Last Week in my 20's ;)

29 weeks gestation, that is...

Talking to Gin who asked to see JuneBug

It's been a rather relaxing little-over-a-week down here, mostly because we've had some rainy days, giving us a chance to have a calmer schedule. Perhaps I've mentioned before, since Dylan's been taking the car 3-4 days a week (and sometimes everyday, like when it's thunder-storming), I haven't had the usual errands as my driving force. Consequently, Paul, Ada, and I have engaged ourselves a lot more at home and in the neighborhood. The Little School Group's a bright start to the week on Mondays, and Fridays are a fabulous stride into the weekend-with-Papa, what with the moms' levee walk, art, and/or playground time. The middle days are spent either erranding, if Dylan rides, or busying about at home, in the yard, on the stoop, or on bikes. Paul is getting great at riding his bike; he's still got the training wheels on, but he's a great listener when we're riding in the street, and he even managed the 45min levee walk last Friday! Ada "rides" her trike (with parent-push-handle) when Paul gets to ride his big-boy bike, so it's excitement for both. 

Last week in particular, I made a physical list of all these little crafty to-dos I had building up in my mind, and I wrote it on our dry-erase monthly calendar on the fridge, which is also where I write the shopping lists; that is to say that I saw said crafty-list frequently, and just did things with Paul and Ada that I'd somehow thought was for some "other time" or "if there's time", etc. So, I mended Ada's Easter basket handle (broken from last year's party...), we had round 2 of Easter egg dyeing, we crafted little Easter chicks from Mrs. Ashley's supplies from 3 weeks ago, and built a tunnel out of the massive boxes the new carseats came in. It was great! I had a couple of nights of bad sleep + irritating allergies, so I caved and took some allergy meds, too ... which was also great! 

We even managed a tiny taste of French Quarter Fest last Thursday; the kids and I ferried over and walked the 30-ish minutes to Frenchmen St where a friend was singing some jazz, and we met Dylan, who drove us home afterwards. Biggish pregnant lady walking across the Quarter with a very strange (to New Orleanians, at least) double stroller/bike trailer, I was prepared for some comments. (I'd gotten some before even not pregnant - like "with all them kids, better stay away from that man" or "hands full, eh?") What I got this time was, "Beautiful family!" and "Congratulations" x3, and "Good luck with the birth!". What a pleasant surprise.

Saturday was our, apparently, annual Easter party. We threw one last year and decided we'd keep it up as a way to have Easter egg hunts and fun Easter-y things during Easter. It was pretty chaotic this year, honestly, and a couple of kids went home with "bo-bos" as Ada calls them. Paul and Ada enjoyed having a bunch of friends over to play and eat a ton-o-candy, so that's good.

The next day, after Mass, we explored a part of City Park we hadn't before, and then this rainy week's kept us inside mostly. Whenever there's been a break, we've popped outside for some puddle-play, a walk down to the library for story time, and even got to put our sprouted sunflowers in the ground.

Today, Thursday, started out pretty well, too, as Dylan made waffles for breakfast - on a weekday! - after I randomly mentioned I wanted them, which I never do; he took advantage of that pregnancy craving, I think!





Oh, my gosh, I almost forgot: kids "built a fire" outside once, using that old sled from MN, collecting all sorts of junk and trash scraps from the party - yuck - and Paul's been playing "church", reading a bit out of the "Bible" for us. Allow me to relay this transcript:
<< Jesus, Chapter 2. Jesus found a big cargo ship on the lake. Filled with boxes, big boxes of ... jelly beans. And chocolate. And he ate the jelly beans and gave lots of jelly beans to people without jelly beans for Easter. And then he rose up to his Father. The End.>>