Things, Pictured

I spent all of last week exhausted. I think it started as holdover from the holiday weekend when Claire decided firework sounds = thunder (she decided a few months ago that the sound of thunder at night is the single most terrifying thing in the WORLD and she literally dissolves into hysterical tears and sobbing when she hears it in her room, because, as she's tried to tearfully explain to JP and I many times, the thunder is IN HER ROOM and, though she doesn't get to this last part in words, I think her subconscious is telling her that she will die if she stays in there, never mind that the thunder sounds even louder in our glass-covered room and her brother sleeps safely and peacefully through every storm in her room, certain death awaits if she is not attached to one of us for the rest of the thundery night), and woke up sobbing every 30 minutes all night, but after a few days of post-firework recovery I ran out of excuses for my exhaustion and just got annoyed at how often I was saying "I'm so tired" to myself and everyone around me. But I was. I was SO tired. I was so tired ALL THE TIME. I hate being tired, I really hate talking about being tired, and that is mostly why I went a whole week without blogging.

This week I am still more tired than normal, but not so tired that it's notably abnormal, and thus, I have things to share! Largely unconnected, but almost entirely illustrated, things!

(1) We spent the most glorious rainy Sunday lazing about the house. JP and I woke up at 8:52 to pouring rain and an eerily quiet house. JP ventured out to check on the kids and found them reading books in their room, so he turned on the TV to PBS and came back to bed. We officially got up around 10, fed the children closer to 11 (oops, but I swear they never said they were hungry, I think Wild Kratts overrides their normal biological needs), and at 1 p.m. we were all still in pj's playing in the family room.

 

Everyone but me took a nap at 2 and at 4 we realized we couldn't live on leftover birthday cake forever, so we got dressed and went to the grocery store. Around 6 I finally pulled myself back off the couch to make my mom's spaghetti sauce and we ended up eating an inexcusably late dinner at 7:30. But oh it was great- we played games, watched a movie, cuddled, read books, and just generally enjoyed being in the same room all day.

(2) When we put the kids to bed that night, Claire was very concerned about the storms already brewing, so I casually mentioned that she could just sleep in her Yandon's bed instead of waking up mommy and daddy (whose bed she will never be allowed to sleep in at night, so one of us goes with her to the guest room until the storm stops and the poor thing still whimpers at every thunder, even when asleep and plastered to your side). On Monday morning I woke up to the pleasant realization that she hadn't woken us up once! And then JP went to get the kids up and found Claire happily hogging Landon's bed with her pillow, two blankies, two babies, kitty, and teddy.

 

They did the same thing last night, and while I haven't checked, there's an excellent chance they're in the same bed tonight too (it's still raining- 3 days and counting, something everyone in Fort Worth is thrilled about except JP, but running a swim school out of an outdoor pool will do that). I love many things about this: (1) how much they genuinely love each other; (2) the fact that the idea of crawling into the other sibling's bed had never occurred to them and how delighted they were at the idea; and (3) the fact that no one in our house has to dread thunderstorms anymore! JP and I get to sleep, and Landon and Claire get to have a sleepover. Everyone wins.

(3) I spent all day last Friday cleaning and organizing the baby's room and closet- a job that required me to empty out most of our other closets and storage furniture to find room for things previously stored in the guest room. It was the typical "organization project creates giant mess then bigger mess which culminates in great order and beauty many hours later" type of thing. And in addition to an empty closet with a few adorable sleepers hanging inside, our baby now owns many things:

Ex. A: this tiny pumpkin hat. An extra 20% off the $4.46 with free shipping basically meant I had to order it. She'll be about 2 weeks old at her first Thanksgiving and I think such an occasion requires a hat.

 

Ex. B: this bird bank. Also an extra 20% off with free shipping, it came to a whopping $11 and again, had to be ordered. It will sit on a shelf in the now cleared out bookcase in her room and its whimsy will make me happy, even though it'll be many months before baby girl will have any idea it's there.

 

Ex. C: this crib. Baby girl now has a place to sleep! Or she will when we take the crib out of the box and assemble it, something Claire has asked us about Every Day since it was delivered. She's very concerned about the baby having a place to nap. We had to get a new crib because the one L&C slept in was literally the cheapest one you could buy in July of 2007 and it was pretty beat up after 6 years, 3 moves, and 2 kids. I was settled on a cheap $99 one from Ikea, but then I saw this pretty one on wayfair for $160 and I talked myself into and then out of it, resolved to be practical, and then noted a little superscript 1 next to the price. I clicked on it and found a secret clearance "returns" section of the website and this exact crib had been shipped back to the company, unopened, in the exact color I wanted and was now being sold for $76. I applied $12 of credit I apparently accumulated after ordering the living room rugs from there and suddenly I had this lovely crib for $64 with free shipping and no tax!

 

And so with the $100 I saved (because even though I wasn't actually going to buy the expensive crib, I still just saved $100) baby girl is getting a rug for her floor. A rug that is likely to cost more than $100 but, by my math, will still be free. After all, I did save a LOT on that bird bank and pumpkin hat.

(4) Landon's actual birthday was Monday.

 

It was a simple affair that started with mini donettes, a bagel, strawberries, and the tiny dinosaur candle, and ended with the chosen cheese pizza, watermelon, and ice cream sundaes (and another lighting of the dinosaur candle), but it was sweet and happy and I got a little choked up when we tucked our 6-year-old in Monday night and JP told him how special he is and lucky and proud we are to be his parents. Because he is and we are and we need to say that out loud more often.

 

(5) I'm 22 weeks pregnant today and apparently incapable of keeping my hand off my belly any time my hand isn't otherwise occupied. I really tried to pull it away for this pic, and was a little surprised to see it there when I uploaded the picture later. 

 

I also wish I could take pictures somewhere away from my laundry, robe, clothing, and racks of shoes. Basically, somewhere not inside my closet. But I feel good and I'm equally impatient and pleasantly resigned to waiting to meet baby girl 2.0 in 17 weeks. I'm sure impatience will be the dominate emotion soon though. 

(6) I won this gym bag in a raffle at our SEC Family Fun Day last week. I have never won anything in a raffle in my whole life, and I'm inordinately proud of the random selection of my name from a glass bowl. Never mind that I haven't been to a gym in seven years and that we don't even belong to one in the DFW area- when I do go to the gym, I will look very intimidating with my blue bag and pretty yellow seal with an eagle in the middle. Because eagles mean Business. Even if I, in the gym, do not.

 

And this is why I shouldn't go too long without stream of conscious blogging. All the inanities really add up. Now it's time for bed, so I will leave you with this terrible fuzzy picture of my first baby girl all snuggled on my pillow Sunday morning when she realized I might never get out of my bed and she broke free of the Wild Kratts mind meld to join me in it.

 

Oh it's going to be fun to snuggle with her AND baby girl number two in a few months!