happy about blue

Don't think this room could get any more blue. You would think that after having two boys I would go for a more interesting color combination for the third, but blue just always seems right to me. I am very physically ready for this baby-I think I have enough gas drops and infant Tylenol for a year- but mentally may be a different story. I watched TLC this afternoon and caught "A Baby Story" and basically found myself cringing at the labor scenes. I seem to have a mental block with names and I haven't even had the time to keep up on my kiegels. I find myself asking him who he is already, I guess so I have a jump on the situation. But this must be the story with having a third. I am just not going to be as prepared because life is just happening. Things were much slower/quieter(in my brain) when I had Asher, I had down time to consider all aspects of the pregnancy and I even felt like I knew him before he ever arrived. Now it is just marathon mama and the rug rats race every day. This baby is sure to fall into step(let's hope), he's had nine months of training already. I was even certain this winter he was probably inutero trying to get his hat and coat on because it had to be all he heard from me :) I guess I shouldn't worry about all the details I like to try and control. I'll just find peace in the fact that he will be adding to all the joy already present in his own surprising ways. Oh-and getting him out is going to hurt no matter how my brain feels about it.

after

Everything in the babies room is done-totally ready for his arrival. Things are washed, folded, organized and plugged in. I love the chest, it is the perfect height and the storage space works perfectly. I have included pictures just to prove my OCD :) More pictures of the room tomorrow.

weekend review

After a couple of days of not feeling very well, Holden was finally up to his usual shenanigans by Thursday. This is a mom confession that can just stay between you and me-sometimes it is a welcome break when my kids are sick(especially my 5 year old). He was feeling too awful to fight with his brother, he took a long nap, I didn't have to cook for him, we didn't argue over him having one more cookie, and the only activity I had to plan was movies. I felt pretty good myself by Thursday, not nearly as exhausted as usual :)

Friday was in the mid 80s if you can believe that. The boys spent the afternoon running through the sprinklers at Michael's house. I hope your not blinded by those white bodies! Michael is Asher's favorite friend. I feel so fortunate to have him right across the street. It gives Asher the freedom to be someone other than just a little brother.

On Saturday Todd literally pulled out the dead tree in our yard. He called it a white trash hit and run. Most adult homeowners hire someone to take out the stump. Not my husband-he brings a Mack truck, with a 53 foot flatbed trailer and a forklift into our small neighborhood, ties a chain around the stump and pulls it out. All the while blocking traffic with the truck, our dog is running around like a complete clown, the kids are standing out in the rain cheering, and all our neighbors are probably feeling pretty scared(if they weren't they should be). We grew up in perfectly nice homes, not the trailer park, but sometimes you may wonder by what is going on at our house. Todd loves any opportunity to bring trucks home. If he could he would probably park some rusty piece of @%*# in the driveway and admire it all the while. We will own a truck someday, it's inevitable, but I think we better own a house out in the country first.

The same husband who loves his trucks also has a soft spot for mama birds. It rained all weekend and Todd was adamant about protecting mama on her eggs(she laid a total of four perfect blue ones). First we had to block her nest with chairs so the dog wouldn't bother her, than the lid from the sandbox was wedged in to protect her from the wind, and the plastic table cloth positioned on top to keep her dry. Now, as a mother who is about to have a baby herself I should be more than sympathetic to this wonderful event in nature, but pretty soon I want my grill back!

Happy Earth Day

My little nature boy has the stomach flu on what is one of his favorite holidays-Earth Day. He has become quite the environmentalist and I am extremely proud of him. He has always loved animals and the outdoors, and recently he has become much more aware of his earthly surroundings. He always grabs a bag to collect litter on our walks around the neighborhood, he encourages his little brother to turn out the lights, and he is really interested in what he can recycle. His preschool teacher is certainly doing a great job in encouraging all these interests. She has placed a compost bin of red worms in the classroom. These worms are garbage eating machines-anything from egg shells to denim.

We have been watching a mama Robin build her nest in the bottom of our grill. She worked hard for several days and this morning she left us a little Earth Day surprise. One perfect egg. Isn't that egg the most amazing blue. wow!

One man's garbage

Is Holden's treasure! This is the box that has become the catch all for his "collections". My goal this spring is to have a couple shelves hung in their room for the more precious treasure that Holden brings home(mostly from the depths of Grammy and PaPa's basement). Then some sort of storage system in the closet so each boy has a spot for the things he feels deserve a special place -you know things like twigs, blue rubber bands, wads of paper, lint they can't part with etc...

There are some things that I have surrendered to in motherhood: never having the weekend off, interrupted sleep, abrupt goodbyes to your best friends on the telephone, speed shopping at the mall, doing laundry every day, cleaning toilets(almost) every day, ponytails and sharing all your chocolate treats.
But there is one thing I am unwilling to do as a mother and that is boy proof my house. This is much different than baby proofing the house as that is about safely which is very important. Boy proofing would be not having decorative pillows on your couch because they are thrown on the ground every 5 seconds and used as ammunition against a sibling. Boy proofing would be not having a single lamp(surely not one made of glass) because a shoe may go flying across the room. Boy proofing would not allow a single plant in your house because the dirt in the pot would end up being used for a geological dig.
I was sitting in "my spot" the other morning when Asher came over and proceeded to poke a hole in my square storage ottoman with his plastic sword. Well....thank you very much Mr. Asher. I am now on the hunt for a round decorative tray to place on said ottoman and turn it into a side table. I WILL NOT surrender my spot, my love of flowers, or my decorating goals for any of you little rascals. Ends up that I like the room better now. I moved my green chest into the ottomans place to use it as a coffee table, put a fresh arrangement of flowers on it(has been there three days-how long will it take to be karate chopped off?)and now "my spot" is even cozier than before. HA!

major gripe

As if holes in the knees of every pair of jeans isn't enough

sunshine

The weather has been awful here lately, but today is sunny before what is supposed to be a snowy/rainy/cold weekend. A visit to the Easter Bunny with these two happy guys this afternoon at least made my heart warm even if the rest of me isn't. Won't we all be feeling better when spring ACTUALLY arrives.