life lately

Hi!

Still here.
Still with child.

My bags are all packed (and 6-page crazy-lady instruction list for how to care for the kids while I'm in the hospital has been penned...) and we're just playing the waiting game. Honestly, I don't feel like anything's about to happen anytime soon. But it's okay: people have been asking me how I feel lately- "you must be so ready to go!"- and while it's true that I'm sooooo excited to meet this little one, I actually feel great. I felt like absolute poop for 8 months, but these last few weeks have been wonderful.

I have about 6 half-written posts to publish, but I haven't been able to edit or finalize any of them because I literally have not had more than a few minutes to myself since before Christmas. (Jon laughs because I've been taking longer showers than usual, just to get a few extra minutes to myself!) First, it was school vacation and my dreadful cough/cold, and then, ugh, the kids went back into the petrie dish known as school and I've pretty much had one or both of them home with me every day since.

Nobody wants their kids to be sick, obvs. For us, though, it's extra stressful because anything- a low fever, a cold, anything-  can lower Ollie's seizure threshold. So, I've been awake with him many nights so far this month, monitoring and worrying.

After going to the Grossology exhibit at the museum last weekend, I tried to follow up by teaching Peyton how germs get into our body, but it seems I only succeeded in terrifying the poor little Pixie, because now it's all she thinks about: "I can't eat with my hands, I have GERMS!" "Ollie touched me with his GERMS!" "My friend tried to kiss me at school with her GERMS!" I'm not gonna say that her thought process isn't precisely my current state of mind, but... a 4-year-old shouldn't have the stress of a 30-plus-5-year-old, amiright?

I know J and I are inevitably going to get sick too, but in the meantime, we've been eating clementines like woah- no joke, 2 crates a week. So, I've also been popping Zantac in the same fashion because hello heartburn! But seriously, I think they truly are the magic pill, because the day I started taking them (in proper, pregnancy-friendly doses, don't worry!) was the day I stopped feeling like poop.

By now, the bowl's probably empty...

 Today it's a winter wonderland outside so we headed out to play, and now we've got a fire going and the kids are having fun playing. Once that goes to hell (probably in the next few seconds since I just gave it the kiss of death by acknowledging it...) we've got some Valentine projects to do.

Watching Farmer Dill plow us out.

After I suggested that the head was too big, J politely told me he didn't need anyone micromanaging his snowman-building skills. 30 seconds later, the man of snow imploded under the immense weight of his snow-noggin. But I'm not one to say I told you so.

"Daddy, you need my help." It wasn't a question.

No cocoa for us after the snow. Downton-style, all the way. Peyton's is pure sugar.

Snowy day activities.

Little bookworm. 

What else? Our printer died. Then our fridge died. Annnnd, we bought a new car. So, if I don't write anything next month, it'll be because I'm busy breathing into a paper bag after opening up our credit card bill. But, I must say, the new fridge is a beauty- really classed up our kitchen (HA! But seriously, now I can't wait to win the lottery and do a kitchen renovation.)

And the new car? Well, Jon and I previously both drove little VWs, which had worked perfectly for a family of four. My Jetta Wagon has been my favorite car of all time. (And it's a clean diesel, so I was getting about 600 miles to the tank.) But, though I could fit three car seats across the back, it was TIGHT. Plus, I had visions of the big kids beating the boredom of a long car trip by putting scraps of paper or like, jellybeans, into the baby's mouth. So we started a car search and I ended up falling in looouuurrve with an Acadia, which, on Monday, I will be the proud owner of. Watch out, world- Mama's got a big ol' car now! Be afraid.....

So that's life lately. I'm just hoping and praying that Sick-A-Palooza is finally over so we can get back to normal and I can stop stressing about my Bugaloo. Also hoping to finish up a post about Ollie & Peyton's birth stories before the new little one is born so we have something to compare it to! But for now, I've got a fire to cozy up to!

Happy weekend, Friends!