Changes

Am I the only one who is sick of things constantly changing? I can't turn on the computer without demands for upgrading this and getting the new format of that. I have had the same email address since high school, but every time I log in the site looks different. It's not that I don't appreciate advances in technology. I just would like things to calm down a little so I can catch up. Maybe if nobody tinkered with these things for a year or two I would be excited for a change.

House

The last month and a half have been full. We moved, we drove to Colorado and back, we celebrated Christmas a couple times, and we finally closed on the house.

We love our house. It is not a big house, but we have so much more space than we used to have. We have a little yard to romp around in and a garage to keep our clutter mostly out of the way. We can walk to church again, and we are actually in a neighborhood, instead of living surrounded by university students. There is room to walk all the way around our kitchen table. We are really happy here.

Finally taking down the "Sale Pending" sign. The car in the driveway? It's ours. Dirty dishes in the sink? Also ours. Because we live in our own home now!

Lots of boxes to unpack. We still have a bunch in the garage, but I might just wait until it's not freezing out there before I unpack them. Plenty of space to play in front of our cute fireplace.Fun on the deck. A panorama of our backyard. (The deck's not actually wonky. It's just the way things got spliced together.)

Thank you, Your Highness

I offered Lizzy two options for lunch today, and she didn't like either of them. She turned away with a toss of her sassy head and said, "I'm not coming. You are dismissed."
Maybe tomorrow I won't give her options.

Good Food

Barak is a pretty easy-going little guy. He plays on his own, with his siblings or with friends equally well. He likes to play rough and tumble "boy" games, but he is also happy to join his big sister for a tea party, dressed as Cinderella. But - the boy knows his own mind. He surprises me on a daily basis by knowing exactly what it is he wants.
For Thanksgiving we go to my parents house, where we spend the day stuffing ourselves with candy, cookies, fudge, and other snacks. Then we sit down to turkey, and ham, and stuffing, and mashed potatoes, and rolls, and deviled eggs, and fruit salad, and cranberry sauce, and, and, and....
I had the pleasure to sit next to little Barak at dinner, and help him fill his plate. Right away he let me know what he wanted. He was not so interested in potatoes or stuffing or any of that stuff. He pointed to the platter of meat and kept pointing, saying, "I want that! I want that!" Not a piece of turkey. Not a piece of ham. He wanted the drumstick. So we gave it to him.



And he was very happy.

Sebastian

Sebastian is three months old. He is trying desperately to sit up on his own, to stand, to walk, to run after his older siblings and get in on their wrestling matches. If I happen to catch his eye, he'll probably smile, and when tickled he nearly always laughs. (There is nothing like a baby laugh.) He loves to be cuddled, and he prefers to be rocked to sleep. He is a generous sleeper, and there are nights that he doesn't wake up at all until after his big brother starts yelling that it's morning. He's generally pretty relaxed and happy, but he hates to feel ignored or forgotten. He is completely, one hundred per cent, a lovable, wonderful, incredible little person.

There is an experience I never had the chance to record, and I feel it's an important one, something I don't want to forget. Labor and delivery for Sebastian was nothing out of the ordinary; there were no complications or extra risk factors. Nevertheless, giving birth is absolutely the hardest, most horrible thing I have ever done, and I hope to never be faced with anything more difficult. Sebastian is baby number three for me, but I found myself facing the same (though less intense) fear as with previous births. Right near the end I always find myself wondering if I am going to die. I know that sounds overly dramatic, but that's really what giving birth is like for me. Anyway, just as I came to that part of things, suddenly Sebastian was there. All purple, and gooey, and yelling, and squished looking. As the nurses thrust this mad little lump of a person at me, I had this incredible feeling. That's it? That's all I have to go through to get this tiny, perfect person? A few months of morning sickness and the pain of childbirth were nothing compared to this. Ten fingers, ten toes, and wide, unfocused eyes all cuddled up to my heart.I've never gotten a better deal in my life.

Late as usual

I have a ton of things I want to post about and lots of pictures to share, but I never seem able to grab a moment. So we'll start with Halloween. We were in a bit of a rush, so I got really bad pictures. Sorry.

This year we decided to make our Jack-o-lantern into a snowman.
As cute as the pumpkinman turned out, this one is much cuter, don't you think?
Super Why is Barak's favorite show on television, so it seemed like a good idea to make that his Halloween costume. He seemed excited about the idea, until the time came to actually put it on. He kept saying, "Later. I'll do it later." And of course Lizzy followed us around saying things like, "Don't worry, Barak. Mom won't stab you with the safety pin. It won't hurt." So helpful.

Lizzy wanted to be Angelina Ballerina. Even though I find that character annoying and bratty, I think Lizzy made a very cute ballerina mouse.

See those buckets they're holding? At the end of the night they were FULL of candy, and all of it was the good kind. We found the best neighborhood to trick-or-treat in. (Since we live on a street made up entirely of huge apartment complexes, I don't feel bad driving to someone else's neighborhood to knock on doors.)

Barak says

"What's that sticker doing there? I'm gonna bite it off!"


"I need rescued."


"To the power! To the GOAL!"


"You ruined my world."
(This last one was because I threw away his balloon.)