and baby makes four

Well, now that there are four of us, life is indeed more hectic than ever. I'm back to work now, since the beginning of June and having M with me is not the easiest of conditions, but I don't think I'd trade it at all. I love that she's still with me. I can still nurse her as needed and, the main reason, we aren't paying for two kids in child care. Laura will enter kindergarten in the fall. We'll save up to pay for her summer care tuition during the year.
I'm also really glad that M will be here in this church while she's in childcare. We house the 0-2 year olds (or whenever they're potty trained) for the same program that L is in. She's just a block up the road at another church.
And of course, during the hottest week we've had so far this summer, the AC in the church--actually only in my zone--is broken. Go figure. The original office was divided in half to provide office space for the childcare director, but somehow this really screwed up the AC return system and my office is warm even when the AC works, but now it's fairly close to unbearable, especially in the afternoons when the sun hits my side of the building head on.
Got a fan for now, it's keeping it livable.

Hard to Imagine

It is always hard to imagine what life was like before the baby got here. No matter when the baby comes, no matter how many you've had, or not, before. It only takes a few weeks, or even days, for them to become a fully integrated part of life so that it seems like they've been there always...




...or maybe that's just my lack of sleep talking.

Sick and sicker (and other stuff)

Of course, the way things are going around here (that would be... HECTIC!) I get a cold. Not too surprising since I completely did NOT take care of myself last week, running ragged, not eating well, not sleeping enough, and then I guess there's the whole pregnant thing. So of course, it is also not a good idea for me to be visiting all the people who are sicker than I am, not for my sake but theirs. I do not want to pass on my germs to people taking chemo, people with pneumonia and heart problems, or people already fighting an infection of some sort or another. The last thing their bodies need to be doing is warding off any germs I might share. So needless to say, I've been on the phone a LOT. Not really my favorite past time, but certainly a necessary evil. I don't ever want people to think I'm not thinking about them or that I don't want to be there when I just can't--for whatever reason.
In other news, I'm fighting terrible sugar cravings today. I've only given in in small doses. A couple of single bite mini-3 Musketeers and a choc. chip granola bar. And yes, I say that out loud so I can feel totally self-righteous.
Let's see, what else? I ordered my first collar the other day. Not my idea of fun, but I figure a revgal ought to have at least one on hand for who-knows-what sort of emergency. People don't always think that Rev.'s ought to come with boobs, so you have to show some sign of authority. Decided on the full (Anglican) collar after discussing with other revgals and looking at many, many photos. The tab (traditional for my denom.) can end up looking like any other mandarin-collared shirt on women. I even found a blog that gives great directions for transforming almost any high-necked or regular collared shirt into a clergy blouse. Can't wait to try it. Just hoping I won't actually need it anytime soon.

Nikon D40

I'm so in love! This is just the camera for me, an amateur with no idea what she's doing. We took tons of pics in W'msburg. I learned how to fiddle with settings, etc. I really liked the way most of them turned out--the only thing I wanted was a longer lens. There were several times I wanted closer shots. This is the lens I covet, though it's rather price-prohibitive. Still, I can't imagine needing anything else once I get it.
BTW, if you need to know just about anything about cameras and lenses and even photography advice, the site I linked for the lens is really great! Explore it.

Bonus!

Got a really, really nice sized bonus from the church for Christmas. I guess they really must like me! I was thinking I'd use some of it to buy something nice on our anniversary trip (sans kid!) to W'msburg. Now I'm reconsidering, since it's enough to get a nice DSLR camera body that I'm dying to have. Not enough for a lens too, but I think I can manage to get a nice one within budget so I can just pull the $$ out of the rest of the pool of Christmas moolah I know we'll get from grandparents. We do have a nice point and shoot which is great for on-the-go photos, but I would really love a D40. It's not super fancy as far as DSLR cameras go, but then I am not even good enough to be called an amateur yet--but I really want to learn! (I read up all I can here--check out the archives.) I guess we'll have to see if there's anything I just can't live without in W'msburg.

What's done and what needs to be done

P did, in fact, get the living room painted. It looks very nice. We went with a color called Hopsack. Very fitting for my home brewing hubby, I think. Now if we can just get the master bedroom painted. Right now it is in a very bright shade of sky blue. Not so restful to the eyes. The attached bath is in a very bright sunshine yellow, that's gotta go too. I'm more of an earth tones gal. Not so much into the primary colors, at least not on my walls.
It's been pretty busy, and now with fall approaching, it's gonna get a lot worse before it gets better. We have Sunday school kick off and elder installation in Sept., World Communion, Fall Harvest and Halloween in Oct., Thanksgiving and gasp! then there's Advent in Nov. It's gonna get here faster than I realize, I'm sure. Lots of planning to do in the mean time.

The Painting and the Vacation

P has offered to do the painting while we're away. My job will be to get everything taped off before he leaves. A monumental task on its own, I might add. We've abandoned 'Desert Fortress' and gone with another P-appropriate color called 'Hopsack.' My beer brewing hubby thinks that's an equally acceptable name for a wall color. It's another neutral brown, but with the weird pale terra cotta tiles on the floor, our palette was limited. Still gotta get some blinds up too.
So, on top of the taping I'm also trying to get ready to leave for 10 days of vacation. This includes a plane trip and 2 days of driving on either end of the trip. I have to have 2 bulletins ready, all the laundry we need done, try really hard not to forget things like warm pjs for the cool Canadian nights, L's sun hat, my flip flops, etc., and it all has to fit in one suitcase and a backpack. Somehow, I have a feeling my sanity might have to be left behind to make room for L's stuffed giraffe.