This autumn Neal and I have tackled a lot of projects. We started our own compost pile, which makes me feel much better about the garden for next year. It's fun to see the magic of vegetable peelings turn into rich compost. It is, however, a challenge to convince Peter that the pile of garbage isn't for playing in. When do kids learn the concept of gross? Because he doesn't seem to think anything is gross yet: garbage, dirty diapers, nasty floor findings, bugs, the toilet scrubber. Part of me loves that he's so adventurous and building his immune system and part of me is super grossed out by his disregard for cleanliness.
There are a million cucumber starts in the compost, too bad it's not the right time to save them!
But Peter sure is learning quickly. He is walking and almost running, giggling at the drop of a hat, and trying to be just like Neal and I. His hair is out of control, but I can't get him to hold still long enough to trim it evenly. I can hardly believe his birthday is in a few weeks.
He just loves reading!
In other news, Neal and I are excited to announce that we are expecting another baby! Baby #2 is expected in the beginning of March. We are again waiting to find out the gender until baby is born, so look forward to "it's a human being" celebrations in the meantime! It does mean that we're working overtime figuring out where to fit this little one and keep our home feeling open and organized. I love projects, but with work, Peter, my church calling, and the exhaustion that can accompany pregnancy, the days are full.
This last week we've been trying to turn the storage room/office into a full time office space that really works for both Neal and I. We still have a lot of stuff to fit in there, but with some extra shelving and minimization we're seeing it open up. It used to be a salon, so I look forward to taking down the vinyl lettering which obviously doesn't reference our lifestyle. I mean, Neal and I do love to talk, but we don't really consider ourselves curlicue gossipers. :)
In addition to the office, we're downsizing on our books, sort of. Mostly, we're just giving up on displaying quite so many books so instead we can have more space and organization. It's been difficult saying goodbye to books we love to have handy, but I'm excited to be able to move around our room without tripping over piles of books. It's funny that the room which needs the least renovation is the room that's getting a new person! The nursery was already put together and simply needs the addition of another bed so these siblings can share a space, but you know, not a bed. :)
So, if you have any adorable storage containers I want them. I'm on the hunt for smaller toy bins with lids and baskets for blanket storage and boxes for closet storage. My goal is that everything really will have a space, no more piles of miscellaneous stuff. Peter is too clever at getting to them all.
This is one of my "before" pictures so I can compare :)
Right around the time we were knee deep in projects, we got the "opportunity" for another unexpected project. We were doing laundry and simultaneously our washer started leaking water and the power went out in the laundry room. I was terrified that I'd somehow broken them both! Luckily (ish) we still haven't fully reattached the carpet from our last laundry room fiasco, so we could quickly dry that out. My thought was that the drain was backing up again, but unfortunately, it's the washing machine itself. So, joy of all joys, we get to find another washer. Initially we thought we'd go the ksl route, but since we'll soon have two kids in cloth diapers, we're considering a brand spankin' new machine. It's crazy since we don't buy anything new. We use the free family exchange most of the time...but some things are just worth it, right?
As for the electrical problem, the good news is that it's 100% not my fault. Yay! It seems that there's a loose wire somewhere hidden in the walls. So, the power magically came back on, but could go out again any moment. Luckily, family members are so handy that we'll get that fixed without ridiculous costs, but it'll be an adventure fixing walls again. I guess it's good news that we didn't get around to painting downstairs yet, since we'd just have to redo it all.
We just feel incredibly blessed to have friends and family who help us make our space safe and beautiful. Most of all, we're grateful to live so close to so many family members who are there for us!
So, life is busy and it's about to get even more crazy. But we're enjoying the adventure. We look forward to a winter of adventure as we get ready for our second baby and celebrate Peter's first birthday.
What I really want to do right now is relax like Peter is learning to relax. Read a book, lean back, stay in my pjs all day!
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