*baby shower

Our good friends threw us a little shower last weekend which was very sweet. We're so glad to have this little family of friends here!

Everyone was fascinated with my tummy.  John asks every time I see him if it's still in there and why :)

kiddie table:

decorating onesies for the bebe:

I don't think Edie has ever looked this princessy:

*36 weeks

Vera took this of me on Christmas day at 35 weeks.  I have to say this pregnancy is so so much easier than the previous two! I would never have expected that but take it as a huge blessing.  By the end of the day I do usually have excruciating back/rib pain, crazy water-retention induced sock lines, feelings of claustrophobia, occasional shooting pain down from my hips and a short reserve of patience, but on the whole I'd say I still feel decent. I'm even sleeping pretty well - well except for the cold.  I've had this crazy cold the last week which made for some comically miserable moments - like when I was battling through back pain while reading bedtime stories and the dry heat from the fire Ben started just didn't agree with my sinuses. My whole head seized and I could barely take a breath. I just sat there and started crying while Edie put her arms around me and tenderly gave me little butterfly kisses on my shoulder. I want to remember that - something about being mothered by your own children.  It's also pretty comical when I have to put on my snowboots - holy cow, I get a huge contraction every time.

I can't wait to meet this little one!  We all tap my stomach and tell it to kick once if it's a boy and twice if it's a girl :)  I had an ultrasound yesterday and the technician guessed [yes they are often way off] that the baby is only in the 42% right now - kind of excited that I may have a baby smaller than 9 lbs!  We are starting to narrow down names - something we had settled much earlier with V and E.  It's crazy thinking I may never [most likely stopping after this one] feel a baby moving inside me again - one of my most favorite things ever. Such a sweet, happy secret you carry :)  Anyway, I took out the bin of "little baby things" for the first time today and made a little stack of burp cloths and receiving blankets. We haven't set up the crib yet or assessed what we need.... I borrowed a lot in Utah and many hand-me-downs have run their course. Thankfully I've learned you don't actually need much.  I'm actually thinking pretty positively even about the new baby stage.. I feel like just maybe I will be able to handle it better this time?  I'll know the crying phase will end, the other child will eventually adjust, that I do not need to get any projects done or feel pressure to do anything but hold and nurse the baby and love my big girls [they'll eat too].  Maybe I'm in denial. I will say I am a little nervous about labor .... yikes. At least that one is over relatively quickly!

Anyway, those are my thoughts in these last weeks.

*navidad 2013

We really had a wonderful Christmas and week prior with Matty and Melissa here. I'm bummed because I ordered photos from my phone and then deleted them before I uploaded to computer, so I just have a few.  I'll find more somehow and add later...

I'd say the highlight for me was just spending time with family, lounging about and watching the girls love our visitors - makes us wish all over again we could just live close enough to do that anytime. Another highlight was the Christmas Eve service at our church - such a great, solid message, absolutely beautiful music and then a walk back through Boston Common - getting the girls excited that Santa was out there on his way.

Christmas Eve:

Normally I would say something like this is ridiculous and corny and takes away from the message, but our pastor really did an amazing job captivating the church with an excellent sermonette.  This is Ben who volunteered to open one of the gifts on stage - he "won" a pretty awesome flashlight : )

Matty took this of us on the way back from our night out [no kids]. We looked around the Boston Public Library before drinks [a super fancy bubbly water for me] at the historic Fairmont Hotel in Copley Square, then a cold and rainy walk down Commonwealth Avenue to the Eastern Standard near Fenway Park for dinner.  Loved it : )  

I love a fancy old hotel - especially at Christmas time!

Italian pastries in the North End:

these two LOVe Melissa, totally enamoured : )

our backyard:

Lobstah feast at home - turned out well!! boys did all the work, I made coleslaw.

hermanos:

I'll scrounge up more photos...

*Eloise

I hate to write this, but would rather just get it out there so you friends know... I haven't wanted to talk about it much. Last week Eloise was taken from her hutch by what was probably raccoons, though there were also coyote tracks. Matty had caught some checking her out the day before, and it just makes me sick and so sorry that I let this happen. She did spend that night inside, but then was out again during the day. I should have brought her in in the late afternoon, but just forgot and we think it happened in the early evening. Thankfully there was no trace of her and nothing to really clean up, except her destroyed cage.

We are all pretty devastated - this is the first family pet we've lost and I'm sure you know how incredibly special she was to Vera, and all of us. It's definitely been a teaching moment about life and death and grief, and we're thankful that this first experience was with "just" a pet. It is such a sad and horrible thing to have to break news like that to your child. It brought so many memories of my own bunnies who I loved dearly and who mostly died tragic deaths as well. I know it's not necessarily Biblical, but I don't mind telling Vera that Eloise is in bunny heaven hopping around with my Louie and Muffy. The whole thing really brought more understanding to her little soul about death, and she expressed herself that she wants heaven with Jesus "where there is no more dying or being sad." A combination of a genuine care for sweet, much-loved Eloise, hormones and a terrible cold have made me a mess too. Edie of course has no idea what it really means that Eloise died and talks about it with such bluntness - we just ignore her :)

 Anyway, that's our sad news.

*getting ready for Christmas

Some pictures from the last few weeks getting ready for Christmas...

A little shopping at Faneuil Hall the weekend after Thanksgiving:

Went to the local Christmas parade with some good friends. It was a really sweet parade with lots of fun old cars and bands, clydesdales, clowns and not too many advertisements.

the tree:

the little bag on the left is from Edie to Vera - 2 books right off our shelves :)

little hideout for snacks and UNO:

one of many catalogues they've gone through circling, love the note :)

making Christmas cookies with some of our favorite friends:

our sweet neighbors gave us some electric candles - 

a very New Englandy thing to do apparently :)

The girls met Santa for the first time at Ben's Christmas party!  It was so cute to watch their little faces.  Both were so excited to go to a party and were serious about dressing up. Edie even had me put her hair in a ponytail - something she has never ever asked for.  

Vera at her school performance - they sang "Jolly Old St. Nicholas," but Vera insisted it was Jolly Oats St. Nicholas :)

*el frio y la nieve

We haven't had the subzero temperatures yet like places in the West, but winter is definitely almost here!  So far the girls are totally embracing it. I don't mind so much now that we have a cozy home with a new boiler and a wood-burning stove as well!

This was the first inch we got earlier this week:

not much, but enough for snow angels:

this area on the playground was flooded a little and then froze - the first day was the best, so many kids out there after school - falling on their butts and laughing :)

We got a lot of snow last night and they went out for a while before bed.  I used to love going out at night while it was still snowing - the light in the sky is kind of pink and for some reason it doesn't feel that cold.

she's so cute all bundled up :)

*cotidiano

Just some daily life.  We sent Vera off to school with our across-the-street neighbors this morning as I've been doing a little more frequently.  A combination of using pregnancy as an excuse [I really could make the 8 minute walk], it being 24 degrees and the fact that I stayed up until 1am watching Love Actually last night [I knew I'd pay for it]. After watching just a little too much TV [Daniel Tiger and Strawberry Shortcake], Edie got busy playing. Here in the photo she said, "Bye!! Aftah wok I'm going to New Hampshah! I'll be back at thoty-nine!"  Earlier she told me a random story about a worm on the stairs, saying, "Dad hot the wom. He hot the wom because he didn't want it theyah." [Ben doesn't remember this story about hurting a worm.]  She spent the next hour riding to and fro on our mouse toy, spreading blankets and napkins around presumably making beds for puppy in New Hampshire. She also at one point went to visit Eloise and fill her already overflowing food.

Now she is hopefully going to fall asleep in quiet time while I sit here and finish a Christmas gift before we go get Vera.  Oatmeal bread is in the oven and will most likely be eaten all this afternoon [don't think I do this all the time, but I'm glad I did today!]

There's a day in our life!  My favorites are the quiet ones like this at home, with nowhere to rush off to.

*día de gracias 2013

wild turkey in our backyard!

 

Unfortunately, I barely took any pictures this Thanksgiving! My mom was here for two weeks, and my dad one. It was fun to have them here at the new house - they really helped catch us up with a few home and craft projects. I only got one picture of my dad as he and Ben sat watching Thanksgiving Day football.  No pictures of me either - Ben took some while my mom and I cooked, but I seriously looked like a lumpy cow and will not be posting them anywhere :)

   Here's my mom with her very first task - Puppy had been slightly mauled by a friend's dog the day before. So thankful my mom is so skilled at this kind of thing! You can't even see a scar.

 

I thought their little outfits were so cute - they didn't even put up a fight to wear them!  I just said it would make me realllly happy.

girls had a little tea party while they waited for dinner:

Edie helping herself to Dad's turkey:

The food was so good! We stuck to the basics, but everything was homemade: brined fresh turkey, pumpkin rolls, steamed green beans, good gravy, potatoes, cranberry and stuffing exactly how I like it. Pumpkin and apple pie for dessert. I was incredibly exhausted by the time we sat down to eat - it was actually more enjoyable the second day for me.

It was a lovely holiday and we were thankful to have my parents visit!  We also welcomed our first little cousin on Ben's side two days before, making this year extra special.