I'm Raising A Real Man Here

Josh had a meeting at church tonight and was not going to be home for dinner. Seeing that I'm quite unmotivated to cook in my current state, I decided that the boys and I could just eat cereal for dinner and call it a night. The boys have always been fine with this arrangement, but this conversation tells me that everything is changing. Justice ate dinner happy as could be (sugar and milk are his two main food groups... frosted mini wheats? yes please! A veritable feast!), but Howie... my boy is becoming a man.

Howie: I like hot things from the oven for dinner. I don't like cold things for dinner.

Me: What?

Howie: I like hot things that you make in the oven, not cold things.

Me: Like what?

Howie: Uhh, like roast beef. Not cereal for dinner.

Yeesh.

Lazy Saturday

The boys and I didn't have any grand plans for this morning. Josh was gone at a youth event and we had a lovely time playing, painting, splashing in the one puddle outside on the street, listening to Raffi, and coloring Sunday School pages. Sometimes a lazy morning is just what you need.

Random Reflections

1. Josh and I are official New Jerseyians, at least in the eyes of the state of NJ. We forked over our cash and did our time at the driver's license office this morning and walked away with NJ driver's licenses, NJ car titles, and NJ license plates. We were so grateful to a lovely new friend from church who took care of the boys while we slogged out on the much-dreaded errand. When we left the boys were stuffing their faces with donuts and we were carrying every piece of paper we could think of that they could ask for, lest we would return without having completed the dreadful task of transferring everything. We arrived at the office to a healthy line although we got there only 5 minutes after it opened. Thankfully it moved fairly quickly, and there was a general sense of alarm when the workers saw my state of advanced pregnancy (like I would seriously deliver in their office??? But hey, it cut our waiting time, so I'm grateful!!), so we were whisked away to the front of the line. We filled out a bajillion forms and presented them to the bureaucrat on duty, who promptly told me that I had to have a piece of mail with my name and our new address on it. I assumed since we had a few bills with Josh's name on them and our address and our marriage license that would be enough, but it was not to be. All of the sudden our kind friend babysitting and our 30 minute drive were looking to be all for naught, since we wouldn't be able to register our cars either if I didn't have a drivers license number. Josh continued on and I went out to his car, praying that there would be something random in there with my name and our address on it. I found an envelope addressed to us from our realtor- not official mail exactly, but hey, what did I have to lose? When I came back I met a lady at the door who was directing people where to go, and she looked at my proof of address (which was probably technically inadequate), my pathetic overall appearance, and my advanced state of pregnancy, and she acccepted it!! I was sooooo thrilled that we wouldn't have to find time to come back later! Not only did she authorize my letter but she also again whisked me to the front of the line, circumventing many, many people. (Who knew pregnancy got you so much??) I continued to hold my breath until I was holding my new license lest someone should find me unprepared afterall, but it didn't happen! I am so thankful that those errands are done!

2. We enjoyed a wonderful few days with Bible Bill last weekend! It was so much fun to have him as our first official visitor in New Jersey! Nana was unable to accompany him since she's waiting on a knee replacement, so we'll look forward to her coming next time! The boys were thrilled to have BB for a few days. They so enjoyed pushing him down the tube slide at the park, eating at Bobby's Burger Palace together, and setting up Playmobil men battles.

3. I made a French-Style Pot-Roasted Pork Loin last night from Cook's Illustrated and it was really something. You're supposed to double butterfly the roast so it opens like a business letter... who can figure out how to do that?? I did it wrong of course so I only had one butterfly, into which I rubbed butter, garlic, salt, pepper, sugar, and herbes de provence. Tied it up with twine, added it to a pot of sauteed apples and onions and some white wine, and threw it in the oven. Then I made a note to myself that this is not exactly a great weeknight dinner. In the end we didn't even eat it!! It took much longer to cook through than I was anticipating since it was a thick roast, so it's sitting in the fridge for tonight. I had never made a pork roast but I have such good memories of eating delicious pork roast made by my grandma at their house for family celebrations. I was trying to recreate that for my family. I think I failed somewhat since it wasn't ready on time and it didn't really taste like hers (although it tastes amazing), but I'll keep trying.

Just Waiting Now... 39 Weeks and Counting

We are anticipating meeting Baby Girl sometime in the next couple of weeks and we're all excited. I think we're as ready as we'll be... I have a doctor lined up, we have a hospital, and we have lots of little clothes and diapers! Now it's just a matter of time!

A beautiful teeny sweater handmade by Great Aunt-Martha... I wish somehow you could see this in person because it's truly gorgeous. And so small!! I'll make sure she wears it every day!

Her room is all ready! I would never have picked the colors of her walls, but we are in a short-term lease in this house and so they'll stay that way!! Pink walls wherever we end up next.

Precious friend Jodi made these gorgeous things... nursing cover, carseat cover, and pink blanket below. We're looking forward to using them!!

Gumball machine shoes from Aunt Stacy... wayyyy too cute to not post!!!

Adorable dress and shoes from Aunt Marnie, Uncle Chris, and Pax... how are girl clothes so much cuter than boy clothes??

Our baby has already been blessed with so many beautiful things from loved ones- we are so grateful. Pics of her wearing/using these things coming!

Oh, What a Beautiful Morning

This morning has reminded me of why I love fall. We woke up to crisp, cool air and clear skies, and it just made me want to soak up every minute. I put the boys in the stroller and walked to the bagel store, just up the street from us. Although it was just up the street, after about 20 steps I was huffing and puffing from being a. out of shape and b. 38 weeks along. Anyway we all enjoyed being out and getting warm bagels. We returned home, puttered around for a while, got dressed, and headed back outside to run off some steam. I hope you can see some of the beauty of this day from the pics! We live on a corner and a dead end street runs along the side of the house, which is perfect for the boys to play in! (well supervised of course... don't go freaking out on me here) As I watched them play I was overcome with gratitude for the goodness of God. He has showered us with blessing again and again, and this morning was just a sweet taste of that.

Of course he found the one muddy spot on the whole street... "Puddle Mama!!"

Couldn't resist. Just had to get in there.

Here you can watch Howie display his razor skills. He and Justy loved the fact that you could take a movie on the camera and watch it right away!!

Look How Far They've Come

A Memorable Trip To Whole Foods

We had a lovely morning- it's beautiful outside with just a hint of fall in the air, which is so reassuring that roasting outdoors and swatting mosquitoes will soon be a thing of the past for the next few months (although you know by January I'll be pining away for roasting outside!). We played in the faithful old crabbie sandbox, one of the greatest birthday gifts we've ever given. It was for Howie's 1st birthday right after we moved to St Louis, and it has paid for itself many times over! It entertained us yet again this morning. We passed the morning doing this or that and finally about 10:45 left for Whole Foods to get some random groceries. I'm sure it is no surprise to anyone that Justice refuses to ride in the cart anymore. He wants to be on foot, which has given me a few heart attacks from time to time when he disappears momentarily, but generally works out ok. Today we got some lovely looking grapes and Honeycrisp apples and were ready to get some pears when disaster struck- Howie climbed on the side of the cart to hold on and it tipped over on him, spilling grapes everywhere and sending an apple rolling. At first I was afraid he was hurt since that was a big cart falling on his legs, but he was actually fine and apologized profusely. The huge crash obviously attracted lots of attention and I'm so grateful for a kind shopper who saw my predicament... cart smashing little boy, another toddler ready to run at a moment's notice, hugely pregnant, and grapes everywhere. She came to my rescue, pulled the cart off of Howie, and helped me pick up the grapes. Justy also came to my rescue by not only staying put but also picking up grapes! Wow! Turning over a new leaf! Usually that would have been the perfect opportunity to make a break for it! But anyway we picked ourselves up, dusted ourselves off, and kept moving. A man shopper gave me some marginally dirty looks which I did my best to ignore. It's so funny to look at our cart when I'm shopping with the boys- maybe I should be a tougher mom but I usually don't have the energy to refuse every last thing the boys ask for and/or put in the cart. A bagillion pounds of grapes? Sure. A carton of the summer's last raspberries? Why not? A jug of pink lemonade? Of course. Animal cookies? Thanks for asking, yes! Occasionally something ends up in the cart that is just too random or unjustifiable and then I stand my ground (a pound of artisan pasta that costs $6.99? I think not. I'm all about food, but that seems a bit much to me.), but if it's marginally explainable, not horribly unhealthy, and useful, what the heck? I'm a pushover... I'll say no in other contexts, but I love food, so why shouldn't they too? Sometimes I think about what little control children have over their own food choices- it's not like they can go buy something they want on their own. So if they can pick something sometimes that's a little bit special I'm happy for them. Anyway, we made it to the checkout without incident, paid the bill, and left. Happy ending.

I Can't Believe What Just Happened...

... Justice and I just dropped Howie off at preschool. As I watched him enter the room filled with kids he didn't know and get settled for lunch, I was overcome with emotion and close to tears. I am so proud of my boy. He has been looking forward to today for several weeks and this morning was ready to pack his lunch at 8:00 even though we didn't need to leave the house for over 3 hours. I am so eager to hear about his day and get his impressions of his new classroom, but for now, I have one sweet boy napping upstairs and one at school. Things will all change again in a matter of weeks as we welcome Baby Girl, but for now I'm enjoying my boys and reflecting on how fast they're growing.

excited on the ride to school

look at this big boy!

not one to be left out, Justy also posed for a pic

almost there...

can you pick him out?

He's 2

Who can believe that Justice turns 2 today?? This day two years ago (09/09/09, mind you) Justice entered our family and he has brought so much joy into our lives. He is a little bundle of boundless energy, laughter, mischief, and delight. He lives each day brimming over with joy and excitement. Though that often channels itself in questionable ways (hence Dennis the Menace), there is never a day that passes that he doesn't live life to the fullest. We are so thankful for him. I had some time this afternoon to look through some old pics of Justy's life and here are some of my favorites.

Remember his fauxhawk?

(obviously not Justy but who could possibly resist posting this face??)

We wanted to do some special things to celebrate Justy's birthday and also our Howie starts preschool Monday! He's going Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 11:40-3:15. I've realized in the past few days that that's obviously going to change our schedule quite a bit but we're soo excited for Howie and I know that he's going to love it and do so well! Anyway this morning I took the boys to a zoo that's close to our house and they had a wonderful time! (All you STL people... this is nowhere near as big as the STL zoo and you have to pay for it!! Don't even know how to process after being spoiled for 3 years!!)

Straining to see the bald eagles- those were pretty awesome! We got to hear them screeching and that was crrraaazy!!

You know this was the highlight of the day- I'm grateful the Lord sent us to another place that has a zoo train! This was obviously a huge hit. Justy kept walking around the zoo after we got off saying "all aboard!!"

Look at this handsome boy... waiting for the train to come into the station.

The big 2 year old

The birthday boy eating breakfast... chocolate milk and a bagel. Does life get any better?? I think not.

We have birthday cupcakes and more partymaking to be had later!!