It's getting colder here!

And we LOVE it!

We're not actually wrapping up in hats and scarves quite yet,
but Lucy couldn't resist trying out all the goods
we unpacked the other day.

veins

So we are on our third pregnancy in the last 3 and a half years. And it definitely sounds even more crazy when I read it all typed out like that. Anyways, this pregnancy number three really seems to be doing a number on my little body (did anyone else have this experience?), and I'm beginning to think that my body is a little angry at me for asking it to, you know, grow three other humans in under 4 years.

One thing I never had with my other babies was varicose veins, but, wouldn't you know, they have shown up on one of my thighs this time. I was taking a bath with Dorothy the other night (we both had colds and needed a warm soak), and she looked at my thigh and exclaimed, "MOM! Who drew on your leg?" Oh, man. Did I need that! Nothing like something silly coming out of that girls mouth to make the world seem right. I looked at her and said "it was daddy." She responded, "yeah, it was daddy. And he did it on purpose."

Now if only they washed off as easily as marker...

Blue

Its our new color. That's right. Get ready to welcome our first little BOY Vieira in February!

Fall traditions

Last October our stake put together a celebration
for the 10 year anniversary of the dedication
of the Boston Temple.
We made a whole weekend trip out of it and
stayed in a hotel near the city and took the girls to
Walden Pond as well.
The weekend was such a beautiful experience that we decided
to replicate part of it on a smaller scale this Columbus day.

Our day started with a trip to the Temple grounds.
The day was freakishly hot.
Seriously,
when is it over 80 degrees in October?
But it was perfect weather for walking around the Temple,
letting the girls get out their energy on the grass
and looking at flowers.

The temple was followed by a quick stop to Trader Joe's
(oh, how I wish there was one a little closer to us!)
and a stop for lunch before we headed to the Pond.

With full tummies, we all started our the trip in good spirits.

Lucy quickly faded.
We realized that we had pushed a little too close to nap time.
She ended up passing out on my shoulder about
halfway around Walden Pond,
and I traded her off to Marty to keep up with Dorothy.

Like I said,
it was freakishly hot
and the beach on the pond was swarming with families
making a last swimming trip for the season out of the holiday.
Dorothy kept asking where her swimming suit was.
She had been such a trooper that I stripped her down
and told her to go have fun.
We've been potty training her, but had her in a diaper for the day.
It worked out well,
and she LOVED being in the water.
I think that as much as I try to convince her that fall is the best season,
she will forever be my summer girl.

It was a wonderful (but exhausting) day.
We're hoping to keep this new fall line up of traditions going.

"Just get here when you can..."

Last week, my sweet husband was a busy man. Wednesday night through Saturday afternoon were filled to the brim with all sorts of activities including a camp out with the boy scouts. By the end of his camping trip when he arrived back home and I insisted that he take us all out for dinner because I was not going to cook, he had a dead cell phone. So, thinking it was time for some uninterrupted family time anyway, he plugged in the dead phone and off we went.

Dinner was followed by the bedtime routine, a night of good sleep, and the usual Sunday morning activities. After everyone was in their Sunday best and I was downstairs packing snacks for church, Marty thought he had better check his now charged cell phone before we took off for a few more hours. To his surprise he had several missed calls and messages--three from the Stake Presidency. "Babe" he called down the stairs. "The Stake Presidency wants to know if we can be to church early. They need to talk to us before sacrament meeting." We grabbed our bags and rushed out the door hoping we could make it with enough time to discuss whatever it was.

On the way we innocently thought that with stake conference coming up maybe one of us was going to be asked to speak. When we got to the building, the second counselor held the door for us and then ushered us directly to the Bishop's office. With about 5 minutes until sacrament meeting was to begin he sat us down and said " we hate to do this with so little notice, but we are restructuring the Bishopric and would like to ask Marty to be the first counselor to the new Bishop." Our jaws fell, and I think I even let out a little laugh. We did not see THAT coming! Our ward was restructured less than 2 years ago, and Marty was still fairly new to the whole Scout Master thing, so we really had no idea.

My sweet husband loves this ward--it is the ward he grew up in--and he has known many of the members most of his life. Although he is sad to no longer be over the boys in the scouting program, he is truly humbled and honored to be able to serve on a broader ward scale. I love that man, and I am humbled and honored to sustain him in his new calling.

Here's to another adventure.

Apple Picking

There once was a fall day
(that actually felt like fall)
when a mama lady was feeling pretty darn good.
So she packed up her two sweet munchkins
and drove out to the apple orchard.

While her wee munchkin loved the prospect
of picking apples from the tree and putting them in a bag,
her big munchkin cried because the smooshed apples
that littered the rows bothered her to no end.

So the wee one was happily put to work

And the big one was moved to the center of the row
away from the scary smooshed apples.
Peace was restored.

And they all ate apple cider donuts.

The end.