We’ve had major commitments/events each weekend for the past several weeks. It was so. so. nice to just lounge around this morning, without a schedule.

Here’s a quick update:

• I’m into the third trimester. Just under 10 weeks to go. This pregnancy has flown by – working lots of hours in the office, coming home to care for two little ones, and navigating life alongside a really cool husband – my days are full, that’s for sure. It’s a crazy arrangement, but we’re making it work.
• Baby is wonderfully active.
• His room is coming along nicely. I’ve never really set up a nursery before – it’s fun!
• We enrolled Penelope in a preschool for the fall. It’s set up to accommodate all kinds of kids, has a great teacher to student ratio, and is really close to home. She actually got the last spot. This is a huge, huge blessing! I got a little emotional imagining her gone three mornings a week, but we hope it could be really good for her. And I’m looking forward to a few mornings with Arthur while baby naps – the second kid just doesn’t get as much one-on-one time, so I think we’ll both really enjoy it.
• Speaking of Arthur, that kid is chatty… and incredibly intuitive socially.  He’s like a miniature person, holding these real, meaningful conversations. Sometimes I don’t know what to make of it. I’m thankful, and I enjoy him immensely, but it’s hard to see him pass up his older sister. When I see him helping her communicate, alerting her that someone is trying to ask her a question, or even just encouraging her to notice what’s around her, my heart swells with gratitude for such a sweet, sweet brother for her. Then he usually pushes her over and starts pinching her or something… just to bring me back to reality. But there are those moments, you know?

There’s more, to be sure, but I’ve got this uncontrollable urge to go sew some flannel burp cloths. I can’t explain it, but I really need to sign off now.

In the barn. We’re not sure what started this…

Or where she picked up so many sweet moves…

But it is pretty fun.

Even if it is the same melody over. and. over. again.

Every. Single. Day. (A theme from Dvorak’s symphony number 9)

She changes the words, though. And changes instruments sometimes, too.

Arthur claps for her. Every time. And she beams. He’s a really good brother that way.

So yeah, like I said, we’ve been seeing some awesome shows lately.

2011  easter/barn photos

Arthur is in a real bed. And he’s doing so well with it.

But trying to take a picture of him at bedtime is only asking for trouble. He hams it up so intensely that (1) I can’t get an acceptable picture and (2) he’s not tired anymore. That’s a really dumb combination. No picture, non-sleeping kid.

So tonight I when I peeked in on him, sleeping so peacefully, I decided to try again.

Um.

My first attempt looked like this:

Have I ever told you how much I hate flash? How it makes just about any image ugly and two-dimensional? So instead of learning how to use flash properly (or investing in more equipment), I relegate myself to natural light. It suits my photography taste much better anyway.

But you see. In this situation I had to do something.

So I (gag) engaged my flash:

The resulting image made me wretch. Ick. Ick. Ick. And he flinched. Waking a sleeping kid is almost as bad as revving up a sleepy one. Again, for a lackluster image. That’s dumb.

but I couldn’t give up.

So I went out to the living room, did a quick scan for options, and grabbed a white cotton prefold from the laundry that needs folding. (Um. I mean from the folded pile of laundry in a basket just waiting to go upstairs. I do not have a pile of unfolded laundry on my couch. Ever. It’s always spotless here, only my friend has a mess).

So I composed my shot, let the autofocus do its magic, and then placed the prefold in front of the flash when it engaged. I’m sure there is a proper tool to get the same effect, and I’d probably feel pretty silly if someone saw me using a prefold to deflect my flash, but let’s be honest – I’m not going to spend money on flash stuff instead of lens stuff, and my kids have seen me do way stranger things than holding a cloth diaper in the air. Besides, they were both sleeping.

And the results were good enough for me. Not perfect, of course, but definitely good enough:

(straight out of the camera)

So there you have it, your classy photography advice for the day. Or night, rather.

favorites:

• taquitos (sometimes it’s the first thing he asks for when he wakes up)
• puppies
• DUCKS
• tractors
• trash trucks
• jumping off of things
• obtaining bruises, scrapes, and goose eggs at every opportunity

not so much favorites:

• baths, showers, water in general
• being left with a sitter (random new separation anxiety)
• getting his hair cut
• watching television
• vegetables

we’re so glad he’s our kid.

Apparently too much for me to write about? I’m usually one to do a lot of processing here, in writing, but I just couldn’t quite get there.

I think it’s been a long enough break. So time for some catching up:

1. We went to Mexico City at the end of October and it was amazing. Not because it’s a super glamorous place, or made our hearts go pitter-patter, but because we both felt deeply that it was the place we had been praying about. And the partnership.

2. I didn’t bring my real camera, because I hadn’t quite figured out what it would be like to care for my kids well in that crazy mega-city, and thought it best to be undistracted by things like aperture and shutter speed. Little did I know, the lack of those options could be equally distracting! I have some pictures, and I’ll post several… but they leave something to be desired.

2. Penelope loved Mexico. She still thanks God for the “orange train” nearly every night.

3. Arthur hated it. In an all-consuming, unhappiest-we’ve-ever-seen-him kind of way. But when we came back, he hated California for a full 2 weeks too, so we think it may have just been a phase.

4. After Mexico City, I increased my hours at work to help another department. It meant cool things like a raise and benefits, all while my kiddos are napping in the afternoon, but you know… that’s a couple less hours in my day. Life is a little busier, but not in a bad way.

5. Next up came an evaluation having to do with our little girl. We still haven’t wrestled through what it looks like to respect her privacy, and still be transparent about our lives, but we’re working on it. We learned a lot about our quirky (ahem. awesome) Penelope, and some unique challenges that she’ll have… just in the way she’s knit together. It’s the kind of thing we need to dive headfirst in to – gathering info, figuring out what kind of support and help is going to benefit her most, and what that means for our family. Our kind and compassionate missions agency agrees. They want us to put everything related to support-raising on hold for six-months. They were kind and quick to reassure us that we are 100% part of the reach global family, and they want to support us through this journey – but that it’s most important at this point to take care of sweet Penelope.

6. Number 5 is really, very hard for us. But we’re learning (again, and again) to trust. And hope. And wait. Pray with us?

7. Then came Thanksgiving. At just the right time, truly. We shared a meal in the barn, and then played shuffleboard in our hallway. Obviously.

8. At the beginning of this month, Casey finished the final lap of his degree. Oh the sweet, sweet feeling of completion. He technically graduated yesterday. There was much dancing in the streets.

9. Now we prep for Christmas. Isn’t this just the best time of year?

10. Why you all check this thing – pictures of the kids. Here’s a random smattering:

The compound pumpkin carving contest. We attempted (successfully) to bribe the judge. Yes!

barn shuffleboard: first edition

turkey table

zoo trip

stirring some dry beans very seriously.

Look for a full newsletter later this week, and more regular blog updates!