She was a Mess Machine

Last week was Apple Week! We picked apples and made pots and pots of applesauce. We played apple games. We talked about the letter A. But nothing beat the Oatmeal Tub. Which doesn't sound too apple-y, does it? Well, it was supposed to be...

We started out with numbered apples in the tub. 

The girls found them...

...matched them to the numbers Mommy set out...

...and ignored them for the next hour.

But they played for an hour! It was a messy hour. But an hour!

They rarely argued. 

They just loved running their fingers through the oatmeal. 

And Vivian had to give it a taste, of course. Raw oatmeal. Yum.

Finally, they climbed into the tub.

It was reminiscent of the nursery rhyme about the three men in a tub. Mommy always imagines that the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker could barely fit into their getaway vehicle. Just as these little girls fill their tub until the plastic wants to give and they tip out the side.

Side note: Miriam did a fabulous job matching the apple numbers. Both girls have asked almost daily since if we can "play oatmeal" again. Mommy hasn't worked up the courage to want to clean it up again.

52 Weeks of Joy: Week 36

We have this fancy camera in our house. Mommy uses it like a $50 point-and-shoot. Daddy actually knows how it works. And he gets some pretty great shots of our girls at times. So this weekend, after naptime, we combed their hair, laid out a big piece of Mommy's favorite fabric from her stash, and bribed the girls with cookies if they smiled. 

Nope, that squinty grin and goofy smirk aren't going to get you any cookies, girls. Keep trying.

Well joy of joys and surprise of surprises! We got a couple pictures of them smiling together. 

 Mommy literally needed a nap after they were served the promised cookies.

Foreshadowing

Perhaps this would be better classified in the many posts of things that make us joyful. Because Baby Madelyn makes us very joyful. She is the daughter of good friends who was born three months early and had a really rough start. But she is healthy, always content, and smiling as she nears her first birthday.

Plus...she's a baby. Which makes Miriam VERY happy. She was able to hold Madelyn about a week ago. Bliss.

While Madelyn was visiting, Miriam could hardly take three steps from her side. She wanted to touch her face and hands and dress and socks. She had to tell Madelyn how much she loved her and how cute she was every five minutes. She studied Madelyn as she ate her pureed fruit across the table. Miriam was in baby heaven.

But where was Vivian? Our adventure girl was climbing through the play kitchen sink, running around the house, tearing tupperware out of the cupboards. This was a good moment of foreshadowing for April and the arrival of Baby.

32 Weeks of Joy: Week 35

Now this is a funny thing to be joyful for...but we are. Garage sales. We've never had one ourselves, but we manage a few good finds each summer. For example, the Bumbo for $2. How much are those at Walmart? Like $35?

But the girls' favorite this summer? Can you guess from this picture?

A wading pool.

With kids this easy to please, we will be able to fill the house with them and retire before we're 95. Long term joy.

Bonus: Aren't they cute?

52 Weeks of Joy: Week 34

While it's been rather silent here for the last couple of weeks, we've been joyfully celebrating in our home. 

Baby number three is coming! We're twelve weeks along and Mommy is FINALLY feeling like a human again after too many weeks of all-day-every-day nausea. Just adding good health to another reason we're joyful! At twelve weeks, Baby is about the size of a lime. We had our first appointment last Monday and were able to hear the heartbeat! Such a reassuring, lovely sound.

 

We'll welcome Baby at the end of March...or beginning April, if he or she wants to be late like Miriam and Vivian were. We wouldn't mind if Baby waited until after Easter. Speaking of Miriam and Vivian, they are very excited about Baby. Well. Actually, it barely registers with Vivian for the most part. But Miriam is obsessed with babies...doll babies, friend's babies, babies in the grocery store, Baby in Mommy's belly. She breathes babies these days. And will be a wonderful little helper in about six months. Mommy is thrilled, too...cannot wait to hold this one now that we have some sense of how quickly the time goes. And Daddy is excited too. But would not mind a little boy addition to this house full of females.

Please keep us and this pregnancy in your prayers!