We have been going non-stop around here since the holidays, so I haven't had a chance to post anything! The baby that we are nannying woke up from her sleepy newborn state, so she has taken up most of our free (and non-free) time during the week, and our weekends have been FULL! Here's a catch up post, attempting to cover all the things we've been up to!
First and foremost, Markers is still growing away in there! This pregnancy has been different from my others... much harder physically! Maybe it's because I'm in my 30s, maybe it's because I'm chasing two preschoolers around, maybe it's because I've been nannying someone else's newborn, but the midwives all suggest that it's largely because my second baby (Sammy Smith!) was a giant monster cupcake baby, and my body never fully recovered from carrying that! I've been going to weekly physical therapy to work through some of the hard things, and that has helped tremendously (though has also added to our weekly to-do list).
We celebrated Christmas! Christmas Eve/Day we were at the Acrees' in Zebulon with my parents, siblings and the cousins.
The traditional standing rib roast (finished on the grill this year). Katie's new boyfriend, Aaron, joined us for dinner Christmas day. We all like him a lot.
James cheesing with Mamma Parsons, who was able to travel down from WV for a few days.
Family Christmas photo 2016 (with Sam pants-less)
December 26, we celebrated Christmas back in Durham. This was a really fun year! We got our first family pet (fish tank!) and a bunch of Star Wars stuff and scooters and new clothes from Nana and Pop. The boys had a fun morning.
Choosing our new pets (we started with 10 little tropical fish, and 6 weeks later we have 6 left! It's gone much better than we expected)!
Samuel is potty trained! It was MUCH easier to do with this second child... And he was ready!
Several lunch dates at Foster's Market, of course.
Some trips to the Museum of Life & Science - they just opened a new exhibit that includes all these great instruments and noise makers. When I was a kid, I remember going and they had a permanent exhibit similar to this one, but when I went back as an adult with my kids, it was gone. So, it's so fun that they have opened a new one now! The boys love it.
Checking out the dinosaur exhibit at the museum with the cousins (who have a new BABY BROTHER, Deacon John. We haven't been able to meet him yet due to him being born in the middle of the snow storm, mentioned below, work schedules and illness around here. But congrats to Matt & Mere! Can't wait to snuggle that chunk of a baby).
Friday afternoon popcorn and movie tradition has persisted.
Lots of homemade bread loaves around here lately... Mamma Parsons gave us a bread machine for Christmas, and I'm still working on the perfect 100% whole wheat sandwich bread that everyone in the family likes (James is hard to please).
James Younger had his first day of preschool! Starting in January at age 4 is totally non-traditional as far as preschool goes, but it's how it happened for us! We went to visit a lovely little school this past fall, as we were interested in James starting this coming fall for a couple of days a week (before starting kindergarten the next fall!). The teacher said they had one day a week that they had a smaller number of students, so she was happy to have James join them on Friday mornings each week, beginning mid-year. He LOVES it.
We had one good snow in January, and thankfully I did not have to go work! Stuart was on call, so he did have to go round on each of the snow days, but otherwise he was able to be home with us too!
Markers in the snow
Watching daddy leave to go "check on his sick ladies."
Most evenings this winter have consisted of some Star Wars play by the fire.
I have started working (as a nurse) on Saturdays that Stuart is not on call, and we call it "boys' weekend." The above modeling took place one boys' weekend evening.
James has been really interested in taking photos lately, and I LOVE looking through the pictures he takes and seeing his sweet little perspective. Here he captured some of their animals inside their toy barn.
We have become part of the resistance! That sounds a little extreme, but our family does actively feel called to resist the current oppressive leadership of both our state and our nation. We started small by joining millions on January 21st during the Women's March (controversial, I know). But it was good for us to be pushed out of our comfort zone and mobilize with others. As I've stated elsewhere, there are some issues that we did not agree with during the Women's March (to be clear for anyone who is worried about our souls, we are pro-life), but there were many MORE issues that we do support that the March also supported this year. Phone calls and letter-writing to our representatives, attending political events and town halls as we are able, and being more vocal on social media and in our every day lives is something we feel called to as believers in Jesus. We cannot sit by silently while the things that Jesus treasures (the refugee, the oppressed, the immigrant and foreigner, our children and families, the Earth, the lost and lonely and abused and broken and mis-used) are marginalized. We also realize that being able to be silent up until this point has been a total privilege, and many, many of our neighbors and friends around the world have had to take a stand simply to survive before now. And so now, we feel the need to stand in solidarity with them.
A trip to Pullen Park with Mema
This is a sweet photo, because just out of frame, sitting on my lap, is the baby that we have been nannying. Since I had to sit to hold her, James chose that he wanted to sit next to me on a bench on the carousel instead of riding an animal.
Samuel has grown into a big boy this winter! Totally fearless.
We were so looking forward to a much needed week off for everyone (staycation!). It was the last week we would have before new baby joins us in late March. And then I got food poisoning (or a GI virus maybe? James also got a little sick, but no one else...) I was knocked out for most of the week. Stuart totally ran the house and also made sure I didn't die. I'm so, so grateful he's the man I married.
We did make it out of the house a little to do some fun things as a family - a trip to our donut shop...
The library...
A new-to-the-boys museum in Raleigh (Museum of Natural Sciences, where we had our wedding reception back in 2010)...
Spending some time at our go-to peaceful spot, on the lake right in our own neighborhood (our souls have needed some peace lately)...
And toward the end of our staycation week, everyone was well enough that the boys went to stay at Mema and P\paw's house for a couple of nights. My mom has mostly recovered from her knee replacement (and even went back to work at her nursing job this week!), so they were up for a sleepover! Stuart and I were able to meet Katie and Aaron out for lunch on the way home from Zebulon. (Also pictured, my nephew dog Morty)
Later that night, we got dressed up fancy-like and headed out to dinner.
33 weeks-old Markers joined us :)
We ventured to Carrboro for our first choice for dinner, Acme (where we have been several times before and always enjoy!), which had an hour & a half wait... We decided we were too old (read: tired) to start dinner at almost 9pm. So we walked across the street to Weaver Street Market (where I spent many hours as an undergrad at UNC) and enjoyed some beverages while Googling other places to go eat... After a couple more duds, we landed at City Kitchen in Chapel Hill. We had only been there before for a private event, so we weren't really sure what to expect. We got some scallops and spaghetti squash to split, a couple of salads and a chocolate dessert (Stuart was still stuffed from his giant lunch out with Katie and Aaron, and I still wasn't feeling 100% like eating a normal meal). It was perfect.
Meanwhile, the boys enjoyed some manual labor by helping P\paw getting ready to build a fire.
Staycation ended with a day at work for me, which was a strange day indeed because the hospital did not have water! A water line broke somewhere in Orange County, so the whole service area was out of water. Restaurants and business, and even the University, closed for a day or so. Of course, you can't do surgery or take care of sick people without water, so we came up with creative ways to get what we needed. Love working with the smart people at my job!
Meanwhile, floor snuggles.
Outdoor picnics have been on the rise this past week with spring-like temps!
And lots of playdoh play. That's what we've been up to! Hoping it won't be 6 weeks before my next post (because that's about the time of Markers' due date, eek!)
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