This post is just my taking a moment to savor and appreciate the relative simplicity we have now.
Two preschool-aged girls, baby on the way, two months to go. The girls are wrapping up their year at The Butterfly Garden, which has been a wonderful experience all around. They'll participate in a couple of summer camps there, but in the fall Natalie will start Kindergarten(!) at Davis Elementary. She and I were over there this morning filling out registration paperwork during Kindergarten Round-up.
I'm still working part-time for CompareMetrics. That has worked out beautifully so far, though I don't know when I'll be back after maternity leave. I start my leave on 6/15. It's hard to imagine working 20 hours/week with a newborn and a preschooler at home, but who knows, it might work out better than I fear.
A new sibling can't help but make for a big family transition, and I'm trying to go into it with appreciation for the balance we know now, willing to let go and embrace whatever the next phase brings.
I vividly remember my last few weeks of pregnancy with Rachel, when it dawned on me that my one-on-one days with Natalie were winding to a close. It was bittersweet. I watched her sweet, bouncy 18-month-old steps and treasured her cute little voice. I read books with her in my ever-shrinking lap, and snuggled her close.
I was excited to meet Rachel, and I'm excited to meet this next little guy. No, we still don't have a name picked out. We've been even busier than we usually are, and just haven't had time to sit down and make a list of names for serious consideration.
This time, I've been very slow to gear up and carve out a nursery space for the little guy. Friends have been so generous with clothes, so I feel like we're well covered in that regard. I still need to get an infant carseat, and probably an Ergo, too. Rachel lived in the Ergo for the first six months. A good friend gave us her single stroller--the single strollers of Natalie's baby days are long gone, and we didn't want to go back to using the double strollers if we can avoid it. Too much potential for sibling squabbles, I think.
Excitement and chaos is surely coming. Long, hard days are coming. It'll be great, in its own way, but I'm happy to savor the relatively slow, predictable calm of today.
Our A/C flaked out last night. The happy ending was that Rob was able to get it fixed by this morning, and the HVAC folks came out but didn't charge us when everything was working. But last night we had no choice but to sleep with the windows open and breezes blowing through the house. I tried to sleep in our master bedroom, on the front of the house, but couldn't sleep through the occasional loud zoom of a car or motorcycle careening down our long, sloped street. When I switched to the guest room, all was peaceful and surprisingly comfortable. I only awoke when I heard Rachel crying in the middle of the night, and ended up bringing her into the guest room to sleep with me. We slept a few more hours, then I gradually awoke to the rustle of thousands of leaves and the gradual building of birdsongs. It was a lovely way to wake up. Savoring...
