Wordless Wednesday

August Day Book

Joining in on The Simple Woman's Daybook today.

FOR TODAY

Outside my window... are some really dark clouds, even though it's quite sunny out.

I am thinking...about everything I need to do between now and December for this baby, and the kids.

I am thankful...that my husband keeps me grounded.  I'd probably be a little bit insane if he didn't.

In the kitchen...are cans of white beans for white bean chicken chili.  Dinner should be delicious tonight!

I am wearing...my pajamas.  Go ahead, judge me!

I am creating...lots of knit items for the baby.

I am going...to finish a skirtie today, and start a soaker after that.

I am wondering...how I can go about improving my home without spending lots of money.

I am reading...The Birth Book by William and Martha Sears, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

I am hoping...the weather doesn't get too hot.

I am looking forward to...everything Fall.

I am learning...how to do a Picot Edge bind off.

Around the house...needs a vacuum.

I am pondering...learning to quilt.  Or at least improving my sewing skills.

A favorite quote for today... “Your body is not a lemon!” by Ina May Gaskin

One of my favorite things... feeling the baby move and kick around.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Laundry.

A peek into my day...

Here I am!

Ok, I know, I know.  I keep disappearing.  Hard not to really, life was just far too busy with everyone home for summer, and being sick and hot and well...just not in the best of moods for a good chunk of the summer.  But, despite all that, we did have a good summer.  From May until now, we went to Connecticut to see Florence and the Machine (great concert, but not fun traveling just as my morning sickness hit hard.), New York City, The Great Sacandaga Lake (camp), lots of trips to Albany (Midwife!), and trips to Rochester (Museum of Play and a new car), and spent lots of time in our cheap little intex pool (which sadly, has bit the dust after 2 years.)  There were races, and lots of fun in the sun.

NYC

But this week, John went back to teaching, and Liam's preschool classes began.  Next week, Lilia starts Kindergarten (Can you believe it?!) and I will have nice peaceful mornings to myself, if I can manage to climb out of bed before 11:30.  Yes, I know, that sounds so awful.  I don't know what's up, but this pregnancy has me exhausted in the morning.  Hopefully, back to school for everyone else though means some sort of sense of normalcy returning to my life.  Or at least some sort of routine where kids aren't underfoot!

So, with less to distract me, I'm hoping to update more often again.  I mean, it's not like I don't have stuff to talk about...It's September, my favorite season on the way, a new baby, Christmas, Birthdays and hockey season.  Well, hopefully hockey season.  If there's a lockout, you might get a few crying posts.  And with Pinterest filling my head with ideas on how to organize and prepare for the baby, well...we're in for some good times.

Speaking of baby, things are going really well.  I had my 20 week scan a few weeks ago.  As of today, I'm 22 weeks, 2 days.  My placenta is actually in front this time around, so it took a lot longer to be able to feel the baby kick than the previous two.  But I'm feeling almost every little movement now it seems, and with that comes a feeling of well being.

Camp

We did find out the gender, and while I posted it in comments on Facebook, I don't think I ever made an official announcement.  So here it is now...the next A little bit me baby is a sweet baby girl.  I was super excited by this news- knitting stuff for a girl is just more fun, as is shopping for girls, LOL.  With Lilia, we still stuck to a lot of gender neutrals for our basic stuff and nursery decor, so this time I'm leaning more towards pinking stuff up.  Actually, I'm leaning to purpling things up, but same difference.  Lilia is super excited to have a baby sister on the way.  Probably doesn't help that she sees all the little girly stuff we've bought (or plan to buy), and can't wait to play with them herself.

So there we have it.  Life is good, even if baby girl here is quite low and making a pillow and bed out of my bladder and pelvic floor.  I'm looking forward to the next 18 or so weeks.  Saying 18 weeks really makes it feel like that's far away, doesn't it?

Happy Half-Birthday!

Lilia was born 2 days after Christmas, so sometimes it seems like her birthday gets lost in the chaos of the holidays.  Particularly this year, when she was going to the parties of her class mates, and talking about having her own party.  We had decided many years ago that we'd do a half-birthday party type thing, in the warm weather.

This was the first year we actually went through with it.  It was a fun time, albeit stressful, trying to get stuff done in 90º weather.  But I'd say Lilia had a good time, as did her guests.

I tried to keep it simple.  Really, I just wanted the kids to have fun.  I tried to not focus on decorations "too" much.  In one corner of the yard, I set up a cheap bubble machine that had some pretty positive reviews.  For 12.99, it worked really well.

 I also wanted the kids to keep cool.  So I set up both a sprinkler, and a kiddy pool, although that was supposed to be for a little "pick a duck" game with prizes.  By the time guests arrived, Liam had already crawled in, threw out the ducks and was swimming happily.  At least he was cool!

 I attempted to do a little streamer fun on my clothes line, which looked really nice, until the wind picked up.  Ah well...

 The kids wanted to feed the chickens.  Not gonna say no to that.

 Pin the Bow on Hello Kitty.  Fairly sure Lilia could see, because she got it right on the money.

 Lilia picked a Hello Kitty cake.  I think this is her favorite part of a birthday party, more than opening presents.  You gotta love that big blob of green frosting....

Piñata time.  They wanted to beat it with the bat, despite it being a pull string (Is that all they make nowadays?)  Each kid got a turn, and it fell off the rope before it broke open.  Eventually we had them all grab the strings and rip it open.  It was quite carnivorous.

 The candy aftermath.  The poor Candy never stood a chance.

In the end, we caved, and let the kids in the pool.  It was just too hot, and they were all really good.  And it was a nice to end the party, for them at least.  I think I was ready to pass out from the heat and the cake.  I think once everyone left, I floated in the pool for an hour, and then slept on the couch for an hour.  But I had a happy half-birthday girl, and little brother, and happy guests.  So it was a great success.

June Daybook

Life is busy, so I thought I'd just slow down today with The Simple Woman's Daybook.

FOR TODAY

Outside my window... the sun is slowly setting, and the wind is finally calming.

I am thinking... about everything that needs to be done tomorrow, about my growing belly and my blood sugars.

I am thankful... for my husband, who keeps me grounded.

In the kitchen... is a clean area, with dishes done, counters washed, and no junk piling up.

I am wearing... my hair in a pony tail, with my bangs hanging down.  I always seem to revert back to wearing my hair up...

I am creating... a new life...sort of scary every time I think about it.

I am going... to attempt to assemble a bike tonight, once the kids are in bed.

I am wondering... if it's an easy job or if I'll be cursing by the end of the night.

I am reading... Ina May's Guide to Childbirth again.  Refresher.

I am hoping... that this pregnancy is healthy.

I am looking forward to... baby kicks.  I'm so busy, I feel a little detached from this pregnancy.  Flutters and kicks will help me bond with the life inside me.

I am learning... to reduce my sugars as much as possible.  It's not as easy as it sounds. :(

Around the house... almost every room except bedrooms are clean clean clean! I haven't seen my house this clean in a long time.

I am pondering... going out and taking the laundry off the clothes line.  I should probably do this... *edited to add that someone already did this for me. I'm super lucky.*

A favorite quote for today... "Mommy, why aren't you resting?"  Liam, asking me that after I took a 10 minute nap.

One of my favorite things... watching the kids play with their dad.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Lilia's half-birthday party.  Survive that, and the rest of the week should be fine.

A peek into my day...

Who needs a new rug?

When we moved into the house almost 2 years ago, I was a little wary of the fact that our living room carpet was cream colored.  Two kids, a cat and a light colored carpet...not a good combination.  After all this time of scrubbing out stains by hand, and it really never getting it clean, I bought a SteamVac finally.  I thought this particular one had the best reviews, and was totally affordable.  It was actually only $134 when I ordered it.

So I finally used it today, and I cannot believe how well it worked.  I did a little pre-treatment with some generic carpet cleaner.  I used hot water straight from my tea kettle, mixed with the hottest tap water I could get and a Deep Cleaning solution.  And then I went to work...

Halfway done, and the difference is AMAZING.

I'd have to say this is the best "investment" I've made yet.  It was so worth it and I'm so happy we decided to buy this rather than renting one, or buying new rugs.  I keep walking into my living room and just gaping at how clean it looks.  I want to roll on it and sniff it.  And bar the kids from ever entering it again.

And now I can comfortable think about placing a baby on the floor without shuddering.

Wordless Wednesday