Sorry I haven't had any new photos lately - here's an old one so we can look back at marvel at how far we have come. And be reminded of what's right around the corner.

I had a bit of a frustrating day yesteday - well so did Sophia. Will and independence are our constant companions. Language is still not a high point. It's sad to me how much I can interpret from Sophia's little "unh" noises and pointing fingers. I want to hear her at least say "mama" with some regularity. She has the ability to say words and then promptly stops saying them. She can say car and dog and mama and dada and hi and bye and cow and juice and teeth and probably shoes too, but she prefers "unh". I was starting to despair yesterday, starting to wonder when Sophia's real mom was coming, bringing all her unwavering love and patience, so that at least I could take out the garbage and recycling. AND THEN SHE PUT HER SHOES ON ALL BY HERSELF.

Made me feel like the biggest jerk. Here I am thinking all kinds of low grade pessimistic thoughts about her development and she goes and figures out on her own how to get her shoes on. What we have here is a spatial baby, not a verbal baby. Heck - she's not even a baby anymore. I am starting to think about losing the nap, or at least humoring her with car naps until the new baby comes (I'm not fool enough to think we'll still allow car naps then). I have to come to terms with losing that small amount of time that I have for me.

So the dishwasher is in and with one minor problem to tweak we are GO! I can't believe it, I mean really. I really really can't believe it. Christmas is here early! I need to buy rinse agent. What rinse agent is I don;t know, but I am told by the book and by the little red light on the machine that I need to add it. I feel like I have been allowed into a secret club.

Our house is one giant slide puzzle - you know, the little flat plastic puzzles that have one piece missing and you have to re-arrange the pieces to make the picture. We have maybe one free space in the house for stuff and we are continually upgrading and shifting to try to find the perfect arrangement. With the dishwasher we lose tons of cabinet space for pots but we will get to get rid of the dish-drying rack and have more counter space. We bought some cabinets at ikea for the utility area to halp with storage and will also get some wardrobes so we can better use our closets upstairs and somehow make room for a second sleeping arrangement in the "kids" room (I keep trying to stop telling Sophia it is her room since soon it will be shared). I am desiring a purge of stuff but can't do it alone and keep getting sucked back into our pack-rat love of things.

I think I have created the perfect wish list for people like me (ok - let's just admit that it's for me since there can't be that many people out there who are 8 months pregnant with a toddler and a pack-rat addiction and enabler husband with arty and kitschy tastes)
1. Meals. Food is always better when someone else makes it. Our neighbor Kendal and I have been doing some meal sharing and her stuff is so fabulous.
2. Babysitting breaks - even a small moment away from the kids, to take out trash or vacuum the living room, is sooooo appreciated. I am sure this will be doubly true after #2. I was almost thinking of asking someone to set up a once a week dropin friend rotation to come by midmorning so I could shower all alone. You know how bad I am at asking for help - apparently I think someone should do it for me - pathetic.

3. Stuff-purger-assistant: someone to come over and have the time to be there when I go through things to make me get rid of things. Problem with me doing it alone is that I can always start to see how the thing will come in handy one day and then I never get rid of anything. This has been a life-long problem, just ask my mom (reference: I will have to take a photo of my copy of this book from my childhood and send it in). Doesn't matter I suppose because soon enough I won't be able to do more than keep the dirty diapers from piling up.

4. Check-ins from folks: a phone call or email to a mom trapped with small kids is sometimes the little piece of gold that makes your day - you feel like YOU do still exist, you the person you once were not just the slave to children that you have become.