Mama's Chair

In stark contrast to the adventures my boys have been enjoying (this is my second post today, scroll down to see the other one), I have been soaking up every possible minute in my Christmas present from my dear husband - a gliding rocker and ottoman. It's heavenly. So soft and it rocks so easily. To sit down and put my feet in it at the end of the day... or in the middle of the day... or even first thing in the morning is just wonderful. I'm so grateful. The chair does make our already-too-small-for-6-people house even smaller, but it's totally worth it. I look forward to rocking and nursing our little girl in my new chair. I also look forward to this little girl conceding some lap space to one of my other children. I'm 38 weeks. The bags are packed. Everything is ready. Although I feel fine, I'm getting impatient to be on the other side of labor and delivery and to meet our little girl. Stay tuned for updates. Until then, I'll be sitting in my chair.

Winter Camping

The snow cave





The intrepid campers



For the past three winters, Jack has built a hockey rink in our backyard for the kids. Whenever they shovel snow off the rink, they pile it up into a big mound. Jack hallowed the mound out two years ago and made a snow cave. This year, he elevated the snow cave to a whole new level. Jack and the boys spent most of the afternoon outside on Saturday skating on the rink and working on the snow cave. And then Jack announced to the boys that they were going to sleep in it Saturday night. I thought he was kidding. I don't know why I thought that. I've been married to this man for almost 10 years... of course he wasn't kidding. He lined the floor with old carpet scraps, carried out sleeping bags, dressed the boys in all the right clothing and did all the other things that a dad should do when preparing his sons to sleep outside when it's 13 degrees. And, I'm happy to report that the three of them stayed in the snow cave all night. They did sleep. They did stay relatively warm (Jack tells me it's warm in there). And Jack is the coolest dad in the world.

There is one disclaimer to add: he did take his cell phone out to the cave with him that night. Mock if you will, but I think it was very considerate. There was no way that I, his 38-week pregnant wife, was going to tromp outside in the middle of a cold winter night between contractions to fetch my husband if I had gone into labor!

I love New Jersey...?

I haven't always loved New Jersey. Especially when it comes to cars breaking down in New Jersey. A few years ago our van broke down and the shop that eventually fixed it hosed us. Fast forward to yesterday. We began the crazy Christmas driving loop that takes us from Massachusetts to North Carolina to Ohio and then back to Massachusetts again. We were making good time on the New Jersey turnpike when the grinding sound that had been intermittent became unavoidable. We pulled off to a gas station and Jack poked around unsuccessfully. Since it was about 4:40 pm, I suggested we try to get to a service station before it closed at 5. After getting directions, we drove the relatively short, but harrowing (because of the awful sound) distance to the service station. This is the part of the story when a reader might expect me to lament the deplorable treatment by the service station employees upon us, the weary, stranded, vulnerable travelers. But, no. I have only praises to sing! Not only did the mechanic look at our van immediately, but he located the necessary part and fixed the van immediately. We barely had time to eat dinner before the wonderful mechanic picked us up at the restaurant at which we were eating. I hugged him. It was unbelievable. I had begun thinking about how it was going to be to spend the night in New Jersey. As it turned out, we were back on the road in less than 2 hours after initially pulling off the road. Jack and I could only be grateful as we pulled back on to the highway at about 6:15. And we weren't even overcharged. Providential, me thinks.

Annie skiing

The day of our family Christmas was idyllic in Massachusetts. There was a light snow falling all day. The perfect day to get outside. And since we were having Christmas that day, we hadn't made any other plans to either leave the house or to work at the house. Jack worked on the hockey rink and the boys started piling up snow for a snow cave. Annie skied. She and I did a few laps in the front yard, with her skiing in my tracks. She did great, balancing well and seeming to get the idea of which ski needed to move at a certain time in order to both move along and not fall. We have a very slight incline in the front yard and Annie could see me moving in a way that seemed different and faster than the shuffling she was doing behind me. After observing this a few times, Annie stopped and asked, "Mom, how do I go?" Enough of this shuffling business, I want to ski!

Family Christmas

Since we do some crazy traveling at Christmas to visit our families in North Carolina and Ohio, we have celebrated our family Christmas early the past few years. Here are a few pictures of the kids showing off their new duds, toys and gear. It was a fun day.

Annie practices writing

I'm so grateful for the sweet way that Annie plays while I'm doing school with the boys in the mornings. Sometimes she wants to sit at the table and do school with her boys. On the occasion this picture was taken, I had dotted out the letters for Annie's name and she traced them. I am the proud Mama of the 2 year, 9 month old little girl that traced these letters so well.

"All the Way Bigger"

For some time Annie has been talking about being "all the way bigger". When she says it it sounds more like "all-a way bigger". When she reaches a milestone like being able to wear underwear at night, she will declare that she must be all-a way bigger. Or if she's looking ahead to some far-into-the-future event, like when she will learn to like soup, she will say, "I will eat soup when I'm all-a way bigger". Last night, after a very unsatisfying night of sleep when I labored to turn my pregnant self from one side to the other trying unsuccessfully to find a comfortable position, it occurred to me that, at 33 weeks into my pregnancy, I am the one who is all-a way bigger! I continue to be grateful for a healthy pregnancy and a very active little girl who each day is getting bigger and stronger and more ready to enter the world.