Seven Quick Takes : a bulldozing Daniel Boone, a dinosaur named Melanie, and love of a vacuum

Oh, what a week!

...   .1.   ...

I am just loving Evert's toddler antics this week. He's such a hoot.

This weekend, he insisted on wearing a coonskin cap, so I had the pleasure of following a young Daniel Boone as he bulldozed my driveway.

Seven Quick Takes : in which I discuss cute diapers, risky endeavors, coffee, and my toddler makes book recommendations

Hello everyone- how was your week?

...   .1.   ...

We had a couple rainy days this week, but still managed to get outside for a while between rain showers.

Brudders

To be honest, when I found out we were expecting our second baby, I was soooo excited, but also a little bit nervous.

Evert was a couple of days from his first birthday when we found out about little Koben's existence. Evert was still such a baby himself - and I really wondered how he'd do with a sibling, especially a sibling so close in age.

We read big brother books. We watched videos on Youtube of babies- laughing babies, crying babies, sneezing babies (Evert's favorite) - talking all the time about how we need to be so gentle with babies, how we can make a baby feel happy by singing a song, how Mama will hold the baby sometimes. I read articles about the best ways to help a toddler adjust. I tried to prep Evert as much as possible for the big changes about to take place, all the while cringing  in my heart about how he'd transition. I worried that he'd resent the new baby, that he'd resent the attention given to his new brother, that he'd lash out at us. Despite all the preparations, I worried.

Rocking Chair Revisited

It's almost seven thirty when I rush upstairs to the drawer full of pajamas. I'm behind. It's late. Bath time, then a story and a song, hugs and sloppy toddler kisses, and then I'll clean up the kitchen quick and hopefully the baby won't need to nurse just yet...

And in the middle of the routine checklist of my thoughts, I notice it.

It's covered, at the moment; several toddler sized button up shirts that I need to hang and put in the closet are draped over the back, and there's a toy tractor tossed on the seat. Wedged up against an armrest is a book - "Big Bulldozer!" embossed across the front. (I've got that bulldozer book memorized.)

It's the rocking chair.

The First Pictures

Dear Baby,

Going through the thousands of pictures of you is a momentous task. Thousands of pictures, each one with a tiny nuance or slightly different facial expression and how can I possibly choose which to keep and which to delete into digital nothingness?

I'm getting there, slowly, but there's a folder of pictures I just don't like to open. Not yet. It's the folder of the first photos of you.

I avoid looking at them, even now, because it's just too hard, yet.

September and October.

This Week: An Announcement! {BIG NEWS! "This Week" Is Moving!}

If you've been reading here for any length of time, you are probably familiar with my chatty weekly round up of pictures and blessings and links.

It started up as Blessings this Week, and then changed to This Week, and now it's changing again! 

Sorry to be jerking you around.

I haven't been writing much (focusing instead on learning how to mom and other projects), but I really miss writing here. I need to get back into it. But I've been... overwhelmed. And I needed to make some changes.

Small Wonder

In this moment...

I could worry about germs

I could be concerned about splinters

I could think about how I really should sand and refinish our front porch