Happy Fall

We have been ushering in the fall season by making lots of soup. Even though it is still really hot outside. There is something about eating a meal of soup/salad/baked goods in the fall that makes me VERY happy. The other day I was chopping some vegetables for chicken tortilla soup and Ian started eating the raw vegetables as fast as I could chop them. He loves to stand on a stool and "help" me cook. By help I mean stir, sample, and narrate my efforts. "Mommy stirring, mommy cutting zuc..chi...ni, mommy putting apple (red pepper) in it..." He doesn't stop talking all day long, and says the cutest, funniest things.

Max has been building a lot. He spends a lot of time constructing towers, castles, and bridges with blocks and legos. He loves to order Ian around and teach him how to build. "No, that's not right Ian. Put it over here. Ok, that's good." Ian is a very willing apprentice. I love to watch them play together and spy on their little conversations. I don't want them to grow up. Aside from potty training, I love the stage they are in.

p.s. Here is a fantastic butternut squash soup recipe. It's the best one I've had, and I'm pretty sure I've tried them all. I use a few substitutions and it still turns out great.

Sweet Moments

I have been running around like a chicken with its head cut off lately. Both boys are in the destructive terrible two stage, and life is hard. Don't even bring up potty training. I have been doing it for a year and a half, with very little progress. The tears start to flow when I think about having three children in diapers, but at this point it seems inevitable. I have read every book and tried every tactic, but am still open to advice. I have been totally and completely humbled in this arena of parenting.

This morning while I was organizing things in my room, the boys snuggled up together on my bed and "read" some books they found on the floor. Max's stories were about trucks and animals, but Ian's went exactly like this: "Once upon a time...a little monkey...the end!" He repeated that phrase over and over for a good 10 minutes as he turned the pages of Emily Dickinson poetry and lounged on my bed. It was one of those sweet moments that reminded me that I love my job. There is nothing else I'd rather be doing and nowhere else I'd rather be than at home taking care of my little boys.

33 weeks

Tomorrow marks the end of week 33. I am still waiting for the last trimester burst of energy to kick in, but I am starting to lose hope. Pregnancy (post morning sickness) has never really slowed me down, and I can't figure out what is happening. I guess I am getting old. My nesting instinct is in full force. Nesting hits me differently than most. I get a STRONG urge to redecorate my whole house. When I was pregnant with Ian I sold all of our furniture and bought all new stuff. I even reupholstered a chair during my last month of pregnancy. I would love to re-do our entire house, but am constrained by lack of budget, lack of energy, and lack of time.

I did convince J-P to move his office into our walk-in closet (you are a saint honey!) so I could decorate a room for the baby. As if one project wasn't enough, I decided to completely re-do our Master bedroom. I guess I should say "do", because I haven't touched it since we moved in. Literally. I have been painting and moving things around all week. I also decided to add a project area so I would have some space to work on all the ideas I've been storing in my head. The boys have been dumping things out, breaking things, tangling themselves in my supplies, and "helping" me all the while. I'll post pics when I get it more put together.

Newport Beach

The boys and I tagged along on J-P's last business trip so we could visit family and go to the beach. It was a very quick trip, but lots of fun. Just what I needed to recharge and refresh myself before these last few weeks of pregnancy. We also went to Palm Springs where I relaxed on top of mountains of white pillows and down comforters with luxuriously high thread count. I LOVE fancy hotels, especially when I don't have to pay the bill. Hooray for vacation.

focusing on the positive

Motherhood has never been that hard for me. The last three years have been the happiest, least stressful years of my life. There have been lots of messes and not a lot of sleep, but no complaints. About life as a single mom, I am not quite as optimistic. It stinks. It is sucking every last drop of of my sanity. I have profound empathy for single mothers. Especially pregnant ones with two crazy toddler boys.

I barely survived this last week while J-P was away. I could write pages about all the naughty, terrible things the boys did...or about how I teetered on the edge of a nervous breakdown. But I don't even want to think about it. Instead, I want to document the positive. The cute things they've said lately (if I can remember them) and the special skills they are acquiring.

Ian is talking up a storm. He has been talking in sentences since he was 18 months old and always tries to say things to make me laugh. He dialogues the entire day. He doesn't stop talking until he surrenders to sleep and usually does about 5-10 minutes of talking with his eyes closed before he finally passes out. He knows his colors and can count to 10 on his own. The other day he even sang the catch phrase of a song he heard on the radio.

He loves to tease us, especially about his bowel movements. Last spring when his talking explosion started, he always joked around about poop. When I smelled something coming from his direction, I immediately asked "Ian, did you you poop?" To which he always responded with a very serious face, "no, Daddy pooped". Or, "no Max pooped". Then he started laughing hysterically. Every time. Other days he would come up to me and say (with a serious face) "pooped, mommy...check it". I would proceed to check his diaper, and at the very same moment I pulled it back and assessed the lack of stool he yelled out "Nope!" and started laughing hysterically again.

Speaking of bowel movements, he is also making them regularly on his potty. The other night he completed one, stood up and said "Did it mommy...pooped a lot!...five!", and he stuck out his hand for me to high five him. His other special skills include (but are not limited to): climbing out of the crib, climbing out of the shopping cart (even when strapped in tightly), climbing out of the stroller (even when tightly strapped in a 4-point harness), and climbing out of the high chair (even when strapped in tightly).

Max has the memory of an elephant. He remembers everything. Sometimes it scares me. When I take clothes out of storage that Max hasn't worn since he was a year old (he was much bigger than Ian) he throws a fit and says "hey, that's my shirt!" as he sees me putting his old shirt on Ian. He remembers names of people and stores that he hasn't seen or been to in months. A few months ago we bought him a train set on craigslist. A few days ago I found an extra box with some bridges and trains in it. When I gave them to Max he asked me where we got them. I told him we got them the day we drove to Phoenix and picked up his train set. He responded "oh yeah, we got them from Chris." Confused, I called J-P and asked him about it. He told me that the guy who posted the craigslist ad was named Chris and that he mentioned his name to me on the drive to pick up the trains.

Max is overcoming his fears and getting a little braver when it comes to swimming and getting close to animals. He is singing primary songs, rehearsing a few nursery rhymes, and expanding his talent of truck/vehicle identification. He always instructs Ian about the trucks and vehicles we see on our outings.

On a not-so-positive note, after his yearly check-up with the allergist we discovered that his peanut allergy has sky-rocketed. Not happy news. His dairy allergy has also gotten worse. He can have wheat now, which was much needed happy news after the blow about the peanut allergy. About 5 minutes before J-P walked in the door from his trip, Max took a bite of a cookie with walnuts in it. His whole body turned bright red and as soon as J-P walked in the door I handed Ian to him and whisked Max off to Urgent care. It was a horrible end to a horrible week and I barely kept it together.

I feel much better after a day of rest and relaxation. A big thanks to those that helped us out this last week. You are all life-savers. Check out the boys night out with aunt Sarah here.

Third Trimester

Today is the first day of my third trimester. I have not been very good at taking pictures, documenting my pregnancy, or blogging. As is evidenced by the picture, I am gaining PLENTY of weight. Too much, in fact. As a result I have gone off of ice cream snickers bars, but I am having terrible withdrawals. Hopefully I pass my glucose test this week.

The boys are happy to be home, but can't understand why I won't let them outside to play. Every day Max insists that "it's not too hot outside mommy, it's juuuuust right." When I respond with "110 degrees is not juuuuust right Max, it's too hot", he has a conniption. Summer days in Arizona are long. Especially for this pregnant, hot, exhausted mother. There is so much to do over the next few months, and I have zero energy for the first time in my life. Today I am writing lots of lists and hope to document my progress here. On the blog. That's right. First on my list is to keep a better record of our happenings. My brain is not an effective place to store my children's milestones and funny stories. Look for them here. Coming soon...

playing in pasco

We have been having a blast playing at grandmas house...not looking forward to heading back to the heat. More pics on flickr.

PNW

Dear Daddy,

We have been having a blast hiking, picking strawberries, playing at the beach, going for walks, riding tractors, and eating FRESH halibut. Grandpa made delicious strawberry jam and makes a fresh strawberry pie everyday. We loved riding the airplane and the big ferry to get to great-grandma's house. We were very good, but Ian cried a little on the plane so mommy sang him the "popcorn" song. Then the lady sitting next to us made mommy sing it 15 more times so she could learn it. We miss you and hope you are having fun riding your bike and watching the Tour de France.

Love,

Max and Ian

p.s. more pics on flickr

enrichment photos

These photos (of an enrichment activity for church) are for Molly, who didn't get to see the final product of our planning. It turned out great and your chicken salad croissant sandwiches were delicious.

p.s. This was such an easy event to clean up...we did box dinners and didn't have dishes to wash or food tables to set up. Most people took their boxes home so there was minimal garbage. Such a great idea and tied in with our "out of the box" theme.

big news

I should be posting about the latest haps at chez scoville, but I am so EXHAUSTED after a week and a half of flying solo while J-P was in Belgium. He made it home safely and brought back the most amazing chocolate I've ever tasted. I was patient and waited to do our ultrasound until he got back. Here is the first picture of our baby girl. I still don't believe it.