Checkups and Coral With a Side of Pea Shoots

Have just had another little check-up at the midwife and tomorrow I take the two big boys to their yearly appointments as well. Its a week for medical doctoring. We usually get very simple, happy news at the pediatricians. We've been very lucky to have such normal, easy childhood health situations so far. I do think there may be some shots for Dee which will be tricky since Ru is positively exultant over the fact that he is quite done with shots for a few years. Please lets not have a meltdown.

Brothers fooling around on Mommy's cell phone, under my recently framed apple painting in the office.

My appointment went well. Heartbeat sounds strong and clear (135!), my blood pressure is pumping along at a perfectly healthy spot, iron just a touch low, glucose test was all clear, and my weight...have I told you about my weight? My weight was wonderful! They always tell you to gain 20-25 lbs during a pregnancy and then I always gain more like 40-50 lbs. Intimidating to the max. Part of the problem is that I binge eat when stressed and pregnancy brings out very worst in my emotional instability. Part of it is honestly just laziness in menu planning and eating. But this time around I am doing amazingly well. I've gained 20 lbs so far and between last appointment and this I didn't gain anything at all, just held steady, although Baby continues to measure larger.

Typical lunch at our house. A plate full of nibbly bits, lots of produce and nothing that requires Mommy to cook. :)

I have been doing a good job lately, trying to eat carefully during the week and allow myself to cut loose on the weekends. I've heard this sort of back and forth effect is good for the metabolism and keeps food restraint from getting too restrained to keep up. I also gave up drive-through restaurants for Lent which was a very good plan. I sometimes skipped fast food and just went home to get food or even dashed into the grocery store and made better choices for quick lunch ideas. Am hoping to keep this going. I am also trying to track what I eat as consistently as I can and watch my nutrients using Fitday to be sure I'm hitting all the targets which is far more interesting and encouraging to me than watching calories.

You can see the matching baskets and new runner on top of the bookcase here.

In other news, my Interior Design class is done. I feel so-so about it. Am not terribly inspired as a result of what I heard and learned and I don't feel accomplished in the subject or anything like that but it is a toe in the door. I think I may take an online class next to see if a different instructor helps. My assignment for the class was the living room in our house and although I have just a few new ideas and no real progress there I did get a few thoughts for the dining room.

I put all our regularly used eating accoutrements (olive oil, salt, pepper, butter, etc.) into a pretty basket that matches one for bibs and cloth napkins. When the meal is over the get cleared to the top of my cookbook cupboard which functions as a sort of sideboard. I also bought matching runners for the top of the bookcase and the dining room table to try to pull in the coral color inside the corner cupboards. And I bought a stunning ceramic bowl for a between-meals centerpiece.

Am madly in love with it. Am now considering painting the walls a soft oatmeal grey to set off the white and coral accents. What do you think? After of course, I finish all this crazy spring cleaning I'm in the middle of.

The pea shoots are turning their velvety leaves to the sky and starting to uncurl tendrils here and there. I am hoping they really begin to climb sometime this week. We have forecasts for warmer weather and even a little rain (Heavens, we could use rain!) and spring is really chasing us down! Hooray!

All Abuzz

Am abuzz with a million little projects around the house. Since painting the hallway I have painted the entryway, painted a little cupboard that stands there to be a foyer catch-all/storage piece, hung a new piece of art, re-arranged the mantle display over the fireplace, sourced a free dresser for my boys room and moved clothes into it, pruned the lilac and finally I hung up my necklace collection that has been living sprawled all over the top of my dresser. Hooray! Whew!

Am feeling sometimes busy and sometimes accomplished and then sometimes way behind the ball when I look at all the astounding numbers of projects waiting for attention. Writing out the list of things that are all finished so that I can look at them in one long queue is boosting. Does anyone else add things to their To Do List that you already did so that you can feel you've got something done? It's a silly mind game but knowing the games is sometimes what makes the difference.

Sometimes It's The Little Things

We are back home and I am steeping myself in the completely restorative feeling that comes from being in your own element again, being master of your own destiny and returning to routine, health and some semblance of normalcy. To really "get" what I'm feeling, see my astute sister-in-law's post about her own homecoming experience here. Plus, you get to see three portraits of cute small people. *wink wink*

I have been thinking lately about being a detail person. I really am. Sometimes planning throws me into such a horrific muddle because its all predicated on being a big picture person and the big picture often makes me quite dizzy. Trip planning is hard for me, and in some ways being around my in-laws is hard for me because they are a whole clan of big picture, strategy, logical thinking folks. I am a bit odd in their midst, although clearly loved and welcomed.

Today, I'm reveling in being back in my own house where nobody cares if I have an organized grasp of the big picture and there's no committee of logic analysis. There's just me and my silly, over-observant world....and it's okay.

Here's a little taste of what I've been savoring the past couple of days, little bits of goodness still soaking into my spongy, introvert's cerebrum.

First of all, witness the sweet, black olive above. We were having olives with lunch today and when I opened the can and poured them into the bowl there was this little twiggy bit in the midst. I went to pick it out and plucked up this stubborn little olive still holding its stem, not just a stray bit of debri. I feel like I stumbled on a slightly more alive piece of food. This olive made it all the way through the ripening, picking, washing, sorting, pitting, canning and distributing and kept it's own little stem with it, the whole way along. I love tiny reminders of real vibrancy.

"Hello! I'm an olive...I grew on a tree. See?"

 Secondly, A, the boys and I, bunked with some family friends on our drive home from family Thanksgiving festivities. This particular couple is quite eccentric, sometimes intimidating and always provocative in some new way. I know that there are lots of ways in which I "ought" to be sort of nervous around them and I'm sure many people are. They are frighteningly intelligent, elegant and proper, ferociously impressive in four thousand ways. But, see, the wonderful thing is, they are also interesting, generous, artistic and very warm...and I like them immensely.

One of the things I love about visiting their house is that the lady of the house is a great interior decorator. I love treasure hunting around the place on the sly, there are so many wonderful little touches, tucked here and there.

Myriad little bits of homey, artistic goodness.

I hope someday my own house will ooze the kind of layered creativity, charm and artist's spirit that hers does. I wish I had taken more pictures and I am looking forward to our next visit.

Then the last setting I want to share is even further back, a couple of days ago while we were stationed with A's family. We took a little family outing to the Frederick Meijer Gardens and although I did enjoy the Christmas trees from around the world displays and the staggering greenhouses filled to brimming with moisture and botanical life...I couldn't get over these little paper flowers that were tucked near the side of Vietnamese display area.

Look at how fabulous those are! The little petal shapes are wired onto real branches and some of them are double layered to created ruffled fullness and a few even have a shimmery bead sewn in the center to add a flick of glitter. I was just so struck by them. Am I insane to consider making my own for early cabin fever displays in March?

Then, after we'd wandered through the whole building, enjoying all the highlights of the offerings and taking pictures and discussing the high points together...we went to get our coats and on the way to the coat check room I peeked at the little cafe on the side and discovered this hidden gem, flaming across the ceiling in secret, hidden brilliance.

Is that not breathtaking?

Gosh, I love Chihuly. Happy homecoming to all the others out there who were traveling, I wish you many moments of small beauty and the bright, clear eyes to see it when it appears.