So many things have changed this past month from the weather to the ages of my daughters, and even the layout of our house. We began the month by moving Lucy and Emma into the same bedroom together. It was quite an undertaking but we are very pleased with the results. Will made the girls each their own matching headboard that coordinates with the bookcase that we made for Lucy when we were preparing for Emma's arrival three years ago. My job was to tackle the mountain of outgrown clothes in Lucy's walk in closet, as the dresser that the girls now share had to be moved into the closet to make way for another bed in the room. In the below left hand picture you can see the sheer volume of clothes - organized and put away to be handed down to the next sister.
I had fun ordering a couple of things from Etsy to make the girls room special and unique, and Will had fun indulging me. Will and I had an ongoing disagreement as to the design of the headboards - he wanted what I equate to masculine looking headboards, and I wanted girly looking ones. He eventually made the headboards how I wanted them, with the caveat that I tell everyone who sees them that it is my design and not his. Deal. I think everything turned out really nice and the girls have adjusted relatively fast to being roommates. At bedtime we have had to play "prison warden" and sit in a rocking chair outside their room to expedite the sleeping process, but we are hoping to gradually give them the keys to their own freedom, and in return, our freedom too.
I finally feel like our dream of filling our cozy three bedroom bungalow with our future children is finally about to come true. I can't tell you how excited I am to have Violet to kiss goodnight in Emma's old room, and Lucy and Emma to kiss goodnight in their new room. My house and happiness runneth over!
With winter finally transitioning into spring we still spent a lot of time indoors. The girls both got drawing books from the library this month and have enjoyed learning how to draw animals. They have also sufficiently proven that they only bounce off the walls when they are inside, and the tease of spring weather every couple of days has made it harder than ever to be stuck inside.
Lucy also became interested in making balloon animals this past month, inspired by a Max & Ruby episode as well as a balloon animal kit she spotted at the local craft store. She hounded us until we took her back to the store with her own money to buy the kit, and then we headed to the library and got a DVD and a book to learn how to make the balloon creations. Will's uncle who is a professional clown also gave Will and Lucy a tutorial on Easter. Will's progress has been impressive, as has Lucy's ability to blow up the balloons for him with her little hand pump.
Below are the girls standing in front of the last of our winter snow. It is amazing the transition the weather has made over this past month.
Spring has sprung and we have definitely taken advantage of every minute of good weather it has brought. In the below left hand picture, the girls are using a magnifying glass to examine a bumble bee that landed on a bouquet of daffodils Lucy had picked that morning.
Emma, now that she is three, is allowed to have nail polish on her finger nails. We painted them for the first time this past month outside. It was Lucy's first time having nail polish on her finger nails too, as after about four years of habitual nail biting, she finally broke the habit and has nails long enough to paint.
We went directly from snow banks to planting our garden, which was a little strange to adjust our minds to. The girls were able to help for most of it, and in the bottom left hand picture, Emma's chubby little finger is pointing at the first signs of our asparagus coming back after being buried for months under several feet of snow. In the top right hand picture below you will see that spring fever has hit our chickens as well, and they are laying eggs like crazy. Will also transplanted our rhubarb out of the fenced portion of our garden and into a nice hedge in front of the garden as we discovered the local deer do not eat it. So far we are able to maximize the unfenced portions of our yard with food the deer won't eat - asparagus, rhubarb and soon a potato bed that Will is hoping to put in this coming month. I have a feeling they would stay away from our garlic and onions too, but I will try out some test plants this year first before transplanting anything.
And if the squirrel tail isn't enough to turn your stomach, let me tell you about the latest stomach bug that hit our family. Fortunately this time it only hit the kids and I was able to stay healthy, being nine months pregnant! I also counted my blessings that this time Lucy and Emma were hit with the bug at the exact same time, so we didn't have prolonged sickness - especially since they were throwing up for well over 48 hours. In the top picture below, I took a panoramic shot of my spot camped out on the couch with the barf bucket and a hand on each sick kiddos head. There were times where I didn't even get a chance to clean out the barf bucket and the other kid needed it. I have never cleaned up so much vomit in my life. I'm sure there will be stomach bugs in the future to trump this one, but for now, it was the worst one I have ever had to play nurse for. The girls were still recovering on Emma's birthday and friends of ours in the middle right hand picture did a drive by birthday gift drop off so as not to catch the germs we had. We visited in the driveway with car glass between us for a nice amount of time, and Emma even opened up her birthday present from them right there on the driveway. In the below bottom right hand picture we were all healthy enough to do birthday snuggles with our same friends on Lucy's birthday.
The kids became stricken with head colds when I was exactly at the point in my pregnancy with Violet that we lost Luke. I was feeling very isolated and alone, at home with two cranky girls and a head cold myself as well. A friend of mine called me up unexpectedly and said she was in the area and could she stop by. I told her we were under quarantine, and she asked if I needed anything at the store instead. She stopped by a bit later and dropped off a beautiful bouquet of flowers, a pack of my favorite hot chocolate and the movie Frozen for the girls to watch while they were recovering. I can't tell you how this thoughtfulness changed my perspective on the day, and made me instantly go from what could have been a bad day, to an actually happy, hopeful day. Amazing that I could find joy in a day filled with snot and cranky, sick kids. To ice the cake of my day, proving that I have the most loving supporters, my cousin called and told me she was thinking about me and Violet, and she just knew everything was going to be okay. I told her about the significance of the day, and she was certain that Luke put it on hers and my other friend's heart to reach out to me that day. Needless to say, I felt so loved that all worry about Violet dissipated into gratitude.
Despite head colds and the stomach flu, we were still able to visit with friends this past month. The top two pictures below are of the girls playing with friends of ours, and the bottom two pictures are of the girls at our friend's daughter's 5th birthday tea party. In both cases, Will and I were in the background, equally enjoying our time spent with their parents.
Will Violet arrive before this month is officially over? With just over 24 hours left in the busiest month of the year for us, only time will tell! Either way, how many people can say that the last month of their pregnancy just flew by? Fortunately, I can!
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