Pumpkins in Our Patch

Boy, have we got news for you!

Pretty much the only crop that grew in our very first garden this  year… were squashes and pumpkins.  They grow without care or tending, who knew?!  Why was our garden and yard {I WAS in charge of the mowing…} so awfully abandoned midsummer?

We’re adding a pumpkin to our patch!

Ole and Maple are pretty excited!

Growing small babies is much, MUCH harder than growing pumpkins.

But worth it.

I remind myself that every day through the tiredness, sickness, force-feeding, scary what-ifs, muscle problems, joint pain, and emotional instability caused by meds.

Because look at these cuties!

Dear Baby,

Meet your big brother Ole {3 years old}.  He will tell you he is NOT “cute” – Maple is cute – he is HANDSOME!  He also likes to be called ‘Ole’ and isn’t buying it that his name is actually/also Olaf.  Probably because we use “Olaf Benjamin Sahlstrom!” only when he’s in trouble… whoops.  This picture and that face?  Sums him up quite well!  Fiercely independent, loud, dominant, daring and totally winsome.  Orange is his favorite color.  He also likes green, blue, brown and red.  He’s in preschool, and loves all hands-on activities, especially cutting paper with his new kids’ scissors.  He also likes cooking and “helping” with… the exact thing he WANTS to help with, and not anything else!  He’s working on asking politely instead of demanding or grabbing.  He’s hoping you’re a boy, but I’m pretty sure he’s just happy to have another kid in the family.  Three is almost a party!  And he’s ALWAYS up for a social gathering, which he calls a “party with my friends.”  Ole has a LOT of friends, and loves to go places!  If it were up to him, we would have 2-3 social events every day.  I’m not kidding.  I hope he doesn’t wear you out (he does me)!  And when he does, he’ll probably wake you up from the little sleep you were trying to get because he has a hard time remembering to be quiet!  He’s very diplomatic, saying each morning, “Mom, I have an idea.  I’m feeling about…” and then he lists off all the things he’d like to do that day, usually enough to fill an entire day!  “…reading books, then swinging on the swing, then go to Grandpa’s house, and eat, and… have friends over, eat a banana, read books, and I helping you with dishes, and you and Maple and me build a house, and play with trains!”  He also likes to watch Uncle Noah’s videos from China.

(And dear readers?  He also doesn’t like it when I have to do work on my computer – blogging and such.  When I close my laptop for the day, he says in the most serious sincerest way, “Thanks Mom, for being done on your ‘puter.”  *cue the mom-guilt* :P)

Meet your big sister, Maple {21 months}.  It still sounds weird to say that because we’re so used to her being the little sister!  She will love you, and dote on you, and baby you.  She will then copy everything I do to take care of you, with her own baby doll.  Hopefully not the other way around; just this morning she put a doll on her potty chair… upside down.  We’ll work on a few things before you’re born, I promise!  She’s hoping you’re a girl so she’ll have a playmate, as Ole has all the other little friends in the area who happen to be boys.  Maple is adorable, tough, dramatic and her own individual.  She likes trying on shoes of anybody’s and any size.  She likes changing clothes.  She doesn’t like leaving hair clips in.  She wants to do everything that Ole and I are doing!  She LOVES being outside and wandering around with a precious fresh-picked apple.  She’s totally fine if she can’t see me or the house.  That girl, she can scare me!  Have I mentioned the animals?  She loves kitties!  And the new puppies at Grandpa Sam’s house?  She’s OBSESSED with “Opie” and “Poppy” and thinks all dogs are named Poppy.  It almost sounds like ‘puppy’ so it works.  She can spot a dog in someone’s truck all the way across a parking lot – and goes bananas with excitement!  Puppy, kitty and farm animal books are her favorite (of course), and she likes to make their sounds.  In addition to her animal words, she can say “no” “more” “me” and the one I hear most often, in (legitimate) complaint of some injustice done to her by her brother, “Oh-YEE!” with a scrunched up face and accusing finger in the direction of the offender.  Her ‘thank you’ sounds like “eeh-oh.”  She’s been quite a trooper getting her first set of molars and several other teeth in over the summer and fall.  This last picture of her… well, sometimes she can be a little stinker!  She was chilly and d.o.n.e. modeling for pictures.  But her shirt–!!!!  Don’t judge by the look on her face in this one.  Trust me, she will be a GREAT big sis – let her have her moment mourning the loss of being the baby!

So those are your playmates.  Life will be exciting!  And fun!  We can’t wait to have you be a part of it!

FAQ Stats

Due date:  February 23, 2017 (Ben’s birthday)

Currently: 22 weeks, or 5 months along

Gender:  We don’t know yet

Baby is growing great and looks healthy!  My pregnancy is still high risk; we are proceeding with care, but the doctors are more optimistic and relaxed this time because of two full-term babies before. 🙂