Up To Speed

So, a few weeks after we got home from San Diego, a familiar fatigue and nausea crept over me. . .Yep, I'm pregnant.  I usually spend the first trimester in misery and then dig myself out of the housework pit during my second trimester--but this time the first trimester ended just as summer ramped up, and I found myself putting off blog posts again and again in favor of just climbing into bed. . .then school and music lessons and Activity Days and all that great stuff started, and now here we are in October.  I figured that now that I'm nearing the homestretch, I'd better pull this blog up to speed before Baby "Orson" (yep, it's another boy!) arrives and life really gets busy.

Ben has become such a . . .toddler.  He's still extremely sweet, affectionate, and mostly good-natured--albeit VERY bossy.  Now that the girls are in school full days, he doesn't let me out of his sight, insisting that I "dit down" with him even when all he's doing is watching Wallace & Gromit for the umpteenth time.  But he's also very polite, telling me "danks" every time I give him a snack or a cup of water, and even saying "Um, no dank you" if I offer him something he doesn't want.  Ben's favorites these days include anything and everything vehicle-related, playing with Mom and Dad's tablets, and identifying letters--most especially "B Ben", "A Anna", "M Mommy", "D Daddy", and of course "E Bibbis!"  ("Bibbis" is a Ben-ism for Elizabeth).  He has started talking a blue streak lately--here are some of our other favorite Ben-isms: 

di-door:  dinosaur
dee-burger:  cheeseburger (we hit up Wendy's very frequently this summer, because their fresh lemonade was one of the few things that sounded good to my queasy tummy--and now he recognizes the sign and shouts "dee-burger!" whenever we drive past.)
nush:  lunch (or, more specifically, mac & cheese, another staple from this summer when I was too tired and nauseated to cook much else.)
yook books:  look at books.  Thanks to the example set by his big sisters, Ben now insists that we tuck him in at night with a stack of books to "yook" at.

Anna has lost a few more teeth, and her front adult teeth are beginning to grow in.  I can't believe how grown-up this makes her look!  She told me today that she's decided that she loves school.  She especially enjoys spelling tests and proudly sticks her corrected test on the fridge each week.  She just started her second year of Let's Play Music and is really thriving--I'm especially impressed at how clear and accurate her singing voice has become, and she's an absolute whiz at picking out melodies on the piano as well.  We also discovered this summer that she can really read;  one day in the car I realized she was being very quiet, and I saw her looking at one of Elizabeth's chapter books.  She told me she was "reading" it, and I was a little skeptical--until I had her read out loud to me that night and discovered that she really could read most of the words. 

Elizabeth is growing up far too fast for my taste.  I told her last year that I'd allow her to turn 8, but that simply had to be IT.  Well, apparently, she's not listening to me. . .it's incredible how quickly she's growing.  She thinks it's awesome that she can borrow my socks and my flip flops--she even came into the kitchen one day wearing my leggings.  They were baggy on her, but the length was just about right.  She's just started her final year of Let's Play Music and loves to play the piano. . .a little too much, sometimes:  along with the TV and computer I've had to ban books and piano-playing before school, just so we can get her out the door on time.  At the end of this summer, Elizabeth and I had the chance to fly out to San Diego with my parents to visit cousin Brooklyn and attend her baptism.  The girls had the time of their lives!  I really should do a separate blog post all about that trip--so many fun memories.  Elizabeth is loving third grade--learning to play the ukelele, joining the school choir, and writing in cursive. . .what's not to love about that?

Jared has been hard at work building his "dream garage" in the backyard, with a lot of comments from the neighbors.  Thanks to the government furlough, a stockpile of personal leave, and a border collie-like level of obsession, he's been able to get the walls up and sheathed/wrapped, put up the trusses and shingle the roof, install doors and windows, and get the siding, soffit, and fascia nearly done. 

I have been busy just keeping up with our growing family.  Trying to dig out from the avalanche of housework incurred during my first trimester "sabbatical".  Managing a busy summer vacation (we practically had a pack of neighborhood kids living at our house all summer long!)  Serving in our ward's Relief Society presidency.  Nesting.  Volunteering with the PTA.  Packing school lunches.  Running carpools.  And catching naps whenever I can along the way!  

And now, in more or less chronological order, here's a visual representation of the last. . .eek. . .eight months of our lives:

Ben turned 2.  That's, um, supposed to be a train.

 Elizabeth in one of her more unusual reading postures

 Just another lunch with Benjers and his dump truck.

 Easter

 The girls at their first Let's Play Music recital with their teacher, "Miss Tanja"

 Elizabeth made her first shoebox diorama.  Told you she was growing up!

 Oh, yeah, I forgot about this part of our summer--cousins Hailey and Trev got to come stay with us while Amy was in the hospital with their new baby sis Avery!

 

Ben and Trev, getting dirty.  

  

Ben and Trev, getting clean.

 Ben helped Daddy disassemble his old motorcycle (it was worth more as scrap metal).

 Oh, yeah.  Aspen Grove!  Forgot about that, too.  What a blast we had with the extended Olson clan!

 And then the Breppersons came for a visit.  Man, I guess we had a pretty fun summer after all!

 Trev and Ben at baby Brian's blessing

 Another birthday--Anna turned 6!   

 We took advantage of our zoo pass--the kids especially liked the sea lions and polar bear.

 Thanks, Mom, for taking me to the Garrison Keillor concert!

 Half of the aforementioned "pack" of neighborhood kids

Self-portaits in paper bag.

 About to take off for San Diego!

 Elizabeth and Brooklyn in Old Town

 Jumping waves.  This girl loooooves the beach!

  

We grew some giant zucchini this year.

 

 Ben and Elizabeth sharing bedtime stories

First day of school!