging thing altogether. 

But then I realized as I was reading through a bunch of old posts that it was a lot of fun to read through my history over the last few years.  I decided that even if I was the only one who ever went back to read it, that was fine.  Of course, you the reader (if, like I questioned "you the reader" even exists anymore) are more than welcome to follow along. 

So until blogger becomes so ridulously hard to use, I'll keep keeping up with these little ol' blogs of mine.