I recently remembered the recap I did of our little family in fall and went back to read it. I love the details I captured that I probably would have forgotten about if I hadn’t taken the time to write them down. I’m hoping to continue to take the time to recap seasonally, especially once the baby comes.

Beth

KNITTING | A second knit blanket for the martian. I had big plans to make him or her a quilt (fabric is purchased and washed, design is determined) but I’ve decided that I’m just too big and bulky at the moment for that. New goal is to get it done before summer, in time to take with us on outdoor adventures.

WEARING | The same outfits over and over. I’m officially over maternity fashion and my wardrobe. I wash the same few items every Sunday and wear them again the next week. Probably even in the same order, but I haven’t paid that close attention.

COOKING | And meal planning and prepping and storing. The freezer is getting more full with food ready for when the baby comes. I’m so glad I’m making time for this.

DREAMING | About this baby. Boy or girl? Will it look like me or Greg? When will it come? What will we name it? (Nope, still no boy name.) It feels like we have enough preparation done that if it came now, we’d be okay. Which is both exhilarating and terrifying.

Greg

ORGANIZING | His childhood legos. And documenting it here. If you have an AFOL (adult fan of legos) in your life, or are one yourself, check it out!

STILL RECYCLING | All the boxes. It seems to be never ending and actually worse as baby stuff continues to arrive. Our recycling is only picked up every other week and we take in more during a two week period than we can get rid of in the one pick-up.

BENDING | At a weekly yoga class with a friend on Sunday mornings.

TRAVELING | A whole lot less. In fact, only one scheduled trip left before his moratorium on travel takes effect at the beginning of February. Something might come up, but for now it’s lot of time at home.

Alfred

WALKING | Around the lake again. Okay, so he has no control over this, but I’m getting back to moving and we’ve gone a few times. He gained quite a bit of weight the last few months (for his size) and I’m not entirely sure what the cause is. I’m hoping me being more active with him will help.

AVOIDING | The baby’s room. He doesn’t seem very interested in it. He’s kind of obsessed with our bedroom right now for whatever reason. We think maybe because it’s the only room in the house that hasn’t changed much lately. When we’re in the baby’s room he prefers to hang out in our room next door.

SHADOWING | Greg at all times. He follows him around constantly. And for a while was whining/crying when Greg left the house. He’s settled down a bit now that we’ve been home a lot lately. He’s definitely struggling with all the changes going on around the house and we’re trying to do the best we can to make it easier.

PLAYING | Us for treats. He has made a game of pretending he has to go to the bathroom so we’ll let him outside, knowing that most of the time he gets a treat when he comes back inside. This used to be fine when it was once in the evening before bed. Now he tries it four or five times. He’s no dummy.

It seems as if we barely had time to adjust to fall before winter hit. Hopefully it’s temporary, but as I drove home from a work event on Tuesday evening it was in the high 30s at 8pm. I’m not sure I’m ready for this. Whether I am or not, we’re moving through the season and I thought I’d capture what’s going on with each of us this fall.

Beth

EATING | Scrambled eggs. They have never tasted so good. And are so easy to make. I could eat them for all four meals a day, but martian probably needs other nutrients so I am trying to diversify.

WEARING | A puffy maternity jacket with a faux fur collar. The best advice I didn’t take was to not buy a winter coat. It’s been in the forties during the day all week. I don’t care how much extra blood I have pumping through my veins, I’m cold just like everyone else. And my jacket is keeping me toasty.

READING | Non-fiction library books. I have a new evening routine that’s helping me sleep better and it just happens to involve about thirty minutes of reading every night. I’m loving it.

PLANNING | My business. I’m so excited about what the future potentially holds. So many ideas, too little time. Trying to take it one day at a time and realize there is no timeline. I don’t have to figure it all out today or tomorrow or this year or even next year. It will evolve. An hour a day is more than zero hours a day.

Greg

CELEBRATING | Eleven years with our company. We had dinner with his boss and wife on Saturday night as a little thank you. Good food + good company is the best way to celebrate a milestone.

RECYCLING | All the boxes. When we say we are going to do something, we mean it. And we decided to decorate the damn house finally. Which means furniture has been arriving daily which means the cardboard box pile is untamable. But he’s trying.

NESTING | Potentially more than the actual pregnant lady he’s married to. The house is clean and he’s dying to clean out the kitchen cupboards and all the closets. Our shared to-do lists are updated nearly hourly. Given we still have three months to go, we are going to be so organized by the time martian arrives.

CHEERING | On the Sounders. It is fun to sit next to Greg at games. He really doesn’t care about sports, but once we’re actually at the stadium he gets very into the game.

Alfred

PROTESTING | Using the backyard bathroom. After three accidents in two weeks (after no accidents in nearly two years), we have instituted twice daily poop walks. We’re not sure if he is rebelling against all the change going on in the house or what, but he flat out refuses to go to the bathroom in the yard. Sigh. At least we’re all getting a lot of steps in!

SNUGGLING | Occasionally. Occasionally is more than he used to snuggle and we’ll take it!

BARKING | At all the Craigslisters. We’ve had so many people coming to buy old furniture and the poodle in him just can’t handle all these strangers threatening his people.

ADJUSTING | To new sleeping habits. We’re trying to not let him sleep in our room. I don’t want to wait to kick him out when the baby gets here so we’re starting early. Sometimes we actually succeed. His back up sleeping spot was under the guest bed, which is now gone. Poor guy. Maybe he’ll start sleeping on his actual bed that he’s never once slept on?

Inspired by a post from Ali Edwards that I remembered reading over the summer.