Seasons

These photos are from a few weeks ago when church was canceled--for the second week in a row. The Sunday after that, we still had sacrament meeting but the bishopric sent everyone home after the second hour. I think if we hadn't already missed church for the previous two weeks they would have canceled that day altogether because it was super icy and slick, with freezing rain falling on top of snow.

We got somewhere around 7ish inches yesterday, I think. Dulles Airport reported 8.5". So the kids' schools were canceled yesterday and today. I haven't been keeping track, but one friend said that we haven't had a full week of school since before Christmas. Honestly I haven't minded that much, because I'm so tired all the time so I mostly lie around on the couch, and my kids are being inexplicably awesome. I mean they are great kids of course, but kids are kids. They can be obnoxious and it's OK to admit that, right? I feel like I am being blessed for some reason this winter, though, with kids who are not driving me crazy on all these snow days. I can give a lot of kudos to Theo, who really seems to have turned a corner as far as overall pleasantness and helpfulness and communication ability. Maybe he and I both have. ;)

We have about 2 more months to go before #4 shows up. I think the relentless snow is helping me look forward to that even more. Spring is always extra exciting after a long winter, even more so when it comes with nesting plans, oh yes, and a baby! I'm eager to get my backyard cleaned up, the house trim and front door painted, some flowers and vegetables planted, that sort of thing, before the baby comes. Most of all I'm excited about opening the windows. Since we got new windows this year with fancy locks that let you leave the window partially open when it's still locked, I'll be able to leave them cracked open all day and all night if I want to. The smell of fresh spring air coming through my house on a nice day is probably my favorite smell. I like it better than brownies baking, or the perfume I used to wear in high school, or a freshly bleached bathroom, or my orange-creamsicle candle, or a campfire, or sawdust, or hot tar ("smells like money," I heard my dad say once), or any other happy smell. Can I help it? I love good smells. Pregnancy amplifies my smell sense by about 500%, so I'm especially looking forward to that.

I remember when I was pregnant with Ida, I got similarly excited about the approach of fall that year. Fall is always fun, but it was especially fun to anticipate when I was also anticipating a new baby at the same time.

I think I could still get behind living in California again (or some other temperate climate)--I never minded not having seasons as a kid. And my kids love snow, but I think they'd also love to be able to play at the park and wear shorts all year long. But although I didn't mind, I also didn't really think about it. I completely took beautiful weather for granted. It was just part of life and I expected it. I'm glad I've gotten to live in places with such clear seasons. It never gets boring and I really love the contrast. I lived in Utah for six years (minus a few summers in college), and I've lived in Virginia now for eight and a half years!! That's so crazy to me! 

Anyway, I complain with the best of them about humid summers or icy winters, but the contrast makes fall and spring--and the random pleasant days that still show up quite often in a Virginia summer and winter--that much more amazing. My friend Ie Li (who also grew up in southern California) always says "Snow is a miracle" and she's so right. Snow is inconvenient and slippery and heavy and so so cold, but it is a miracle. Every season is a miracle. I'm so excited to see the cherry blossoms come out again and turn my whole street pink for a few weeks, and my perennial flowers poke back up like they always do. I'm excited to plant new plants in my garden box, other than kale (if the past two years' worth of kale comes back, I am ripping it all out this year). I'm excited to put spearmint and peppermint in the hanging pot by my front door again--speaking of my love for smells, that was the most genius garden move I made last year, even though I rarely used the actual leaves, because I got to smell them all summer every time I walked through the door.

This pregnancy has been really hard. Physically, mentally--mostly physically. It got easier for about a month in the middle and then harder again. I (don't think I) complain that much about it to most people, but Matt sure gets an earful. Yet I have been so blessed to appreciate things that make it easier than it could be. Like pleasant children. Or a strong and supportive husband--which, I should add, is a blessing that has not yet ever wavered in 11 years. Or good health. (We had a brief scare when my midwife referred me to a neonatal cardiologist a few months ago, but thankfully the baby's heart turned out to be fine.) Or most of all, the expectation--based on experience--that this pregnancy, which could be my last, is going to end before I know it; the childbirth part (which I am avoiding thinking about) won't last longer than a day; and it will all bring a brand-new person that I think is going to fit right in with our family.

The kids are all so excited to meet the baby, even more excited than I am about peppermint leaves and open windows and a freshly painted door. I've had to admit to myself that with the way my energy level has been steadily plummeting, I might not get all the springtime nesting done that I want to. But the baby is coming either way! And bare minimum, I can still open the windows! Ida said to me the other day when I had a little grumpy episode (honestly, although I do get anxious, I am rarely grumpy, especially compared to past pregnancies; that has been another unexpected blessing of this pregnancy), "Won't it be nice when the baby comes and you won't have to be grumpy and tired anymore because you won't be pregnant anymore?" Oh honey...sorry, but it might get worse before it gets better. :) But bring it on! Would I appreciate the spring as much without the winter just before? Would I think it was quite so amazing? Would my kids? I really don't think we would.