Goodbye Minivan!

Long long long annoying story short -- we sold the minivan for the equivalent of 3 months car payments... now only 33 to go. But we are SO glad to be DONE with it and have it out of our hair.

Life is good today.

Gobble Gobble

We've got turkeys! Mr. Sweetie saw movement out of the corner of his eye yesterday, and it turned out to be two tom turkeys at our back sliding door... and they were very threatened by their reflection in the glass, apparently, because they were pecking the glass!

It's amazing that a bird with such beautiful plumage can be that ugly in the head and feet!

October will be busy!

So as of October 1st, I am on call. The kids' birthdays are on 10/18 and 10/29, so I'm having Badger's 1st birthday party on 10/20 and ChimChim's 3rd birthday (a big party, not at home, and with a ton of kids) on 10/21. Then of course Halloween. Chim wants to be a mean witch, and Badger will be a bat... but I still need to get the costumes. I really would love to go pumpkin picking too!

I love this time of year... but we're going through an warm snap and I'm ready for the FALL. It's only a few weeks of nice weather between the swelter of summer and the grey rain of the winter in Pittsburgh, and I love every moment. October is definitely my favorite month. Even though I hated having newborns in the cold winter and getting cabin fever... I do have yet two more reasons to love October.

Update on my October Client!

Isn't it wonderful! I went with my client and her huband to the appointment with the ob, and the Little One has flipped to heads down, so she is back to the midwives and making yet another mental shift, back to her VBAC plan! Fingers crossed, everyone, please!

My October Client

Keep your fingers crossed for my October client. This mama is a vbac hopeful who found out on Monday that she has risked out of the midwive's care due to low-ish fluid, degrading placenta, and a breech presentation. Badger and I are going to go with her to her first appointment her new OB.

She has done a lot of hard work to get over the emotional baggage of her primary cesarean birth and she is very unhappy that she now has to switch gears. I hope she gets her vbac and barring that, I hope I can be a good doula to her and help her have a good birth, however it occurs.

She's a sweetheart. She apologized to me that I might night get to have the experience of her labor, since she knows I'm a newbie and seeking certification. Seriously, that is one thoughtful person to think of that, in the midst of her own worries.

Tree update!

Kris from "a doula's heart"'s comment reminded me that I needed to update about the tree. It's GONE!!! Let's have a happy dance! Carl's Landscaping did an awesome job. It took about a week from start to finish because they took the BIG tree one day, left, and came back the next week for the sedondary, cherry tree that was damaged by the big one. So that was two solid days of entertainment for the kids, who stood by the back door, watching the men work, the whole time.

The weeds are criminal but the secondary tree that was removed opens up a lot more light into the yard, so we may try and plant flowers in the embankment instead of shady ground cover. I just need to find flowers that grow in questionable light, terrible soil, and require zero attention or care.

We have seen 3 deer since the trees were removed, and a family of turkey too. I am happy the commotion didn't drive them away!