Sunday, May 24, 2009

Leaving on a Jet Plane...

As I type this, I'm waiting for Fin to wake up from his nap so that I can give the boys one last tub before dressing them and heading to the airport. Topsail, we're on our way!

The only downside is the flight that lies ahead - a cross country red-eye with a connection and plane change. Did I mention the part where I'm flying alone with both boys? Oh yeahhh, this is going to be fun!!

Pray for us. Or pray for the other people on our flights, I'll let you pick.

See you in June!

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Almost-Wordless Wednesday

I was going to get some of those fancy burp clothes for Snoopy, but I needed a project so I decided to make them myself instead. I've got a couple more pinned and ready to sew, but here are the ones I've finished. Oh, and his name might start with a K. I'm closing comments so you can't guess ;)

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Getting Ready...

With boy child #3's arrival imminent, we will have to make some room adjustments. We like (and need) our office space too much to give that up, so it was decided that Fin and Dash would become roommates. But how to do it? We already had a very nice full-size bed in Fin's room and the room is too small to add a twin bed into the space along side it. We discussed adding a toddler bed for Dash, but thought that was a waste of money since he'd outgrow it quickly. Getting two twin beds was scrapped because then we'd have to toss out said very nice full mattress. Brooks was VERY excited at the prospect of Bunk Beds. We could do a twin over a full and still make use of the existing mattress and the space. Strike one for that plan arrived with the stomach flu last winter - all I could picture was the aftermath of top-bunker feeling the need to evacuate in the middle of the night onto protruding bottom-bunker. Strike two happened while looking at them in the store and realizing that Fin (who sleeps all night without moving AT ALL) had ZERO interest in climbing up the ladder while Dash (who can be heard smashing his head into any given side of his crib all night)wanted nothing more than to be king of the hill. Nope, not going to work.

So we decided to go with a nice full-size bed with a twin trundle for Dash. We thought this would make the best use of the space and also keep Danger Baby safely close to the ground. I promised Brooks than when we move, this bed can go in the single boys' room (still undecided who will be lucky enough to get their own room) and we can revisit bunk beds for the shared room. This way we'll also have a ready guest spot for snoring daddies sleepover buddies.

After a failed attempt two weeks ago (wrong bed) we finally got the bed delivered and the room set up this weekend. I admit, the bed was bigger than I thought it would be, but Brooks is a spacial Ninja and we've almost got it all back together :)

Wait, do we still use the Box Spring?
Ummm...no.
Just have to rehang some pictures...
Ahhh, done :)

Thursday, May 14, 2009

26 Week Belly...

And MAN do I feel HUGE!

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

First Freckles

I love that my children have freckles. I adore each and every one of them and love how excited we all get when we spy a new spot where the sun kissed us. I've been meaning to document these for a while now - well, since Fin's first freckle showed up when he was about Dash's age - but of course I'm just now getting to it. You might need to click to see the images larger to see the actual freckles.

Dash's first freckles showed up almost at the same time - on his left hand and wrist. In the past few weeks he's started to show a few on his nose too. He's not so impressed with them yet.


Fin's first freckle was on the inside of his right knee. I always thought it was an interesting spot for the first one to arrive. His face is totally peppered with them now thanks to our daily swimming routine.

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Monday, May 04, 2009

A Change is Coming

Tonight, as I bathed the boys, for the first time in a long time things felt, well, easy. Maybe not easy, the day was still filled with tears and tantrums and arguing, so maybe doable is a better word? Brooks is out of town and he is usually my right hand when it comes to handling all the nightime duties. But I managed to get dinner served, dishes done, laundry put away, vacuumed, prepped bedrooms for bed and got everyone clean and jammified in a relatively reasonable amount of time and with few skirmishes.

Now we're watching one more show before a book and bed and for the first time in many nights I don't feel like I'm just holding my breath and waiting to collapse into a heap as soon as I can feel stillness and quiet.

Of course, I also realize that I'm on the cusp of huge changes.

The boys are showing more and more self-sufficiency every day. Some days Fin requires so little from me physically that it feels like he won't need me at all too soon. Yet while the physical dependence has dropped off, his emotional needs are at times more exhausting and exasperating. He demands an explanation for everything and questions my every request or instruction. I've even caught myself saying "shut up", which I always swore I wouldn't. There are times when I pray just for a minute of quiet. Fin has never met a silence he couldn't fill. But as he branches out into new activities like swimming and tball, I am ceaselessly impressed with his ability to befriend everyone and enjoy these new experiences. Even when the evil tball baddies told him he was a "baby", it didn't deter him for one second from referring to them as his new friends. At school, they've taken to calling him Casanova for the obvious reasons. He loves girls and alternates between holding Macayla's hand at fire drill, to rubbing Lauren's back at circle time, to snuggling up to Kelly at share time. And yet when I spy on him out on the playground (yes, I'm that mom!) he's also happy to be in the thick of things with the rough and tumble boys, rolling around on the grass and asking to go higher and faster on the tire swing. I sometimes wonder how my childhood might have been different had I been as friendly as he is.

Dash is in the sweet spot. The little pocket of time where the screaming, clinging baby is a memory and the surly, back-talking toddler is still on the distant horizon. He's pleasant and happy. He's snuggly and yet still independent. He loves playing with Fin and yet also relishes his time alone with me and by himself. Unlike his brother, he loves to be read to and will continuously beg for more books when one is finished. While he enjoys his small MyGym friends, he's far more in his element playing with the "big kids". He is fearless in every way. He wants to jump in swimming pools, leap off of beds, run fast and far, and he is never bothered by the (somewhat more than occasional) tumble. He has taken to smacking my belly and exclaiming "BABY!" - or sometimes "BAD BABY!" which is a harder smack followed by maniacal laughter. Yet I know he has no idea how much life is about to change.

Experience should dismiss many of the fears that come with welcoming a new family member, but somehow it doesn't. I know Fin will adjust smoothly. He knows he's gaining a playmate and loves all babies. Dash is another matter entirely. I often find myself looking at him and feeling as though he was truly meant to be an oldest child. And I worry how this child will fit in. If Dash is the Yang to Fin's Ying, what will my third son represent? Of course I also wonder who he will best get along with. Mostly I just hope to keep everyone feeling secure and preferably happy through the transition.

I also have selfish worries. I can vividly remember having a smallish breakdown while pregnant with Dash and crying to Brooks about what would happen if I just didn't have time to do my hair or put on makeup anymore. He, of course, laughed and told me it didn't matter. What I was really worrying about was how much more of myself having a second child would cost. And while I have had a few days where I had to disguise dirty hair in a pony tail or do a quickie makeup job, for the most part I know that concern was silly. But what about a third child? A third bed to make, a third set of laundry to do, a third set of dishes, a third body to groom, slather sunscreen on and battle into dress? If there's one thing that I learned in having Dash, it is that adding a child doesn't multiply the responsibilities, it upps them exponentially.

And then, I had to stop writing for a while. Dash was sleepy and demanded my arms to snuggle in. And has he dozed off, snuggled into my chest, I remembered all the wonderful moments when he and Fin were tiny and fit in the crook of my arm. When I started to doze myself, lulled by happy gurgles of contentment and the delicious smell of new baby. And I felt ready.