Peaches!

Every year we look forward to the first week of September, when we get to go all the way to Brigham City and pick our own peaches. We go to the same orchard year after year, the peaches are fantastic there and we love to support the old school trust-your-neighbour payment system - money jar with nobody around to keep an eye on it. We wonder if that money ever gets stolen, and it probably does from time to time. But we hope that the good karma of believing in honest people brings fair return and loyal customers (like us :)

This year peaches were a bit slow to come. We finally went 2 weeks later than usual, only to find the trees mostly empty. It looked like the peaches were picked that morning or maybe the day before. But we still were able to spot a few trees that made our trip worth while. After all, it would be no fun to drive an hour and a half each way with an unhappy baby, making several stops in between to nurse her or rock her in the car seat, just to come home empty handed...

Ivy has been rolling like a pro lately. She didn't like staying on her back for too long, so she rolled off the wrap and spent a good 5 minutes nibbling on the grass and digging her toes into the dirt.

Everyday wonders

Sometimes

I forget how easy it is to be in the moment.

How to make the most out of every second.

All it takes is to stop,

look around

and find that one simple wonder

that makes you smile.

Feel the gratitude.

Then remember the feeling.

Such moments are perfect,

even when imperfection rules your life...

To sum it up...

September has been good to us so far. Perfect weather, blissful and peaceful atmosphere at home, kids who help and listen, heartwarming meals every day... Well, scratch the last 3, but the weather is sure nice.

This past month and a half have been much harder than the first 2 months after Ivy was born, mostly because Anya stopped napping and the whole afternoon routine was shattered into pieces. To sum it up, now there's no 'quiet' or nap time. But there's plenty of loud, make-as-much-noise-as-possible-while-Ivy-is-sleeping time. Which translates into: me, frantically making lunch while Ivy is napping and the other kids throwing their requests at me (I think I grow 3 invisible arms during lunch time, just to keep up with the madness), then me trying to send kids downstairs to play so I can clean up after them and have a bite to eat (read: BREAKFAST), and ultimately, failing at the last task, because Ivy wakes up from all the noise in the kitchen. Afternoons are a blur after that...

Despite all the chaos, those 3 imps manage to melt my heart every day in one way or the other. And then they make me pay for it with another blur of a day...

So speaking of September...

What a perfect month for getting back into the bread baking groove. Kalach never tasted better (maybe because I never accidentally overdosed on butter until this last time)

Elijah got his first black (or green and yellow?) eye from close encounter of the third kind with a very aggressive door knob. Bad door knob, bad.

...and then he got his second ever haircut by grandpa. Both times without parent's (mine) consent. At least this time I can still recognize my son :)

Speaking of hair, Anya let me make her first pony tail ever. It was sloppy and all, and my hands were shaking from disbelief, but I did it, that's what matters (and I left it in for 2 days, not knowing if she'd ever let me put her hair into a pony tail again)

and here's her signature hair:

Ivy's been growing like a weed. Rolling over from time to time for the past 3 weeks, laughing and giggling for just as long (and Maya is a pro at making her laugh), sucking on her fists like it's the best tasting food in the world and just plain growing way faster than I can admit to myself. I think she'll get her driver's license sooner than I will.

(this one would look cute as a driver's license photo)

And Maya... This girls amazes me with her creativity and curiosity as much as she amazes me with her talent to test my patience to the limit. She's a true gem - Maya with a Y. And here's the peaceful side of her, reading Charlotte's Web from start to finish in just a couple of hours (priceless, peaceful hours).

As for me, I'm trying to keep my sanity by consuming insane amounts of chocolate (hey, if I'm gaining weight while nursing anyway, I might as well make it fun, right?) and producing impressive amounts of knitwear. Can my life get any better?

Breastfeeding at church: now and then

I recently read Rixa's blog post about an illustration at the LDS Church History Museum where you can spot two women nursing their babies during Sacrament meeting. The illustration brought back that immediate excitement and relief that I got to experience about 3 years ago, when for the first time since becoming a mom I saw a sister nursing her child during the Sacrament meeting. Since Rixa asked her blog readers for a couple more photos, I figured it would be a perfect opportunity to enjoy a trip to the Museum and seeing the illustration with my own eyes (as well as taking some photos of it).

After failing to breastfeed my first 2 babies for more than 3 months, I didn't have much experience with nursing in public, at church especially. Maybe I didn't pay much attention until then, but I just assumed that all mothers used 'mother's lounge' for nursing, which in our particular church building is nothing more than a small room equipped with 2 rocking chairs and a changing table, attached to the restroom. Everyone who goes to the restroom passes the 'nursing area' and you can clearly hear everything that's going on in the restroom, while you're nursing or changing your child.

The room is ok most of the time, but there have been times when I just couldn't stand nursing my baby in there. That is why I was immediately overcome with joy when for the first time ever I saw that particular sister nursing her child right in the middle of the Sacrament meeting, back when I was pregnant with Anya 3 years ago. What a relief it was, knowing that I didn't have to hustle out of the chapel if my baby was hungry. I could simply nurse my little one right there and enjoy fairly uninterrupted meeting (aside from the usual crisises caused by my two other little ones).

That experience, combined with other experiences of seeing moms nursing in public places, greatly influenced my success in breastfeeding our 3rd baby (she self-weaned at 18 months when I was pregnant with Ivy). So naturally, seeing a 139 year old illustration of LDS women breastfeeding their babies during Sacrament meeting, with men sitting right next to them, uncovered (back in the days when accidental 'flashing' of ankles was not acceptable), reassured me just how normal it actually is to tend to your baby's basic need of nourishment and comfort, anywhere and anytime.

taken during our Lake Mary hike

Riding the FrontRunner

Some time in mid-August Mark and I decided to make a list of things that we wanted to do before the end of the month. Riding the FrontRunner was one of them. We've done it before and of course kids loved it. With autumn being just around the corner we felt the urge to pack in as many activities as possible before cold rainy weather takes over.

We almost didn't make it in time to catch the right train. We had to sprint out of the car, cross the street, in the middle of which I had to stop and pick up the 'essentials' that Maya not-so-carefully packed into her backpack, while carrying Ivy and trying to keep Elijah from running in the wrong direction. Then we ran onto the platform and realized we had no time to buy the tickets. We crossed our fingers and got on the train. Lucky for us, the guy who we assumed would be asking for tickets, didn't say anything so we saved a good amount of money and rode for free. Just kidding. After trying to guess in our mind how many hundreds of $$ we'd need to pay as a fine for a family of 6, we asked him if it was still possible to pay for the tickets somehow, and promptly let out a sigh of relief when he said that we could just buy the tickets when we got to Ogden, which we happily did.

Mark's parents were able to meet us in Ogden, and we ended up spending part of the afternoon together, eating out and exploring old trains. No major incidents or meltdowns happened (probably due to magic dust that grandparents carry with them). A sure key to a successful outing!

(oops, did I just post a picture of Anya picking her nose? I'll pretend it was an accident and I don't know how to delete it)