Sunday Afternoon...

We woke up this morning without power and have spent most of the day that way - either as a result of National Grid or us turning off the power to the house so Jim could install an outdoor light. So, after church, it's been us and the crank-up radio doing things around the house. Jim and Caroline doing bathies right now. We spent some time outdoors in the leaves and Caroline, especially, was in desperate need of cleaning. Between the peanut butter, jelly, dried snot, dirt and leaves all over her - it's a wonder we could see her at all.

We're following the MLB playoff picture with baited breath. It's amazing how the NL situation comes down to today. I have to say I'm pulling for the Mets, but that doesn't look like it's going to happen. After our experience in Philly on our honeymoon with the most racist and ignorant group of fans we've met - it's just hard to root for the Phils. But we'll have to wait and see what happens...

Caroline ended up having an ear infection. It's a amazing what a few doses of amoxicillin can do. We have our little girl back.

Time to get ready for dinner - I think I've entered my "nesting" phase of pregnancy. In the past month all the closets in the house have been cleaned out but one, I've sorted and washed all the new baby clothes, have kept up (as well I as I usually do - which probably isn't saying much) with everyday chores and between last night and today I made a huge ziti casserole, apple crisp and a vat of shepherd's pie. I'm thinking I'll bust out on apple cake before the day is done, too. I don't know how long this energy is going to last - so I might as well make hay while the sun shines.

Here are some pics from today:

Taking a "leaf bathies" (as described by Caroline)

Ohhh...it's a stick

Trying to rake more into the pile

TIME OUT to remove leaves in the diaper

ALL DONE...

Being a box monkey with Daddy after baths...

Friday

Yeah, it's been awhile.

We've been watching the Ken Burns series on WWII on PBS (we're geeks and at peace with it)and frankly, it's wearing me out. It's so interesting that I haven't been able to go to bed at a reasonable hour. And it's not like I don't know who wins at the end of it. Hopefully I can rest up this weekend to take in the last three nights and not have it totally kick my butt for the rest of next week.

It has been really hot an humid here. Not as bad today - but still so humid that I've had to empty the dehumidifyer a couple of times. When the heat was near ninety on Wednesday, it blew me up like a balloon. Okay - more of a balloon than I already am being seven months pregnant. You know your feet are swollen when you have lines from your socks THREE HOURS after you take them off and you struggle to get your feet into flip flops...but it's better now that the temperature is under 80.

Caroline has a really bad cold. She has a nasty cough, a fever and can blow snot bubbles when she sneezes like no one I've ever seen. She has been sleeping for almost the past three hours - so it's definetly throwing her for a loop. The nice part about her not feeling well (if there is one) is that she's super snuggly. She's been such a big girl that it's nice to have our baby around once in awhile.

We discovered last week that Caroline really digs listening to the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane. She grooves something fierce when I put them on. It's pretty funny. I'm not sure if this is good or bad - but at this point we're just going to go with it and keep her access supervised. I'm dreading the day when she asks what the lyrics mean, though...We'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

The Petting Zoo

We were able to go to the petting zoo at Green Hill Park this morning, which was an extra treat, since I was on-call for work and didn't end up having to go in. Our trip got cut short, though. Someone was Grumpy McGrump and in super-duper need of a nap (I'll give you two clues - it wasn't me and it wasn't Jim). But we did have a good time for the short time that we were there (and since it's free, we didn't have to feel bad about only being there for forty five minutes)...

We should have figured it out sooner - the finger in the mouth and the hair twirling are her "if I don't get to sleep in about twenty minutes I'm going to self destruct" signs...

Pony?!?!?! Do I see a pony??!?!?!

It's definetly a pony, but I need someone to come with me so I can pet it...

Getting a ride to the car courtesty of Dada

Puddle Stomping.

A perfect day for puddle stomping (and garage sale-ing, which is where we got the boots to allow us to stomp so crazily). Rainy in the morning, sunny in the afternoon. Wonderful fall weather.

Since the title speaks for itself, we'll have at it with the pictures...

Houston...

...we have pigtails. They're crooked, but at least there's enough hair to put up.

Wow.

Pigtails, piddling on the potty and knowing words like umbrella and moustache. This is too much for one week...our baby girl isn't a baby anymore. Sigh.

We are the Champions

No, not of the world, but at least of the Worcester Healthcare League.
How about that?

Not bad for a team of has-beens, never-weres and pregnant ladies.

Denise - you can now feel free to give birth - Jason won't need to play centerfield until May.

Are you Ready?

...for some football? We apparently were. Caroline took a very nice nap before the end of the Redskins game:


Which allowed us to get some pictures like this at the end of the game. I think the biggest challenge for us was not to freak out with the Redskins almost touchdown on the hail Mary pass with no time left on the clock. All three of us were saying "Oh NO! Oh No!" Hard to explain, but cute never-the-less.
Fall is just the best for sports. Football. Baseball. The US Open. We could have watched golf if we wanted to (I may be a sports fan, but I'd rather clean out the litter box than watch golf). Unfortunately, football makes me want to eat. All I want to do is sit in front of the television and peel apples or have the game on and make chili or pasta sauce or cookies or something equally able to make my behind into something the size of Texas. At least this year I have an excuse...
Here are the pics we got of Caroline watching (sort of) the Skins game:

Busy Day

Today we went to a birthday party for Caroline's friend Lauren. It was a very happening shindig. There were ponies and everyone had a really good time. We (of course) ate too much again and TUMS are quickly becoming known as "pregnant candy".

Here are some pics...

HORSIES!!!!

She wasn't quite sure about the whole pony thing at first...

...But she QUICKLY came around.

Caroline's first self portrait (she's still figuring out the whole how to use the camera thing)
And last but not least...DOWN the slide!

A Victory...

Oh my goodness. It was nice to have nothing we had to do today. We could just hang and do what we wanted to when we wanted to, for the most part. The busier we get and the most stuff we try to cram into our lives to do, the more I seem to enjoy days like this. So, Jim and I are relaxing listening to the Red Sox game (hoping Bucholtz can pull it off). That, and I'm popping TUMS like they're going out of style because Smalls is giving me some serious heartburn. Good times, I tell you.

Caroline and I had some girl time this morning and gave Daddy some time to himself. We went Garage Sale-ing. The pickings this summer have sort of been few and far between, but let me tell you - today we made out like bandits. We ended up spending about $30, which I consider a lot to spend at garage sales - but we got some great stuff.
I was able to pick up a maternity shirt and two pairs of maternity jeans for a dollar each. HOORAY! And the jeans are even boot cut. With them on, I look like one styling preggo, if I do say so myself.
Caroline got a cute hooded sweatshirt, a flannel nightgown, a nice long sleeve t-shirt and 2 pairs of overalls for $1.25 total. Pretty good, huh?
Smalls definitely got the best end of the deal today. He ended up getting 12 polo/t-shirts (one even being a #23 baseball jersey), 3 pairs of pajamas, a green frog pantsuit, 2 pairs of khakis, 3 pairs of overalls, 2 shorts / t-shirt outfits, a sweatsuit and a pants/onsie/jacket set. I spent more on him than I did the two of us, but the vast majority of his stuff is from places like Gymboree, the Gap, and The Children's Place (great stuff, but ridiculously expensive) and is very gently worn, if it doesn't still have tags on it.
Oh - and to top everything off - we also found a HUGE box of Mega Blocks for $5!
It was kind of like Christmas in September.

Okay - time for bed. It's the top of the ninth - I"m getting nervous and need to re-focus...