Happy Birthday, Maren!

Grandma flew out to visit us on Wednesday night; she wanted to see the grandkids and offered to give Andrew and me a night away from them, something we've never done. The kids didn't know she was coming so we were busy getting them into bed like usual when there was a knock at the door (Grandma rented a car). We asked Miriam to stop what she was doing and to answer the door and when she did Grandma said, "Anybody need a Grandma?"

Miriam stood there with her mouth wide open for a second before jumping into Grandma's arms. Grandma had to go into the girls' room to see Rachel (whose nose was already stuck in a book); Rachel flew out of bed to see Grandma. 

Benjamin took a little more coaxing to get out of his room. He actually asked for permission to get out of bed, which was kind of strange because he usually has no qualm getting out of bed for any reason ("Where's my cup? Where's my bus? I want to read another book! What's that noise?" and so on). By this time, Grandma was sitting on a chair in the living room holding Rachel and Miriam on her lap. Benjamin came to his doorway, looked out, and fell over he was so surprised.

A morning with Rachel

Andrew's defending his prospectus today so had to leave the house a little earlier than usual which meant that I got to wait for the bus with Rachel. I completely checked out of her morning routine this year, which makes me equal parts sad and happy. It's been so nice to not have to wake up early in the morning with the pregnancy blahs and I really appreciate Andrew adjusting his schedule so he can be the one to wait for the bus every day, but I also felt a little bit of guilt for never seeing her in the morning. Then a friend reminded me that those one-on-one moments with her dad are important, too, and that I had nothing to feel guilty about.

It was nice to see a fresh and cheerful Rachel, though! Usually by the time she's home from school her hair is wild and her temper short. That's how she gets out of bed, too, but it wears off over breakfast and she eventually morphs into a happy (slightly silly) child.

Benjamin's Birthday Poster

It's finally finished! It only took, like, three years, but it's finally finished! I had it all put together by March and was just waiting to get some pictures from Andrew's computer (since we usually download our "nice" pictures there and I only have snapshots from the point-and-shoot cameras on mine). We vowed we'd have it on the wall before Zoë was born so last night I said, "We need to just finish this already—do you have like five minutes?" And when we were finished he said, "Oh, is that all you had left?! I was totally holding you back!" 

Just a little bit, there, Mr. Prospectus.

Sleep, baby, sleep...

In a crazy turn of events, I missed singing to Benjamin and Rachel this evening. They were both fast asleep by the time I went to sing (at 9:00), while Miriam—Miriam!—was still up reading.

Rachel went to the zoo today on a class field trip (which she'll write about later, in theory). She had to be at school at 7:15 AM and didn't arrive back at school until 5:15 PM. It was quite a long day for her.

We sent her with a camera (our old semi-problematic camera) and she proved her responsibility by not losing or breaking it and by taking a million selfies:

Rachel's FHE lesson

Rachel was in charge of tonight's family night lesson; she decided this during yesterday's quiet time and made a poster and everything! She wanted us to learn about how to take care of the earth (since it's one of Heavenly Father's creations and we're supposed to be good stewards).

First she showed us a diagram of the greenhouse effect and we discussed climate change and how it's hurting our planet. Specifically she wanted to inform us that there are polar ice caps on either end of the globe and that global warming negatively impacts "these little guys right here" (meaning her stuffed polar bears and penguins).

Whistle while you...JUST DO IT ALREADY!!!

Today it took Benjamin two hours and twenty minutes to put away the dishes, and by dishes I mean the silverware and the plastic plates and cups. It's not that intense of a job. There were tears and time outs and utter rebellion.

"Grab another plate and put it away, Ben," I'd urge.

"No, thanks," he'd say.

"You need to put away your dishes before we have lunch," I'd remind him.

"You put away the dishes," he'd say. 

"I already put away my dishes. You need to do the rest. It's your job."

Eventually Miriam and I gave up and had lunch without him, which just about broke his achy-breaky heart into a million pieces. But, honestly! He was driving me crazy.

"Where this fork go?" he'd ask.

"You know where that fork goes," I'd say. "You know where everything goes. Just put them away!"

He put a bunch of silverware with the tupperware and then put some plastic plates in the silverware drawer—just for kicks. Then he'd open the drawer and hang on it like a monkey, which is a big no-no. Did I mention he was driving me a little bonkers?

Finally, finally he finished his job and I gave him his lunch. And, truthfully, he's still getting on my nerves. He's not being terrible; he's just being two. 

The other day I was equally frustrated (with everybody). I can't even remember what everyone was doing, which probably means no one was being terrible but sometimes things just get a little loud/overwhelming in our house and I start to lose it. Andrew stepped in and said, "Rachel—you need to stop doing x! Miriam—you need to stop doing y! Benjamin—you just need to stop being two!"

And he almost can, but then he'll be three and...that's not much different. It's a good thing the hilariousness of two- and three-year-olds offsets the hysterics otherwise I don't know what I'd do.

Thankfully, Miriam was wonderfully helpful today. She helped me fold the laundry (in exchange for points) and then said, "I ran out of time to do my Saturday chore so I guess I'll do that today to make up for it!" She tidied up the living room and vacuumed all by herself (for no points) while I was doing my postprandial workout this afternoon. I could have kissed her (and I did)!

So I guess it was worth it to spend those two painful hours haranguing Benjamin about dishes—because hopefully by the time he's five he'll be as capable/helpful as his big sisters (which will leave me free(er) to pull my hair out over Zoë's two-year-old antics). 

Happy premature birthday to me!

My birthday isn't for another two months but Miriam made a card for me yesterday, anyway. Her original plan was to hide the card from me and give it to me on my birthday but then she decided she'd probably forget where she hid it (wise child) and gave it to me early. And it's the best card ever.

Definitely nesting

Clearly our due date is creeping up on us. We're a full week past when Benjamin was born, I only have two shots left, and I'm definitely in nesting mode. Things around the house that I've never even noticed before are driving me crazy so I've been tackling them slowly while doing other more normal getting-ready-for-baby activities.

For example, I caulked the shower on Monday. Yesterday I cleaned out the shed and sorted through baby clothes and treated for stains. Today I sold some bikes and a tent on Craigslist and washed a bunch of baby clothes. 

Swinging

This morning I took the kids to the park. We walked, of course, and Miriam asked if she could run ahead all on her own so I told her that she could and as she ran down the road she spread her arms wide and said, "Hooray! I'm as free as the wind!"

We had a pretty fun time at the park but eventually decided we should go home for some lunch. On our way we stopped by an adjoining neighbourhood to make contact with one of the sisters I'm supposed to visit teach but who I haven't been able to contact. I only realized this month that she lives within walking distance from us, so we stopped by on our way home.

She was sick and napping, but I did get to chat with her grandmother who was tending her children. She has a daughter Miriam's age and a younger son (just over a year old, I believe). The phone number I was given was rather outdated, but I now have her cell number as well as the grandma's cell number (four generations live in the same household). I'm going to see if she'll join as at the park one of these beautiful spring days...when we're all healthy again.

Museum Monday

On Monday morning I got a text from a friend inviting us to join them at the museum, but there was no way that was happening in the morning. We did, however, make it in the afternoon, and unlike Friday morning when the place was teeming with people, on Monday afternoon the museum was practically deserted.

We went outside to get a little walk in first, stopping by the farm. When Benjamin climbed onto the stairs inside the alpaca shelter, three alpacas rushed in to see him. Often they shy away from the crowds but today I guess they were a little bored and were curious about the little boy who'd come to visit them (or all just decided they were hungry at the same time). Benjamin was a little unnerved by their sudden appearance in their stall.