Fall is Here!

Fall is here and I could not be happier about that!  Fall is definitely my favorite season and winter is a close second for me.  I love the cooler temperatures and everything pumpkin about Fall.  Then it is followed by stormy nights and Christmas lights – what’s not to love about that?  

My love of all things fall, coupled with my biological need to nest during this pregnancy, has me obsessing over decorating the house this year.  Of course, Pinterest is not helping this obsession at all.  And then I wandered over to Pottery Barn’s website and saw all of their Fall decorating photos… bad idea.  Once I remembered I do not have a Pottery Barn budget for decorating, I got to work trying to recreate the look with our existing décor, Dollar store finds, coupons at Hobby Lobby, free printouts, and re-purposing what we have around the house. 

Couple things I have learned so far –

1. Morning sickness is kicking my butt.  I am exhausted all the time.  Therefore grandiose ideas of craft projects are not very realistic this year.  Thank you Pinterest for the inspiration, but unless I can do it in a couple minutes, preferably from bed, it’s just not happening this time around. 
2. Decorating the house is a multi-day project.  This is very unlike me.  I am a get-it-done-in-one-shot kind of gal.  My house turns from Fall into Christmas the day after Thanksgiving – I don’t mess around.  This year, I am too tired and sick to get much done in one day.  So, I am learning to do this a couple steps at a time.  Frustrating for me but I am sure this is some cosmic life lesson... 
3. The kids do not see the point in carefully planned out, color coordinated, strategically placed Halloween decorations.  They would prefer the entire house look like a scene from Nightmare Before Christmas and that it look that way from September 1 through Halloween.  Subtlety is lost on them, and flashy foil party decorations are the coolest things ever – we must find a way to compromise!

So, stay tuned for the pics to be posted this weekend - hopefully!

12 Weeks and Counting...

Okay, remember how I said I would be venting at times about pregnancy?  This is one of those times...

I found out I was pregnant at the beginning of August after several days of nausea.  Now, several days has turned into several weeks and that is draining!  Physically, emotionally, psychologically draining to be this sick for this long with no end in sight.  You see all day sickness doesn't magically end after the first trimester for me.  As I learned with my first two pregnancies it lasts for months and months.  It can result in bed rest, mandatory weigh ins at the doctor's office every two days, threats of IVs, and medications.  I am really trying to avoid all of that this time around, but it's really hard to even maintain my weight when everything sounds disgusting and the no-warning dry heaving has me carrying around a roll of dog poop bags in my purse!  This is the not so magical part of pregnancy.

I'm exhausted all day, have sciatica for who-knows what reason, feel sick pretty much non-stop, cry at everything, and may have started referring to the baby as a parasite.  Okay, I get that this is all for our child and that I would do ANYTHING on the planet for my children.  But, I am not too proud to admit this is hard and there are times (a lot of times lately) when I find it hard to be excited because I am too busy feeling completely miserable.  Thankfully Hubby is taking very good care of me, I know a lot of women aren't as lucky as I am to be married to such a caregiver, and I am grateful for him.  Tonight he even brought a mini-fridge into the bedroom so I could have Jell-o and juice cold by the bed!

Maybe if I get some sleep tomorrow will be better.  Maybe my body will stop freaking out and let me have a break.  A girl can dream!

Big News!

We have BIG news - there is a tiny person inside of me!  If you had asked me 18 months ago what my life would be like in 2013, I would never in a million years have guessed this.  18 months ago I was living a completely different life built on a foundation I had no idea was shaky.  I thought my family, the definition of "family" I had at the time, was solid and untouchable.  I was wrong.  Over the past year I have learned the hard way that life can throw you curve balls you never saw coming.  My family has experienced unimaginable pain, stress, sadness, and loss in the last year and that is why this little miracle is so amazing.  

The past 6 months have been a time of rebuilding for us.  A time where we could really focus on what is important to us and what makes our family strong.  We focused on each other, on building relationships within our community, on strengthening ourselves individually and together, on cherishing little moments, and on enjoying family and friend time.  It has been a wonderful six months, a welcome change from the six months before that.  And so, when we really felt we were in a great space, we got incredible news - a baby! 

To say this baby is a blessing is an understatement.  He or she is a clear sign that our lives are on a new path, that the path we are on is the path we are meant to be on. This baby will be adored by their older siblings and of course their parents.  I am so grateful to be able to experience this again, I never thought we would do this again and still can't believe we get to! Don't get me wrong, the morning sickness is awful, the sciatica has brought me to tears, and I am sure I will vent in future blog posts about the difficulty of pregnancy.  But for this post, I am just going to focus on the magic of it all.  Because today I saw my baby stretch and wave on that grainy ultrasound screen - so, today, I am filled with awe and appreciation.    

 

Baby at 11 weeks - 2" long with 158 heartbeats per minute

San Francisco Kite Flying Weekend

The first weekend after school let out for the summer, we created a list of things we wanted to do before summer ended.  We have been systematically checking things off but needed to hurry up and get several things checked off this weekend.  So, we decided to head to San Francisco, fly a kite, see Kirby Cove, and feed some ducks while we were there! Cheri came with us and we headed to Chrissy Field and Golden Gate Park for the day.

Earlier this weekend we camped in the backyard so all we have left is the ice cream from an ice cream truck - which is surprisingly harder than you might think to complete! 

Ducks fed - check!

Picked a flower for Mommy - such a gentleman! 

Handsome rock climber.

Awesome kite flying action.

Handsome curly-cue!

Why wait for a windy day in Sac when you can head to SF and fly a kite with this view?! 

There is no way we could go to Golden Gate Park without visiting its famous playground.
Logan slid down the concrete slide on a piece of cardboard no less than 40x.

Emmie loves the ocean!

My flip flop broke so I was pretty useless - not a lot of shoe stores in the park!

Camping in the Backyard

This past weekend we ventured into the backyard for a low-key camping night with our neighbors.  Have I mentioned lately how much we love our neighbors?!  They are the best! 

Friday after school we pitched the tent, tested out the new fire-pit to cook hot dogs and s'mores, and broke out the deck of cards for a round of Old Maid.  

We originally thought an adult would accompany the kids in the tent but the boys were all about a boys-only camping night.  Sure, we were just a few feet away in the house but still it was nerve wracking for me to have the boys outside alone.  Cue the overprotective mom eye roll... but I slept on the couch downstairs with the window open so I was literally 4 feet away.  They were fine of course, and I worried for nothing of course, and I got a crappy night sleep on the couch for no reason - of course! But it was all worth it - the kids had a blast!   

Gidgit supervised and stayed with me on the couch.

LOVE this picture - it so shows how awesome this night was.
Chatting with good friends in our backyard over an open fire with s'mores - what could be better than that?!
Looking forward to more fire pit gatherings in the fall!

First Day of School - 2013

As usual summer flew by!  Here are our handsome boys on their way to the first day of school! 

Second Grade Classroom

Jeff is teaching second grade for the first time this year!  Since we are used to setting up a classroom for junior high kids, this room was definitely more of a challenge than usual.  He wanted to go with an "under the sea" theme and given the budget and time constraints I think it turned out great!

Thank you to Rose for donating these awesome balloon animals!