Hey, Mister, throw me something!

Anyone got a hankering for a moon pie? From an NPR story today: "You can throw 'em real far, they don't hurt too bad when they hit you in the head, and you can eat 'em." Well, you could, but does anyone actually eat them? Maybe the same guy who wears the beads to work the next day. Happy Mardi Gras y'all! (And, for the record, I much prefer the King Cake.)

Calendar Girls

From left to right...Miss June, Miss May, Miss April, and Miss March. Just a few of us who are sporting the belly in Lake City right now. We've counted at least 11 babies coming this year. For our town, this is a huge boom. The girl to the right of me is my lovely sister-in law who is due 4 weeks before me. The other girls, Charity and Crystal are dear friends of ours and are both expecting girls.  

Party girl

We've recovered from a month of sickness. Now we're trying to prepare for another child...let the nesting begin. 

Potty training has been an adventure for Priya. She's getting it (kind of). She is starting to string words together into sentences. Things like, "Poopoo panties, uh-oh." On this subject, I have told her it is not an uh-oh if you do it every time. (She hasn't wet her pants in a week or so.) Early potty training requires a bit more patience, I'm afraid. 

Here's a typical Silas and Priya conversation...

Silas: "Priya, look at...Priya, look at...Priya, listen to...."

Priya: "BUSY!"

Silas: "No, you're not busy."

(ensuing yelling match of "busy" and "no" follows)

I'm catching on to this whole sibling thing slowly. I am less shocked at how they treat one another. Encouraging through the sweet times and teaching through the fighting...

oh, and...

I was also wondering why bloggers don't do the reverse belly photos. You know, here's me one week postpartum, two months, etc. Not saying that I will accept this challenge, just thought it would be comical. For all the fans of the belly...here's looking at 28 weeks...

The other momma in the family is preparing for a new baby as well. Priya goes everywhere with this thing!! She has a few words to say about the baby in my belly, "Out. Hold you. Mine", which means, "Look, lady, you may have conceived, carried, and (eventually) birthed this child, but once it is out, I will hold it and it will belong to ME!" She is economical with her words, but I catch her meaning and am preparing to share.

Balloon Fest '09

So, Lake City is not really a city. Our population is only about 400 year-round residents. However, we do have a lake. Lake San Cristobal is the second largest natural lake in Colorado and was formed by a massive mudslide several hundred years back. The lake, of course, freezes over in the winter. In early February each year, there is a hot air balloon festival on the lake. Christian and I rode in one a few years back, but we just watched from the island this year. 

I was sick for a couple of weeks and lost my voice. Two toddlers and a big-bellied speechless momma made for some interesting days. I think I cheered and yelled on the volleyball court for too many years. Whenever I get a cold, if I strain my voice at all...it just vanishes. 

The whole family has recovered from the sickness and we enjoyed playing in the sandbox in the warm winter weather this weekend. 

January--the rest of the story

Honestly after the rush of the holidays, the normal life was well, easy, and a bit boring. However, probably in my pride of thinking things were going really well, and, wow, I am really good at this household management stuff....I had sort of an emotional breakdown last week sometime, completely overwhelmed by the children, the pregnancy, and cooking dinner. It was just too much. So, my husband ordered me out of the house and on a solo vacation to a spa/resort for the weekend. Boy, he's tough on me! For two nights and two days...I completed all my thoughts, prayed,  crocheted my son a hat, ate wonderful food that somebody else cooked, read, walked eight miles, went to a hot springs, and, yes, got a massage. I was so refreshed!! When I returned the washing machine was still broken and I got the stomach flu, which is, hmmm, unpleasant at 25 weeks pregnant. I have since recovered, as has the washer. Here's a few recent pictures of the kids. 

Let the games begin...we're potty training Priya, shown here doing a little panty jig.

Priya is also learning to dress up. This is her attempt to look like a crazy bag-lady, I suppose.

We got a new shipment of the material with which I make rugs. The kids have played with this box for days.

Out with the old....in with the new.

The newer improved belly for 2009. I'm 24 weeks and feeling great. I've gained almost 20 lbs. I only gained 26 total with each of my other pregnancies, but I was thinner than I've been since high school before I got pregnant this time. So, I'm not too concerned. 

Priya got her first haircut to welcome in the new year. I cut more than I wanted, but the mullet is gone, folks. She shook her head the whole time; she's lucky it doesn't look worse. Right after this photo, her fingers got a little cookie dough on them. She was saying "yucky," I told her to lick them. In a flash she had licked them and grabbed a handful more to shove in her mouth. I should have left her ignorant. 
We used some Christmas money to buy Silas (and eventually Priya) this aspen log trundle bed, a Craig's list gem from Crested Butte. There is not a mattress for the bottom yet. So, we're using it for shoes and toys right now. Next summer sometime, the "big kids" will sleep in the trundle and the baby will be in their room in a crib. The first night Silas slept in his new, high bed, Christian gave him a great talk about growing up, kitty, and thumb-sucking. Happy to report that Silas has not seen kitty since, nor sucked his thumb.