I finally got started on this girl’s surfboard. She will someday share a room with Pippa, so I wanted to coordinate the salmon pinks that are in Pippa’s surfboard and curtains. Of course now Pippa wants an update (aka more flowers) to her surfboard and Sawyer wants a surfboard too. Good thing this mama is ready to get back to artwork!
Here’s a sneak peek of her Boho chic board:
I wondered quite a bit how my life would be different once number three arrived. After all, I thought the transition from one kid to two was super easy, and actually easier than just having one! I’d read about three. Three = the most stressful number of kids (with four being the easiest… umm… no thanks). Three = you’re outnumbered. Three = what were you thinking?
Three = Larkin Mathilda, born on her due date (April 6th). 7lbs 13oz.
What didn’t change?
Yeah, not much changed in that department.
The HARDEST thing? With a 2.5 and 4.5 year old who have become obsessed with the pool on these humid 90 degree days, it breaks my heart to have to say no. We can’t always go to the pool or be there all day because the little one can’t get in and it’s just too dang hot. What’s a mama to do? We take advantage of cooler mornings and late afternoons and they’re still getting plenty of practice being little fish.
One year ago I took photos of the kids running around the yard with handfuls of daffodils. The pics were a bit blurry since my camera was on it’s last life, but I loved the idea and so they hung above our kitchen table for most of the year. One a gorgeous weekend in March when it hit 70 degrees by 10am and we were running all over the yard (well, the kids were running and I was walking fast trying not to sweat to death in my 36 week pregnant and huge body), I wanted a re-do. Boy am I glad I did!
And that field of yellow flowers? It really is an invasive species growing along our neighbor’s creek. They open during the day and close up at night. Invasive or not, they are beautiful and I wish they’d grow along our oh so attractive drainage ditch in the front yard! I feel the same way about dandelions. Love ’em!
I’ve been getting in a good bit of practice photographing in full sun. I do my best to get a shade source over my portrait subjects, and in several of these my hubby willingly stood arching his hands over them to shade their faces so I could grab those catchlights in their eyes without too many funky sunspots.
And PS: I realize you’re reading this a month later, gotta plan for post-baby y’all!
How lucky we are that my parents live at the beach! Before they retired to the coast of NC, I had never been to the beach in the winter. It’s quiet. Peaceful. We have almost the whole beach to ourselves on some days minus a few dog walkers.
In late February we had days in the low 50s and windy, but that didn’t stop the kiddos from running barefoot until their feet froze or they fell over exhausted. Can’t wait to visit again with three littles in tow!
And did I mention I am loving my new iMac? It also helps that I finally upgraded my version of photoshop from the one I had been using… 13 years old might be some sort of record, lol.
#wildsunshine #childhoodunplugged #sunsetbeachnc
One reason why I love living in North Carolina… we can go to the beach for Thanksgiving and end up with THIS: beautiful sunny days that are warm enough for the kids to go wading in the water and run around in their underwear.
I’m a big planner. And when we found out we were expecting baby #3, I knew I wanted to wait and announce it on our Christmas cards. So on Sawyer’s 2nd birthday– the only somewhat nice weekend day we’d had in a month — I dragged the family to a little known spot near the Eno River with a massive meadow to take family photos. Armed with a tripod and lots of warm clothes, we managed 45 minutes of pics before Sawyer lost it and my hubby asked for the thousandth time how many photos I needed.
Then I spent a week in photo nerd heaven editing these pics from my new camera and a borrowed lens.
Welllllllllll maybe only 39, but who’s counting? Somewhere around 37 weeks I get really tired of being pregnant. I’ve lost all ability to be productive. I can’t sleep. I feel huge ALL the time. Even my maternity clothes stop fitting and I have to do laundry every 2 days. Oy! At least I forget all about these things in a few months and remember the good parts.
And the heat! In NC, March has been a heatwave. I mean days in the low 80s… which to me feels like 140 degrees. I’m burning up. Good thing I’ve never had to endure a summer baby, I don’t think I’d survive.
How am I feeling these days? Let’s see, everything hurts as it stretches and gets ready for delivery (which is actually pretty amazing). There are approximately 1,000 things I want to be doing outside but cannot because they involve heavy lifting, shoveling, etc. I have two kids who have been sharing a room for 1.5 months and have yet to stop talking to one another before 9pm, so both are constantly sleep deprived and cranky. This mama is losing patience!
Yet through it all I’m trying hard to be aware that these are the last days to freely play outside, climb trees, and go hiking without the extra time to bundle a baby/change a diaper. At least for a little while 🙂 So I’m enjoying this time with my two littles as much as possible.
And we did manage to finally install our kitchen backsplash (more on that in a future post), so I can’t say I’ve been totally unproductive.
Gender: my guess is still a girl. Weight: 40lbs gained (5 lbs less than the other two at this point). Cravings: Salad and citrus. Can’t wait for: running again!
This is such a short anecdote, but I’m much better at typing things out than writing them down and I don’t want to forget the silly things!
We had spaghetti and meatballs for dinner the other night. Sawyer didn’t finish all of his, and soon we got to goofing around with daddy in the other room. Sawyer disappears, comes back in and throws his last meatball at daddy’s head, then laughs hysterically. See this– this is his I’m gonna do something crazy look. Watch out!
Umm… how do I keep a straight face? Yeah, I didn’t. Neither did John. I think we eventually told him not to do it again. Gotta love a 2 year old!
Mom-of-the-year,
I love naming babies. But I find it’s so much easier to come up with names I love when I’m not pregnant. Throw an actual baby into the mix and suddenly those names are either vetoed by my traditional-minded hubby or I’m suddenly thinking there must be something better or more ideal out there.
Add to this that baby #3 is a surprise, and we now have to go in with two names. Yikes – me and my first world problems! We have our boy name picked. But for a girl, it’s a real toss up. I have always loved Larkin for a girl, although it seems a wildly unpopular name choice on the baby name forums. Hazel was in the top for a long time. Then there’s my love affair with Indiana/Indie. Even Wilder has been a frontrunner. And don’t forget about River, which was probably close to my #1 girls name before Kelly Clarkson used it.
Good thing we have ~7 weeks to go, since my guess is that this baby is a girl. Fortunately we have two potential family names to use as a middle name: Mathilda or Eleanor.
Anyone else only seem to struggle with girl names?
Just when I was getting motivated to kick off a batch of these babies… baby #3 decided to make me so darn tired at nap time that it took…forever. But FINALLY! I’m excited to share some of my winter projects now up for sale in my ETSY shop: www.surfpixie.etsy.com.
Come April, I will be on maternity leave for a month or two but I’m hoping to get a few more new designs completed this summer once we settle down as a family of 5.
