Briefly Breaking Radio Silence

Hi, everyone!

I wanted to check in quickly with you all. We are now at 24 weeks, a bit more than halfway through the pregnancy journey with our newest edition. After a miserable summer I am feeling much better. Still nauseated around the clock, and downright yucky in the evenings (and other bits and parts of the day), and still throwing up a couple of times a week, but infinitely better than July through September. Week 23 was especially a big week of improvement. I have begun doing a bit of cooking, am back at church, and am even taking the children to park days and field trips.

Life is wonderful.

(In the interests of full disclosure, I should say that life in the aftermath of morning sickness is also quite stressful. Coming out of intense nausea, still struggling with constant nausea, and becoming aware of how badly everything - housework, routines, discipline - has deteriorated, can be rather overwhelming. But the incredible blessing of being free from intense round-the-clock nausea is also thrilling and exhilarating, and it makes me intensely thankful for every moment that I feel functional, and everything that I can do that I can't do while sick.)

Baby is checking out beautifully at our midwife appointments. I spent about a month absolutely convinced that baby was babies, i.e. twins, but baby is indeed solely in the singular tense.

Maybe next time. :)

(So I guess this means that I've lost any excuse for all the weight I'm gaining.)

I have finished assembling our birth kit and am moving into my usual post-20-weeks season of feverish spring cleaning (whenever the nausea allows). Good thing, because our home needs it after a summer of neglect!

The last half of pregnancy always goes by with incredible quickness. So much to do, so little time!

Highlights, good and bad, from this summer:

(1) Losing both of our cats - separate causes, six weeks apart. Total bummer.
(2) Health problems for my husband's mom.
(3) Various health problems for our family - most minor, thankfully most are improving.
(4) A crazy fire in our neighborhood caused by a lightning strike that my husband and the boys actually saw with their own eyes. Will post video later.
(5) First visit to our State Fair for my husband and the boys.
(6) First visit to a local lake. Considering how intimidating I find travel details, this is a major victory for me.

I'm spending my time working through the nausea, preparing for the holidays, cleaning up the mess that inevitably results when I'm down for a few months, and working on getting all of our schedule, routines, and school work back together after a summer-o'-morning-sickness. Perhaps I'll post on that subject sometime too.

I don't know that I'll be around often, but I will try to check in occasionally. I hope that each of you is having a wonderful fall!

A few pictures:

At the farm:

At the pumpkin patch:

This is called the "I can't BELIEVE we paid THAT MUCH for ONE PUMPKIN" trip. 

At the state fair:

At the lake:

I thought she'd be intimidated, but she ran straight from the van into the water.

Helping Daddy make popcorn for movie night:

Being crazy. With added mud. Mud always makes things better:

At our local chuckwagon cook-off:

Enjoying the camp fire

Hiking:

Our annual Pilgrim Thanksgiving feast:

Roast chicken, cornbread, mashed potatoes, succotash, Indian pudding, stewed pompion, cranberry sauce.
All (or most) recipes are courtesy of Story of the World, Book 3. 

I should have added some pictures from our second celebration of St. Martin's Day, but this year I totally forgot before it was too late. This year we added a nighttime lantern walk to the festivities.

***

And... Little Girl turns two!

This child cracks me up. Not only is she incredibly independent and strong-minded, but she has every bit of fluffy femininity that I never had as a child. Give her the chance, and she'll change her outfit every two minutes. Literally. She adores hats, gloves, shoes, hair accessories, and everything pink - all of the things that I, in childhood, rejected with all the temerity of a devoted tomboy. It seems I have some things to learn about girlhood in the years ahead!

I'm sure it will be good for me.

Have a wonderful week, everyone! Happy Thanksgiving!