Jelly Rolls

We got a very nice piece of mail from my SIL the other day, the very first one received by a certain member of our family.

It made me feel all warm and fuzzy and nest-y inside and I promptly started throwing things out left and right to make room for baby clothes.

John Steinbeck once wrote that “when a man says he does not want to speak of something he usually means he can think of nothing else.”  And that, my friends, is why I have approximately 49 blog post drafts and approximately 5 actual posts from the last five months. I had absolutely nothing to say about anything other than the one topic I wasn't ready to talk about.

Baby girl (affectionately known as "Jelly" in our house) is due mid-summer, and we are thrilled. So far, she has inherited two things from me: her pointy nose and a penchant for causing trouble. So. Much. Trouble. I have gone back and forth on posting about the last five months.  On one hand, we really have a lot to be thankful for, and I don't want to forget that. On the other hand, I don't want to focus unduly on past difficulties (and as of yesterday, they truly do all seem to be past!). I find that when I linger too long on them, I allow the cumulative stress to influence the present - but we only need grace to get through today, not grace to get through yesterday.

In the meantime, while I make up my mind (or at least try to find the right words), the Little Pants in our house is doing well and learning new tricks every day. He calls his baby sister "Elwie" but has absolutely no concept of what this "Elwie" figure is and why Mom and Dad keep talking about it.

This morning I walked into the kitchen while he was eating breakfast, and he said, "Heeey Sweetie!"  The other night I caught him slurping up the dregs of his tomato soup with a trick I can only assume he learned from one of the adults in our household.....

Meh. We have years ahead of us to work on table manners, right?