*looking back

I was looking back at these posts from January 2011 - when Vera was about 3.5 and Edie about 3 mos.  I wanted to see what kind of struggles I was having at the time, hoping at least that this time isn't worse!!   Obviously there were going to be some issues having to do with sleep, my preferred complaint :)  Ruth is following right in her sisters' footsteps in that regard. Or maybe I just haven't figured it out yet??!  My babies don't like to sleep for more than 25 minutes during the day and in the early morning hours are up every hour or so. sighh.  I am thankful that when we put Ruth down around 7:30 she stays down for 5-7 hours. Just need to work on the 5-7 after that....  I am so tired, so very very tired.

Anyway fun to look at the differences in their little faces. All a little alike but different.

Ruth - so far our chubbiest - the hand photo was Vera's idea :

Edie:

Vera:

seesters:

Vera at 3 1/2 - Edie's wearing this skirt today :)

love this one:

*afuera

We've had just a few gorgeous days recently (today was 39) and the girls could finally spend a lot of time outside.  I love our backyard so much!  When you are down there, off the deck, the grasses are so tall and wild feeling - hard to capture it in a picture.  It all makes me wish I was 6 and playing Little House on the Prairie.

*caritas

I just love all the little faces babies make... and I try to capture every single nuance on camera :) Ruthie really is so cute and talkative. So happy especially when someone new wakes up or comes into the room. Her happy moments are longer and longer every day, but still fleeting. (10 weeks yesterday)

***

The pouty sad face is too much!!! The other day I was singing the Hallelujah song from the Messiah (kind of playing around, I am no singer) and she kept getting the sad face when I tried to hit a high note - Edie and I were laughing so hard.

*reading

Like I said earlier, since Vera lost her tooth she's had a burst of confidence with reading.  We haven't read too many chapter books with her lately, with the busyness of the new baby, etc. She mostly fulfills her 15 minutes a day requirement by reading books to Edie or with her Calvin and Hobbes obsession - when they haven't been taken away.  I'm glad the comic books have helped her become more fluent in reading, but instead of viewing them as a hilarious and thoughtful commentary on childhood, they have opened up her eyes to a new whole world of mischief and viewing parents, teachers and babysitters!  Seriously, we kind of regret that she stumbled on them :/

ANYway, so I've been trying to find some sweet, wholesome books for her to read. Last week a friend lent us the first in the Cobble Street Cousins series and we read it together - me a page, then her a page. On Thursday I borrowed the second in the series and that night Vera came downstairs pretty late saying she had read the whole thing in one sitting!! It was a school night but I wasn't upset at all. She was beaming and said, "I love reading!!"  Ahhh it made me so happy!  Can't even describe how happy that makes me.

Welcoming any suggestions on good, wholesome chapter books!

*honesty

A combination of the paralyzing isolation a new baby can bring, cold weather, distance from all sides of family and feelings of being left out of the daily community we could have with them, hormones, lack of sleep, lack of money, bickering children, a public school experience that leaves me sad, distanced and worried about my little girl, a lingering sense of awkwardness around the friends we meet ... well all of this comes together and leaves me a little lost and teary sometimes.  I appreciate comments on instagram that I am a 'supermom'  because I managed to make muffins and play-doh with a newborn  around, but the truth is I often feel staggeringly inadequate.

I have loved this blog, Journey Mama, for many years. She is so beautifully honest about all these same feelings. Maybe everyone doesn't feel them, but she does and she shares them in just the right way. I loved this post of hers I read today about her own self-loathing and her reminder about how God sees us.

posting some unrelated pictures... 

reminders that God is good and things aren't as bad as I tell myself they are :)

a good daddy:

sisters having fun and encouraging each other:

 biggest sister adoring the baby:

Days warm enough to enjoy the outdoors. She went from fussing to cooing and smiling the second the breeze touched her face:

a sling that works like magic to get her to sleep:

an adorable 3 year old:

We are so behind all the Spring pictures I see from the West Coast! 

but still, Spring is coming here too...

more loving. Vera even whispered "I love you Edie" my heart was so happy!!! 

[I may have posted this?]

*

Ben's parents were here last week and we're all left feeling a little lonely again now that they're gone. It is always so wonderful to have family and friends visit, but it also makes us realize how nice it would be to just live close. To not have to pack all the quality time into a week, but to be able to meet up for weekly dinners or picnics in the park. There's my little whine about that :)

We were out quite a bit which was good for us!  It's nice to have extra hands to help with the tiny one [I did kind of overdo it the first day, after having been sick last week I had the beginnings of mastitis].  That day we took the train up to get Vera from her choir rehearsal and then on to Somerville which is just past Cambridge. I picked a random restaurant with good reviews from my phone map and ended up with a total winner!! Whew - I feel like my choices are often flops :)  It was an old-school bowling alley that had converted half into an amazing pizza restaurant - all local ingredients, beer, et cetera :)

walking through Boston Common:

I love this family photo - at the Flatbread Company:

Grandpop holding his little loaf of bread :)

Rosie brought things to make a piñata with the girls - it turned out so cute:

Vera is really into science experiments lately and Mike surprised her with a special kit.  They also put some water from the pond under the microscope - so awesome!!

Other than that we hung out a lot at the house [it was rainy and pretty chilly still], went to the aquarium, to a fantastic meal at the Gourmet Dumpling House, sushi, seafood, Vera's performance with the annual choir Cantata at church, little projects at home, Ben went surfing... all around a good time :)

and here's our little chunk of love: