Overboard

This past Sunday Brad and buddy Scott rented a kayak and took the time for a well-deserved day trip from Lettuce Lake up the Hillsborough River. They had a wonderful time, although I think Brad was on some sort of post-outing overload because he came home saying that he and Scott were buying kayaks and rifles and planning a "spiritual journey" down the Amazon together.

Maybe they need to pace themselves a little.

Family Style

Brad brought home a dining set last night!!! You’re probably thinking, “Who cares?” but that table and four chairs were a really big deal for me.

We have never had a dinette set for the entire four plus years of our marriage and eating like a vagrant in the living room every day was starting to drive me crazy. I hated how we didn’t have an official meal time because I was forced to make individual plates up for everyone. I hated how we inevitably ended up watching TV instead of talking. I hated how I couldn’t help but dribble food down my ever expanding middle section because I couldn’t sit up straight on our couch. I really am committed to living frugally and simply but it was really starting to get to me.  

Last week I finally had a full table-related meltdown (Truly. I WEPT. I am partially blaming pregnancy hormones on this one.) and Brad must have had an epiphany because last night after work, and in spite of the fact that he was exhausted, he drove 45 minutes to Carrollwood to pick-up a beautiful, only slightly used, maple butcher block dining table and four matching chairs.  

Harper was in bed by the time the table was set up so it was a surprise for her this morning. She was so excited when she saw it and kept repeating, “This is our table! These are our chairs!” over and over.  Then she immediately staked out a chair for herself (I guess the days of booster seats and highchairs are over for us, at least for the time being) and directed me to the chair opposite her. She requested “special breakfast” after I “scootched “her in, so I made breakfast cookies and hot chocolate and we enjoyed them together. At our table. It was wonderful!

Thank you so much for the beautiful table, Brad! It is truly the best gift you have ever given me!   

Our new baby.

House Rules

This is just a peek at the week we had:

I won't get in to what encouraged its genesis but, I have to say, I'm pretty pleased with the results. Harper enjoyed coloring in the pictures and "reads" it to us proudly.

Then I saw this:

 

and thought of all the clever parents out there, just trying to survive from day to day. 

How about you? What is your best parenting moment?

The Baby Whale

So here it is. The belly shot. By popular request.

 

 

Just to refresh your memory, this is what I looked like FIVE DAYS before delivering Harper.

 

In case you're doing the math in your head, I have approximately four months before I am expected to deliver this time. That's four MONTHS, not weeks.

 

I fear I may explode before that happens.

 

Harper is referring to the baby as "baby whale" and she's pretty much right. I am just clinging to the hope that the next fifteen plus weeks pass quickly.

 

Oh, please let them pass quickly.   

 

 

 

Our Easter at the Farm

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend! Brad, Harper and I had a fun time celebrating Easter with some friends.

On Friday Harper requested a picnic at the farm. I thought it was a great idea and, with Easter only two days away, thought it may be fun to do our egg hunt out there, too. So we invited our friends, the Aglaves, to join us for the festivities.

The farm in Dover.

Balaji Aglave is Brad’s coworker and he and his family came to the states from India just a couple of years ago. They live in the home on the farm (the one Brad and I lived in when we first moved to Florida). As practicing Hindus, Easter was a pretty foreign concept to them, and I’m afraid that trying to explain it didn’t help any, either. No matter, they understood the concept of picnics, toys and candy just fine so they were on board. Their daughter, Taneshka, is four years old and she and Harper always have a nice time together. Sunday was no exception.

Brad and Balaji took the girls to see the neighbor’s cows while Madavi and I chatted under the large oak trees in the front of the property.  Harper was so looking forward to seeing the Easter Bunny in person but, unfortunately, he came by while they were gone and the girls just missed him. He was kind enough to leave a couple of Easter bags with some toys inside and took the time to hide some eggs and candy in their absence, so Harper's disappointment was short-lived. Maybe she'll have better luck next year.   

Ready for some serious egg hunting with her all-purpose owl bag.

 

Taneshka was an expert egg hunter in no time.

It was so cute how Taneshka showed Harper the ropes and Harper tagged right along.

 

Going in for the kill.

Where did those curls come from?

 

Pretty Easter girl.

 

After the egg hunt we had a picnic lunch. Then the girls tagged up the property with their new chalk that the Easter Bunny had brought and ran around the acerage until they were exhausted. All in all, it was a pretty successful day.  

There was one tense chalk-related moment, but things were smoothed over pretty quickly.

Harper LOVES tractors. It runs on the Booker side of the family.

Daddy and his girl in the strawberry fields.

Balaji and Taneshka.

 

Our happy, sleepy girl pretending to slumber on our way back home.

 

Thank you for the nice day, Aglaves! 

Our Boy

Here are some pictures from our ultrasound the other day. I'm still trying to get used to the idea that we're having a son, but we have proof positive. The ultrasound tech was convinced there was no mistake (Brad is walking around like a peacock). Anyway, I can't wait to cuddle him!

So THOSE are the feet that have been kicking me nonstop!

That is a Booker profile if ever I saw one.

Our sweet boy.

It's A...

Let the naming begin!