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End of School and Baby Update!

Sprinkler play in the summertime!

School is finally out, and summer is here! We’ve made some fun summer plans, but mostly we are excited to spend quiet days at home, making the most of our yard and creating, imagining, and playing together.

Johnny and Emma both had great school years, and they are both excited for next year. I’m excited that Johnny will go to afternoon preschool instead of morning (Lily will join him, much to her delight), making for much calmer mornings!

six-year-old photographer

Emma gave our little Canon Powershot a try and took the picture of me below. I think she did a good job, and she was very proud of herself (see above). I’m actually hoping to let her play with photography a bit this summer – she is careful with our camera (she actually refuses to touch the SLR, because she says she needs to be older), and I think she would enjoy that. She is also extremely interested in learning to use my sewing machine.

third trimester pregnancy 
Pregnancy-wise, everything is going well. This is the first pregnancy where my hair has stayed pretty curly – normally it goes wavy and then gets curlier again between pregnancies. Part of me expects this baby to have curly hair as a result, even though there’s no reason for there to be a correlation there! She also seems smaller than Johnny and Lily, although I have about a month and a half to go, so we’ll see if she stays that way. She kicks and wiggles a lot, which is always reassuring and keeps the rest of the family entertained since you can see it, a lot of the time. We have the baby clothes all washed, and I just ordered a bunch of size one
Thirsties diaper covers – now to get the inserts made (I’m serging old receiving blankets and worn-out pajama bottoms).

Mike and I celebrated our eleven-year anniversary this past week, and to celebrate he got me the Wacom Bamboo Capture Pen and Touch Tablet, which I’ve admired for a few years now! Hopefully it will make for some fun printables, and photo editing flexibility!

How is your summer, so far?

MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.

29 thoughts on “End of School and Baby Update!”

  1. Elisa | blissfulE

    You are glowing!! And so is Emma after taking your photo! So cool. :)

    It will be fun to see if your littlest girl is curly. I always engage in wild conjecture when pregnant – there is so much to wonder about!

    My little Vi got her name from her rambunctiousness in utero – so fun and reassuring… and, in my experience, indicative of a more active child!

    1. I thought Emma would be an active child, because she kicked CONSTANTLY – but I guess she was just crowded in there!

    1. Thanks! I think Mike was relieved that Emma decided she should wait until she’s older :)

  2. You look great!!!!!!

    For some reason, I thought you were due sometime in October – maybe you won’t be around or in the mood for socializing the end of July!!!!

    One of my friends has straight hair and during her pregnancy, her hair got very curly (first time in her life) and her daughter has very curly hair!!! I think that is wild.

    1. I’ve heard of that happening! I’m the only person I know whose hair got straighter. So far my daughters have the kind of hair I envied – slight curls/waves (mine were corkscrew curls as a kid). It’s crazy what pregnancy does to us!

      1. I loved your corkscrew curls! I was so envious. My hair is curly if I style it, or straight if I style it, but if I leave it alone it’s just frizzy.

    2. I may be game – we’ll see how pregnant I feel – and how desperate I am for distraction (not to mention how hot it is).

  3. You look great! Anna was just asking today when she can learn how to use sewing machine. I think it’s impressive that Emma is ready to learn it, Anna is way too “spacey” for that, at least in my opinion. By the way, I think she was pretending to have a baby in her picture :)

  4. YOU LOOK FANTASTIC…I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU ONLY HAVE A LITTLE OVER A MONTH LEFT! YOUR TINY!!!
    I love the picture…she did a great job! I have loved watching my kids teach themselves and me how to sew…I am so thankful I bought a sewing machine! I wish I knew how to sew…so that I could teach them! Your kids will be lucky!

  5. You look great pregnant lady! Have fun with your tablet – that is the one I have. It is hard to get used to – my drawings look like a child’s drawings with it. It is one of my goals to force my self to use it more!

    1. That’s so cool that you have the same one! Do you have any tips on learning how to use it?

      1. I had a more expensive one at work and access to one with a display and am perfectly happy with this one. Play the game it comes with to get used to the stylus and make sure you have a nature drawing/comfortable set up. And then just practice, practice (that is what I am trying to work on).

        1. Thanks for the tips! Good to know you had access to nicer ones, and still like this one!

  6. Your Emma sounds so sweet. I can’t believe she told you she’s not old enough for certain parts of the camera.

    1. I’ve tried a few brands, including some small companies that went out of business. The Thirsties duo wraps with snaps worked the best in terms of containing leaks, for me, and they fit my kids well. They are also made in the US, which I like, and Those are just the covers, though; I use prefolds and flats (or prefold-type/flat-type inserts made from various materials) on the inside.

      I started out with Happy Heinys, but the velcro used to irritate my kids’ skin, and they leaked sometimes. Same issue with Bumgenius, plus the rise wasn’t high enough. And somewhere in there I decided that I would rather fold a flats/prefolds during diaper changes than stuff a bunch of pockets!

      Do you use cloth diapers? Do you have any favorites?

      1. I used gDiapers when my son was an infant, but they started to leak when he got bigger. We would go through so many outfit changes in a day, we switched to disposable when I went back to work and my husband stayed home. I’ve been staying home for the last year, but didn’t feel confident in trying anything else. I am planning on trying cloth again with baby #2 (whenever that is).

        1. I tried gDiapers (a friend gave me theirs), and didn’t have very good luck. My baby was probably several months old at the time. Thirsties wraps have leg gussets, which I think goes a long ways towards their not leaking.

    1. This baby doesn’t feel very big to me – curious to see what she’s like…

      I’m very excited about the tablet – definitely a learning curve to using it!

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