The Week In Review

I can't believe how difficult it's been lately to find the time to write. And then again, I sort of can. We've had some rather busy days, and my mind is full of a million buzzing thoughts, and the humidity has been absolutely terrible. Here's a taste of what's been going on in the last week:

-- I started my new job, working at Cradle--a maternal wellness center of sorts--two days a week. I am quite excited on many levels. I'm just so glad that such a place now exists in our city, and I'm glad that I get to be a part of it.

-- Zeben turned 2-and-three-quarters. No, we do not celebrate 3/4 birthdays in our family. But my mom, aka "Nama," was trying to get Zeb to say that he was "2-and-three-quarters" instead of "2-and-a-half," and Zeben looked at her like she was crazy and said, "Nama, you're talking about money. I am not money! I'm two and I'm Zeben!"

Zeb at 2.75

-- Lena and I made an offer on a house to buy, the offer was accepted, and we spent a hundred hours applying for a mortgage (yes, this means we may actually be preparing to move yet again in a matter of weeks). We are well on our way to becoming official grown-ups.

The sign in the yard of the house that might someday be ours

-- Leo fell asleep in his car seat on the way home from picking his big brothers up at camp. In the hopes of keeping him sleeping and not stuck to our hot, sweaty bodies, we brought him inside in his bucket car seat, and left him on the floor of the mudroom. When we went to check on him a few minutes later, we found he'd been decorated with monkeys by our 3 little monkeys.

-- Jaz lost a tooth. He now has three empty spaces in his mouth. He opted not to put his tooth under the pillow for the tooth fairy (who the kids know is not real, but still have fun "believing" in). He also inquired as to the whereabouts of his other lost baby teeth, "you know, the ones I left for the tooth fairy before, but that--since YOU GUYS are really the tooth fairy--you took?" and was somewhat appalled to learn that we did not choose to keep them for all eternity (perhaps others among you have had the experience of coming across a small box full of your old baby teeth that your parents had saved for you (WHY???), and feeling totally grossed out), and no longer had them, nor had any idea what we had done with them. Perhaps choosing to keep it safe himself is the best idea, even if it means that he doesn't get 6 quarters from us in exchange for the tooth.

-- Lukas woke up exceptionally grumpy on Monday and convinced us (and our friend Katie) to let him skip camp and go and "baby-sit" for Eli and Aryeh (Katie's four-year-old twins) instead. He had a wonderful time, and was positively giddy, and uncharacteristically helpful for the rest of the week. Sometimes you just need a little break from the regular routine.

You have no idea how hard it normally is to get a picture
of this kid with a genuine smile on his face
this week it was easy.

-- My Love celebrated her 32nd birthday. I made her her favorite cheesecake. We also had some friends over for a birthday dinner (you know, so that we wouldn't feel tempted to eat the entire cheesecake by ourselves), and had a lovely time enjoying steak, corn-on-the-cob, and cucumber salad while our 7 male offspring remained happily entertained.

-- Lena made a secret birthday wish. I have no idea what she wished for, but I'm fairly certain that the answer to last year's wish was sleeping peacefully in the hammock when she blew out her candle and made a wish yesterday.

-- Luke and Jaz were in the local newspaper again (I think this was the 5th or 6th time), this time as part of a feature about their fabulous farm camp (which, sadly, ended today, leaving us camp-less for the remaining 3 weeks before school starts).


-- When walking through town one evening, we accidentally ended up at a circus of sorts that was being performed on the sidewalk. It was very impressive.

Defying gravity

-- This one acrobat was hilarious as well as super strong and talented, and took some time to show of his outrageous muscles.


-- I caught Jaz looking awe-struck at the muscle man, and tried to capture his expression with my camera, but he intercepted out of embarrassment.


-- Leo is looking less and less like a little scrunch of a newborn and more and more like a real baby. He has rolls of chub and everything. And the smiles come easily now, especially in the first half of the day. He really is the best antidote for all of this craziness and chaos.

Leo
7 weeks

Leo
7 weeks

-- I fell asleep three times while trying to write this post. Yikes.

Upcoming Blog Titles, which should be appearing here over the next few days:

Two Moms, Four Breasts, One Happy Baby
Handmade for Leo
A Bakfiets Built For a Baby
"Pouch" and Other Tales of Playful Parenting

STAY TUNED AND STAY COOL!