#MicroblogMondays: You Never Can Tell

Several years ago – I don’t even remember when exactly – I planted bulbs for spring. The following spring, a few came up, bloomed once or twice, and then died off thanks to the over-zealous squirrels who think our yard belongs to them.  In subsequent springs, we would often have one or two bulbs that would shoot up and tease us, but never bloom and finally wither.

That was the case this year too.  We had an impressive-looking shoot that was a lovely green but no hint of any flower to come just as the year before and the year before that. When we were packing the car for the beach two weeks ago, I commented that I wondered if it would ever bloom. Jimmy said he didn’t think so, and we shrugged and left for the beach.

And we returned from the beach to find this:

We were so surprised! And of course it had to bloom while we were gone, but we were still able to enjoy it for another week.  I don’t know what made the difference this year. I know sometimes bulbs can take a while to flower. We have received a lot of rain this year too, but I don’t know if that contributed. All I know is that I had written off this plant, and it proved me wrong.

Memories Captured: Garbage

Listening intently

Yesterday we braved the chilly air and went outside to play.  We heard a truck coming, and you said, “garbage truck!”  I replied, “No, it’s not a garbage truck,” but when I turned around, I saw that it in fact was a garbage truck.  I grabbed your hand, and we walked to the end of the driveway to watch the garbage truck pick up our neighbor’s garbage. You were enraptured and grinned the entire time.

Sweet Boy, you have taught me so much. When I see the world through your eyes, I see things differently.  You have taught me that garbage and garbage trucks are beautiful because you love them. You’ve also taught me that weeds like dandelions are as beautiful as roses because to you, they are just pretty yellow flowers and not a judgment on our lawn maintenance.

Capture the Everyday: Love

Daniel loves going outside and exploring our yard, and while he loves leaves and pine cones, he especially loves flowers. He isn’t content to just admire them in the pot or in the ground, he must pick them.  As soon as we go outside, he runs to one and says happily, “pick fower.”

While I’m glad he loves nature and flowers, it sure does wreak havoc with my attempts to beautify our porch and yard! In attempt to reach a compromise (because yes, negotiating with a 2-year-old makes perfect sense), we bought him a purple mum of his own over the weekend.  Purple is his favorite color, and we hope that if we told him he could pick all he wanted from it, he might leave the other flowers alone.  J dubbed it the “sacrificial mum.”

Picking flowers from his mum

As you can see, our strategy is not working 100%.

Oooh, I like the pansies too!

He also loves pumpkins and tries to carry them no matter how big they are.

That pumpkin used to be part of my fall display on my porch

Flowers come and go, but the joy on my little boy’s face when he’s playing with them is worth it.

Twiddling My Thumbs

Alas, I have nothing new to report. No baby yet. Not even close to having baby. We hit 39 weeks on Wednesday and like magic, I expected the call to come for real. No such luck. F has been pregnant four times before. Each time she has never gone past 39 weeks. Until now. We’re all a little dumbfounded. I expected to have a baby this week, and he seems to be quite content where he is. We had our weekly doctor’s appointment today, and there has been no further dilation. As a matter of fact, F feels great. Lots of energy, good appetite. She has been cleaning like mad. I’m torn between pride and irritation that our baby boy is charting his own course.

We do have an eviction date, however. Our OB practice thankfully will schedule inductions as early as two days after the due date. After we cleared up confusion about our due date again (they persist in using June 8 despite our being given a date of June 3 by the RE and every other calculator I’ve ever used), the doctor said we could schedule an induction for June 8. F really liked the doctor we saw today, and she isn’t on call until June 9, so we agreed to postpone the induction until June 9. So that’s possibly WB’s birth date: June 9.

Am I happy about having a date? Yes but mostly no. Frankly, dear reader, I am PISSED! I want him here! We are soooo ready for him! His clothes and bottles are washed and put away. I’m killing time at work. His room is ready. The floors are 100% done. We are ready!! I had prepared myself for him to be here this or even last week, and now I have to wait another full week and two weekends? ARGH. And F is SO thrilled because she gets her favorite doctor, and the date works out well for her. And that pisses me off too. Did I mention that I have a bit of a short fuse right now? I have been pretty stressed this week because I expected the call at any time.

I realize that there is nothing we can do about the induction date. It could be no earlier than June 8 unless they suspected fetal distress or some other issue. I understand that. So I’m kind of just mad at the world right now. We are sooooooo close to having him here but yet he’s not. And we have waited almost 4 years for him and would like to get on with our lives and out of the suspended animation we have been in. So envision me stomping my foot like an irate toddler. Humph.

In calmer moments, I take a deep breath and realize that WB could still come on his own before June 9. It’s very possible. And frankly, given the personality he has exhibited so far, it wouldn’t surprise me at all. He wants to chart his own course and do his own thing, so maybe he’ll come next week. Or tonight. Who knows?!?! And, it is nice to know that no matter what, there is a firm end date to this pregnancy. June 9, no later than June 10, we should have him.

So, J and I will try to enjoy this weekend. I left work a little early (thank you governor and your mandatory furlough time!) and bought flowers to plant. My flower garden is in dire need of attention and the plan is to address it this weekend. I can imagine taking WB outsite to admire the flowers later in the summer.