Big Beds!

Behold the dismount:










Success!

Asher and Soren's new beds arrived today...just in time for their big THIRD birthday! It's so fun to see the 'guest' bedroom become their room. Jamie labored feverishly to paint the room and ceiling and I couldn't be happier with the results. Soon we'll put up the framed prints (gear and vintage travel prints) and they'll be set!

Asher referred to his bed as 'the bounce house' and accordingly, showed a great passion for jumping on it. I loved watching them OWN their new beds and little book case. They were thrilled to climb on and off their beds and fill their book shelves. It is such a joy watching them grow and mature and leave their little prints on this world and above all, MY life.

Peach Picking

Posing by our pecks of peaches.












Then men hauling our harvest.




Jang had never seen a peach before she came to Virginia!
















Jonas borrowing a peach.









On Saturday we picked four pecks of peaches with our neighbors. We went to Hollins Farm, which is where we picked pumpkins last October. It's a dramatically picturesque farm located on a hill with panoramic views of the equally gorgeous countryside surrounding it. I love our voyages to the countryside, especially when they yield produce. It was fun to go with our neighbors and to have friends there for Asher and Soren.

The peach trees were engorged with fruit and we had little trouble filling our bags with fruit. Asher and Soren were quickly exhausted by our labor and coupled with the heat they were pretty done 'hiking' after an hour. Both of them were crying to be held and I managed to sling them both on my hips for a while but it didn't last long. I really wish I could have borne them both for the short hike down to the car but my fear of another terrible fall and my severly weakened state made this impossible. Jang came to the rescue by offering to give Soren a ride on her back, which he happily accepted.

Asher and Soren are my babies--even if they are about to turn three. Their little friend Jonas who is less than a week older than them did not beg to be held and has relinquished baby status to his younger brother Mason. I imagine that by the time their baby sister is about eight months old that Asher and Soren will have gone through the same kind of relinquishment. It makes me kind of sad to think that in a few short months the beautiful little babies that made me a mom will no longer hold the official status of 'babies' (but they'll always be my baby babes) and will suddenly become older brothers. They'll make wonderful older brothers.

Peach picking made me even MORE excited for fall, the holidays, and having this baby babe!

Play Date

Asher with his 'fishing pole.'




Our neighbors moved last month to a house in a pretty sweet neighborhood. We went to their new house on Friday and were smitten by their yard (read: trampoline and toys). Soren and Asher wanted to do a little bit of everything and I think they were successful in playing with EVERY single toy on the premises.

I loved watching Asher play solo t-ball. He would put the ball on the post then after hitting the ball he would carefully lay down the bat and run after the ball only to repeat this process over and over. He's so cute.

Soren loved the tramp and when I asked him to show me how high he could jump he would stop, bend his knees, and give me his best jump. Really cute that one.

After naps on Friday we went to the pool for the first time since JUNE. We had a ball. Soren and Asher will swim with their arm floats! Soren gets so stinking excited when he swims that he screams with joy and is so proud of his new talent. Only one week left of the pool! See ya summer!

31 Weeks

So excited to add a sibling to this sweet duo!


I had a sonogram last week and learned that my baby babe weighs roughly three pounds and seems to be on the small side of the growth curve. Her stomach measured kind of small so I have another sonogram in a few weeks. The doctor said that everything was okay but they like to be cautious. Ultimately he said that I would not have a nine pound baby and that in a time when most women are already overweight when they get pregnant or gain too much weight when pregnant (gulp) that large babies are the norm and six to seven pound babies are less common. I'll take a six to seven pounder thank you.

The good news is that my placenta moved and has left me with plenty of room and space for a natural delivery. However, baby babe is breech! Her head is at my belly button and her feet are at her face and her bum is sitting on my cervix. The doctor didn't seem too alarmed and said that there is plenty of time for her to flip and I hope, hope, HOPE that she heads south again so that I can realize my dream of a natural delivery.

Three years ago this time I was obscenely swollen and I had constant pain in my upper back. I was sleeping less and less at night and was physically quite miserable. I also had nearly nine pounds of baby babe in my belly and now that I just have three pounds of baby girl--no wonder I feel so great! This one baby business is pretty sweet.

Tonight Asher asked me if the baby was 'stuck in there' and Soren responded, "we need to find her." They are cute. Soren suggested the name Geekie tonight and that made them both laugh hysterically. I thanked him for his recommendation and politely rejected it. I was, however, immediately reminded of one of the camper drop-offs in Glacier Bay Alaska, which was called Geike. It was one of the places I visited the least but it was still quite stunning.

Only two more months to go! Yay!

Cake Cake Cake

Who doesn't love these cake paintings?






Did you know Wayne Thiebaud was raised a Mormon? I didn't until last night. Asher and Soren have been talking about cake for weeks now in anticipation of their birthday. They have fun telling me what kind of cake they want and they change their minds daily. Yesterday Soren told me he wanted a dog cake and Asher wanted an excavator cake. Most often they ask for an m&m S and an m&m A cake, which would be totally easy for me to create. A dog or excavator cake? Oooh, that's going to be tough.

I took the boys to the library last night to get a cake decorating book among other books (gear books, yo!) and I was giddy to get a book of Wayne Thiebaud's art because I thought Asher and Soren would really enjoy it. Fortunately our library had a beautiful book of his art and Jamie and I looked through it together last night and that's when I learned he was raised in an actively LDS family. I don't think he remained active throughout his adult life but at least church activity was meaningful to him as a child and helped him gain confidence as a public speaker!

I had never seen his landscape paintings before and the book pointed out their similarity to Diebenkorn paintings, which I love:

Diebenkorn.

Thiebaud.

Anyway, the cake conversations continue and I am excited to make a few in celebration of my amazing little men turning THREE.

WWI Memorial

There are no words for how HUGE I am and there is only a three pound baby babe in that belly!


I loved sitting under the shade of this tree with my little family. We shared clementine oranges and lingered in the fresh summer warmth. Soren took a piece of orange peel and put it against his eye calling it a pirate eye patch. How cute is he? We also took pieces of orange and put them on our face to make smiles, frown, 'staches, and tiny ears. So much fun, for reals.


Directly across from the Corcoran Gallery of Art resides the WWI memorial, which I had never visited before! Jamie asked when the last time anyone had made mention of WWI--either on tv or in movies. I couldn't recall.

I was reluctant to post any photos of my 30 week pregnant mug but I did it in hopes that one day I'll look back and say, "Man I was big but hey: I lost that weight!" Fingers crossed. This is stating the obvious but I am not one of those women who desire glamor shots of my pregnant profile--ugh. There are some really stunning pregnant women out there and I can see why they would want to permanently capture the grace of their pregnancy but NOT ME.

Chuck Close and Funny Faces

DC: Lion city!



























TWO trips to DC museums in ONE week is a pretty big deal for us. This week Jamie and I took the boys to the Chuck Close exhibit at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Once again parking was easy to find and once again we had a splendid time. As soon as we walked into the museum Asher shouted, "Statues!" The steps leading to the second floor were lined with lovely statues.

Asher and Soren were the ONLY wee ones at the exhibit and they were pretty well behaved. They brought little friends with them so this may have been the first time Thomas the Train had ever seen a Chuck Close up close. Asher and Soren seemed fascinated by the art but they also thought some were scary and they wanted to touch everything, which is verboten, so that caused some tears. Asher cried hysterically when I handed him to Jamie so I could hold Soren for a while. Sound travels really well in that gallery!

I didn't get to linger over each print or read all of the placards but I am so happy that we took the boys and shared that experience as a family. I was really pleased that Jamie could see the exhibit because I knew he would love it. My inaugural Chuck Close exhibit was at the National Gallery in London back in 1999. That show was one of the highlights of my London trip. The exhibit at the Corcoran was especially fascinating because it revealed the process for making such large scale and creative prints. Accompanying most of the prints were prototypes and grids for creating the final product. Chuck Close is both highly organized and highly innovative, which would explain the effect of his art.

Photography wasn't allowed in the museum so I took a few photos of the boys outside the museum. They were so funny and demonstrated how toddlers can switch from a brooding demeanor to a silly one in less than a second. I love that about them.