Last Days Before the Little Sister Arrives....

Well, the time is upon us. If all looks good on Monday's ultrasound, the littlest sister will be born on Tuesday, August 18. My dad's birthday.

We're down to just two or three more days, and today the whole family went out as sort of a last "table for five" outing. We went to eat at a burger joint that boasts of a huge $20 burger. It's free if you can eat it all. None of us tried.

After the yummy burgers, we played at a local park. Well...mostly everybody else played, and I took pictures from my shady spot on a park bench.




I am so thrilled about the birth of the newest member of our family, but I can't help but feel nostalgic about these last days of our family as we know it now. The last days that my sweet little boy is the baby of our family (though you know that each one of them will always be my baby). The last days that Little Miss Sunshine is one of the younger two. The last days that my oldest is not a teenager, and I suspect the last days that she seems more like a child than a young lady.


The last days that I am pregnant and my little boy can put his head on my belly and "snuggle" up to his little sister and sing to her that way. Oh, and...the last days that "round" will be okay with me as a body type.
I can't wait for us all to meet the little one on Tuesday. I know that she will have us all wrapped around her little finger in the blink of an eye. But I will always treasure these last few days as well....

Daddy's Home!

Daddy's home, and the fun begins!
Just for a minute,
Mama forgets that no running is allowed in the house
And that we take good care of the couch pillows...
We shouldn't ever throw them.
Or walk on them.
Or smoosh them in any way.
Mama's rule about not being rough with each other?
It gets lost for a little bit
As Daddy wrestles each child to the floor,
Tickles at the most unexpected times,
Growls like a wild lion
And poses in some sort of threatening stance.
Daddy's home, and the fun begins!

The Family That Plays Together.....

I am a busy mom. I hate to say that and hate to feel that because when I am busy (which is a lot of the time), I often find myself not being able to stay present in the moment. I find myself looking at my watch--or at least thinking, "Okay, I have this many more minutes to read this story" or --what's worse--not sitting down to read the story or take the little one outside to cut the grass or walk the dog. How many times have I said, "We'll do it when you get up from your nap," or "After I load the dishwasher...., " or just, "Later...."?

Which one of my children, when getting to spend some fun time with Mama will mess it up through sassy talk or direct disobedience? (Okay, sometimes...but rarely.) Lately, I must say, discipline has been much more difficult with all three of my kiddos. By difficult I mean that I feel like I am walking through drying cement. Even the little one, who is usually pretty easy, has been directly defying me time after time. What is it?

I'm sure that there are several factors at play (no pun intended), but I cannot get away from the fact that there has been too much work and not enough play in our family. Too many "have-to's" and not enough time to laugh or just sit or read bedtime stories about Frances the Badger or bend down and look at the grass and leaves. Not enough time to collect acorns and leave them on the stepping stone for our squirrel and not enough time to have each of my children help me cook dinner and talk about when I was a little girl instead of rushing them through their "have to's" of setting the table and clearing it after we eat.

Today there were dishes in the sink, and there was laundry to be folded. But my boy and I stopped and played ball in the foyer. Over and over we threw the ball and giggled when we didn't catch it--or when we did. Over and over, my boy said , "Mommy,--you--are--playing--wif--me! Mommy,--you--are--playing--wif--me!"