We are here.

Just been incredibly busy over the summer and our blog has been neglected. Mike is still working a ton, I'm home with the kids and working on starting a cloth diaper pattern where I make and sell them online. I also have an etsy store for the baby and toddler clothing I make but haven't done much since my initial stocking and opening. My sewing time has greatly dwindled in between the summer days and lots of playing outside and this pregnancy which makes me too tired to sew after 9pm.

Peanut is doing fantastic. Within the last 4-6 weeks, his speech and vocabulary has exploded. Not just a new word each day or 2 but talking on his own and in big sentences. And he's a big repeater....of the cuss words especially. Son of a bitch was a favorite last week thanks to Mike. He starts pre-school on the 21st (sniff!) and while I'm sure I'll cry my eyes out, he'll love it. We went to the meet and greet ice cream social last week at his school and he loves his class room and went to explore it all by himself while Mike and I hung back and talked to his teachers. He'll even ride the bus to and from there which is a big step for me - having someone else drive him is huge. And like every other mom out there, I've put off school clothes shopping for as long as possible because while I know he'll need clothes for fall and winter, I don't want to have to start shopping in the little boys section for my baby's clothes. But I have to because I can no longer squeeze him into toddler sized clothing no matter how much I don't want him to grow anymore.

Peanut also now is in big boy unders all day. Even at nap time. And poop in the potty is becoming a more regular deal. I'm ecstatic because it means less diaper laundry....until #3 gets here. He also is sleeping in his big boy bed all night and for naps. With us needing to tell him to stay in bed less times than expected. We did this change when we moved 3 weeks ago and it's working fantastically. And today, at nap time, while I was rocking Mae to sleep, he got up, used the potty, then went back to bed ON HIS OWN! This is huge. Before he'd make tons of noise so I'd be irritated and demand he gets back into bed then feel guilty when he'd say poopoop or uh oh (uh oh is code for gotta pee).

Maemae is still a pistol. She's demanding, loud, and very certain of what she wants and when she wants it. She's also all tom boy so I put her in dresses occasionally while I still have some control over what she wears. We love her to death and wouldn't have her be any other way. She's very attached to me and Peanut, with Mike being a good substitute most of the time. Her stranger danger senses have kicked in big time. If anyone gets too close to her and/or me, she gets very shrill and loud. And this happens to family and strangers alike. We hope it lasts until college so she doesn't start dating in high school but I doubt we'll be that lucky. She also now sleeps in her own room all night and, within the last 10 days, has been sleeping from 9-9:30ish to 7:30-8ish without needing me to help her back to sleep (usually). This is a huge step for us both and I'm grateful that it happened before baby #3 gets here. Especially since we're not fans of crying it out regardless of the child's age. Although there have been times when I can understand the frustration that may lead parents to that choice. She also is talking quite a bit but still prefers to do it herself or get it for herself.

Baby #3 is doing great. I am 28 weeks along and still have a due date of November 26. We have switched to a different midwife clinic (again) and are much much happier with who we are now going with. Not only are they CNMs, they are naturopathic physicians and see pediatric patients. So now we'll have a new pediatrician who is more in tune with the natural healing methods than our traditional pediatrician. Woo hoo! And the prenatal/delivery/postnatal care portion we have to pay is a significant amount lower. Always a good thing to save money!

Mike and I also have a good idea of the sex of this baby but we're not telling anyone what we think. And we're not sharing our name list so don't ask. :) We do have them narrowed down and are just waiting to see this little one's face before deciding our final selection. But I am a little disappointed I haven't had any strangers ask me the obnoxious and annoyingly rude question "What are you having?" because I so badly want to say a little monkey or a puppy to see their reaction, followed up by my normal snarkiness of none of your fricking business you nosey busy body who I'll never see again. But I must walk around with a don't talk to me look on my face because no one has asked.

And we moved again. Surprised aren't ya?! This makes the 4th move in 3 years during August/September for us. But our plan changed again so we moved out of the little dumpy house we were in for the last year into a much larger, 2 story (ugh stairs) house in Battle Ground. Yep, the one place I swore as a teenager I'd never live in and here we are. And I really like it, minus the fact the good Target is now 25 minutes away instead of 5. The kids get the living room as their play room and I get the formal dining room as my sewing studio. And Mike gets to sleep upstairs away from most of the noise during the day so we're all happy. His drive for work and the Guild is a little longer but overall, we're very happy here.

That about sums it up. I'll post pictures shortly since the kiddos are up from their naps demanding my attention. Mostly I think they want me to cave and put a movie on for them and because I need to sweep without their help, I think will.

TTFN ~ Crys