Uh, really, Siena? I hate to break it to you, but although you are a petite 7 pounds, the Fairy Tent is not built to withstand your jungle cat presence. Please refrain from making this your new lair, and remember that not everything brought into our apartment is a place for you to sleep.
For Today, September 15th…
Outside my window…it is too hot!! Grrr. I have cute sweaters to wear!!
I am thinking…that I wish I could get through one day without spilling something on myself.
I am thankful for…a quiet house. Charlie finally fell asleep today, after MUCH duress.
From the kitchen…Turkey Chili Mac is cooking in the crockpot!! I bought the greatest cookbook: Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Family Favorites by Beth Hensberger and am going to tackle one or two recipes a week. That way, we can have leftovers and I don’t have to feel guilty about ordering in, because we are doing both!!!
I am wearing…a hoodie after changing out of my “cute” clothes from Mom’s Group…however, I spilled coffee on it two seconds after I put it on.
I am going…to Holland, Michigan tomorrow to visit Ms. Jen!!!!! Looking forward to some quality girl time!
I am reading…nada.
I am hoping…that breastfeeding is more successful the second time around (sorry, guys, skip over this one…)
Around the house…need to finish up with eBay and get these Christmas items listed!!
A few plans for the rest of the week: ballet, our Michigan roadtrip, a fun bbq on Saturday, DATE NIGHT on Saturday night (the sweet Speelman fam is sitting for us) and hopefully some quality family time in between…
Here is a picture I am sharing…Charlie in her spring Matilda Jane…
If you want to know more about the Simple Woman’s Daybook…
An unfortunate side effect of pregnancy: insomnia. It’s starting to occur more and more, as the belly gets bigger and I officially enter into my third trimester, as of a week ago. This morning I woke up at 4 am and could.not.get.back.to.sleep. So I decided to make use of this time and get up, take a shower, and am now contemplating getting my morning coffee going.
Vann and I had a long talk about our (hopeful) future plans the other day and I find that I am starting to feel anxious about it all. I so want to enjoy this sweet season of anticipation and special one-on-one time with Charlie. I don’t want to wish it away!! I HATE having to downplay Christmas and keep it low-key, but the truth is, if we are moving in the spring it just doesn’t make sense to continue to accumulate things (that’s my practical side talking). I absolutely adore Christmastime and always want to do it up big. I even contemplated NOT doing a tree/decorations this year to keep things simple but thankfully Vann talked me out of that. This will be the first year I think Charlie will “get” some things about the season and it’s important to us to have those experiences!
I do think I *overdid* it last year (I do love giving gifts) so I’m going to *try* to keep things at a manageable level. We have a budget for stockings and usually do one or two bigger gifts for each other…but this year we are “giving” each other our “slice of heaven” recliner…and stockings will be on a smaller scale. I do think we will do a “Santa” for Charlie (actually, it’s a non-negotiable) but what I really want to get for her is a kitchen, and we will definitely wait on that. I LOVE wrapping gifts and having things to open, so I am trying to keep an open mind about this year. I already told Vann that next year we would be making up for what we don’t do this year…I’ll be saving up my “nice” points for that Gucci, right honey??
Anyway, don’t know how I got on the topic of the holidays BUT I do know that I will not scrimp on candles and Christmas music. I think that’s why I’ve gone overboard on the fall decorations because I know we will be spending a lot of time here between Thanksgiving and New Year’s and I just want to be comfortable and cozy in our home. Aside from family activities we venture out for, I know my homebody self (thanks, Vann, for turning this self-professed “Party Girl” into a hermit who loves staying home in her pj’s) will want to nestle in and spend time with my girls, welcome guests, and hang with Mimi (who you know will be staying here for two weeks!). I hope our friends will come and visit and try out our new chair and stay for a cup of hot chocolate.
After all, by then, I’ll be able to eat chocolate-covered marshmallows, one of my favorite holiday treats. Maybe I’ll even share one with you…
Our neighborhood is having a GermanFest this weekend, and I had plans to dress Charlie up in a lederhosen-type outfit I have from my childhood (I wore it when I was 2!). By the time we attempted to get her dressed and out the door for a little photo shoot, she was burning up the place in this tutu (a gift from our sweet neighbor Mrs. Jill) and refused to take it off. Alas, no lederhosen shot. HOWEVER, I know that Oktoberfest is coming up, and I do plan on getting that shot at some point this fall.
I also have a Baylor cheerleader outfit that was a hand-me-down from Charlie’s cousin Dali that needs to be worn sometime during football season. I’ll have to break that out before she outgrows it!!
This is a busy week for us…we officially return to Mom’s Group for the fall “season” after a hiatus of a few weeks. Last week we met to discuss logistics of roles changing, etc…but this week we really dive into our study. It is such a lifesaver, I really don’t know what I would do without my wonderful group of Mom’s Group friends. Many of them are seasoned with 2 or 3 kiddos and it is huge for my soul to hear how they take on the challenges (and joys) of motherhood. Not too mention that the nursery is great and I get two hours of a break while Charlie plays with her friends.
Charlie also has her flu shot scheduled (boo), but then Wednesday we are back to ballet and then straight off to Holland, Michigan to visit Ms. Jen and the boys for two nights. I know that Charlie is going to freak OUT when she sees them!! Daddy will get a little break, too, which will (I’m sure) renew him for when we return on Friday.
Today was a SUPER lazy day at the Bischoff house. We didn’t make it to church this morning (my fault, I could not get my prego self out of bed), so we settled in for a day of inside play and HGTV. Last week Charlie received a birthday gift from her Great Aunt Issy that she already had, so I went to Target and scoured the toy section to find something worthy of exchanging it for. I happened upon this fairy tent and knew Charlie had to have it. It is completely too big for our apartment, but we decided to put it up anyway, at least until our “slice of heaven” recliner arrives in a month or so.
As you can see, Charlie enjoyed the view from inside her tree stump tent…Thanks, Great Aunt Issy!!!
Saturday morning Vann took Charlie to the park so that I could attend Ms. Kim’s Matilda Jane fall trunk show…and it did not disappoint!! I wasn’t sure what I would end up getting, as Charlie’s closet is already bursting, but I did want to get at least one outfit and it was a HARD decision. I ended up going with this “Chrissy” dress and the most adorable pair of tights. It was soooo much cuter in real life and the fact that it has a hoodie attached just sealed the deal. You all know that Charlie LOVES hoodies of all kinds, don’t you??
That night we were invited to a last minute bbq and it was so nice to sit outside and chat as the weather cooled and the sky got dark. We even had to pull out blankets, which made me so happy. The guys played with the girlies indoors and Vann got this adorable shot of all of them giggling. So cute, right??
Lots to blog about today. As we all know, today marks the 8 year anniversary of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks. This morning, I was surprised to see that neither “The Today Show” nor “Good Morning America” had much to say about 9/11…so I scrolled through the guide and found some retrospectives on the History Channel that I taped so Vann and I could watch them together this evening.
I really wish I could find this letter I wrote to the editor of the Chicago Sun Times the week the towers fell. I think it must be on some old disc somewhere, or buried in our basement in a box of paperwork or books. It might be the best thing I’ve ever written, and I’m sorry I don’t have a record of it on our current computer.
At any rate, I was 23 when those towers fell, just off the “turnip truck” as it were, and I remember riding the Halsted bus downtown that day to my job as an admin at a photography studio. My roommate Courtney worked in the loop, and we managed to get back to each other later that day, when everyone was told to go home and the mass exodus from downtown happened. I remember walking out of the studio and looking over at the Sears Tower and thinking we were all going to die.
Court and I spent days holed up in our apartment, watched Peter Jennings into the night, and even participated in candlelight vigils on our street. I would call my Dad and talk to him for hours, about Armageddon and the Rapture and Revelations. I am almost ashamed to say this, but it was the first time (in 23 years) that I felt truly moved by something that happened to our country. My heart was so broken for those children in the daycare, the college student that died on the plane that was my age, and all of the people just going to work like any other normal day…except they’d never walk back through the door at 6 pm.
What’s most interesting about it all, looking back 8 years later, is that Vann and Charlie weren’t even blips on my screen at the time. I think about that kind of situation NOW and it terrifies me. What would I do if that happened again and I didn’t know where my family was and how to find them?
Chills.
I know that we are going to sit down tonight and the memories of those days will rush back and I will probably cry. I hope that we never forget what went down that day. And I, for one, truly hope that the administration we have now will keep us as safe in the future as the previous administration did these past 8 years.
Feeling safe and free are things that we don’t really think about on a daily basis, do we? Thankfully, as Christians, we believe and know that God has a purpose and a plan for everything, even the tragedy of that day…so tonight I will hug my husband and daughter a little tighter, tell my friends and family I love them, and pray for another shot at life tomorrow.
God Bless America!!
Charlie and I drove out to Schaumburg, Illinois (home of Ikea) to roam around the gigantor Woodfield Mall. It was a very productive trip considering I found a dress for Erik’s wedding (yay, Pea in the Pod 50% off sale!) and picked up this delicious sweater from my favorite store, Anthropologie. Pregnant gals are lucky during these times of empire waists and bohemian flair, and you know these things are right up my alley. So, when I found said sweater for (wait for it) 50% off (I know, must be in the water out there) I knew I had to have it.
Not only that, but I made the discovery that H & M (a former favorite store, only less so because of our far proximity from the downtown store) has a maternity line!! Crazy, right?? The things you learn when you have a Friday morning and nothing to do.
The best part of the day (or should I say most interesting), was when my hunger pains became too much to handle and we simply had to find a place to eat. No Corner Bakery (my favorite shopping sustenance), BUT we did happen upon a Rainforest Cafe. Let me just say, I have never set foot in the place. It is like a theme park in a restaurant. I braved the seemingly alive crocodile at the front entry and kindly asked the hostess to seat us next to “whatever might keep my daughter busy”. Poor Charlie, what with the five huge tropical fish tanks, the animatronic cheetah swishing it’s giant tail, and the periodic “rain” and thunder claps, my little girl was a little overwhelmed.
She pointed, she screamed, she chattered, and she refused to sit anywhere but Mommy’s lap. So I ate my turkey wrap with one hand as furiously as I could before she had a volcanic meltdown. Really fun place, but maybe more manageable when Daddy/Grandparents/Auntie Em are in attendance.
Here is a shot of a clearly overwhelmed Charlie saying goodbye to one of her many new animal friends…
Thursday after naps we met up with Ms. Alisha and Olivia for an early dinner at our local cafe. Charlie loves to chase the pigeons, and usually around dinnertime the little Square is jam-packed with strollers and toddlers (and often a dog or cat as well). For whatever reason, Charlie insisted on taking this monkey bath mitt/puppet with her when we left the house. Ms. Alisha commented that this was the most charming thing about Charlie…her affinity for lovies and her constant attachment to something when she’s out and about. I do draw the line at anything bigger than a pink penguin accompanying us to the garage, though…the other day she wanted to bring her doll stroller with us to the grocery store.
