On Missing My First New England Fall

Well, it happened. 

My very first New England fall and I missed it.  I'm not sure how Timothy timed his arrival for absolute peak leaf peeping season, but he managed it.  I was able to catch a few glimpses of the autumnal splendor as I drove back and forth to the hospital but I wasn't really in the best state for enjoying the colors.  We did manage a trip to the pumpkin patch before he arrived but it was still warm and the leaves were green.  By the time I was myself again after the birth it was all over. 

It all happened so quickly!  Not even two weeks and then the rains set in and knocked everything off the trees.   I imagined myself finally being able to take a hike with the baby, enjoying all of the colors of Vermont without needing to be within three minutes of a bathroom at all times (an end of pregnancy necessity that really puts a damper on hiking), but alas.  The baby is here and the leaves have fallen.  And to add insult to injury it is currently snowing.  In October. 

Oh Vermont.  You are a fickle friend. 

On Turning Four and All Things Pink

Margaret turned four last week and I did not make the same October birthday mistake again and guilt bake her a cake, even if she is in a giant brother sandwich with not a baby sister in sight.  This mama does not want to crash again from overdoing things. 

She seems to have survived the store bought cake and thoroughly enjoyed her birthday festivities--slightly subdued as they might have been.  After all, they involved pink frosting flowers which I have no idea how to make myself and which are apparently the Best Thing Ever.  I suppose I'll have to improve my frosting skills for next year now that the cake decorating bar has been raised so high. 

She opened her first present and squealed, "It's all the things I like!  Doll stuff, and clothes, and books!"   Now if we can just convince her that she really does want to wear her new princess costume for Halloween and not be a "stick queen" as per her latest costume request.  As far as I can tell a "stick queen" is a queen who also runs around holding as many sticks as she can so maybe she can be both? 

It's so hard to be four and have so many excellent ideas to choose from :)

On Turning Two and Missing Birthdays

Well, this little man turned two on the very day that I ended up having to take to my bed with a post-birth uterine infection.  I held it together long enough to see him blow out his candles and then disappeared into my room for almost a week thus missing all other festivities.  Admittedly, all other festivities only included eating said cake and opening his presents but still, major mom guilt was experienced.  You know, after the antibiotics kicked in.

I did manage to deliver him a brother that he won't have to share a birthday with, so at least there's that.  Also no one gave him the present that I had bought and hidden in the closet so I guess that's one child's Christmas gift taken care of :)

It's always surprising how gigantic your toddler seems when you bring home a new baby and this time was no exception.  Of course my toddlers tend to be legitimately oversized, but still, he seems much larger than he was before I left for the hospital.  I love looking at these pictures of my giant, no-longer baby and the smile on his face when he saw the cake.  Chris says it was the whole "baking a cake when not even a week out from delivering a baby" that precipitated my illness, and while he may be right, I'm going to go ahead and believe that it was the homemade nature of the thing that brought that special sparkle to his eyes and that he most certainly would not have shown the same level of excitement over blowing out two candles had they been stuck in pretty much any other store bought confection. 

Hopefully next year I will manage not to be desperately ill on his big day and won't miss out on all the fun again.   

It's A(nother) Boy!

Timothy Scott joined us last Friday after a very short labor and a wonderful birth experience that really highlighted the difference between military hospitals and private birthing centers.  He is the tiniest of all our babies at just seven pounds and appears to have black hair, which is obviously the answer to all my prayers for anything but a red head.  I mean, I love my red heads but you can only have so many of them under five before you need a break.

We are all doing great, meals have magically been showing up at my door despite the fact that we know hardly anyone in our new town, and our biggest current problem is dealing with the screaming toddler who wants him or no one to be holding the baby at any given time. 

It's hard enough to be turning two and getting a new baby brother in one week without the added burden of flaming red hair.  Poor little dear.