Hopefully my last post sans Charlie

Four-month-old Rowan provides a little foreshadowing for us all... a few months down the road, will E & E still be smiling and shmoozing our own Usurper-of-Mom's-attention???

In the here and now, though, the kids seem almost as excited as me to have our own "Row Buddy" (the nickname Elle affectionately bestowed on our friend's little chub). Ellie comes into our room almost every morning, sees my tummy and exclaims, "Mom, I'm so sad that Charlie hasn't come yet!" Believe me, girl, I am much sadder. All I dream of (asleep and awake) is labor and delivery, and awaking to my still-obtuse state each morning is a relentless disappointment.

A wonderful weekend whizzed by, as we knew it would. Kyle's parents detoured from TX and are now headed back to MN, but we loved our three days together immensely. Much dessert was consumed, many chalk murals were created, little sleep was had, but there sure was a whole lotta love. Miss you both already. Living far away from relatives is the pits. Ellie was inconsolable when they left, and all we could say was, "We can write them a letter and talk on the phone. We'll see Grandma and Grandpa again. Next year-ish." Sadness pie.


I paid $4 for the cake hat and now I get to embarrass whomever dares celebrate a birthday within the walls of my home. I plan to make it an inflexible tradition.

I had really hoped and truly even expected this would be a seven-bodied family picture. Charlie's been such a tease with all the false labor he's responsible for, but alas, the kid was downright too comfortable in there to bother meeting his grandparents.

Mom helped me finish this cushion with some embroidery. I was planning on letting hot glue and felt stand the test of time, but wow it looks much better now. Birdies speak (or tweet?) peace to me. Can't get enough of them, in feathered and fabricated form.

Here are the other pillows now adorning our sofas. The two big ones I just threw together with IKEA-purchased material, and the others required a bit of imagination, but I believe my amateur embroidery skills managed to deliver this time.


Oh yes, and here is the party favor from Erik's underwater birthday extravaganza. These little "I Spy" bags supposedly entertain toddlers for hours. Well, mine were just about interested enough to eat the Nemo fruit snacks and be done with it. I have not forsaken hope. This is a craft I had on the list since high school. I will not be satisfied until they have been entertained by the rice pouches for at least as long as it took me to whip up 11 of them.

During G&G Larsen's visit, we took a trip to the Church History Museum by Temple Square. Among other worthwhile exhibits, they have a sizable activity center for kids, including an exhibit on the pre-earth/earth life transition, aka birth and the aftermath. Ellie named her African American baby Marie and patiently rocked and soothed her through an imaginary sacrament meeting.


Coincidentally, Ellie had assigned roles from the Nativity to each of us that morning. Costumes and grinning sheep at the museum made a replay worthwhile.

Delicately placing the props around baby Marie, she matter-of-factly explained, "We can't let the sheep get too close or they'll eat baby Jesus."

Kyle's done it again! He's nonchalantly upstaged my efforts to become the most sought-after and reputable chef in our household by producing another Delish Asian dish.

This one's Cambodian and is all about the salt, pepper and lime. So simple. Sooooo good.

A tad on the possessive side these days, Erik understood the plate of carrots I placed on the table (for all to share) to be his individual portion. He guarded and devoured them as such. I was mostly shocked that one of my kids actually likes a vegetable, but then I remembered how the carrots accidentally got a double dose of sugar and butter. Yes, that's more like a son of mine.

One thing that's nice about having a shrimp for a daughter is that she never outgrows her clothes. The slit on her chee-pow (Chinese dress) may be getting higher, but it still fits! Good thing, because I for one am not going back to China to get her the next biggest size.



It's not every day that you share a due date with your friend (well, it has been nine months of that with me and Em, actually), so we thought we'd capture ourselves sharing preggie glory, since any day now it will be all baby glory and "please crop my middle out of that picture." For another few days (hopefully not weeks), though, our expanded bellies are lovely and endearingly photogenic. As for my face, well, give me a break. I'd just paced seven miles of the neighborhood in pursuit of labor (not joking).


Made this fruit bouquet (with Mish) for my surrogate mother, Marilyn, for Mother's Day. More fun than arranging even flower bouquets. Of all my crafting endeavors, this is one I would actually consider doing for profit, after I saw the bundle of loot they charge for these orders online. =)

I was going to start spewing some reflections on my last anxious days as the mother of two, but Katie really captures my sentiments perfectly, and much more eloquently, so I hope this perfect stranger doesn't mind me borrowing her cyber-words on the arrival of her third baby (incidentally also named Charlie!). Her entry was about a beautiful triangle quilt she made while waiting for her Chalie and can be found at
http://katiedid.squarespace.com/katie-did-journal/month/may-2008.

"i've been trying to figure out what this third child will do to and with the current family dynamic we've got going here. (yes, this past weekend came and went and along with it, his due date. waiting waiting. . .). over and over the three little kids that will soon be mine have led to thoughts of triangles and the shape's possible meanings. on one end they're symbolic of perfection and unity while down at the other they represent danger and unavoidable tragedy. so which is it? should i be preparing myself for familial annihilation or some sort of exaltation once this little one joins us? as with most things this baby will probably take us on a path somewhere in the center, with detours in either direction occasionally thrown in the mix. moments of hell and moments of heaven. much like our current life, just with more stomping feet." Amen, Katie.

My birth center bag is packed, I've organized the pantry, freezer, and kids' sock drawer, and Charlie's bassinet is assembled and beginning to accumulate dust. Come, little one. Please come soon. If you wait much longer it will be time for me to clean the toilets again.