Happy Father's Day

To these awesome dads!

 

Thank you Evans for all of your hard work around here! We love you very very much and are very proud of you!! Diddy-we had so much fun beaching yesterday look forward to many upcoming  boating trips. And Pop-Pop, I like Auntie Snags's words. :)  Love Em, Van, Jeanie, Johnis, and Soph

The Boat and These Kids!

This weekend we enjoyed our first family boat ride!! We are so excited about our upcoming boating adventures. Kids + water + boat + beach = you cannot go wrong!

We spent some time wrangling Jeanie on the boat (she is feisty and independent!) and she was not a big fan of the life jacket. We could not even get her swim diaper and bathing suit on before she took off in her romper. Hello sandy bottom/belly/mouth/hair.

 One thing we have yet to master is the vacation + sleep scenario. We stayed in a hotel with a suite and after we put the kids to bed (after a LONG, FUN, HOT day outdoors AND an evening music festival with little napping). Instead of passing out as expected, they chatted until 10:00 PM.

Van kept coming to us saying: "Come listen to Jeanie talk! She is telling me something funny..." Then we'd hear him giggle and her babble even more. We'd peak into the bedroom and Jeanie's head would be popped up over her pack-n-play animatedly expressing something to Van who was lying on his belly, vertically across the bed, head-to-head with Jeanie. We couldn't help but laugh and think "oh well... at least we can all sleep in tomorrow..."

We were up with the sunrise to say the least, but that's okay when you get to wake up to a sleepy head who smells like leftover sunscreen:

and another boat ride!!

Part two of this post pertains to my first week with BOTH children in some sort of preschool/camp. A note to moms everywhere who have not yet experienced this phenomenon: The grass is not always greener!! I read a NY Times article this past week advocating for better quality childcare so that women could more comfortably adjust to working (in an office or in their job at home). After our experiences this week, I am not confident that I could have gone to an office job with the arrangements we made. My flexibility and availability were pertinent to this week of school.

Both of the kids are in highly-regarded church programs (I am very confident of their safety and extremely impressed by their nurturing, loving teachers and grateful for the ability to enroll them in school) but not a single day went smoothly for either child this week. Both are protesting big time and I ended up with both kids at home a couple days. I know it takes time to adjust, but at the moment I feel like having them at home with me is easier (easy?? remind me I said this in a few weeks).

Anyway, it has been endearing to watch Van coach Jeanie about school.

He is such a charm. The other night at dinner he asked (as usual): "MOM-how many more bites do I have to eat to get dessert?" ME: At least two bites of everything on your plate. To which he held up two fingers, bent at the knuckles and said: "Could I do two half-bites like this instead of two big bites?"

Stinker.

 

 Jeanie told me the other day after her nap: "Mommy, walk-milk-snack-book" (her favorite combo).

And she calls Barbie above "La-La."

As a little caveat, I will confess--while they have been in school, I have had a little time to cook, gone to the grocery store solo, started sewing Jeanie a dress, and got to arrange some of our yard's hydrangeas in a ginger jar.

And spend some dear time with this long lost pal...(who loves to snuggle while I nap!)

We have "the big" ultrasound next week. Here's hoping I can hang on to my intent to not discover the gender of baby #3! :)

Memorial Day

This week I 180'd from the dregs of morning sickness into the ravenous abyss of pregnancy hunger! Thank goodness for homemade meatballs, fried chicken, devilled eggs, and the deliciousness of summery cookout food. I am so glad to be feeling better just in time for summer. Van is still drumming with/on anything he can find. His latest song discovery is OCMS's "Wagon Wheel" and has mastered "HEEEEEEY MAMA ROCK ME..." I can listen to this one on repeat for a while :)

Jean-Margaret is quite the talker. Some of her words include: milk, up, book, that, cookie, and lots and lots of jibberish.

We enjoyed an entire weekend outdoors and are looking forward to our first boat trip this weekend!! Happy Memorial Day!! (And Happy 2nd Birthday cousin Zephyr!!)

A Turning Point

When we first discovered we were expecting baby #3, I desperately looked at Evans with overwhelming feelings of excitement and anxiety and declared: "WE HAVE TO MOVE."

I LOVE this house. But our 3-year-old boy and 1-year-old girl have proven to require more than 1800 square feet to function. We tiptoe around each evening and every morning--so not to disturb anyone if he or she happens to be sleeping. No laundry, cooking, or dishwasher unloading can ensue during naps or after bed time. (That's my excuse anyway). If Van sneezes, Jean-Margaret wakes up (and she is not a resilient sleeper). How do we toss in a third to this scenario? Moving was the obvious, least stressful option.

Fast forward through four of the most stressful weeks of my life! A head-on collision with morning/afternoon/evening sickness, Jean-Margaret's first ear infection, nonstop house searching, a constant threat of selling our home within 24 hours after listing. We got extremely close to moving. We had a contingent offer on the table. We found a great home--plenty of space (woohoo!) a kitchen desk, huge playroom, spread out bedrooms, a real master bathroom!!, 2 stairways, an incredible backyard...

We would list our house the following day. That evening we told one of our dear neighbors to expect a for-sale sign in our yard. She took Van into her backyard and helped him cut a bouquet of her beautiful roses for me (it happened to be Mother's Day). We came back to our little front porch and watched the sunset by our fresh, newly blooming garden. I cried.

While part of me was convinced this chapter of our lives was over, another part of me was crushed about everything we would lose if we sold this home. All of a sudden, the thought of someone else inheriting our wonderful neighbors, our beautiful view of the sunset, our low-maintenance garden, enjoying Diddy and Evans's patio, losing the quick walk to the pool, the walk to the park, not being able to walk Van to school or play dates or the farmer's market... our cozy little home became quite convenient and overwhelmingly charming.

We have plenty of bedrooms--and by the way--how would our tots adopt to 2 staircases when mommy is caring for a newborn? How would we update that massive kitchen without going broke? Could I tolerate my children rolling around on someone else's carpets until we could afford to replace them? Our entire house is baby/tot-proofed and that took some time to figure out via trail and error. Could I accomplish similar safety in a large new home while adapting to life with a 3rd child? While the new neighborhood was lovely, it just didn't offer the same convenience and charm.

Evans was initialing the contract when I decided I was not 100% ready for this transition. We decided if we were not thrilled about the house--it was not going to be worth the effort to move.  We kept our eye out for a few days in case something better popped up on the market, especially around our neighborhood. We even considered selling our house then renting for a while until we could find the right house.  No such luck. There was not a single house on the market that offered the space, location, and charm within our price range.

Moving through each of these suggestions proved to be more stressful than just staying put. After an all-nighter with Jean-Margaret-- we forced ourselves to have an excruciatingly long and difficult conversation with a final decision at the end. At 4AM in the morning after a sleepless night, we decided it is best to stay put until after the baby.

I am four months pregnant today. This baby will be here so soon! As a little caveat to this entire experience, we decided it would be fun to keep this baby's gender a surprise!! This is NOT my style, but a good friend (hey Sarah) convinced me it would be helpful to have a surprise at the end to help get through the delivery.

While re-working our budget to buy a new home, we started to discuss alternatives to moving. What could we do that's not as drastic as moving but still allow us some family-friendly space in some capacity? A screened-in-porch? Maybe. But Evans had something else in mind.

I got a text message yesterday while Evans, Van, and Diddy were at a boat show. It was a picture of Van behind the wheel of a boat and it said:

"Going for it. Will call when done."

 

Evans earned his captain's license a while ago and has been missing a part of himself without having any access to the waterway!! Every time we visit the beach, I can tell he is counting down the days until we can enjoy a boat. While a boat may be a Band-Aid for our space issue, it sounds like fun to me and it gives us a good reason to get to the beach and lake!

At least now I know what is on the other side of a cramped house. No complaints here:
-No chores during naps or after bed time (check).
-No sanity during rainy days (check).
-A family of 5 residing in 1800 square feet (check).

Seems like a small price to pay considering the alternatives at this point in time.

Here's to turning a corner on the morning sickness (hopefully) and house stress--I am ready to decorate a gender-neutral nursery, and go on a boat ride!

1., 2., 3.

I have so many stories, pictures, and videos to share on the blog and have been very low on time and attention span. Before I get anymore behind, let me start with number 1:

1. VAN

 

Van's updates can be summarized with: BASKETBALL, basketball, and more basketball. We bought him a portable indoor hoop with a glow in the dark ball for all of these rainy days to avoid our lampshades becoming make-shift indoor goals.

 

 

He had another rookie sports awards ceremony for basketball this week:

 

 

Van is still loving his boombox and celebrates all types of music. His favorite new cd (thanks to his preschool class) is called "Kids in Motion" so we burned a copy from iTunes. Its very catchy 80s-ish music :) (We'll take anything over the Eagles!!)

 

Lastly, my sweet baby boy had his first real visit to the dentist. He did such a great job! I could tell he was nervous, but defeated his anxiety by asking SO MANY QUESTIONS. He loved pretending to use the tools, and much to his pleasure, the dentist gave him medical gloves and a mask. At the moment he is playing dentist with his stuffed animals. What a cool job--pushing buttons, electric toothbrushes, wearing glasses with magnifiers, and squirting water on people!

 

 

2. Jean-Margaret:

 

Jeanie had her first swim lesson and screamed the entire time! She sure does look cute though:

I owe you one Evans! The pool was freezing and I just so happened to have a hair appointment at that exact same time!!

 

3. Baby on the way:

 

Its official! On our 6 year wedding anniversary trip to The Verandas, baby Lackey 3 decided to debut. :)

 

I cannot believe our babysitter has moved back home for the summer, rookie sports is over, and only 2 more weeks of school. Welcome spring/summer!!



A Priceless Visit

I hesitate to blog about this, because we had so much fun with Auntie Snags and Frasier visiting, its going to make me very sad that they don't live closer!! But I'll try my best to keep it spunky and will certainly enjoy reviewing these memories.

Fray is finally old enough to join our routine Starbucks/pedicure pampering! And what a great job she did picking out a sparkly blue color...

Rhombus, Snags, and I tried Wine & Design together and successfully painted Rainbow Row in Charleston (although I had no wine to help my design and could have benefited from better posture apparently.)

Snags gave a wonderful reading at Duke University while the cousins played. As usual when it comes to cousins, Van is the instigator. He "creeped" into cousin Frasier's room while she was napping to wake her up to play monster puppets. So sneaky!

 

 

Jeanie missed cousin Zephyr but enjoyed her fair share of cake at Frasier's 4 year old birthday party!

My gift to Fray: a hand-made blankety blank

 

Our azaleas are in bloom:

And we have plenty to keep busy:

but I agree with Van--on the way to school this morning he said: "I really miss Frasier."

We love you!

Come back soon.