Well, Scott has been working around the clock, and when I say that, I mean that last night he got in at 4am, and went back at 7:30am. We are talking about a job where he usually has weekends completely off, can take time when he needs to be home without a problem and usually gets home early on Fridays. So this is completely atypical for us. Basically, S#*+ hit the fan. Luckily, Steph is here, and our wonderful sitter is stepping in to wear Ben out in the mornings, so we have been okay. But I am so tired today. I crave normalcy. We have a hectic weekend coming up with back-to-back toddler birthdays that require quite a drive, and I don’t want to miss them, and oh yeah, I give birth in a month, so I’m big and starting that lovely swelling phase. I’m also in a nesting panic. A slow moving nesting panic. So if you don’t follow me on Instagram or Facebook, here’s what you may have missed:
We love “building”. These beautiful blocks that Heather and Cannon got us so long ago are suddenly the star of the show. They are so pretty!
We had a photo shoot. Every time I get my hair done or put on makeup, a photo must be taken. It’s a feat.
This was our breakfast out with Auntie Snuffy (long story on that nickname, I’ll have to remember to do a feature) before we took off for Solvang. Crayons are a big deal right now, plus sitting at the table= big buyers of time.
Now that Steph lives with us, Sunday night is “pick up Steph at the train station” night. She spends the weekends in Goleta with her boyfriend. I absolutely love the drive to the station and the downtime. It also gives Ben and daddy some alone time and I get to catch up with my sister after the weekend.
If her train is delayed I stare at my belly button. Oh, and the crazy cat-in-a-bag show that Alina puts on for me daily. That’s her- a knee or a butt or whatever pushing my belly out on the right side. Built in entertainment. She just gets a little rough sometimes.
This just happened one day. There’s a little Scott Thomas need for order in that toddler brain. He’s reading off the letters in order. Thanks to this beloved gadget he knows what they “say” now, too, which is cool.
Bundled up for a walk. If we are going out somewhere purely for his enjoyment we have all picked up the phrase “have some fun”. So he will say, “Go onna-WALK hasum FUN.” Pretty cute.
The rocks down the street at the Vega’s house are a built in activity. I try to encourage him to put them IN the yard as opposed to throwing them in the street. I clean them up if he makes a mess but he generally goes for this game.
Steph gave me an audio card of Mr. Roger’s phrases. Hilarious. Ben loves to hear about how he is growing “just right” and is “just the way he’s supposed to be.” Amen Mr. Rogers.
Thalia, his wonderful extraordinary sitter and family friend, taught him to bring me flowers. It’s super cute. Especially when these just sort of go crazy in the side yard. My sweet boy.
We still have play dates! Somehow. I waddle, and sit a lot during them. But they happen! The kids are becoming more and more interactive and Ben talks about his friends after they leave.
Some days even the easy things are just hard.
The past two days have been sewing and math and more sewing. I thought this quilt was going to be a piece of cake when I laid out this easy 4×4 square pattern. Until I realized I didn’t have enough fabric for the backing and the bear and the binding. But I had a lot of fabric. So the backing became a serious brain twister- how much fabric do I have and how can I lay it out in the easiest, prettiest way. Oy.
Ben will ask for something and then act like it was your idea. B: Watch Peppa. M: You want to watch some Peppa? B: Oooookay!
Then I usually ask him if he wants to sit with me and he sounds another cheerful okay which just makes my heart melt. Then I ask if he wants to hold hands, and he again says, “okay!” and grabs my fingers. This kid is just the cutest most wonderful person I ever could have asked for.
Alexa sent Ben a postcard with an elephant on the front, and Daddy read it to him when they went to get the mail. We had a lot of fun making elephant noises and then coloring Alexa a card to send back (still in my purse with a bunch of thank you notes). He wants to do that every day, we will have to start making it a habit.
Lest you forget, this is still happening (33 weeks):
Ben loves dousing himself in water from the water table. His friend Zach showed him how to use his sand tools (shovel, rake etc) to fling water into the air. It splashes onto the umbrella over the water table and drips down onto him like rain and he just laughs and laughs his excited, mad-scientist laugh. He routinely soaks my ankles and legs and once nearly soaked Steph, she dodged just in time. Summer is fun.
He loves bendy straws. He calls them “sevens” and carries them around all day showing them to whomever is handy and calling out their colors. He plays hide and seek with them and extra points if he can pull them in and out of a bag.
Another great love is the fan in Auntie’s room. He asks repeatedly to “Go see fan” and then he will say hi to the fan and the other day when we were assembling Alina’s crib I taught him how to turn it on and off himself and he loved that. As we were leaving once I said, “Okay, let’s go play with toys. Say good-bye to the fan.” B: Okay. Buh-BYE fan… and then he turned before we left and hollered, ” I LOVE YEW!” I laughed for so long he started giving me awkward looks.
Again, makeup = photos. I can’t say enough how little makeup occurs.
Here’s page three and four of math problems. GUH.
And yesterday, this shiny beautiful thing came to live in our kitchen. SO PRETTY AND SHINY. And now when we are low on food it looks downright severe. It’s so nice and big and everything glides. And its SHINY. Can’t wait to show you updated kitchen photos but the place is a mess.
Okay, I’m going to go have a snack and then start sewing again. I need to watch some quilting YouTubes and I’d love to get some of the bear done. It feels like a race to the finish. Alina’s due date is just days off of Ben’s and his birthday is a month from Saturday. Quell the panic. Hope you all are excited about August!
