stratton 5

this pregnancy, a lot of people keep commenting on how big my belly is. (every woman's dream, hearing 'wow, you look so BIG!'. has anyone ever seen the movie away we go? if not, go watch this video clip immediately. and make yourself a note to rent the movie. oh, and then you can read on.)

i mean, it is big. and was bigger sooner. but i also just realized yesterday that i only have about 11 weeks before stratton 5 is born.

whoa.

(so it makes some sense that my belly would be big at this point, yes?)

i think having two children to distract you really does make a pregnancy go that much faster. i tend to have no idea how far along i am, which makes me look kind of daft when people ask, but make pregnancy be less of a countdown and more like a temporary part of life (not to be scrutinized too closely. unless you like things like watching grass grow). i'll be induced 2 weeks before my due date, which is november 13, so stratton 5 will join the party right at the very end of october/very beginning of november.

i literally cannot WAIT!

for so many reasons, not the least of which being the calf and shin cramps, or my back aching constantly, four months of contractions, or the inability for my pregnant body to keep up, but also because i'm so looking forward to meeting stratton 5 and loving on him!

let's be honest, carrying this much baby on the front of my body will be the death of me. and not having to hear commentary on the arbitrary nature of how "big" the womb of my unborn child is? well, that will be nice, too :)

a legitimate amount of cuteness.

here's a photo story of the past few days. we've been enjoying this beautiful weather, and our friends and family. it's hard to drag myself inside to write, even though i love to write, but there is a legitimate amount of cuteness to be shared. here we go:

here's elias and pip in their "sunday best." i figured i ought to hurry up and capture them before elias "gets dierdy" and piper drools everywhere. the best of the bunch will hopefully be going out in a spring mailing. before it's...well, summer.

sunday afternoon, dave's aunt carolyn, uncle ted, and cousin daina came by on their way back from daina's apartment in coolidge corner to their home in new york so we could all kiss and hug daina before she leaves for nicaragua with the peace corps. isn't that awesome? daina's cool like that, but elias sure is going to miss her. he loves daina- and elyse (in the video i put in at the end of the post, he sweetly asks where elyse was...cute), so he was happy to play with her, and ran screaming and crying when she left- dramatic and honest, my boy is. we had a nice afternoon drinking iced tea and chatting. here's the kids playing and wrestling. and playing peek-a-boo in the video below.

don't they look innocent? ohh, the lies we believe...

"my co-sinn daina" as elias calls her

daina, piper (mostly her bum, actually), eli, me, and davey

pippa attacking elias- trying to, i don't know, eat his face?

piper's got some wrestling moves, too.

we dedicated our monday to garden planting and preparation. really- gardening is not as simple as it seems. the research to make sure the plants are seeded properly either inside or outside, the planning to know how much light they'll need, how big/tall/wide they'll grow, getting the soil ready, the fence up, the gate made, the layout laid out, the watering, the nurturing. i think i just took on about 100 new babies- except they're plants. i think it will be worth it once i get over the learning curve...i guess i just didn't realize how curvy the curve is. here's dada and elias getting some tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers ready. (we've managed to add peppers, corn, lettuce, and maybe onions to our repertoire. yeah- we may need a farm stand...)

hey eli, you've got a little something on your face, bud :)

my flowers. i love purple, but only in flowers, really.


"big helper"

tuesdays are my friend leelee and i's play date day. ever since elias and cadence were small, we try to get together once a week to escape mommy prison. err, i mean, to socialize and stay connected. here's jaxon and pippa today.

jaxon's like "uhh, what are you doing, girl?"

elias and cadence...playing in the dirt piles. of course.

this is eli and piper wrestling and playing peek-a-boo on sunday when dave's family came for a visit. pretty cute, really.

miss piper glory

in light of her 6 month birthday this friday...a closer look at my little girly girl, miss p:

well, i call her my chipper little bird. and it explains so much of her personality. she is lively, and happy, and chatty, and she always smiles.

cutest part? she has SO many dimples. and these cheeks that make you want to just bite her.

and these big blue saucers for eyes... and this dark hair (it is staying dark, we'll see!)...

and her laugh is just too adorable. it breaks my heart. it sounds like those fake laughs you hear when you squeeze a baby doll. and she's so ticklish! everywhere. her giggles are so intense that you start to wonder if she might just laugh so hard she cries.

AND she has the girliest little yell and shriek! she is always kick-kicking and punch-punching. always flapping. she is sitting up these days, almost independantly, which looks funny, because she is a tiny little thing (even though she's actually tall). she also digging standing up and holding onto our fingers. elias finds this quite humorous.

piper also has this serious and concerned look. a bit of a furrowed brow, really. it's what i call her "stratton serious" because no one in my family is very serious. we're mostly a bunch of goofs. (except nikki maybe...hey sister, maybe YOU'RE the adopted one)

she is madly in love with elias, whom she watches with utter delight and fascination. he always makes her laugh and smile. they're going to be double trouble before i know it.

things she likes right now:

being thrown up in the air. she curls up into a little ball of shrieking gladness.

sucking her bottom lip

pulling my hair...while eating/drooling on my face

chatting and shouting

playing with and eating toys

holding her feet in her hands

chewing on her pointer finger

and from time to time, sucking her thumb (which i adore)

some more snapshots...i can never resist.

pippa and jaxon :)

with alyssa making her crazy new bird face

sucking her thumb (be still my heart)

yeah...elias sticking his finger in her mouth. 'what, mum, she's chewing on it...'

take that, brother! how do you like it?!

post christmas post

truth be told, i'm not technically inclined, though some of you may be under the impression i am. i just aspire to be. luckily, i married a guy who used to be a programmer/help desk technician/something else that i forget before he was a pastor. talk about a catch. and today my love installed the software for our new digital camera. perfection! tutorial time! my sister and mother are professional photographers, so i leave holidays to the pros, mostly. so i haven't got a whole lot of christmas pictures to share yet,

but i will have some. by spring, i'm sure of it ;)

classic elias mid-sentence face

telling me about "frutsy" the "noman"

this is the tree that almost was perfect. if only we ever finished decorating it...

here is a little family portrait on our "pajama tree-decorating party" night


and this is another...


here's me trying to get elias and piper in one picture. easier said than done...

my little bubski's...