The only thing standing between me and this baby is July.

Oh yes.

JULY.

Which is probably a good thing, because the view from above looks a lot like this these days:

I've officially become the biggest I've ever been (gulp).  That's what I get for thinking I could carry weight while nursing and then lose it as soon as we quit.  Turns out, when you get pregnant right away, that's not so much a thing.

Our summer has been absolutely fantastic.  I think it's some kind of restitution for the atrocious summer we endured without air conditioning when I was pregnant with Logan; instead of a record-breaking hot summer, we've come somewhat close to a record-breaking cool one.  It has been absolutely fantastic to have summer days in the 70's to the end of June.

Mostly, we've been doing a lot of this:

There have been a lot of Popsicles.  A lot of water toys.  A lot of playing in the backyard.    

The truth is that with Casey gone as much as he has been and me as large and in charge as is my current condition, keeping the people fed and clothed and entertained is just about as much as I'm capable of every day.  We're definitely not shooting for the stars here.  There are no Pinterest-y bucket lists or super clever crafts, and Best!Summer!Ever! is pretty much out the window too.  We've been to the zoo and the pool... and that's about the end of the list.  But they seem quite content, thankfully, to play in the water and with miscellaneous buckets and kitchen utensils to measure and dump water and sand.  We're getting miles out of the new patio we had poured at the beginning of the summer.

Leah has been attending swim lessons since April, and she absolutely adores them.  She is gearing up to go to summer camp three days a week for the better part of this month; a nice treat for her and me.  I'm excited to have some one on one Logan time before that's not an option ever again anymore.  

Otherwise, we're kind of in a holding pattern.  I'm getting  reallyreallyreallyreally a little antsy, because everywhere I look throughout my house all I see are projects that need to be finished and I'm not remotely capable of helping finish them.  The nursery.  The baseboards.  The moldings.  The grass in the backyard needs patching in about two dozen places.  All these projects we had initially intended to be part of our "five year plan" on the house, which I am now absolutely itching to have done before this baby comes.  

September-ish, 2012

Mostly, I just want us both as parents to be able to have peace of mind in a way that we didn't after Logan was born.  Literally, we don't remember Logan's newborn days.  They are just a haze of stress and tasks and messes and construction and long drives back and forth, for Casey more than anyone. 

Not to mention, oh so attractive photos.  Seriously, though, this was our reality.  It looks every bit as bad as it felt. 

Our memories are choppy until sometime around Thanksgiving when Logan was 3 months old.  I have absolutely no desire to repeat that scenario, so July will be a pretty ugly push (mostly for my husband) to get a lot done in just a few weeks.  That way, we can sit back and enjoy the normal chaos that comes with a new baby, but at least in a home that is (mostly) finished the way we want it to be.  Or at least, you know, has baseboards after two years.

We've definitely come a long way... but with the big tasks in the fall approaching quickly - those read: BABY! and homeschool, in that order - we know there isn't going to be much time for home improvement for quite a while.  

So here's to a bit of emotional investment and some good ole' fashioned elbow grease to pave the way for some really fantastic memories to come.  And photos that we're proud to display, instead of hiding away in a dusty, never seen file on the computer.  And maybe, just maybe, a lot of joyful pushing before the end of the month.  Because that's the part I actually get to handle!