Recommendations

(Jenn)


1. First of all, http://www.blurb.com/. I had heard of Blurb from several other bloggers but have not yet seen anyone's finished product. It is basically a program that lets you convert your blog into a printed book! I thought this was the perfect idea because it makes me feel justified with the time I spend blogging. I'm not only keeping in touch with others and making my voice heard, but now I'm also keeping a family journal and scrapbook as well! So we got our printed book a couple of weeks ago, and I'm really happy with how it turned out. We printed just the posts from our 2 years in New Jersey, and it came out to be 112 pages. The quality is great, and I'm just so happy to have a hard copy for our kids to look at for years to come! That said, I wouldn't say it was really easy to do. The program is pretty good, but it still has some kinks, and the process took a bit longer than I had hoped! Still, it automatically "slurped" all of my pictures and posts directly from Blogger, so that saved me a lot of time. We're definitely planning on keeping up with our Blurb books as long as we're blogging.



2. Secondly, if you didn't take my recommendation last year, you MUST try Brach's Milk Maid Caramel Candy Corn. Yes, I'm getting enough happiness from them this year that I just felt compelled to recommend them yet again. They have the most incredible flavor and are much more delicious than regular candy corn, in my opinion. I think we're on bag #10 for this season (I'm sure it's mostly Ben that's eating them!). We have recently become addicted to eating them with popcorn. So get them quick before they disappear from the store shelves (perhaps they already have). Yum!

3. Two movies we enjoyed recently: Be Kind, Rewind, and The Visitor. These are two very different flicks, but I liked both of them a lot. So maybe I was just in a silly mood, or maybe it was the Passaic, NJ setting that hit home for me, but I really got a kick out of Be Kind, Rewind. I never thought I'd recommend a Jack Black movie because he sometimes bugs me, but this one really had me laughing! The Visitor was also a fun one for us because it was about a boring old economics professor (what we sometimes imagine Ben becoming) that livens up when he discovers two immigrants living in his seldom-used New York apartment. This show was funny, but sad at the same time, and full of lots of heart.



Take 'em or leave 'em, but there they are, folks!

Autumn Bliss

(Jenn)

I was afraid we weren't going to get to go apple picking this year due to our fear of taking two kids on such an adventurous outing. But yesterday was just too perfect. Autumn spoke to us and we simply had to answer! And apple picking seemed the perfect outing, since it required a 45-minute drive through paradise to get there. Nothing is better for my heart than the rich colors of fall! I couldn't be happier about living in New England, where the trees are plenty and the colors oh-so vibrant.

Ellis was a saint and slept the entire time in the baby carrier. Henry enjoyed every detail of the outing: farm animals, the hay maze and hay mountain, riding the John Deere tractors, picking apples and pumpkins, drinking cider, and eating cider donuts (a new discovery for all of us!). Can you think of a better activity for an October Saturday?

To top it all off, Ben and I found yet another perfect town in which we could someday live (I think we're destined for a farm town), and lots of perfect houses. And I finally got to buy my hanging pot of MUMS! Aren't they lovely? This will be the test to see if I can make them stay alive. My first potted plant. :)

Smiles, etc.

(Jenn) Here are some Ellis expressions to brighten up your day. I can't believe he has almost been alive for four weeks already! I think he is starting to develop his own look, and we're starting to be able to see what this kid is going to look like. Pretty cute! Too bad he only lets me type one sentence at a time before having to dance around the room with him (he's in the baby sling pretending to be asleep). Otherwise you'd get more of an update. Just rest assured that I have been Tylenol-free for two whole days and I'm feeling a lot more optimistic about life since my last post. Enjoy the pics!

Things Fall Apart

(Jenn)

To make a long story short, let's just say that NO ONE reminded me about the cruel 2+ weeks of suffering that follow delivering a baby (how did I forget? I don't know). To me, it is one of the most brutal injustices placed upon women. After 9 months of pregnancy and many hours of the most grueling pain known to humankind, we still get to deal with the postpartum muck. And all we want to be doing is sitting on the couch (not on a donut pillow!) holding our precious babies. Why did no one warn me about this? I feel I must include my warning here, to maintain my integrity. If you want actual details, feel free to call me!


I have no idea what we would have done if my mom hadn't been here for 2 weeks. She held the baby for hours when I couldn't. She took Henry on all the outings I couldn't begin to think of taking him on. She played cars stuck in traffic on the George Washington Bridge to keep Henry from driving the rest of us crazy. She cooked delicious food. She kept our house in sparkling condition. She did laundry. She didn't complain about my endless complaining. We all had a lovely time. The time went by much too quickly, and as the boys left to take her back to the airport last Saturday, Henry cried, "I don't WANT to go to the airport and leave Grandma Lori there! I want her to stay HERE!"


His cries may as well have been mine. On Monday, reality struck. I had to take the TWO KIDS to the pediatrician BY MYSELF for a morning appointment, followed by a trip to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription for my latest complication. Let's just say the three of us were simultaneously in tears at several different points. Meanwhile, Ben's first problem sets are taking him approximately 8 hours each to complete (probably about 6 hours longer than I anticipated). Ouch!


Iversons to the rescue! Ben's parents showed up Tuesday night and resumed Grandma Lori's roles, constantly reassuring me that I looked pale and needed yet another nap. I was feeling quite a bit better by the time they left on Friday, so we were able to do a few fun things together, like a lovely picnic along the Charles River. Unfortunately, I missed the boat and forgot to take pictures!


I'm bracing myself for another reality check when Ben goes back to work tomorrow. We've realligned priorities and decided cleaning the house is no longer one of them! Maybe someday it will make its way back up the totem pole. We're just trying to stay afloat, not do any permanent psychological damage to Henry, and enjoy this stage as much as possible. It is such a precious time, albeit a difficult time to avoid "losing it." You'll see Ben and I have both found a new way of sneaking a nap in (sometimes it's the only way to get Ellis to sleep).

History of the week

(Ben)

Ben's books. Total cost (so far): $323.51

Monday: Wake up to find that Lehman Brothers has filed for bankruptcy, and Merrill Lynch has been bought by Bank of America. Having researched banks for the past two years at the Fed, these events are easily the biggest since the S&L crisis of the 1980's, and probably the biggest since the Great Depression. Add that to the fact that we already lost Bear Stearns, Countrywide, several other regional banks, and a few biggies are still in trouble, and it's no stretch at all to think of the past twelve months as the equivalent of a financial 9/11. Not only that, but Monday is also the...

First day of school! Math camp is over and now it's time for the real classes to begin. I attend Probability and Statistics in the morning and Contract Theory in the afternoon. So far, so good.

Tuesday: Attend my first lectures in the core classes that make the first year of an Econ Ph.D. what it is: Microeconomic Theory and Macroeconomic Theory. I had heard horror stories about the micro teacher, but I really like him just fine. True, he takes second order derivatives faster than most people can read this sentence, but besides that I can't complain. Macro is great, as expected.

Wednesday: More earth-shattering financial news! AIG is bailed out by the Fed, while in return the Fed receives a huge percentage of ownership in the company. This is completely unprecedented in the history of central banking, which means that no one really has a clue what the outcome will be. Still, in my opinion, it had to be done. I don't believe the Fed should save many banks (or insurance companies, in this case) from failing. But a company like AIG is just too intricately wound with the full system to allow them to just go out like a light. Instead, their problems need to be slowly unwound over time, or else the whole system would end up in a huge knot. If all goes well (and there's no guarantee of that), the American public will actually make money on the deal, and a major crisis will have been averted in the process. Let's hope that's the case.

Besides the big news, I decide not to take Contract Theory and instead I attend Psychology and Economics, which I thoroughly enjoy. Ask me about it sometime if you're interested. I'm definitely taking this course.

Thursday: It's back to the basics with Macro and Micro once again. Not only that, but I make a huge discovery: Ellis' whorl on the back of his head swirls counterclockwise!!! Only 8.4% of the general public have counterclockwise whorls, and this study links the whorl direction to left-handedness. According to the author, Ellis has about a 50/50 chance of being left-handed, while if he had a clockwise whorl his chances would be less than 1/10. Needless to say, I'm thrilled with the news, since I'm one of the lucky 10% who get to be left-handed. Jenn's mom is in the top 10% as well, and she's pretty excited too.

Friday: After spending the whole day struggling through problem sets (no class today) and putting the finishing touches on a paper I've been working on, Jenn and I celebrate by going to Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse while Jenn's mom watches the kids! (Kids! We're still getting used to the plurality there) Not only was the food good and the company beyond compare, but the restaurant also had a talking buffalo that told jokes occasionally. You can't beat that.

We're all gearing up for Grandma Lori to leave us tomorrow; it's going to be tough, especially for Henry, who will lose his full-time playmate and spoiler-in-chief when she goes home. Looks like next week might be another one for the books.

P.S. Here's a bonus picture of Ellis. He spent most of the week snoozing!

Ellis: The photo shoot

Due to popular demand, here are lots more pictures of baby Ellis! First, check out this comparison of Henry and Ellis when they were both newborns:

Henry

Ellis

And now, here's the slideshow. Enjoy!

Ellis is here!

(Ben) Announcing the arrival of Ellis Evan Iverson!! We're so glad that he's here! The important stats are in the picture above (click to enlarge). For those of you wanting the nitty-gritty (non-graphic!) details of the arrival, read on:

On Saturday night, Jenn was completely fed up with the whole pregnancy thing. I mean, Saturday was her due date, and Henry came 5 days early, so we really didn't think that she'd make it all the way to the 6th without going in to labor. So, when Saturday night came around without even a contraction, she passed the time making this neat new version of the widget that has graced the sidebar of our blog for the past several months:

Yikes!

Luckily, we didn't have to wait long! Sunday morning she started having regular contractions, although they weren't too close together. They stayed fairly light and consistent until 4:00am Monday morning when they became bad enough to wake her. Jenn roused me at 4:40 to let me know that we were on the way to the hospital. It's incredible how easy it is to come fully awake when you hear those words...

We called our good friend Daija (thanks, Daija!!) about 5:30, and she zipped up to our house and slept on our couch so that we didn't have to wake Henry up. We made it to the hospital about 6:00am, got checked in, and Jenn continued to have pretty strong contractions. By 8:30 or 9:00 she was dilated to a 4 and they told her she could have the epidural at any time, although her doctor recommended waiting a bit longer in order to allow labor to continue as normally as possible. So, Jenn bravely soldiered on for another half hour, at which point they informed us that they were installing new monitors in all of the rooms that day, and asked if they could do our room first. We said that was fine, and left to wander the halls (there are a total of 3) for another 45 minutes. By that time (about 10:15) she was in a lot of pain, so she asked for the epidural. What they hadn't told us is that they still needed to hook up an IV and get a full bag of fluid in before they could give her the epidural, so she didn't end up getting any relief until about 11:15 or so. Once she could no longer feel her legs, her doctor checked her again and was shocked to find that she was at 9 already, meaning that she had essentially dilated the full amount without any anesthesia at all. We'll definitely ask for the epidural a bit earlier next time!

Unfortunately, at that point the baby's heart rate dropped quite low, and the doctor told us that unless it came back up she'd have to do a C-section. Some of you know that Henry was born by C-section for this very reason, but we were really hoping to be able to have this baby vaginally because (a) recovery is much easier and (b) you can't have too many kids by C-section because of scar tissue build-up. Anyway, I was pretty disappointed as they threw me some scrubs and wheeled Jenn into the O.R. to prepare for the C-section.

Luckily (or was it more than luck?), his heart rate picked up again when they entered the O.R., and the doctor said she was willing to try the birth vaginally. At that point, Jenn was ready to begin pushing, and (with some help from the forceps) 4 contractions later he was born!

Jenn's (of course) quite sore and tired, but feels much better than she did after the C-section, so we're so glad that things worked out so well. Ellis has a couple of bruises from the forceps (note the line down the middle of his forehead), but he's been pretty happy so far!

Henry is so happy to have Ellis finally here! He's still figuring out a few things (no, you can't touch his eyes, Henry), but he's excited to be the big brother. Once he gets those details worked out, I think things will go pretty well.

As for me, I'm hanging in there! I can't tell my right hand from my left, and I'm skipping math camp right now. I hope that I'm put back together a bit by next Monday when real classes start! Mostly, I'm just excited to be the father of two little boys!

Birth Announcement

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for!

Announcing the birth of . . .

Nina Iverson!

That's right, folks, baby Nina has finally decided to come out of Henry's belly! After nearly 9 months of carrying this child, showing off his belly at opportune moments, and talking about all of his plans for baby Nina, Henry has decided that Nina's day has arrived!

Date: August 28, 2008. Yes, she was born about a week ago, but I was waiting to announce it until I knew Henry was for-real about Nina and wasn't going to change his mind. It's a pretty done deal.

Size: Roughly 1 yard by 27 inches. Nina came out in the form of . . . Henry's favorite blanket! She is light blue fleece with a cowboy design on her. Henry has been carrying this "blankie" around and sleeping with it since he was very small, and so it's pretty natural that such a beloved part of our family would become Nina.

The "Birth": Labor and delivery went very smoothly. Henry just stuck the blanket up his shirt and then pulled it out and said, "Nina came out of my belly!" He was very serious about this event, and she has been referred to as "Nina" or "baby" ever since.

Proud Parent: I'm not sure exactly how the logistics work, but although Henry gave birth to Nina, he insists that he is neither the mommy nor the daddy, but the brother. Probably a good thing.

Since she was "born," we have taken Nina with us nearly every time we've gone somewhere in the car. She has sat with us at family meals, storytime, and playtime. Henry is very conscientious of her needs, including when she needs to be held, when her diaper needs to be changed, and when she's sleepy. He gives lots of love and hugs to his little baby. He often brings her to my belly to let her give hugs to "Frankie." I have a feeling Henry is ready to be a big brother, and he's going to be a pretty good one. Now, if we could only Frankie's birth could be so abrupt and easy!

Nesting, Nesting, and More Nesting

(Jenn)

In fact, I'm getting a little tired of nesting. Notice, there are 3 days to go until my due date. Henry was born 5 days before his due date, so at this point, I feel very overdue. I'm DYING!!! I'm running out of ideas to keep myself occupied. I've cleaned the house and gone grocery shopping "for the last time" three times now! Every morning I get dressed thinking, "This will be the last maternity outfit before the baby comes," so I try to choose carefully. Then every night I check my hospital bag to make sure it's completely ready so I can just grab it when I go into labor in the middle of the night. And then somehow, I wake up in my own bed at 7 in the morning and realize that once again, nothing has happened. I'm dumbfounded every time! I wonder what that baby countdown widget does when you reach your due date. Probably something cruel and taunting.

So yes. Everything on the checklist is crossed off. I really don't want to clean the baseboards and windowsills again. I'm getting desperate. That's why we decided to make Henry his very own traffic light! I think it is pretty cool, actually, and it kept us busy for a day. I'm proud of Ben for cutting out the wood and putting it together (all with a manual saw!). In the home I grew up in, my mom could say, "Honey, will you make a _________ (bookshelf, picture frame, miniature tricycle . . .) out of wood?" and my dad could whip it out in a manner of minutes. So I grew up thinking that's what dads do. Lo and behold, Ben is answering the call. Henry and I did the painting together yesterday (you can see he took the assignment very seriously), and now we can tell our cars when to stop, when to go, and when to stop and go at the same time (Henry's personal favorite). Hopefully it will alleviate all the "cars stuck in traffic" that has been going on around our house recently.

First Day

(Jenn)
Here is Ben leaving for the bus on his first day of school! Isn't he cute? This week, we say goodbye to that beautiful summer work schedule and hello to lots of homework and busy days and nights. Ah, well! It was fun while it lasted. Actually, Ben gets a little bit of a transition into the real world of grad school. For the first two weeks, he's attending "Math Camp" (doesn't that sound like a party?), so his real classes haven't started yet. It turns out that Math Camp isn't too bad, because it involves things like luncheons and Duck Tours in the middle of all the calculus and analysis. And there's no homework!



And to brighten up your day, I couldn't help but throw in this dramatic photo of the Iverson brothers that I ran across the other day. Purely for your enjoyment (and because Ben's not here to stop me!).

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.