On our way back to normalcy (sort of)

Life doesn't seem to be slowing down, but we have started to have a glimpse of normalcy in our house and family after a long while. Last night we went to our friends Grace and Thomas's home for dinner. They've been in their new place for about a month and a half and we finally got to see it (our fault, not theirs). It was so nice to eat dinner outside on their patio and then hang out watching the USC v. UCLA basketball game (even though for me it was disappointing because USC lost). Ashlynn had fun playing with a basketball and exploring their back yard. It felt comfortable and normal. This morning while I did some laundry, Eric was finally able to go through a stack of clothes he received for Christmas and hadn't yet had time to try on and check for a good fit. I know things won't slow down, especially with the start of major construction on our house, the usual spring stresses of testing and Open House at our schools, and the arrival of baby Lindsey in June, but I'm hoping to regain more of a joyful and happily-busy feeling in our lives.

Ashlynn's creativity amazes and amuses us. She has created a new game she likes to play inside our house. She's named it "Palmick" and it involves us hitting bumpy Lakeshore balls around the living room and dining room floor with different spoons and spatulas from her play kitchen and sometimes from our kitchen too. If all three of us play, she runs around after the busily moving ball, while almost constantly giggling. She uses her imagination all the time to play everything from "picnic" with us or her stuffed animals eating pretend food on a blanket on the living room floor, to pretending that the blue rug is a "pool" for her and her toys to swim in, to turning her shoes into a roller coaster that races around our living room with cars holding small stuffed animals and Little People animals and people.

Ashlynn is getting ready to be a big sister. I'm sure she'll never quite understand what's going on until the baby comes home, but for now, we're making it into something fun and exciting. She is very cute and tells people that her baby sister is in mommy's tummy and that she is "sleeping, growing and playing". She talks to Lindsey through my belly button (that is already an outie) and usually says something like, "Hello Lindsey. How you doing? This is Ashlynn big sister." Then she will inform me that Lindsey is playing and will talk about playing things with her, like picnic. Sometimes we sing Lindsey a song (because Ashlynn LOVES to sing). It is very cute!Ashlynn loves being lifted up into the oak tree that is in front of our house so she can get a bird's eye view of the yard and neighborhood.Ashlynn decorated our hands with St. Patrick's Day stickers from Trader Joe's.

Here she is wearing a hat my mom wore when she was a baby.

Ashlynn and "friends" are swimming in the "pool" (please note, she remembered a "beach hat" for herself and her baby).