58 - Hippie Heirloom

These little jeans were bought for my big brother in 1978. Jeans and flannels were sort of the hippie equivalent to a layette I guess. Each baby in our family has worn them since then. Ansel is the latest to rock this hippie heirloom.

57 - Zoo

The Lincoln Park Zoo is free. Stating the obvious, I know, but I've lived in this city all my life and been there more times than I could possibly remember, but each time I can't believe it's free. What a gift to the residents of Chicago, in a city that does its best to squeeze every penny out you with massive taxes on everything, water bills, city stickers, ahhhhh!

Little A loves the giraffes, I mean looooves the giraffes. I know the whole time we are there he is patiently waiting to get to the giraffes. He has a love/hate thing going on with the rhinos though. They are big and honestly he's scared, but that kind of scared where you still really want to look. It's funny!

Sometimes the super lazy momma in me wants to spend all weekend sitting in the house, but I rarely do because I know I never regret getting out. It's so refreshing, especially when the last warm moments of autumn need to be captured and indulged.

56 - Blue-Eyed Boy #2

He's here!! Quite an overdue statement. Actually the sweet addition to our family arrived on July 3, making him a month and a half old. Oh God, it's happening already, time zipping by. He is a total joy! Loves to smile, nurses well, sleeps well. So very in love with this little one. 

I had an appointment with my midwife on July 3 at 1pm, a day before my due date, and just felt so very ready to be done. I asked her to sweep my membranes to see if we could kick start anything. Hadn't even considered that with my first pregnancy, but chasing a two year old and lugging my 40 week belly around just wasn't fun. At all! Luke, Little A, and I headed home for some lunch and a nap. I awoke at 4pm to mild discomfort and by 6pm Luke had called my parents to pick up Little A. I wasn't fully convinced it was the real deal until I snuggled Little A for a while before he left and found myself an emotional wreck. My darling boy, what was this change going to do to him? I was so worried.

Off to the hospital by 8pm and arrived at 6.5cm dilated. Intervals of standing and the tub and by 10pm my body said it was time to push. My water hadn't broken, but standing next to the bed a really strong contraction hit and splat. My midwife was right there, tucked of few towels under my feet, and I stood there and pushed. And wouldn't you know it pushing sure was quicker the second time around. With 4 or 5 pushes he popped right out as the midwife passed him up into my arms. Finally I was comfortable to enough to rest. I plunked down on the bed and snuggled my new baby close.

 Even in all those precious moments after I found myself thinking of my Little A and hoping that excitement and love would be what he would feel. My parents and the newly crowned big brother arrived within the hour and wouldn't you know it, Little A was absolutely enamored with "his" baby. Don't you just love how kiddies call their siblings their baby! Thus far my luck has held out. The brothers are already besties. Knowing that they get to have each other in this short life is such a comfort. I love the ring of "my boys." Sounds just right.

55 - Baby Moccasins

Like so many mommas out there I am a great admirer of the beautiful leather moccasins from Freshly Picked, but I face a dilemma when it comes to getting them for my boys. They are simply not in our budget. I can't justify $60 for a single pair of shoes that will only last a few months before they are outgrown. So I started looking for a similar looking pattern to make my own. I found a great pattern on Etsy that comes in a wide array of sizes. Purchased a bag of leather scraps for $10 and had some baby elastic from a previous project. They may not be the genuine article, but I'm pretty happy with the results plus Little A loves wearing his.

54 - Last Weekend Before D Day

Our boy is due on Thursday. Not that a due date means all that much. He could show up tonight or two weeks from now, but Little A arrived a day after he was due and so I'm hopeful we won't be waiting too long. My belly feels stretched beyond capacity.

I have been so consumed with the any moment mentality that I have not really taken time to relish the final days of free hands, long afternoon naps with Little A, boobs that aren't sore as hell, or even the chance to cook a real dinner. This weekend we made up for it.

Saturday morning we headed downtown to the French Market to pick up hot doughnuts from Beavers Donuts. If you live in Chicago and you haven't tried them yet go get some now. My faves are the regular powdered sugar and cinnamon sugar. Eating them fresh and hot is what makes them so "liscious" (as Little A says).

The day continued how a weekend should, a little shopping, a nap, a movie, backyard playing, and staying up late to watch yet another movie. And it wouldn't be a standard or special weekend at our house if muffins didn't make an appearance so Sunday morning Little A and I busied ourselves baking. 

The rest of the day until an hour or so ago was spent outdoors. Books, markers, sewing machine, trucks, beers (boo hoo, none for me just yet), lots of watermelon, and any other summer necessities were hauled out. Crafting, reading, swimming, it was good. 

My brother, his wife and their awesome kiddos joined the fun early afternoon and stuck around for steak taco night...mmmmmm! Probably one of Luke's favorite dinners and perfect one for enjoying at the picnic table.

 

Have a little project I completed this weekend for Little A and baby boy, but we'll save that for another day.

53 - Celebrating Luke

Some weekends don't work out all as you expect and yet they are just right in the end. This weekend was about focusing on Luke and reminding him how much we love him. We had plans to fish, go to the beach, and all sorts of things, but we ended spending most of it relaxing at home with a few jaunts out for some food, a bookstore and such. I was feeling bad that all our plans weren't coming together and then I realized Luke was having a great time and got over myself.

For much of A's first year Luke was so swamped at work we sometimes would go days without almost seeing him at all. Although it was difficult, I knew that it was all for us, and felt his love through his dedication to provide for our little family. As he has settled further into his new(ish) job and the management role it brought, he has been able to spend much more time home. Little A excitedly watches for Luke to pull up each day. He is so giddy when Daddy walks through the door and usually proceeds to spend the entire evening following him around like a little puppy. We are so blessed with this man. He's just right for us.

52- Time to be outside

We've spent most of our days just being out. We are lucky to have a pretty big backyard for Chicago and even luckier (and much rarer) we live on a dead end street that ends three houses from a huge park. I'm doing my best to keep an active little fellow busy while I find I am slowing down in my last few weeks of pregnancy.