whoa whoa.

wait- is piper really turning 2 on friday?!

and am i really 5 1/2 months pregnant?!

and have i seriously only blogged 8 times since the beginning of may?!

and did i really just consider writing back-dated blogs?! (yes. i did. and i really just may, so watch out.)

blogging is a funny thing, and i honestly do blog as much for myself as i do for family, friends, and the occasional random person. i want to remember this crazy time in life, because i already don't know what exactly has absorbed my time since may.

so i'm going to recount our busy lazy days of summer.
where we've been, and what we've been doing.
right now.
before i forget.


let's start with baby. as you know,

which we recently discovered at one of my innumerable appointments at BIDMC in boston. YAY! is it november yet??

and then there was eli's 4th birthday party (i owe him a birthday post, and like i said, don't think i won't back date one)

of course, he chose a star wars theme, and we spent a very warm and sunny afternoon with all of eli's favorite (and my favorite) people, swinging light sabers at darth vader's pinata head and having squirt gun fights. WAY fun.

then there's our couple's group every other friday, filled with the best people ever, where we get to talk about our marriages and books like this one, which is the one i'm trying my best not to ruin over the next few weeks


and there's the moms group, which i try to organize meetings for twice a month. moms need other moms. these get togethers are good for the soul, for serious. you want to come? hit me up!


and there was our trip to florida. which was so so SO fabulous. and even relaxing. and beautiful, and exactly what our little family needed. we got to celebrate dave's grandmas birthday, and elias and piper were especially ecstatic to see dave's "cussins"




happy 90th birthday grandma skip!

and then there are fun days out to places like the artesani water park in brighton with our friends, the bazdars. this place is awesome. you should go.


and trips to the beach with some of my kids' very favorite people (and my favorite people)


and parties! graduation parties, welcome home parties, tons of birthday parties...man, we've been partying like it's 1999.

and in between we've painted our skin blue like avatars

and done a fair amount of swimming in nana and gp's pool with family


and made as many spontaneous trips to the beach as possible. like dennisport last week to see the shea's. oh, how we LOVE the beach.



and when we're not planning fundraisers, or hosting small groups, or enjoying time with friends, doing play dates and spending time with family and as a family, or doing house projects (more on that soon)?

well, we're goofing off.
because that's what this mom likes to do in those stolen moments.

"talk about it, mom!"

elias says this phrase all the time that kills me: he's always saying "talk about it..."

he uses it a couple different ways: either "talk about it, mom!" which is in an aggravated tone, and he means it more like"don't talk about it, mom" for when he's getting into trouble, or i'm explaining why he can't do something. and he also says "talk about _______!" and it can be anything from a movie he's been watching, or a book he likes, to something that happened that he enjoys recounting.

as a tribute to my young clone, let's "talk about it": here is a brief (wait-am i ever brief?) overview of the many blog topics up and coming and in my brain of late. if you want, feel free to tell me what you'd like to hear about first.

this is what i want to talk about soon:
- i haven't done a yard/projects update in a while. i guess because the rock wall is at a stand still and the back yard, though flat now, is about as easy to walk on as, ohhh, the moon's surface, and we can't quite afford to buy the top soil we'd need for 3/4 of an acre. because it's about a bazillion dollars. i also need to update on the garden, and discuss how i have poison ivy. again. and i HATE it.
- i want to blog about my husbands sermon series on "the Way" because it's AMAZING. one of my favorite series yet. you can listen online and download the sermon notes if you're interested. my girl leelee told me this morning she's using them as a little bible study for herself. i love her. i want to blog about her, too.
- an eli/pippa update. elias is killing me as usual with his word choices and phrasing (for example, his usage of the word "responsibilities" [which sounds more like "ponsabilities"] which are not to be confused with superhero "abilities", which are also a hot topic. priceless.). and piper...is nuts, and she's getting SO big (and i mean, off the charts literally kind-of-big). so i'd like to do a little update on those rascally rabbits and all their cuteness.
- some pictures from the john legend concert, which was a-mazing. and how much i love him. and how this concert made me realize i need to be around black people way more. dead serious. enough with you white people. kristen thinks i can blog about this without sounding weird or ignorant. but even writing it sounds weird and ignorant. ahh well, what can i say? just trying to keep it real. i am just sort of obsessed with culture outside my familiar. (and i want to adopt some babies who look more like my kids baby dolls than my kids). and that's for real.
- picture post on the NY part of our vacation. there are some cute ones, i'm just a bit overwhelmed by the amount of pictures i have. again, i'm my own worst enemy.
- and i wanted to tell you what my husband got me for my birthday without straight bragging about him. although i may just have to flat out brag. but i had a great birthday, and never really got around to sharing. silly me.

this is what i will talk about now:
- poison ivy + insane heat + naughty 3 year olds = me wanting to hurt myself or whoever is closest to me. i've been praying about that lately, again, for patience. i think God is working on me, and giving me lots opportunities for growth. if only there weren't so many. ;)
- work is going great and i love it. and i adoreeeee getting out of the house by myself for a day. it's just so necessary. and bringing home a little of my own bacon sure can't hurt.
- the poisonwood bible and unchristian are still treating me well. loving a little reading time when i can squeeze it in.
- i've spent every minute possible floating in my parents pool. let's face it- 93 degrees plus humidity is just plain oppressive. i'm trying to survive this obnoxious heat wave by immersing myself in any water i can find- water fountain, muddy puddle, kiddie pool. i don't discriminate-it's too stinking hot!
- and i wanted to know- have any of you seen any good movies lately? i've seen a bunch of movies, which i may blog about as well, but they were mostly just so-so. i need a good blow-em-up, shoot-em-up action flick, or maybe something with some romance and a good story line and script. anyone??

this is what i don't want to talk about:
- how annoying it is to have a 3 year old on miralax. because he poops in volumes you could not imagine. and instead of napping, he does a lot of pooping. and changing his own diaper without me hearing him. let's not talk about how today he used an ENTIRE container of wipes to clean himself up after changing his own diaper. granted, he did a good job, but an ENTIRE container?! and of course, he's only THREE, so there's poop on the floor after he "changes himself" because this is not ordinary kid poop. it's soft ,mushy, MESSY poop.

see, i had always locked elias in his room (for his safety and my peace of mind) but since he's been potty training, i've left it open. of course he's not used to being able to get out. so he'll just pee on the carpet since his diaper full of poop is on the floor under a heap of dirty wipes! and then he'll remember, and he'll do the rest of his poop and pee on the toilet. which is great. but a liiiiittle late.

i'm just EXASPERATED with the pooping problems, with poop on my floor, with the large volumes of poop, and with my poor boy going 7 days without pooping. i just can't take ANY MORE poop! it's been over a year! so just pray for my boy and his gastro-intestinal organs, that they might function normally, and that he might not have to be on a stool softener, and that i won't have to ever EVER (not) write about poop again.

and there you have it. that's what i want to talk about and don't want to talk about. what do ya think?

updates, edition 2: our backyard

the amount of dirt in my backyard is literally overwhelming. and so is trying to write about it or post pictures about it, really, because there have been 10 wheelers in and out of my backyard constantly, and the project itself is ever-evolving, almost 3 years in the making, and it's JUST epic. but i WANT to. because if it's going to consume my life, it's going to have to consume at least a few minutes of yours. it's only fair ;)

yesterday was our last load of dirt, and at some point (soon, i hope!), an operator is going to hop back on the bulldozer in my backyard and do some smoothing, again, but for the last time. in the past few weeks, i've just realized God is so good! he really cares about us, and provides for our needs, whether our needs are dirt or rest or wisdom. it's encouraging to see him work in the everyday things. like seeing how he's orchestrated hundreds of yards of dirt being trucked from quincy (why? ask my dad, right kris?) for free, and a company who has for some reason cut us an AMAZING deal on a bulldozer, and are allowing us to pay them back as slowly as we want. WHO does that?!

we've been trying to get rid of the cliff in our backyard for 2 and a half years, until recently, we'd collected dirt slowly. it's really not a pretty sight to look at every day when your washing dishes. but i have been trying to be patient and not so "results" driven. and FINALLY! *angels singing* we have enough dirt. and it's A LOT of dirt.

truthfully, the very thought of having not only a flat-ish backyard, but one that may have GRASS...it's altogether too much. i'm elated to not have my son digging in mud and dirt constantly, though he will be bummed, and i'm really going to love walking around without shoes on.

and that's a really really abbreviated version of what's been happening at the stratton construction site. it's exciting, and noisy, and dirty, and inconvenient, but AWESOME.

and now, a trip from 2006 to present:

here is our backyard when we moved in. you'll notice trees (all of which are gone), and behind that fence is a 25 foot drop off...it was like having 2 seperate backyards.

yup, we cut these trees down, too. still burning the wood in our wood stove, too, which is sweet. they were ugly and grubby, so i was glad to see them go last year.

another angle

here is what the yard looked like about 2 weeks ago. still a little yard to speak of...

and here it is now. juuuusssttt dirt. and yes, that's elias on top of that pile.

my yard is closing in!

a view from further back in the yard (that's a little bit of the back of our house on the left)...

and here i am almost to the back of our property (notice how low i am. and yes, that's all you can see of our entire house)

a little perspective from the room above the garage into the backyard

(this was after they flattened the first piles. now there is that much dirt and more...again!)

potential...that's what i see!

this is all we have left to play on. it's hilarious. or depressing. depends on the day...

and the sky's the limit! i can't wait for it to be DONE! some day i'm going to be able to see the house from the back of the yard! YAY!

updates, edition 1: cutie patooties

edition 1: cutie patooties

let's begin the updates with my favorites- bird (pip) and fish (elias). they're both doing great, both as lively as they ever were, and keeping me on my toes like a stinking ballerina. these are the latest with what they're up to and into:

elias has been cleared by his GI specialist to potty train, and he has already pooped on the potty a few times and even pees on the potty all on his own...well, when he thinks of it. elias was pretty much born independent, and he'll waltz in and be like "mum, i peed on the potty" just like "oh, by the way...". he cracks me up. but i think i'm mostly the one holding him back with this whole ordeal. i'm not very good at even remembering to remind him, so his pull-ups would be much drier if i would pay attention. we're making progress, but slowly. he already got his "goggles and morkel for cooba gyving" for his first poop in the potty. because seriously, this was the kid who cried and got sick and had a belly like a rock constantly, so we've made a lot of progress. i'm beyond proud of him and i am trying to make sure i tread lightly with potty training so we don't end up where we started a year ago.

besides potty training, he's just a hilarious little human, and i just like having him around. A LOT. we just talk and play and i really really ENJOY him. the things that come out of his precious mouth kill me. like the other day in the grocery store when he slapped my butt. i turned around, a bit shocked (as the stock boy stared) and said "what, are you hitting me?!" and he says "no mum, daddy do's that to you all the time." !!!! i almost died. indeed, he does elias. but we're married. so classic elias. he's a hoot. and a love.

piper. let's see, where to begin. well, she's shaping up to be a reallll feisty one, and that's the understatement of the century. i don't know if i should be afraid of her but i think maybe i ought to be. this girl doesn't hesitate to let her opinion be known. little fits of terror, anger and wrath that quickly turn to happy and playful. scaaa-rryyy. i think naming her glory after her grandma gloria was more fitting than i ever could have imagined...because she is one saucy italiana.

right now crawls faster than i can walk, and stands at everything she can, cruising about to get where she needs to go. she falls all the time on her face because she crawls too fast, and i catch her climbing the stairs much too frequently. she can get up them if i am there to spot, so we're onto gates gates and more gates to prevent nutty p from any more falls. she's bled far more than elias has in 3 years, which makes me think maybe she got the bartlett clumsiness. sorry, piper. at least you got my eyes ;) but she really is a snuggly little bug, despite all her fierce and demanding self, so it's hard to stay frustrated with her. she's too smiley and silly. which reminds me, her favorite new things include sticking her tongue out and putting her hand over her mouth like an american indian. that and dancing. she always moves to the beat. she's wild. i think that's the best word for her. she's wild and crazy.

with that, here are some pics of my love doves. enjoy!

mama and piper sunbathing...or maybe shadebathing?

miss p and her ruffle bum. BIG fan.

girl time!

it's still up in the air whether this bird will also be a fish.

you all remember my search for a new baby doll. well, meet option #3, better known as "ruby" (on the right)! i named her ruby because i love that name, and dave hates it so much he won't even let me name a dog ruby. so since piper is too little, i'm calling her ruby until piper has an opinion. funny thing is piper actually couldn't care less about ruby, she like the other little dolly in this picture better. little dolly remains unnamed, but elias calls her piper glory. i mean, i love that name, too, but it could get a little confusing. so i love ruby for piper. and i love her like i'm 10 years old. sooo, maybe i do need to spring for a third. this is getting embarrassing.

isn't she just adorable. (is that weird, since she's not real? see, i'm not kidding, i took pictures of her like she's my daughter...)

and a close-up

here's the kids the other night trying to out-eat each other. hilarious. and one hot mess.

and here's my little pippa-doodlebug.

i also have a couple ah-dorable videos, but they simply would NOT upload, so i'll try them again later. they'll be worth the wait :)