Becker and the Bees

We attended a Bees baseball game last night with the Mayor of Salt Lake City, Ralph Becker (a.k.a. Ben's fantastic boss). Highlights included a pre-game BBQ, some playtime in the kids play area with slides and a bounce-house maze, a picture with Mayor Becker, and a meet and greet with the team mascot.True to our other mascot encounters, Kate ran with giddy excitement for a hug and a high-five while James timidly, and only with much coaxing finally ventured close enough for an arm's length greeting.

The Farmers Market

We've been trying to make it to the SLC Farmers Market since last summer, but it seemed there was always something else to get done on our Saturday mornings that was more pressing. With the fund raiser over (successfully!) and all the home improvements we are willing to take on this year behind us, we decided we had the time. I think we all had a nice morning walking around outside before the temperature was too terribly high, looking at the foods, crafts, and flowers. Here's a bit of the beauty:
Caputo's Italian sausage. Yum, yum!

The Balloon Granny. Clearly a hit -- until one of the wings on Kate's butterfly touched the grass and popped.
This shot is for the couple of you out there that have asked to see a pregnant picture. Here I am in my nearly full-term glory. I'm 38 (of 40) weeks tomorrow. Here's to a healthy, fat, full-term baby that sleeps through the night from day 1! It could happen.

Busy and Tired

Getting a job offer (a really great one!) when you're 6 months pregnant seems pretty fantastic. And it is. True, it isn't legally supposed to be a factor, but you still have to wonder. Starting a new job when you're 6 months pregnant is another story. No track record of a good work-ethic, no goodwill built up. You have to pretend that you're feeling great and try as hard as humanly possible to perform at 100%. It's exhausting. Add coming home to two active toddlers onto the day and there's nothing left in you when you finally collapse into bed.

That's the reason I've been so absent from my blog.

Oh, and the fact that Ben is hosting a political fundraiser -- AT OUR HOUSE! -- on Friday night. I'm 8+ months pregnant and supposed to host a sophisticated event at the end of a long, tiring work week. We've been spending the last several Saturdays and many evenings trying to finish-up those items on the list of things that need to get done around the house -- install lights in the main bathroom, hang a mirror in the bathroom, paint the bathroom, paint the walls that have crayon all over them, hang and paint closet doors, hang paintings in places that obviously need something (over the fireplace, over the sofa), move the playroom downstairs so the guests don't trip over plastic food and Little People toys, trim overgrown bushes, keep the lawn watered and mowed -- WAY TOO MUCH!!! Thankfully someone else is taking care of the food.

So, enough whining. I'm very healthy at 8+ months pregnant, have a great husband who pitches in whenever he can, two great kids the have begun to do a few things for themselves (toilet!!!, getting dressed, picking up their toys on occasion, playing well together), a great job, a helpful mom, and the most beautiful swollen ankles you've ever seen! What more could I ask for?

Visit from Claire

Yesterday evening we were met some favorite friends from NYC at the park (who now live in a VERY HOT part of CA -- which makes the 95+ degree weather in SLC not seem so bad). James and Kate played with Claire and I was able to have a nice visit with Tara. It was so great to see them and catch up a bit! (This is a not great photo of any of the kids, but it's the only one where you can see all of their faces.)

ABC's

Unbeknownst to Ben and me, James can (more or less) sing the ABC's. Check out what a kid can learn from a plush Care Bear toy that sings when you push its tummy: