Now that we’ve survived potty-training bootcamp, I’ll be back to blogging. Thanks for your patience. The hiatus was quite worthwhile.

chasing a crazy, giggly girl.

watching a sweet boy nap in the grass.

holding my guy’s hand.

cool breeze.

warm sun.

life is good.

(please excuse the cell phone pics)

Ten of my favorite aspects of not-trying-to-juggle-a-million-things living:

• Casey is now proficient in Penelope-talk, and only very rarely requires a translator.
• We eat together.. and even cook together, sometimes.
• That nagging “there is something else I should be doing” feeling has disappeared.
• (Exhausted)Casey took a nap and didn’t wake up stressed.
• Family day trips, and even a couple of overnight trips, are on the horizon.
• I get to see my guy love on our kids every single morning.
• Date night is never cut short by a looming quiz or paper.
• We have time to talk about fantastical plans for the future.
• We take long walks in the middle of the day.
• We can stop and laugh, excitement in our eyes, when we realize he only has one more year to go.

because outside it’s only 19 degrees…

the snowy village manor..

another favorite passtime is somersaults. i use this term with the loosest definition possible… you’ll see what i mean when you watch:

general silliness:

her pretty dance. this is the tame version, but she is still pretty shy about dancing for the camera:

…and in baby news:

well, the good news is that baby is doing great! unfortunately, though, i’m measuring the same as i did at  40 weeks with penelope. normally this wouldn’t matter, but because of the extra stress this is putting on the scar from my previous c-section, it means a vbac is becoming less likely. under typical circumstances a vbac has very minimal risk, but certain factors can make it less safe.. including induction, which would be the other logical alternative. while a repeat c-section isn’t our first choice, we’re both really thankful that the safest option is becoming more obvious. if nothing changes in the next week or so, we’re looking at a 2/5 birthday!

yeah. that’s two weeks from friday. (insert freak out here)

the hospital has been working on their wireless internet for patients, so we’re hoping to live-blog again this time, and keep everyone up to speed on that day. there are gender bets that need to be settled, after all :).

…and in casey news:

classes start next week! he’s taking hebrew syntax and exegesis, hermeneutics, and worship leadership. this schedule keeps him on track for a summer ’11 graduation date. can you believe it?! of course, it looks like there is more school up next.. but at least we’re already in that mode.

okay. i planned to write more, but i am officially out of steam. baby is already wearing me out :)

it’s gotten to the point where i am SO behind, i don’t even know where to start. a few persistent (and far away) family members have threatened my life inspired me to get blogging again. i’ll just start with the most recent and fill in the gaps here and there.

casey’s school puts on a huge fall festival every year. it’s for the entire seminary community, and everything is free. penelope and i had a blast.

check out her FIRST lollipop:

so i put it in my mouth?

(processing)

where have you been all my life?!?

at the end of the night, she was a very sticky girl. but i digress.

the carousel was also new territory. she was very contemplative, and not sure what to make of it. had she ridden it a second time, i think she would’ve enjoyed it.

at sunset they handed out little glowsticks, turned out all the lights, and started the fireworks show. penelope is one brave kid– she loved the show! not as much as glowsticks, however, which she still hasn’t parted with. they are lifeless clear tubes, and she still plays with them.

and that’s that. we came home, she took the best bath ever (glowsticks included), and collapsed into a pile of exhaustion. such a fun night.

this video was taken at approximately 11pm a couple nights ago. i thought she had successfully made the switch when she was sleepy at around 730pm. i put her down. she woke up a few hours later wanting a snack and thinking she had just had a really great nap. i enjoyed her silly mood and started over the next day…

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on another happy note, i am beginning to feel better! i was hesitant to celebrate, as this is MUCH earlier than last time around… but an ultrasound today confirmed that everything is progressing as it should, and still, i’m  hardly sick at all. i’m often tired, but i have quite the appetite. after all, i have some weight loss to make up for.

in case you doubt :pregnant confession warning: casey just made me clam linguini at 11pm. and it was definitely my second dinner of the evening.

okay. back to the ultrasound. baby lemon seems to be VERY laid back. s/he was mellow, cozy, and couldn’t be bothered with such trivialities as stretching out to be measured. baby preferred to tuck a single arm behind his/her head, and curl up comfortably. case & i were both a little nervous at the start of the ultrasound.. because we were accustomed to seeing a firecracker jump and dance around (read: penelope) and didn’t know that it was okay for baby to be sleepy. we have one picture, but no real way to get it on the computer right now. it isn’t very exciting anyway… kind of like… yep… there’s a head, and there’s a body. the 20 week scan should be much more photogenic.

since this pregnancy has been dramatically different than last time (more intense sickness, but for a seemingly shorter time) we’re both thinking boy now. we’ve finally settled on a (sorry, surprise) name for either gender, and since i love them both so much, i feel more prepared for either. . something about having that name to attach makes a baby so much more endearing. the tech was pretty excited that we’re going for a delivery room surprise.

okay. so apparently this is a long post. since i haven’t blogged at all in the month of august, i suppose you all had it coming ;).

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casey started school today. this semester he is taking hebrew (intro), history (baptist), and galations (greek exegesis). the hebrew class is pretty much going to kill him, so i’m glad he’s getting it out of the way before baby comes. apparently the professor is a bit like a drill sergeant, who eases up in later semesters. this morning he spent the whole class period saying “if you are doing _______ while trying to take this class, you might as well just drop  it now.” many students looked afraid for their lives.

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MY MOM IS COMING TOMORROW. i’m super excited. we moved the day before we left for california, and hadn’t unpacked a single thing. you know those shows where people confess to being pack rats? yeah, that’s what my apartment looked like when we got back from california. just what you want to see after spending all day wrangling a toddler on a plane… while pregnant. needlesstosay, reinforcements are kindly welcomed. i can’t wait to see her. i feel a little like we’re somehow cheating… we just got back from california, and i don’t even have to get homesick before i get a visit from mom. sweet.

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i have quite a few pictures to upload from our trip… it was a wonderful, refreshing, restful time. just what we needed. we spent lots of time relaxing, a bit of time exploring la with friends who had never been, and loved being around family. it had been 7 months since we had last gone home.. entirely too long! i’ll work on getting the pictures posted throughout this week.

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i have a list of crafts i want to start that is about a mile long. i think it is time to reinstate some sort of craft night. once we settle into our semester routine, i’ll send out an email and get it started :). i feel like i’ve been isolated for so long! too much time spent on the bathroom floor the past couple of months, i’d say. time to remedy that. and see people. i’m excited :)

okay. this is reaching epic-novel length… and none of it is epic-novel worthy.. so i better just stop. go watch that video again. it’ll redeem my rambling..