Plethora

So I've pretty much taken a huge vacation from blogging since getting pregnant. First being sick all the time kept me from it, then lack of energy, creativity, time, whatever. But I think about posts to write almost every day. Is blogging really necessary in my life? No, but I feel compelled to keep it up. I think I could use it as a tool in my life...but maybe this is a subject for a post of it's own. For now I think I'll just randomly spout off some big things that have happened over the summer.

 

Does this haircut make me look fat?

I got my hair cut awhile ago, about 4 inches. And I don't like it. I really enjoyed my long hair, but wanted to get rid of all my split ends and the crazy wispy layers from the last cut. I thought I would use this opportunity to really learn how to fix my hair - since there's less of it now. I've been looking at some of the on-line hair tutorials and apparently to fix your hair you need a large barrel curling iron and a flat iron. Hmmm. So I bought a curling iron and have used it a grand total of once and my hair looked pretty much how it does in the picture. Obviously hair is not my "thing".

In April the kids and I drove down to Tennessee with my mom to visit my oldest sister and her cute-cute new baby girl! I was still in sick-pregnant mode so I felt like more of a burden than a help. It was so fabulous to have the older cousins there, helping with the kids, they are so great! My little sister was there too, oh what wonderful people to hang out with! I miss them!

In July my little brother got home from his mission! We are so proud of him. We had a little family reunion and it was so great to be with my parents and brothers and sisters and their families. The kids had a BLAST. John had his first sleepover with his cousins and it has made a big impression on him. I love it when the little cousins get together! Unfortunately I forgot to pack the camera, so we have no pictures of all the happiness, bummer!

For the rest of July and most of August I stayed inside and enjoyed our AC! I tried to do fun things with the kids, but I'll be the first to say that they had a pretty lame summer. The exception was a "mommy preschool" that I did with a couple of other mothers. We took turns with who was in charge for the week and dropped our preschool age kids off, or had them all over at our place. It was exhausting when it was my turn, but also fun and I learned allot. I think I will post more on this experience later.

Not too long ago we got to welcome another niece to the family. The revered Uncle James and Aunt Stephanie had a beautiful baby girl! She's the cutest thing and we just love her! It's great to be close by so we can see how she's growing.  

At the very end of August I made a quick weekend trip to my parents' place. We love it there with Grandma and Grandpa! And of course we had some good times with cousins! The kids ran around like crazy, and we let them, it was great. Plus John got to have another cousin sleepover, which in his mind was the purpose of the whole trip! He loved it! As for me, I shamelessly let my mom and dad take care of me. I didn't cook one thing or clean a single dish, and I even brought a sewing project for my mom to finish! That sounds really awful now, but it was so refreshing - I love them so much! And here's a cute picture of the kids together, we miss them!

 Is that it? I guess so, except that over the bulk of summer John and I did reading lessons. We recently finished the book we were using and my 4 year old is now a reader! Yes, he still has allot to learn, but I'm just so stinken proud! Definitely another post of it's own!

With all the goings on I have steadily increased in size and uncomfortableness. The kids have been handling their tired, cranky mom very well! As has my husband. I think we will all be so happy when this baby comes out to play! I know I will be! I'm excited to hold him and see what he looks like and watch his brother and sister get to know him. It will be wonderful! But I'm also selfishly excited for my insides to have space again. I know I'll be trading one set of trials for another, but I will gladly make the trade when the time comes!

 

I guess time will tell if I actually write all the posts that I hinted at here, and all the other ones I have stored in my head. I want to! I feel excited to get back into this blog. I'm also excited to organize our home and my life, I'm excited to start homeschooling and let this be a "test run" year. I'm excited to plan out fun activities to do with the kids, and to get our place properly decorated. I'm still super tired and don't get much more than the basics done in a day, but it's nice to feel the excitement stirring. I don't know if it's the nesting stage creeping up on me, or the fact that my favorite season is upon us. (Yea for Fall!). Either way, I'll take it!