While we wait...

My mom flew in on Tues. to help us with the new baby. Ever since she bought her tickets. I've been saying Wed. would be the perfect day to deliver. That's a week before my due date, which is when I had the other two. But, Wed. came & went with no baby. Even though a due date is technically an "Estimated date of delivery", the closer it gets, the harder it is not to think of it like a library due date... the exact date an item must be received before penalties apply!

So, while we've been waiting, we've had some fun adventures with the kids (pics. below), taken lots of long walks to encourage contractions, and made a soft fleece cover for the infant car seat. (I've never been fond of the original cover design, but was pleased how our car seat makeover turned out. I'm also including a picture of the cute diaper cake that inspired the design.)

Here's to hoping my next blog post includes a happy delivery story!

Machiavelli Mom

What I worry about most with baby #3 is that as parents, we will be outnumbered. Having studied political science, we understand that demographics can affect the balance of power. The more the peasants outnumber the ruling elite, the greater risk of revolution & chaos.

What, then is our strategy for maintaining authority and order? Well, Machiavelli would recommend a careful balance between being merciful, but firm and being generous, but not overly generous thus breeding greed among the subjects. So, we appease them enough to avoid a complete revolt, but don't appease them to the point of undermining our authority.

So, in philosophical terms, we have a sound strategy.

However, I still worry about how to appease 3 crying children when I only have 2 arms to hold them with. Good thing lollipops are effective at appeasing the oldest... I may have to offer that when my arms are full. More cavities to fill, perhaps, but hopefully most revolts may be circumvented. We'll report on our efforts to maintain the balance of power after baby is here. In the meantime, wish us luck!

"No, MY cake!"

Miss H is 2- and I mean VERY 2. Since she is the world's biggest bunny fanatic (notice her bunny goes with her to NY, the potty, and everywhere else) we decided to make a bunny cake. D helped me decorate it, but when he was feeling it to see if it was cool enough to frost, she declared, "No, MY cake!" She's definitely into the possessive toddler phase.

Today was one of the warmest we've had in a while, so we took the kids swimming this evening. We had a fun time celebrating.

1st Day of School

D started kindergarten today. He was so excited to get on the school bus! We were all so big and brave- Mommy & Daddy didn't even cry (though the bus driver did give us some knowing looks).

We know he'll absolutely LOVE school, so that makes us excited for him. Miss H keeps saying "I 'ant bus too!" She'll be joining him before we know it. These little people grow too fast!

Potty Parties!

Miss H loves the potty! She has no idea what to do on it (other than sing songs, read books, let us applaud her, get stickers, and then have fun making soap bubbles on her hands afterwards). In other words, the POTTY is a PARTY any 2 yr-old would love! We are hoping if she likes it, she'll use it.

Unfortunately, it's primary function has not yet been discovered. But when it is, mommy & daddy will be the ones who feel like throwing a party.

It's a...

Today we had an ultrasound (we are at 30 weeks- baby due to arrive late Sept. or early Oct.) & the midwife is fairly certain we are having a boy! We are still a little disbelieving, since we felt so strongly like it was a girl & our "gut instinct" record was 2-for-2 so far.
D is really excited- he was hoping for a brother! We got clearer pictures of the baby's cute face than between the legs, so while we're not certain of the gender, we are certain it's cute...

NY Trip

These pictures are from our trip last month to Palmyra, NY, a significant place in the history of our faith (click here to learn more about the basic beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints).
We had so much fun. We visited Niagra Falls, stayed in a cabin on one of the finger lakes, & were able to go to the temple in Palmyra. The kids loved playing with cousins. We were thrilled that they didn't try to pet the skunks we saw and that the weather was so beautiful. Also, D turned 5 that week.