And yet one more funny thing happened on the way back to regular blog activity

Meet Boyd Daniel Maxwell Romero. We are calling him Max, and he does not dissapoint- arriving in surprising fashion 2 weeks early.

More soon.

a funny thing happened on the way to returning to full blog activity

...okay, more than one funny thing.

There was this,

a tried-and-true FOUR-YEAR-OLD (Saturday was her birthday and she is so grown up).



And this:

Chip got a new job.  A good job that makes him HAPPY, which is such a good thing because it makes me happy.  But the downside is that it has him traveling again (cue universal laughter).  So to recap: I am happy.  And also very nervous (as you can imagine).


And this,

this belly - this baby - this this this HUGENESS, which is still a round reminder (no baby yet).  And I'm perfectly happy about that, if you believe it.  I'd like him to hold on for a couple of weeks, actually.  Just give me a couple of weeks to finish putting his room together, to finish washing his clothes, to paint a couple of shelves, to actually sew him some swaddle blankets (cut out but as of yet, not a single stitch), and to pack a darn bag for the hospital.


And this, which is hard to explain without putting it into context.  For the last two and a half years I've been working in the children's organization at our church (it's called Primary).  I've been the secretary and the first counselor, always behind the scenes, happily in the supporting role.  I've let someone else make the big decisions and call the shots (LOVE YOU AMANDA).  And then, about five weeks ago, my Bishop asked me to be president (cue even more universal laughter).  That was my first reaction, actually: I laughed.  Then I looked at Chip.  And I looked at Alice.  And I looked at the growing belly.  Then I said yes.

It's been a busy month.

But I'm excited to be here with you, and I promise I'm hanging in for the long term, come what may.  Tune in the rest of the week for pictures of some of the things that I have actually been able to get done (fun and crafty and cute things).

butterflies in her hair

There is no fooling you people, is there?  Monday's post starred dear sweet Alice as a party goer wearing a pee pee teepee, that ever-strange and hopefully useful baby boy accessory.

I found a pattern to make some, and with the fabulous Wandering Nana as my seamstress (everyone needs a friend like her), we've been in pee pee teepee production.

Also on the docket of pre-baby necessities:
- cute swaddle blankets
- pacifier clips
- curtains for the little buddy's room

Four weeks from yesterday, gulp.  There is a whole bunch of stuff that I need to tell you.  Like, a WHOLE bunch.  But for now, I am thinking of how Alice insisted that she "decorate" my hair two nights ago, and proceeded to put little butterfly-shaped buttons in my hair.  I forgot about them until a few hours later when I went to get ready for bed and took my hair out of its ponytail.  A little shower of butterflies fell down at my feet.  These are the small things to enjoy.  Anything new with you?

And this: if you had four weeks before your 2nd baby was due, what would you DO exactly?  (I'm not BORED, for heaven's sake, just wondering how you'd choose to spend your time.)  Give me your best advice.

a monday morning riddle for the interwebz

Well hello there.  Happy President's Day and Monday and everything wrapped up together.

For your special reading and viewing pleasure, I pose this riddle for you.

Here is a picture of Alice hosting an impromptu birthday party for someone.  Perhaps herself.  As you can see, she has bedecked her party-goers' heads with "party hats".  I say "party hats" because they most assuredly AREN'T party hats.

They are something quite the opposite.

Any guesses as to what they are (or will be)?

my two shadows

Is it weird that I haven't posted in a month, and the first thing I put on here is a picture of the two furry beasts that have been following me around for weeks?

We've been literally turning the house upside down, moving the contents of one upstairs room (my little studio space) to the wee little office room downstairs.  The room upstairs will be Baby's.  With an extra guest bed.  And Chip's desk.  And some other stuff.  Not that it's huge to begin with, but it's a lot of stuff to stick in there. 

Did I mention that we also kicked the furry monsters out of the upstairs entirely? 

That would explain them finding me as their only real and true friend, their only source of solace, their only human who truly knows what it means to SUFFER AND HAVE TO LIVE IN COMPLETE COMFORT DOWNSTAIRS.  (I actually do have a lot of sympathy for them, they used to have complete run of the joint, but were slowly ousted room by room, until finally they woke one morning to find a gate on the bottom step and all the humans peering down at them going NEENER NEENER YOU CAN'T COME UP HERE ANYMORE....  or, that's how I imagine they see it.)

It has to do with Chip's and Alice's allergies.... and this baby, who knows what he's going to bring to the mix in FIVE WEEKS.  Five weeks, people.

I'm not really freaking out.  Only hoping we get the books out of the hallway by the time I'm in labor.

Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day, if you celebrate that sort of thing.  I think we'll be celebrating today by sewing curtains... or something.