one by one

We were here.

All. Five. Of. Us. Together. At 4am.  One by one the children found refuge, escaping their bad dreams, loneliness, and cold silent rooms.  Stumbling into the warm, safe envelope of familiarity, they each carved out a small space for themselves in our bed.  Their buns at my back, elbows in my tummy, soft feathery hair tickling my nose, whispers and whimpers- we slept (sort of.) 

All occupants are gone now (minus Sophie who makes her home here most of the day) each off to their own day's direction.  Work, school, play dates.  Alone, I paced the house looking for a place to start cleaning up (overwhelmed by the choices :) Down the hall and past the bedroom I walked, seeing the bed. I was drawn towards it with the fresh memory of how my day began.  Pulling the covers back in effort to make it, I stopped.  There was still warmth under the sheets from the squishy little bodies that snuggled there just hours ago. I smiled and left it unmade- counting the hours until we could all be there together again.

Then I went off to sew and bake and read and watch the movie that blockbuster sent me in the mail over 3 weeks ago do the dishes.

a little side note

I have that itch.  It is back.  It doesn't ever seem to quite go away.  As Laurel approaches her 2nd birthday, it has become more intense.  Another baby for us?

(Laurel Baby when she was actually a "baby")

I am not good at big decisions.  I can handle little ones with ease.  This morning I made the decision to have oatmeal instead of waffles.  Then, at the gym I decided to skip the third set of shoulder presses. After lunch it was time for the girls to nap but I made the decision to do one more puzzle with them.  But another baby?  That is big. 

   

(Emma the morning after she was born.)

I quite like being pregnant, and I actually like giving birth.  Being a Douala and childbirth educator I am constantly around "baby bumps".  I keep thinking that it might be time to get one of my own.  My husband is not quite on board yet, er- maybe that is putting it lightly.  I have some reservations of my own but they all seem so trivial in the grand scheme of things (gaining weight again, another year or more of nursing, reduction in "me" time).  Really, when it comes down to it, I have the rest of my life to be completely organized, to have a spotless house, to enjoy hours on end crafting/shopping/exercising/doing whatever I want.  This time (you know before my uterus shrivels up) is so short.  This is me hearing my clock ticking for the first time. 

(Hannah at birth)

I love being a Mom, challenges and all.  After 3 girls and 7 years of parenting, it feels like I am just hitting my stride. In fact, there are even times when I think I know what I am doing!  A big family seems so warm and jovial, so fun and lively.  So, I guess I will go on having this internal discussion with myself.  Babies are the best- how do you ever get over them?  How do you know that your family is complete? 

a little of this and that

I don't have anything very specific to blather about today. It just seems to be a normal sort of Monday- errands, recess monitoring (where I get to wear a whistle), dishes, laundry...etc. etc.  There was, however, a coon skin on my entry way floor.

I love Sophie (just a little) when she lays like that.  There was also a bit of art going on in our kitchen.  My friend's husband works for the local newspaper and every now and then she brings us the ends of the newspaper rolls (think last few squares on the toilet paper).  These ends are not big enough to print anything substantial on so they are pretty much useless to the Pressman.  She tells me that they actually sell them to the public for a couple of bucks- it may be worth checking out in your area.

I love covering the table with this paper.  Sometimes we color directly on it with colored pencils or markers, other times it makes a great tablecloth- like when painting with someone who is not yet 2.  By the way, the cute smocks came from Morgan and you can find them in her etsy shop.  This little painting project kept them busy long enough so that I could prep dinner.

Makin' this.  A very tasty way to get your Omega 3's.    And lastly, Hannah brought home her Valentine's Day card for me.  She made it at school and "it had to dry" so I wasn't able to receive it on the rightful day.  The outside was beautifully decorated (sorry no picture) but catch what it said inside:

   

She dictated her thoughts to her teacher.  What a fruit she is....the jungle???  I am glad that she gave me props for my dancing though- I so deserve that one!

ps: Is three. long. weeks. really necessary?  I am ready for Ms. Bennet and Mr. Darcy to hook up already!