Way Back in May

May was so very long ago, but I want to finish documenting this year and hopefully through Margo's 1st birthday.  There is a good chance I will lay this blog to rest after that, but until then--we press on!

The thing I remember the most about Ma is trying to survive my last month of pregnancy and doing everything in my power to get baby girl out!  I wasn't very successful at either of those things, but with Mother's Day, the end of the school year, and life in general, we stayed busy enough to sort of keep distracted from the fact that I was still pregnant.  

Ivy ate a lot of popcorn, turned 18 months, crashed the big girl's weekly swimming lessons each week, and took a turn with a stomach bug.  That made for a few days in which I was very glad I was still pregnant.

We welcomed our newest nephew Keaton (I am pretty sure I cried knowing he was born and my baby was not), spent many evenings walking the canyon and the neighborhood in an effort to start labor, caught a ground squirrel in our window well who we set free in the field across the street, and practiced our makeup skills.  It's October now, and we are still practicing.

Eliza finished her year with Mrs. Brownlee and her friends, and did a great job at her graduation performance.  Stella was just as excited to hug Mrs. Brownlee as Eliza was.  At this point in life we were still planning on sending Eliza back to Pumpkin Seeds Preschool in the fall, but in June we found out she was accepted into the four day per week preschool at the local college.  That phone call came about a week after Margo was born, so I think my mental state had some influence on our decision to send her to a new school this year.  So far she is enjoying it, but we definitely miss Mrs. Brownlee!

Stella finished a great year of kindergarten, and spent the summer missing her teacher and her friends.  Before the end of the year we were able to fit in a play date with her friend Shara, and Stella was so happy about it! The school celebrated the end of the year with a school carnival where  Ivy screamed on the train ride, Stella ended up really hating that cheetah face paint, and I was walking around still pregnant, hot and grumpy. Are we sensing a theme here?

Dance picture day ended up being crazy!  We had to rearrange swimming lessons, get one girl ready in the swimming pool locker room, and make multiple trips to and from the studio.  Good thing these dancing sisters are so cute!

Every remaining moment of May was spent preparing for and anticipating the arrival of our baby sister.  Blankets and bottles were washed, closets were organized (that lasted about a week), pedicures were given, and we spent the entirety of Memorial Day weekend participating in labor inducing activities--none of which worked.

But we survived the end of all the things, and it already seems like those days were so long ago.  Thank goodness time has a funny way of making your forget just how hard and overwhelming some moments can feel!