26 + a 5th birthday party + 2 weeks apart

The week leading up to Jack's 5th, Dylan had a trial for which he had to stay in Baton Rouge! We survived! With a little help from my parents, of course, in the way of meals and baseball logistics. We made some Papa crafts for a welcome home as well as upcoming Father's Day and birthday celebrations, taking full advantage of his being away to keep things a surprise.


Then we celebrated a certain happy-go-lucky fella's 5th birthday in MS, and it was very fun and very sporty. He requested a Tball birthday cake, and his aunts and uncles and grandparents worked hard to pull off a super baseball + backyard swim + piñata + new bike + soccer ball birthday event the likes of which he won't even remember not inviting friends to. I kinda love the family birthday thing <3. 

 
 
THEN Dylan, Pippa, and I came back home ... but left Paul, Ada, and Jack at my parents'! Paul and Ada participated in the Infinity Science Center's Space Camp week at NASA's Stennis center about 10minutes from my parents' new home, and Jack got to have Nana&Pappy camp. They each had loads of fun doing their thing, and we facetimed with them every night. We had a lovely time, too, I've got to admit. Pippa is such a treat as an only child (lol). She didn't tantrum once, she was helpful, she was pleasant and happy to do all sorts of things, and we read a ton. Lovely. And the house stayed pretty tidy, too, so all that talk from the big sibs about Pippa coming through and messing stuff up just isn't true; they leave stuff out, and she messes with things, sure. But she and I played with something ... and then tidied it away! Imagine that. We went grocery shopping, visited a playground, lunched in a café, even, and Dylan and I took advantage of having "only 1" to go out to dinner at a local Thai place I'd been itching to try.

First day with their lil lunch boxes <3
Uncle Pete + Cap'n Jack




Gettin' there!
Then we all got back together on Father's Day - the three of us went back to Mom & Dad's to pickup the big3 and celebrate the two dads with bbq ribs and an Astros game. Looking at a little over 10 wks to go before this one joins in the fun!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

34

Image
Cinco's been moving lots and lots, and I hope what I feel up nearer my ribs is a little tush and not a head, which I'd confused with Ada back in '14. I kept thinking I was poking her hips; nope, it was her little noggin, poor dear. My posting time has gotten off somehow, so while I'm at 34wks already, I didn't magically skip 33. So here we are. This week, working up to 34 wks strong, was very, very full. We baked, the boys finally got to wear something matching - Jack's request last time the girls got matching dresses from Nana & Pappy - we started school , we celebrated the Transfiguration of Jesus both with a field trip Mass with Ada's Little Flowers group to saint-of-the-month Angela Merici parish and sunshine cookies, got snoballs again at Sal's to introduce friends to this beloved stand, Dylan's been working practically full-time on our massive built-in bookshelf project to make it school ready (so close!)... and Mom & Dad have tested po...
Read more

Mary Margaret is here!

Image
 At 7:30am on Sunday morning September 12, 2021, Mary Margaret Knoll joined the family!  Less than 12 hours after the previous post, where I finally gave up feigned control and anxiety about when, when, when, Dylan and I called Fran back to New Orleans after having left that afternoon. Upon her arrival around 9pm, I shrugged and smiled, and she chuckled about its being Groundhog Day. Dylan and I got in the car with a Let's-Do-This attitude and headed to Ochsner, where my Dr. Baur was coincidentally on-call in Labor&Delivery. But I wasn't in labor. My contractions had plateaued at that same shortish, manageable, seldom level, but I was leaking amniotic fluid. When I texted Dr. Baur, she said definitely come in. I was pretty anxious about that for a minute, upset even, because of a strong desire to stay away from a pitocin induction (like had happened with Jack bc of the water breaking), but in we went. Thankfully I wasn't laboring hard because the hospital was full ! (A...
Read more

Home Safe ... almost to 40?

Image
Well! It's been a bit of an anxiety-ridden week, though here we are on Saturday and everything's going just fine. No baby yet, though. We were ticking along in evacuation-mode nicely, and Dylan got word that our power had turned back on late, late Monday night, to which news I started having contractions. So then the what-ifs and what-do-we-dos started swirling. Tuesday morning, we decided that if things stay slow, we'd pack up to leave Wednesday morning. We gassed and stocked up at Costco, and I had regular, sparse, short contractions most of the day, but they picked up that evening. Our final decision was we'd go if I could sleep through the night and stay if things picked up. Wednesday rolled around, Dylan packed up every little thing while I did nothing, and I felt nothing ... until the car. The first 2-3 hours had 1-2 contractions each, and then the closer we got, the more relaxed I was by avoiding a "roadie baby" that they completed stopped. It was bitte...
Read more