adventures in preschooling

petra loved her first day, I think that is clear. 


but my favorite photo is the very last one, because she came out for pictures holding "elephant," the stuffed animal she has had since she was born. it is good to know that my baby girl is still in there somewhere. 

getcha hair did

before 

after

petra got a "turning five and starting a new preschool year" hair cut. It was also a "mom is tired of fighting over hair brushing every day" cut. It was supposed to be a more dramatic difference, but I kind of chickened out and only had the stylist take off a little. I just wasn't ready to let go of those curls after all. It didn't really occur to me just how little the change was until I saw the "after" photos. I had to laugh at myself, because it all really seemed so dramatic at the time ... 

I drown in mine

the wetlands. 

I think my nesting instinct has gone a little haywire. it seems to have spread beyond the organizing of the homestead, and has grown to include petra's upcoming birthday party, getting her ready for preschool, and even christmas. getting all these things done and ready feels like an emergency, when really, nothing is so serious. I just wish I had the actual energy to do all the things on my list. I think I subconsciously feel as though checking off the events that will be happening before son gets here will somehow get him here sooner. start preschool? check. petra's birthday? check. halloween? check. thanksgiving? check. due date? check! over-prepping for these events is not going to help this pregnancy go any faster. but yet, it is all giving me mad insomnia. that, and my restless legs, heartburn, hunger. and oh yah, the fact that our landlord decided to paint our house on the hottest weekend of the year and has had the windows taped over with newspaper for two days making it impossible to take advantage of the nightly breeze and drop in temperature. it is making me feel extremely claustrophobic. we rarely need air conditioning here, but it sure would be nice to have right now. 

bringing my spirits up is the creature comfort of headphones and itunes as I type this. I have been craving* dear and the headlights lately. specifically, this guy's voice. small steps, heavy hooves. it's gettin' easy. I have listened to it twice already. seriously, something about this guys singing voice that I just really, really enjoy and appreciate, and somehow even more so pregnant  at two a.m. with things on my mind. 

*cravings... going beyond the edible. 

sleep over the ocean

{ crystal pier CA summer 2006 }
{ please excuse the poor quality }

I am pretty convinced that pregnancy cravings go beyond food. I crave places nearly as much as I crave certain delicacies. like my mom's house, for instance. or this place, my happy place. crystal pier. it almost hurts, how badly I need to be there. I think it has a lot to do with way the air feels, the sounds, and yah know, the ocean. but probably it is the happy family memories. in my mind, our family got along best and loved each other more plainly there. maybe that isn't true, but it was on vacation that we only had each other as friends. many a family inside joke was born there. I really love it there and I can't wait to go back someday. in fact, I am pretty dead set on getting my whole family back there at least one more time in my life. (let's make it happen reeds.) it is pure magic. 


and I crave it. 

all things ordinary

yah yah, my post titles have been dominated by anniversary lyrics. it is one part the fact that it is the only grown up music I have listened to lately, one part that they have been stuck in my head since then, and two parts that I really like them. 

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today has been a whole lot of hanging around while our landlord fixes a sundry of items around the house. it's a smidge awkward, and I am never sure what to do with myself or the girls. I should just get out of the house, but I think he prefers to have someone here.  and I guess there are worse things than having to hang about while someone else fixes everything. although, now that I think about it, he may just think I am a terribly lazy mother who doesn't take her kids out of the house all day long. oh dear. 

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petra and rilla got in to a fight over something this afternoon (shocker), and when in her eyes I "sided" with rilla, petra "ran away" to the back yard with a book. she couldn't have found a better way to "punish" me. I tried to take sneaky photos through the screen, because it was just so darn cute. 

hu-rumph.

no one understands me

this book is great, what was I upset about?

..........................................

rilla moments later, had forgotten all about the fight and was rummaging through sisters play-time remnants. she found a baby goldfish who she told me finds swimming in the rainbow really fun. 

who, me?

a hug for baby goldfish

a fish-kiss for baby brother

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today was the first day of school in these parts, and while today was so very unproductive, I couldn't help but feel a little glad that petra didn't start preschool for a couple of weeks, and we could be schedule-free just a little bit longer. I know she will love school, and I am so excited for her, but sometimes it is nice not having anywhere to go, or anywhere to be but with each other. fights and all. 

and I'll never forget how that black dress

is that a heart? how surprising and sweet...

I get a little hormotional* when I'm pregnant. couple that with the end of summer boredom, and it has been a long couple of weeks for all of us. so this saturday jeff insisted we call a sitter and get out the house for a while. I think the girls needed a break from us as much as we needed a break from them, from the way they waved us off as soon as the sitter got there. we got dressed up, tried to take some hipster couple pics, (we didn't make it past the test shot, my purple blouse over my baby bump was too reminiscent of violet beauregarde) and we were out the door. 


I made jeff take me to a fancy restaurant in bellevue. I mean, we made reservations. it was beautiful. we chatted and absorbed the atmosphere and I professed my undying love ... of the upcoming television fall line up. the food was oh so delicious. and tiny. 




so right after dinner we went to dairy queen and got fries and ice-cream. dairy queen doesn't take reservations, but they sure know their way around a chocolate malt. it was a perfect night.




*hormotional :  an emotional state fueled or exaggerated by hormones. 

the new fall line for the season

look closely, can you see the bulbocity that is my stomach? poor rilla can barely fit!

tonight I saw it. that color in the air that said "fall." I looked out the window and there it was. that, color on the world that makes me feel ready for anything. the air had that chill and just a few leaves were slowly floating down in the wind. the girls tried to catch them as they fell, giggling when they swirled just out of reach, as if on purpose. I love love love fall. I don't think summer has had it's last hoorah just yet, though. this was just a sneak peek at what is to come. but it was enough to wake me up inside, and I can hardly wait for more. 


and in the mean time, I will thoroughly enjoy this three day weekend as my farewell to summer. labor day bbq!


postscript: rilla's chubby knees, wrists and elbows melt me into smoosh. she still has a tiny bit of her baby chub, and I am eating it up while I can.