Time is Flying By

With the move, a busy toddler, and Birch only having two weeks of vacation from teaching, time is just flying by and we can hardly believe that we're already in the middle of August! Only two and a half months until Baby #2 is born. Only one three-day weekend vacation for Birch between now and then. We're more than a little shocked at how quickly this pregnancy has progressed.

I've taken some precious alone time to arrange books and toys on shelves and Birch and I put up some new storage space in the kitchen. We agreed on a new arrangement of some furniture and to finally go get some folding chairs from IKEA for visitors to perch on while they witness the craziness that is our life these days.

The Nisse folding chair from IKEA in white.

It's not the most amazing chair in the world, but it fits our budget for now as we'd like to slowly accumulate furniture as we can afford it instead of taking in lost souls on the street like we did with our last apartment which ended in clutter and stress, not to mention my general disapproval of the design and layout of our home.

As we look into the next few months and scrounge about in our budget, we're expecting a new car (!) that will accommodate two car seats and a certain black dog (we're hoping for a Subaru Outback post-2005), a new convertible car seat for Keats, a crib and accoutrements, and a lovely double stroller that will fold up smallish but still withstand the dirt roads of our new home and our twice-daily farm walks. Those four things are the absolute necessities. Sticking to our budget now will help us to afford more later and we're slowly figuring out what is a comfortable compromise between our love for the simple life and the niceties of the tech-savvy world we live in. By the new year I hope we'll be in a position where we can afford a new couch and maybe a few fruit trees as well. I keep telling myself that it is okay to for our new home to be an ongoing project. I'm a natural nester anyway, but with pregnancy winding down I feel the urge to organize and decorate even stronger. Some days it is unbearable and I become quite frustrated, but for the most part I'm able to talk myself through it as I've planned so much and measured every last corner I am sure it will eventually be the place I envision.

Our little girl will be here so soon. We've settled on two potential names and can't wait to meet her in order to decide once and for all. Keeping our choices a secret has been nice for me. I'm not sure Birch quite sees the point of it, but I've enjoyed having that little bit of intimacy between us. With so much going on with Keats, keeping our little girl's name to ourselves has helped me to focus on her as well. Perhaps it wouldn't matter either way, but I like it this way and most people have understood and are patient.

All in all, our life as a family has been quite pleasant lately. It's easy to get lost in the madness sometimes, but we're enjoying ourselves to no end and can't wait for the new little one to join us in November.

Here's to you as I hope you have (or find soon) the fulfillment our little family has found with each other. In my opinion, it doesn't matter much what brings you contentment and peace as long as you are able to recognize it and share with others. All our love to you and yours.