Pregnancy the Second Time Around

Being pregnant this time is a lot different than being pregnant with Austin was. Physically, it hasn't been too different. No real morning sickness to speak of, just random hunger or lack thereof, a bit of pickiness about what I want for dinner. A few more middle-of-the-night bathroom trips, and I am definitely more tired!

It's that last thing, the tiredness, that has made the most difference, because it has affected me emotionally and spiritually as well. I am not superwoman, it turns out. :) I am learning to show grace to myself when housework goes undone because I needed a nap or when Austin and I just chill on the couch with some Food Network because I can't imagine being anywhere but the couch. (As a friend from church wrote on her blog about TV watching with her toddler: "It's not a crime." So thankful for her take on this!) And I am newly amazed by God's grace to me. I was almost brought to tears at the beginning of worship time on Sunday as I pondered how God welcomes me with open arms despite how many times I have slept through my normal devotional time in the last few weeks. He is so kind.

I can't write a blog post like this without mentioning how grateful I am for my husband, the precious man who does the dishes, cooks dinner when I don't have the energy, takes Austin downstairs while he practices so I can have a bit of time to myself, and randomly takes us to Cici's for lunch because he knows how much I love pizza. Love you, honey.

July 28...

Austin has some news to share:

Date!

Zach and I went to a movie today! In a theater! By ourselves! Pardon my excitement, but it had been two years since we did that. Our babysitting funds tend to get spent when we go to Care Group (church small group) or to IUP Women's Club functions. Not much left for enjoying ourselves alone. But today we got a free afternoon courtesy of Austin's doting grandparents, who were only too happy to have him to themselves! And it was wonderful. Lunch at P.F. Chang's (so yummy; don't have one of those in Indiana, PA) and then The Blind Side in a real, non-drive-in theater. So nice!

Home for the Holidays

I met a man who lived in Tennessee and he was headed for
Pennsylvania and some homemade pumpkin pie.
From Pennsylvania folks are travelin' down
to Dixie's sunny shores.
From Atlantic to Pacific, gee the traffic is terrific.

Oh there's no place like home for the holidays.
For no matter how far away you roam,
If you want to be happy in a million ways
For the holidays you can't beat home sweet home.

These classic lyrics by the Carpenters (written from memory, excuse any mistakes) have been on my mind a lot this week because we "traveled down" from Pennsylvania to visit our family in Texas. It is home sweet home indeed and we are so glad to be here. Dixie's sunny shores it is NOT, though. Although it was sunny and warm yesterday for the first day of our visit, today turned cold. Would you believe we are going to have a White Christmas in Texas?

NOT the Collins Family Christmas Picture

It is hard to take a family picture with a one year old, you know?

Mmm...chocolate chips make for quick smiles.

We tried to get a smile with food.

Thanks, Ashley, for all the cute pictures!

A Not-So-Fun First

Austin threw up in public for the first time today. We were at the library, storytime had just finished, he had asked to be picked up so I was holding him and looking at a shelf of books. Seemed like a perfectly normal morning. Then cough, cough...yuck. Did I mention he had blueberries for breakfast? There will probably be purple stains on the library carpet forever to remind me of this morning. Did I also mention that we walked to the library today, so we got to walk home smelling a little pungent? Thank goodness Austin and I were both wearing layers so we could take off the worst parts of our clothing, which we carried home in a plastic bag provided by our totally wonderful children's librarian JoAnn.

This happens to every mom at some point, right?

Smiles

Austin is quite a smiley kid but it is pretty hard to get a smiley picture. Here are a few successes from this week.

Visiting Gran and Pops

Austin and I headed down to Texas last week to visit his Gran and Pops. As you can imagine Austin had a GREAT time! Gran and Pops quickly became his two favorite people--Austin ran to meet my FIL at the door every night when he came home from work just like he meets Zach at home, and he cried if my MIL so much as left the room he was in.

Gran and Pops picked out his Halloween costume and took him trick-or-treating.

Austin got to try a Three Musketeers. (By the way, how is it that a toddler instinctively knows that a lumpy, brown unfamiliar food is good and snatches it up but turns up his nose at an unfamiliar green vegetable?)

Pops built an awesome house for Austin to play in.

The weather was beautiful and we spent lots of time outdoors.

Bill and Becky's neighbors have some ducks and Austin liked to watch them. We fed them one day. I don't think Austin really "got it" but he liked throwing bread through the fence.


Austin has become a climber. Doesn't he look awfully pleased with himself to be up there?

Weekend Project

Last Thursday I went to a jewelry-making Girls Night Out, even though I hardly ever wear jewelry. Before I left I remarked to Zach that I might wear it more often if I had someplace to keep it that was visible and accessible, instead of stuck at the bottom of my closet in a bunch of different little boxes.

The next day, inspiration struck. I've had this bulletin board for practically all my life, push pins are easy to come by...and voila.

So far at least, my reasoning is working out: I wore a necklace today. Austin was fascinated. Note to self: no delicate chains for the foreseeable future.

Comparison

The first picture is August 2008; the second is now. Wow! My baby is not a baby anymore.

Just a Few Pictures

I love this age! It is so fun to watch him figure out his world day by day.

Visit from Grandma

Austin had a visit from Grandma Susan recently. She quickly made it to the top of his list of favorite people--she let him play on her bed, climb on the couch, and other normally off-limits activities. :-)

Austin loves books and asks to be read to many times a day.

Grandma brought this hooded towel. Austin loves to run around the house wearing it like a little froggy superhero.

We went apple picking while Grandma was here. (Leading to the applesauce making mentioned in my last post.) Austin liked putting apples in the buckets. I don't think he has made the connection between the whole fruit and the apple bits he eats at home--he didn't try to take a single bite out of the apples. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time wandering around the orchard.

What Would I Do Without Google?

Let's just say it was 10:00 at night, you'd spent ALL DAY in the kitchen making and canning applesauce, and you had a pan with scorched applesauce on the bottom. And you'd really like to kick back and relax, only this yucky pan was staring you in the face. Did you know that a little bit of baking soda and water in the pan, boiled for a few minutes, makes the stuff come right off? Thank you, Google!

Practicing to be Mr. Universe???

Sometimes dinner seems more like a training session...

Weekend Project

After reading about it, talking to friends about it, pondering it, and even taking a (mostly worthless) class, I finally jumped into the world of canning. Over the past year and a half I have become more and more convinced of the merits of eating locally, so preserving some of the summer harvest for myself seemed like a natural step in that direction.

So Friday morning Austin and I drove out to Yarnick's (one of our local farms) and bought a half bushel of tomatoes and a half bushel of Italian sweet peppers, plus some onions and jalapenos. Austin conveniently took a three hour nap (I asked Zach to pray specifically for that), the entirety of which I spent in the kitchen. And when he woke up, simple vegetables had been transformed into beautiful, tasty salsa.

Canning is kind of addictive, as it turns out. I keep grabbing my Ball Blue Book and looking for more things I can make. So many possibilities!