I'm enjoying...

Here's another post that I started writing the week before the baby was born (on January 5)--then I got a little sidetracked--and I just now finished writing it.  I figured it was worth publishing since I spent so much time on it.  :-)  So, for your information, here are some things I was enjoying the week before C was born... most of which I'm still enjoying!!


I'm enjoying the help of friendly and generous preschool friends and mommies who have been walking N into and out of school this week so I don't have to carry L up and down the stairs.  It was just about the cutest thing in the world to watch N crossing the street holding the strong and protective hand of her buddy Josh on Thursday (remember when he gave her a "pushy kiss" on Halloween?)

I'm enjoying looking back on a "babymoon" weekend alone with my husband.  Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa, M and I had a few days last weekend to get our house in order and ready for baby, cross items off the to-do list, and more importantly, just relax and enjoy each other's company.  I recently read this blog post where the blogger compared late-night chats in bed with her husband to "a slumber party with your best friend"... and I feel so blessed, not only to be married to my best friend, but that we had this time together.  Don't get me wrong, we love our children and really missed them by the end of our separation... but at the same time we really appreciated time to have some decent conversations without being interrupted or distracted!

I'm enjoying L's new skill of asking questions.  She'll wander into the room while I'm doing something and nonchalantly ask "What should we play, Mama?" (or, in L-speak, "Wha we pay, Mama?") as a way of getting me to play with her.  Or she'll ask this when she first wakes up in the morning.  She's also keeping tabs on everybody's location: "Where N go?" or "Where Daddy go?" or "Mama where are you?" (which sounds like, "Mama whayo?")

I'm enjoying our little "living room makeover" that we accomplished while the girls were away:

It's not much, but I feel like we spruced up the room a little.  The toy organizer was a gift from Grandma & Grandpa for Christmas, and I think it's a big improvement over the disorganized and overflowing wicker basket that we were using as a toy box before.  We hung some pictures of the girls that I've been hanging onto for a while, and purchased a new cushion for our Ikea Poang chair.  (The white predecessor of this red cushion was purchased before we had kids... and it was stained to the point of being extremely embarrassing.  I think the new red one goes along well with the kid-colored theme of the room, don't you?  Plus, it was on sale.)  There's still plenty to be done, like replacing the lamp shade that got broken on the lamp in the corner... but I'm learning to be satisfied with baby steps and unfinished projects these days.

I'm enjoying N's latest artistic achievements (this girl is SO drawn to artwork and crafts... she sits for hours practicing her drawing):

She drew this one after we watched an old episode of Mister Rogers in which he visits Marc Brown's studio.  Marc Brown (the author of the Arthur books) gave the viewers a quick tutorial on how to draw Arthur, and N absorbed every word.  Above is her attempt... pretty good for a 3-year-old, I'd say?

Above is one of the typical "prince and princess" drawings that we see quite a bit of these days.

I thought this one was clever... N called it "Cookie Monster's Grandma".  You see her in the middle, surrounded by some friends.

This one is a family portrait.  Daddy is on the left (that's a bow tie on his belly), N is in the middle, and Mama is on the right (she very carefully drew my ponytail).  I think L is the head up above us.  What I liked most is that we all have rosy cheeks.

I'm enjoying N's perspective on the whole experience of attending Grammie's funeral.  We tried to explain things to her as well as we could, but she still had lots of questions, which is to be expected I suppose.  Her preschool teacher told me that she came into school the next day and explained her experience at the funeral this way: "My Great Grammie got old, and she was very tired.  So her spirit went up to heaven and they put her in a wedding box in the ground."  (She called the casket a "wedding box" because it was so beautifully decorated with flowers.)  The other day here at home, N decided to play a game she called "heaven"-- she would lay peacefully in a box and say, "I'm going to heaven to be with God."  From an adult perspective, it sounds morbid, but it actually warmed my heart that she viewed the whole thing in such a positive light.  It's just one of those wonderful, simple things only a child could dream up.

I'm enjoying the fact that we have a freezer full of meals for after the baby comes-- something I did not expect to have time to do.  Before N and L were born, I froze a full month of meals using Mimi Wilson's Once A Month Cooking.  Even though this book makes freezer cooking really easy with meal plans and shopping lists already prepared, December was such a busy time for us that I couldn't set aside the three full days it usually takes me to shop for, prep, and cook a full month of meals.  But while the girls were at Grandma's I managed to put together a smaller-scale freezer cook, so we now have 10 meals in our freezer awaiting the arrival of Baby 3.  I used some of my own recipes that I know freeze well, but I also used a lot from Passionate Homemaking-- particularly from her tips on freezer cooking and some from her crockpot carnival as well.  You should check it out if you're interested in freezer cooking, or just as a good resource for easy, nutritious meals.

I hope you're enjoying life these days, too!