June 26, 2013

Peabody Is Getting Promoted

... to big sister!

We are very excited! That is to say ... Eric and I and family and friends are. The Boogie and Peabody, however, are kind of "whatever" about it. That just figures, right? But the more we talk about it the more interested they are.

Baby #3 is due in early February. Pops' birthday is the fourth, so he requests a grandson born on his birthday. Uncle Furry's lovely wife Auntie Ashley suggested that the baby could be born on her birthday, the fourteenth. I'm just looking forward to NOT being largely pregnant in any kind of heat!

I am feeling remarkably well. I had some morning sickness with both girls, not anything major, just a motion-sick feeling. This time, though, I don't notice it much at all. The early weeks brought some extra fatigue but that's improved already. I don't pass up on opportunities to lay down and rest for a little bit, however!

Last Friday Eric and I went for an ultrasound where we saw the baby's heart beating. It sure is amazing what you can see so early on.

We praise the Lord for His blessings upon us!

June 6, 2013

Pops and Lela's Visit

*Written two weeks (?!) ago*

Pops and Lela went home yesterday. We had a mah-velous time. Eric had Friday through Monday off, so on Friday we went to Philly to be tourists. The weather was perfect. We had lunch at Reading Terminal Market where Pops had his first Philly cheesesteak ever.


 


We went to Macy's to listen to the Wanamaker Organ. Lela was not impressed by the organist's very casual attire! He could have at least worn a shirt and tie, I must say. I mean, it's not like he couldn't find one. He was in Macy's.






Eric made me very nervous by holding Peabody on his shoulders.


We went into the courtyard at City Hall where Pops and Lela were totally impressed by the architecture ...  


... and unimpressed by all of the window a/c units.


We found this little traveler coming up out of the subway, so we took her with us.


We decided to take the Phlash and do the loop. We waited forever for one to finally come by, and it was apparently the only digitally-wrapped one in Philly. It made it very difficult to see out of the windows (the pictures are deceiving -- it was much harder to see out than it appears) and the driver seemed to think he was driving a sporty little two-seater. We slid all over the wooden benches while trying to figure out what historical landmarks we were passing. It was pretty funny.





 


We skipped the Liberty Bell because of lines, but we walked around the back of Independence Hall. It's pretty awesome to think about the history there.




The girls did really well. Peabody rode in the stroller quite a bit. After a while she wanted to run around, and the Boogie was getting tired, so they switched. With the Boogie in the stroller, Eric leaned it back and went off a curb ... and the whole handle snapped right off. Oops. Thankfully he figured out how to temporarily attach it and we were able to use it for the rest of our walking. I didn't want to have to take turns carrying kids and backpacks! Anyway I guess that's proof that the Boogie is too big for that stroller ...

 
 

 

See the crack? It snapped off on both sides.
We visited Christ Church last. By the time we got there Peabody had conked out, so Eric stayed with her while the rest of us went inside. The Boogie thought it was pretty neat to sit in George Washington's pew!

After a long day of walking all over the City of Brotherly Love we were pretty wiped out so we slowly made our way back to the van and drove to the Mayfair Diner.




That was fun. The inside looks very retro. Our meals were big, and the food was pretty good!






On Saturday we visited Columbus Farmer's Market. The weather was chilly and damp and drizzly so there were hardly any outside vendors. The inside shops were meh, but the Amish food market was good and we managed to come home with soft pretzels, fudge, and a 10-lb (not really) triple chocolate cake. Also Pops wanted some baby Swiss cheese and we found it there! Delicious.

We planned a trip to the shore for Monday. The forecast was notsogreat, so we chose Point Pleasant Beach, thinking we could brave the boardwalk for a little bit and then visit Jenkinson's Aquarium. The weather wasn't too bad, though, and by the time we finished eating our shore pizza the sun was burning through the clouds. We didn't do the aquarium after all so I think it would be a good day trip for me and the girls this summer. There was lots of work going on all over the boardwalk as they prepared for Memorial Day weekend. Many shops weren't open yet, though most of the arcades were. There weren't too many people which was nice.


I stayed with the stroller while everyone walked out to the water

 


 
See how mean we are?

The night before they left we went to our favorite ice cream place, of course.

 



I took Pops and Lela to the airport. Surprisingly, there were no tears shed by the girls when they left. Considering the weeping that went on when we left Washington last fall, I was expecting much more. Peabody did cry the next morning when she asked for them as soon as she woke up.

We did have such a lovely time. Lela made some more little crocheted toys for the girls, and finished Peabody's quilt. (I'll do a separate post about that.) Pops installed ceiling fans in the two smaller bedrooms, three shelving units in the garage, and made some organizational progress in the garage as well. The garage was a total disaster after the bathroom project, and now we can walk around in there!

The Boogie's top tooth was terribly loose. It gave me the heebie jeebies to look at it. Finally one day she bit wrong and knocked it even looser -- she got all upset because she thought Eric would want to pull it, and the last time he pulled a tooth it hurt. So, I told her he wouldn't pull it. Meanwhile she moaned and whined about how hard it was to chew, blah blah blah. That night at church she ate a cookie, and when Eric wiped her mouth off he pushed hard against her upper lip in juuuust the right spot and out popped the tooth! I give him great credit for that. She thought it was an accident. She lisped for a day or two which was funny.


And in no particular order, some random pictures.

The annual watching of the Kentucky Derby

Hmm ... actually this was the weekend before Pops & Lela arrived

Photo courtesy of someone small

I think Peabody took this one

morning snuggles

playing ball in the house!