life with the lieutenant

• Let's start this update with the most exciting event to take place since I last blogged- I am staring at my Christmas cards. They are printed and right beside me and they do not have to cross an ocean this year and they will be mailed out on time. Nay, they will be mailed out EARLY. As soon as I figure out how to print address labels that is, because I am tired of the self-inflicted carpal tunnel. I looked around online at Christmas cards and did not see anything I liked at the price point I was looking for, so my insanity grew just a wee bit more and I designed the whole thing myself. Which is crazy, because a designer I am not. See above where I can't even figure out how to print out address labels. (Sorry folks with the last names starting with R-Z. Things tend to get a little sloppy for y'all.) Anyways, to add a little more crazy into that day, it was the last day that was scheduled to be in the 70s here, so after finding Molly's (SLEEVELESS) Christmas dress that I bought last year in Korea (I'll let you all believe that this is just a case of ultra preparedness), I knew we had to do photos that day OR ELSE. (Or else risk Molly developing hypothermia because I'll be damned if we don't use that dress for Christmas photos!) So the day after we hit up the pumpkin patch, we sorta kinda snuck into the Christmas tree field to do Christmas photos. Of course I am well aware it's still October and that is trespassing, but you have to understand how important Christmas cards are to me. (SO IMPORTANT and I can't even really explain why, but it's just one of those things that I really enjoy obsessing over.) Once the photos were taken and a few were declared "winners" (no thanks at all to Molly's super hard cheese face), I finished up the card and looked around to see who could cheaply print this thing. Well. Naturally I designed this card to be 5x7, not thinking at all that there might need to be some room around the edges so everywhere I looked online, my image was chopped off. I tried to resize it but see above where I am no designer/computer person. In addition to the cropping problem, I also couldn't find anyone to cheaply print these darn things after I put in an entire day designing them! I was going to have to pay just as much to print my own design as I would have paid for a pre-made design (WITH FREE RECIPIENT LABELING OMGOMGOMG). In the middle of hyperventilating, I texted Casey about these all-important issues and she suggested Minuteman Press. (Before I go any further, I'd like to point out that this is not a sponsored post, but it may as well be, because I made out like a bandit and I had to refrain from open mouth kissing the printer because he seriously saved Christmas for me.) This man resized my croptastic 5x7 image and made it fit on a --hold your breath-- 5x7 card and then put my photos on the back AND THEN......

......CLIFFHANGER......

• JK. And then he told me that full color front and back would be 50 cents per card. I about fell out of my chair. After thanking him profusely, I went about stressing out about the quality (or lack thereof) that I would be receiving for 50 cents per card. We went to pick up the cards today and they are awesome. Truly awesome. And I'm not just saying that because I spent hours designing and photographing and obsessing and almost crying over them. I say that because it was more than I was expecting. And it took the man almost no time at all to print these things up (like 3 days, including a weekend!). So, all of that to say, if you are local, go see the nice man in Broomall about your printing needs because he will hook you up. But thanks to Casey, I now know that Minuteman Press is a chain and they are everywhere, so if you encounter a situation where you don't want to spend all your birthday money at minted.com, then I recommend these guys.
• Another side note: Casey's blog is hilarious and I've never enjoyed reading a bumpdate more than I have since she started writing hers. 
• Whew! Ok. Now that I've gotten THAT off my chest, let's move on to other exciting things. I'm still pregnant. (I know what you're thinking, and yes, my life is nothing but nonstop thrills and excitement. Try not to be terribly jealous.) I also found maternity pants that FIT and stay UP and let's just say my outlook on life has changed dramatically. Walking around with your pants falling down is just a recipe for extreme rage. But finding some full-panel leggings/jeans that seem to enjoy sitting on my rounded front just makes me wanna dance. But not too much, because I don't want to encourage any clothing to slide south. When I'm not busy peeing into a solo cup the size of something I drank beer out of in college, I usually spend an average of two minutes talking to an obstetrician that seems to be not at all concerned about my comments of "Is it supposed to feel like the baby will fall out at any given moment? I don't remember feeling that this early before."
• "Oh sure, that's fine. Just try to sit down more throughout the day. See you in two weeks!" Mhmm. Ok then.

Fall colors and a reflection of my baby belly

• We took the kids back to Linvilla (site of apple picking/pumpkin picking/illegal Christmas photo taking) to let the kids play on the playground. They only had a few minutes to play after we picked pumpkins due to it getting dark, and were none too pleased about that. They went NUTS playing there again.

• I thought the playgrounds and mini zoo and mazes would wear them out, but apparently I was wrong. So a few laps up and down the backyard were in order.

• Later that evening (kids were still awake somehow- I do not know how), my MIL read that the International Space Station would be passing over us, so we all paraded out into the front yard in our pj's and saw it! Very cool.

Much professional photographer

WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT! I can practically see the astronauts waving back to us.

• I have no photographic records of what happened on Saturday, so the most we can do is speculate, so I think I'll speculate that we did a fun family-friendly activity and everyone was perfectly behaved. A girl can dream.
• Sunday was mass. Sam was still devastated that no one gave him communion.

• After church, we raked up a small portion of my in-laws' backyard and let the kids jump around in the leaves.

• I could seriously stare into their backyard all day. Our new house has a considerably less desirable view in the backyard. And yes, we are still living with my in-laws. God bless them. We are a three-ring circus that just won't quit. Added bonus- 50% of us leave pee on the toilet seats and sometimes forget to flush #2's.... We are waiting on our kitchen countertops to be installed. Apparently you can't have a sink or a dishwasher or a stove hooked up until the countertops are set. So that has been mildly inconvenient to say the least. It has given us plenty of time to get the rest of the house in order however, so that is much appreciated. The kids are spoiled out of their minds and will probably sink into a deep depression the day we leave. Not to mention Odie, who is still counting on blending into the couch cushions and escaping life with us in a new location.
• So that is life lately here. Off to Target to get Molly some more diapers because ain't nobody got time for getting out of bed to pee at night.