Thanks, Dad!

(Jenn)

My dad is pretty quick when it comes to toddlers demanding things! The street sweeper is a "just in case."

Picture

(Jenn)

My dad sent this to go along with today's post. Henry saw it and said, "No! I want us to be riding in a bulldozer!" Thank goodness for 8:00 bedtime :)

Impossible Demands

Just to give you an idea of how our day is going so far, here are a few of the demands that have been screamed in my ear repeatedly today:

"I don't want you to be driving this van! I want you to be driving a scoop scoop. And I want to sit on your lap on the scoop scoop!"

"I want this to stick on! I want you to make this stick on the fridge!" (talking about a wadded up tissue)

"I want Daddy to fix it right now!" ("Daddy's not home right now.") "He IS home! Daddy IS home! He IIIIIIISSSSSSSSS!" ("Nope, actually he's not.")

And they have been screamed with the utmost fervor, as if I could really just pull over and hop into a backhoe and start driving it, leaving our van on the side of the road. Pray for me to make it until naptime today!

Bring on the baby!

(Jenn)

These paintings were the last major project on my "to-do before baby comes" list. I finished them last night, so the baby can officially come any minute now, as far as I'm concerned! Hooray!

Anyway, I'm happy with how they turned out. Actually giddy about the paper-montage element that I wasn't planning on adding, but it worked out beautifully. You'll see from the pictures below that I did similar paintings for Henry when he was born (sometimes it takes people a few minutes to figure out that they spell out the letters of Henry's name). Henry's paintings had a transportation theme, which has actually ended up suiting him very well! I was going to do another set of vehicles for this baby, but in the end we decided it would be cooler if each child had their own theme, assuming I do this for every kid we have. So this child got "cities of the world." We'll see if he is inspired to be a world traveler!

Unfortunately I can't take credit for the original idea and the style of the paintings. I stole the ideas from The Land of Nod, an amazing kid-stuff store that I just discovered (it's like Crate & Barrel's version of Pottery Barn Kids). But I had LOTS of fun doing the drawing, woodburning, painting, cutting, and gluing. It has been so fulfilling to have an art project consuming my life for the past few weeks (and perfect that it coincided with the Olympics, so Ben had something to consume his life too!). If you want to indulge me, you can vote for your favorite painting in the poll on the left. I keep changing my mind about which one is my favorite, so it's fun for me to hear what others think.

Oh yeah, and can you guess the baby's name?

My Life Validated

(Jenn)
We were driving to the wee-quarium and dropping Ben off at work on the way. Ben pointed out to Henry where he goes to work every day.

H: And where does Mommy work?
J: Mommy works at our house, staying home with you.
H: And what does Mommy do for work?
B: What do you think Mommy does for work?
H: Um . . . (a reflective pause, and lots of tension coming from the driver's seat) She makes cookie dough?

Hooray! My life, in the eyes of a 2-year-old, boiled down to a single representation: cookie dough. I couldn't be more satisfied (and don't you dare ask how many times I've made cookie dough in the last 3 weeks, because I learned at my OB appointment Wednesday that my weight gain has plateaued, so I have all the liberties in the world).

Henry's Quotes of the Month

(Jenn)

Henry has discovered a few new phrases this month, which he rarely uses correctly. Meanwhile, I get a kick out of them and keep writing them down . . .

BECAUSE

• "Beavers swim in the water . . . because they look like monkeys."
• "I had a accident . . . because I had a accident about the Gogurt."
• "I think I have a fever . . . because I need to go to the hospital."

YESTERDAY

• "Yesterday, when I was a baby, I went swimming yesterday when I was a baby."
• "When it was dark yesterday . . . it was dark yesterday."
• "Yesterday, when I was a baby, I saw racoons flying."
• Various other discussions about things we did "yesterday" include going to Grandma's house, visiting our friends in New Jersey, going to the Children's Museum, and many other things we did 3 or more weeks ago.

IDEAS

• "I have a idea about our old house. Because when somebody's done living there, we can live there again." (He told me this idea twice, and both times it made me cry).
• "I have a idea!" (What's the idea?) "It's a idea about the cars stuck in traffic!" (He shared this idea with me about 20 times in one day, the day he was lining up all of his cars in the hallway in a long line).

GRAB BAG

• (While lying horizontally across the bottom of the stairs) "I wanna be dead on the side of the road!"
• (While leaning against a magnetic bag clip on our fridge, which was apparently his cross) "I'm dying like Jesus."
• (While holding and examining a comb) "It's kind of like a truck that drives on the grass."
• "Was THAT nice?" (He asks this several times a day after doing things like throwing dishes at people, repeatedly hitting my belly, and jumping on Ben).
• "You look like . . . a protector!" (What's a protector?) "I don't KNOW!" (The "I don't KNOW" comment comes pretty frequently after we challenge his crazy ideas).
• "Can we go to moovnee feeders?" (What's moovnee feeders?) "It's like a big place where you go to watch shows, like Harry Potter." (Oh, movie theaters?) "Yeah."
• "Instrunction Veecles" are bulldozers, cranes, excavators, and dump trucks (i.e. construction vehicles).
• The "Weequarium" is a place with lots of big fish (we're hoping to go there tomorrow!).

Two videos, two songs

(Ben) Over the past two weeks I've had three tidbits come up that I wanted to post on here. They're completely unrelated to each other, but you'll probably get a kick out of at least one of them:

1. Harvard Business School is a serene place, especially in the summer when the nearly 2,000 MBA students are all doing internships. There are a few doctoral students wandering campus, several painters and landscapers keeping things looking nice, and occasionally you even see a professor or two. But what I was surprised to see was wildlife. Yep, HBS is home to lots of rabbits, and several wild turkeys. Who'd have thought? This video is proof (I didn't make it, and it's kind of long--you probably don't need to watch the whole thing). Ivy league indeed...

2. Here's why I don't trust salespeople. They'll say anything to make a sale.

3. Those of you who have never lived in the same house as Jenn might not know that she knows approximately 1,279,113 inane songs. We've been married for nearly five years, and I think she still comes up with about one song per week that I've never heard in my life, no exaggeration. This week she popped out two beauties: "The Barney Bag," from Barney of course, and "Dogs & Cats" from Scripture Scouts. If you really want to hear the Dogs & Cats song, it's probably about song #15 on Scripture Scouts Radio. You'll know you've found it when you hear the first lyric: "Woof!" And just to clear up any confusion, no, she didn't just start singing these after Henry was born. From the looks of the last post, it appears that Henry has a lot of his mom's genes in this regard!

If you have 5 minutes . . .

This is a compilation of video clips of Henry singing his favorite songs. And yes, it is exactly 5 minutes long, so if you are not Henry's grandparent, you should feel no obligation to watch! I also won't be offended if you watch a few minutes and then decide to stop it once you get a feel for it. I personally think it's pretty entertaining, and it's fun to see how much Henry has grown in his singing abilities since Christmas. So if you have a few minutes, then sit back, relax, and enjoy everything from The Itsy Bitsy Spider to the Sunbeam song to Sadie Hawkins Dance!

Keep in mind that most of these clips were filmed in our old apartment, before we moved here (it has taken we a while to edit them!). Also, most of them happen to be filmed after breakfast when he was still in his pajamas. Henry knows that singing is one easy way to get out of finishing a meal!

Henry's Favorite Songs from Ben and Jenn on Vimeo.

Fun to Do

(Jenn)
If watching the Olympics isn't enough to entertain you this week, you could try conjuring up this mental image:
- Henry decides the opening song for Family Night should be "Fun to Do."
- Ben, Jenn, and Henry all pretend to ride a bike while singing

"Riding a bike is fun to do,

fun to do, to do, to do,

Riding a bike is fun to do,

to do, to do, to do."

- Henry gets to choose the next 5 actions.
- Ben and Jenn try their hardest to act out and sing the following while keeping the straightest faces possible:

• "Sitting on the couch is fun to do"
• "Looking at windows is fun to do"
• "Looking at pillows is fun to do"
• "Going out doors is fun to do"
• "Looking for the fireplace is fun to do"

We were praying that the neighbors wouldn't walk past the window during our animated search for the fireplace. Next time we'll close the blinds before family night starts!

5 Things that Make Me Happy

(Jenn)

1. Less than 4 weeks to the due date! I realized today that I'm not only looking forward to eventually getting my regular body back, but I'm also getting REALLY excited to meet this kid that is constantly jabbing my ribcage. He seems like quite the character! Along with that excitement comes the happy conclusion that if I feel like eating ice cream every single night, I will (slow-churned, of course!). Really, in four weeks, how much extra weight could be gained?

2. Ben's current "9-5" work schedule. It's beautiful:

- Mosey out the door around 9:00am.

- Leave in time to arrive home around 5:00pm.

- This happens 4 days a week. Then he gets two "Saturdays" a week (regular Saturday and one other day) in which we get to play or work together in the morning, and then he "works" from home during Henry's afternoon nap!

If this isn't heaven, I don't know what would be! We've been having a great time and really love the extra time we get to spend together, especially in the evenings. That extra hour together at night makes a big difference -- allowing us to do fun, spur-of-the-moment things together before bedtime, like our Olympic opening ceremonies on Friday night (which included the march of flags, gymnastics, and lots of racing around the house)!

3. The most perfect August weather I have ever witnessed. I have been known to argue that August is undeniably the worst month of the year. Between Utah's scorching, dry heat and New Jersey's deathly humidity, I had pretty much written August off as a month to stay inside, protected by the miracle of air conditioning. Well, I don't know if it's Boston or just my luck this year, but so far August here has been unthinkable! 70 degree days. Nothing hotter than 80. Beautiful morning walks (9:00am walks) in 65 degree weather EVERY SINGLE DAY. I kid you not. It has been heavenly.

To add to the perfect weather, look at this picture of where we live. This is OUR back yard. I don't think I'll ever get over how much I love our trees here. Imagine the perfection of a back yard picnic in 70 degree weather. Who'd have thought August had it in her?

4. Painting and woodburning. This is what our dining room looks like right now! I have this project going for the baby's room, which hopefully will be finished for all of you to see within about two weeks. It's fun to be able to just leave it out on the table and pick it up whenever I feel like it. I think having a project like this gives my life an extra zing. I find that I'm dropping "important" things on my to-do list because something within me would much rather be painting. I think that's a pretty healthy set of priorities.

5. Millions of Peaches. I bought 60 peaches last week and went crazy with them! Yep, definitely a direct result of that blessed nesting instinct. Now we've got a freezer full of peach jam, frozen fruit coctail, and peach pie filling. The part that REALLY makes me happy is the peach pie. I wish I could put the reality of a warm piece of peach pecan pie with vanilla ice cream into words so you would all understand my joy. Instead, the recipe:

Peach Pie with Candied Pecan Topping (Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book)

2/3 cup sugar

2 Tbsp. quick-cooking tapioca

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

6 cups sliced, peeled peaches

1 double pie crust

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

2 Tbsp. butter

1 Tbsp. water

1 tsp. cornstarch

3/4 cup chopped pecans

In a large bowl, stir together sugar, tapioca, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add peaches. Gently toss until coated. Let mixture stand for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, roll out pie crust. Pour peach mixture into crust. Cut slits in top pastry and seal. Place pie plate on a baking sheet. Cover edges with foil. Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 10-20 minutes more or until pastry is golden and filling is bubbly. Meanwhile, for pecan topping, in small saucepan combine brown sugar, butter, water, and cornstarch. Cook and stir until bubbly. Add pecans. Spread warm mixture over hot crust. Bake 5 minutes more.

Living Room Update

(Jenn)

I'm sure you have all been wondering what happened with your votes on the living room arrangements. Sorry to keep you in suspense! Anyway, thanks for all of your opinions. Of course, the votes managed to pretty much cancel themselves out anyway, as they ended up pretty much 50/50 on everything. I took that as a sign that I should make a compromise! Here's what we did:

- kept the small chair, which I'm really happy about because I love it

- refinished the end table to match the wood colors in the rest of the room, which I think looks a lot better

- compromised on the pillow arrangements, using half of Arrangement 1 and half of Arrangement 2. It seemed like most of you liked the first arrangement for color and the second arrangement for size. So we kept the small rectangular pillow on the left and used the floral pillow on the right, mostly because I think it ties the whole room together well.

If you scroll down and look at our original living room, I think you'll probably agree with me that our final arrangement is the best. If you don't, you probably shouldn't tell me! Still on my list: finding something to go in the bottom section of that end table, getting rid of those last few pesky boxes that are STILL in the dining room, and saving up my pennies for all of the other visions I'm having that I'm sure I won't be able to talk Ben into.