Another post--with pictures this time!

I have been woefully neglecting my duties as photo-editor for this blog. I can't actually remember the last time I posted with pictures. So, here are a few pictures of the kids from this past week (I can't help but notice how they don't look particularly well-groomed, or even clean, in some of the pictures. In my defense, the first two were taken right after lunch; I'm not sure what the excuse is for the last ones, except that Evelyn has been sick).

Andrew has recently come up with a new obsession: PBS Kids' show Wild Kratts

If you talk to him for more than a couple of minutes, he might start telling you something about "creature power suits" (he's also obsessed with their online games, which let you earn power suits that you can use to explore various ecosystems). He picked up the obsession from our across-the-street neighbor (and Andrew's best friend). Their preschool teacher tells me that they have been known to play "Wild Kratts" at preschool. Last week, Andrew came home with a pair of kangaroo ears, which I naively assumed were part of that week's theme ("Jump"). Apparently, though, they weren't. He and Ike had made them as part of their creature power suits. However, Andrew did make Evelyn her own pair, which I thought was frankly adorable, even if the ears wouldn't stay up.


This week, we also acquired a new member of our household: a (used) piano! We still need to get someone to come tune it, but as I've been wanting a piano pretty much since we acquired our house, I was (and am) pretty excited. This excitement hasn't noticeably dimmed even though my wholly untrained children insist on playing "songs" on the piano. Or, as Evelyn calls it, the "pi-piano." (Incidentally, this has been a month of major expenses--we recently bought a new mattress to replace the one on Andrew's bed and a twin mattress for Evelyn's part of the bunkbed--this was back when we were still thinking we might need to assemble said bunk bed this fall, in anticipation of three children. Good thing that our tax returns came in this month too.)


Finally, it seems like we might be making progress on the potty training front. Two days ago, she pooped in her potty (entirely of her own volition) two separate times. And she's managed to stay (mostly) dry in panties. Of course, things are temporarily on hold because Evelyn came down with a bad cold this weekend, but I've been having entrancing visions of a diaper free household in the not-too-distant future.

Update

With a holiday weekend upon us (and lots of plans), I thought I'd get my weekly post in early, just in case.

This week has been rough. We (mostly) missed Valentine's day this year; luckily we'd made Andrew's valentines for class last Friday, so he was amply valentined at pre-school. And I gave each of the kids a book and a box of chocolates, but that was it.

I suppose the roughness requires a little bit of explanation--and since this blog is a record of our family, I suppose that also compels me to be honest. Sunday night, we lost the baby that I'd been carrying for 15+ weeks. I suppose a miscarriage at any stage is hard--somehow this was harder for having passed that "magical" 12-week mark where a miscarriage is supposed to be less likely. (While I'm on the topic, I have to say that I dislike all our euphemisms for this kind of thing--what does it mean to "loose" a baby? As if you somehow misplaced it out of negligence? Or to "mis-carry," as if there's somehow a right way to carry a baby, and it's only out of some kind of ineptitude that the pregnancy doesn't go to term? Dan tells me I should burn my copy of What to Expect while You're Expecting, which told me that miscarriages before 12 weeks are usually due to fetal abnormality, but after 12 weeks it's usually some problem with the mother . . . Is that supposed to make me feel better? Okay, sorry for the rant. I'm done now.)

In the aftermath, I've been surprised by two things. The first is the sense of calmness that I've felt, even in the midst of grieving. Some of that, I think, is due to the blessing Dan gave me before we went to the hospital, which promised that God does love me. And, despite everything, I do believe (and feel) that.

The second thing is the overwhelming love and support we've felt. A woman in the ward (whom I visit teach) voluntarily brought us dinner Monday night when she found out what had happened. My mother-in-law showed up Monday afternoon and cleaned my house while I took a much-needed nap. A woman from the Segullah staff (whom I've only actually met once) called me and shared her own experience with a late miscarriage (and today, I received a book from her). Family and friends have called, and sent flowers. I am by nature a private person and this has been something that's been hard to talk about, but I can't get over how kind everyone has been, and how sympathetic. So thank you to all of you who have kept us in your thoughts and prayers.

Anyway, I'm not posting this to look for sympathy. Just to record what has been happening in our family's life. Things are much better now, at the end of the week, as our schedules have more or less returned to normal and I only have occasional reminders of what we lost (like every time a facebook friend posts an update on her pregnancy status, I feel this sharp twinge of jealousy. I'm happy for her--for her family--but I can't help wishing things had been different for us). And things, I'm sure, will continue to get better. (But don't be surprised if, next time we manage to get pregnant--if there is a next time--if we wait to tell people until I'm so far along that it's obvious. Untelling people is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.)

absense

Some of you already know why we didn't post this week. I wrote about it (briefly) on my other blog, if you're interested.

Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers

So, my sister has done this summer conference for the last several years and speaks *incredibly highly* of it (she's worked with Brandon Sanderson and Brandon Mull). I haven't made it yet--but I hope to someday, since it sounds like a remarkable opportunity.

Anyway, they've posted a contest on their facebook page, with the opportunity to win some pretty cool signed copies (Scott Westerfield, Ally Condie anyone?). You should check it out. (Oh, and not so incidentally, posting about this gets me entered . . .)

come visit me

I'm over at Segullah again today. And feeling extraordinarily blessed because, despite the fact that I am sick and miserable, my husband offered to ride herd on my class this afternoon (we're doing a peer review, which almost anyone can supervise) so I don't have to go in!

At week's end

Not much new to report for this week: we spent a lot of time indoors as we had (like much of the intermountain West) unusually cold temperatures this week. Last semester, I prided myself on walking Andrew to preschool every day (we made a few exceptions, usually when we were running errands and were late to pick him up). This semester, we've driven much more than we have walked. Luckily, the cold spell didn't last too long: yesterday, we once again had some nice-ish weather (for February) and were able to take the kids to the park again. (They've been begging all week, but it was just too cold).

Turns out that our kids are easily impressed. We recently discovered that one of our favorite health food stores in SG (b/c of their frozen yogurt) bought the local health food store, so the frozen yogurt is only a few blocks from our house, instead of 40 minutes away. After the park, we stopped by for some. Evelyn is easy to please: she just wants something "pink"--and the tart cherry was quite good. On the way home, Evelyn announced, "This is fun!" Andrew echoed her: "This is the best day ever!" So glad that it only takes 40 minutes and the park and frozen yogurt to get that kind of encomium.

Dan and I managed to go on a real date this weekend. (Although actually it was more like "I want to go to this play and you're coming with me because you love me.") The local Shakespearean Festival was putting on a fund-raising play this weekend, Love Letters. The basic story is told as the two main characters re-read their letters to one another, starting with Andy's acceptance of an invitation to Melissa's birthday party when both are children, and taking them through adolescence and adulthood. I enjoyed the play: I thought the characters were interesting and their relationship both poignant and bitter-sweet. The actors, too, were great: I've seen Brian Vaughn at the Festival a few times (last summer he did a hilarious turn as Mr. Collins in Pride and Prejudice); Melissa's character was played by Brian's wife, Melinda.

The funny thing about this (besides our last minute decision to go) is that, while I was interested when I first read about the play, it wasn't until I was at Evelyn's dance class on Thursday that I really decided I wanted to go. Let me explain why. It turns out that Melinda (who is expecting twins in the next couple of weeks) is one of the moms who regularly comes to Evelyn's dance class. We've talked a few times, and she is incredibly nice. (I didn't put all this together until Melinda's mother--who was there last week with her grandmother--explained that her daughter was busy rehearsing for a play). Somehow, having a personal connection with the actress made the play that much more appealing. (I suspect it has something to do with the vain pleasure of being able to claim association with someone famous, but I'm trying hard not to probe my motivations too much.) In any case, I'm glad I went.

Now, of course, I get to look forward to a somewhat crazy week: I have two sets of papers (one short, luckily) to return to my students before Tuesday; book club to host on Wednesday (we're reading Wives and Daughters) and somehow placating Andrew's newly discovered zeal for making valentines (which somehow results in a mess every time--not to mention that he can't really draw hearts without help).