The Farm, Disneyland, Etc.

So we actually did a fair amount of adventuring this last month. I told you about our whirlwind tour of Southern California with Matt’s mom and step-dad. But we also had a few other mini-excursions (but let’s face it—there is no such thing as a “mini” excursion when you have a newborn and a very energetic three-year-old. Going across the street to Trader Joe’s is an all-out road trip.) Emma’s now been to Disneyland three times in her little life. We went back with Matt’s parents, then went back for some more just a few days later with our friends, Karen, Steve, Delaney, and Jude. I took woefully few pictures. Partly because Emma was crying most of the time, partly because I was catching up with my friends, and partly because wrangling two little ones and carrying two babies requires a lot of attention. But we had a lovely time with them, as we always do. And, also as always, we came away sad that we live so far away (Riverside is FAR). We really do need to get together more often. For realsies.

We also took Emma and Ben to the farm. The farm is one of my favorite things to do, in part because it’s free, in part because it’s down the street, and in part because Ben loves animals. But mostly because it’s free. Emma did not love the farm. I did not take many pictures because I was relatively busy bouncing and swinging and calming my miserable little girl (this was during those first couple of months that she was pissed that she was no longer in my comfy belly). But Ben loved it, as always. AND there were teeny tiny newborn piggies. SO CUTE. We’ll try again with Emma soon now that she’s less angry about life and the world.

The end of September also brought Matt’s sister and her family down here to So Cal. But they stayed down in San Diego, which was just too much driving with Screamy McGee. So we drove down Saturday after my friend’s baby shower, hung out, and went to dinner. Ben continues to hate having his picture taken, but Emma has no say. So we abused Emma and Kaden (who’s just three weeks older than her) with a photo session. Pictures with Ben and Fynley proved to be elusive, as always, because of Ben’s constant movement (seriously—good luck Ben’s future teachers). It is nigh on impossible to get a picture that isn’t blurry and that includes his face. So for those of you that are all on my back about so many pictures of Emma and so few of Ben (ahem, Jonathan), shut your pie hole. That may have been too harsh. Sorry. I have a newborn. I’m moody.

Back to Disneyland

Way back in September we made our triumphant return to the Happiest Place on Earth after the long, black-ed out Summer. And we brought along our littlest Adventurer. So Emma got her first Disneyland experience at the ripe old age of 6 weeks. She slept through most of it. Glory to God in the highest.  And I brought along my new camera to give it a go. I had it set to Standard, because it sounded like it would be “Normal.” No. Not normal. Washed out coloring and crisp edges. Turns out “Faithful” is the setting I want. Anyway, we ended up with some cool-looking pictures, I think. Kinda artsy. Whatever. We had a good time.

 

October Catch-up

While it may not seem like I’ve been un-bloggy lately (Yeah, if Shakespeare can invent words, then so can I. And yes, I just compared myself to Shakespeare.), I have been. I’ve had all sorts of posts a-brewing in my head, and a severe case of writer’s block afflicts me. Actually, that’s not altogether true. In my head, there is some mellifluous prose just waiting to burst out. But I haven’t felt like it. I have a teeny tiny bit of free time each day, and I’ve had other priorities. Like cleaning parenting getting ready to go back to work cooking watching Ally McBeal on Netflix Instant.

This is the last day of my maternity leave. Well, I suppose Sunday is if you count the weekend. But today is my last day on my own with Emma before The Great Return. I feel like I should have a long, heart-wrenching and meaningful post about how I feel about all of it, but honestly all I can think to say could be summed up in a few sentences. I’m excited about a new school year, but my heart is shattered over leaving Emma. Anything else I could say is just a repeat. It’s a dichotomy that my head and heart have trouble processing, and I really won’t truly feel anything definitive until I get there. So I guess stay tuned for that. My guess is it will be ugly.

But rather than dwelling on the looming future, I will give you a little glimpse of the last few weeks. Honestly, I don’t know where the time has gone. I feel like it was last week that I came home from dropping Ben off at preschool for the first time and drinking in the wide expanse of time. The last couple of months have been a blur of poop, puke, crying, TV, and laundry. It’s cute that I thought I would have free time. But it hasn’t all been a seeming trainwreck. I’ve loved my mornings with Emma, and my lunches with Ben. I’m not sure how so many days went by without a shower or breakfast, but I made it anyway. Here I sit, smelling like milk and sweat. There’s a basket of clothes that need to be folded, and the kitchen table is covered with my adventures in sewing (I’m attempting to replace the velcro on some diapers I bought used. SERIOUSLY, WHY DON’T ANY OF YOU STOP ME WHEN I TRY TO GET CRAFTY.). But my heart is full. When I’m done here I will not clean up; I will take a nap or watch TV.

This month we got a new speaker dock for our iPods, so we have family rock band time again. We started a fake life group with our friends that’s just our two families having dinner then studying the Bible while our kids watch a movie. My garage ate my mom’s 30+ year old sewing machine, so we went halvies on a new one. I’ve knitted a lot. I bought a book on crochet. I turned 32. We went to Disneyland with our dear friends, the Dunlaps. We went to the zoo. We did Halloween-y things. Ben and I made cookies. I finally bought the last ten stamps needed to send out Emma’s birth announcements, and I ordered return-address labels. Seriously, please don’t hate me for being bad at mail, like announcements and Christmas cards and thank you cards and general correspondence. I’m really really bad at it. Anyway, we’ve just been enjoying our lives.

We have a lot of things coming up. I start work again, of course. Then there’s Matt’s birthday, and Thanksgiving. Matt’s family is coming down for another visit. And through a strange and complicated turn of events, we’re moving downstairs. It may seem like a lateral move, but we’ll actually be acquiring a front and back yard, and we’ll be living stair-free.

So that’s where we’ve been. Maybe later today I’ll post some pictures. But for now I feel like taking a nap.

3rd Annual Gibbs/Miller Pumpkin Patch Excursion

Between our two families, we have some very good looking children. And it occurred to me recently that every year we add another kid to the mix. Year one it was just Ben and Adalee.

Year two we added Sammy.

Year three we added Emma.

And in year four the Gibbses will add Sophia!

We had a lot of fun at the pumpkin patch, as always. Every year it gets better (and let’s be honest—every year we’re better looking). Of course, any trip to the hay is followed up with wailing and itching in the car and an Aveeno oatmeal bath. But I think it’s worth it.