Little Blue Pill

My doctor and I made the decision today for me to go back on Zoloft.

I am 24 weeks along.  It's been 20 weeks since that fateful "I'm bored" positive pregnancy test.  So about 16 weeks since I last took one of the little blue pills that had been doing so much to help me stay patient - and present - with my family.

The past 16 weeks have brought a lot of change.  With change comes a lot of stress.  And I haven't dealt particularly well with any of it.  I have been snappy and anxious.  My cuticles are visual proof of my inability to sit still or really enjoy anything as much as I want to.

While the stress of finding out we were pregnant, switching jobs, moving, and working from home are starting to ease, I am facing a busy holiday season, a certain almost four-year-old's birthday party in January (with new friends whose mothers I have yet to meet), and the birth of this newest family member in March.  And I just don't think I can continue to live in this anxious, irritable state for 16 more weeks.  Let alone the inevitable six weeks of baby blues following the arrival of 3.0.  Let alone the sheer stress of breastfeeding the new guy, while mothering my other two still very young children the way they deserve.

My doctor readily agreed.  My cuticles immediately rejoiced.  And a happy mommy is a healthy mommy.  So here's to the little blue pill residing once again in my medicine cabinet.

Some moms are fingerpainting moms

And some moms are me: not fingerpainting moms.

I thought I might be! And I saw all these cute things on Pinterest and just knew I could make the same level of cuteness with some canvases and little hands.

First of all, those little canvases were more pricey than I expected. Second of all, paint is messy. And gets on clothes because some moms forget about smocks. And feels funny on toddler hands. And needs more direction than a preschooler wants to receive.

But in the end, our creations were pretty cute... If not exactly what I envisioned while browsing Pinterest.


Cute little lefty hard at work

Bouquets for Grandma

Oh Christmas Tree!

Almost finished!

That's a person climbing a ladder, in case you couldn't figure it out (I couldn't).

But when have any of my endeavors turned out exactly how I envisioned? That's right. Never. And I'm still pretty proud of everything I have endeavored to accomplish. I just might not whip out the paints again until I forget the mess and stress of organized projects.

Note to self: hide paints from ambitious preschooler.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from Tinkerbell and Peter Pan!

Neither Nate nor I got a really great picture of the kids all night, but that's because they were having too much fun to sit still for pictures!

We got to meet all our new neighbors on our street, as well as a bunch in the surrounding neighborhood.

Laura really had a great time, even though she looks glum here. She was waiting for her BFF to catch up and join us for trick or treating! Laura did have a little trouble remembering to say "trick or treat," and to not touch everything on everyone's porches. She was also a slow-poke, as she wanted to converse with every.single.family we met along the way!


Gavin could barely lift his bucket of candy, but was adamant that no one could help him.  That was HIS candy!  I even tried sneaking a finger under the handle to relieve some weight, and he slapped my hand away.  Too funny!

We all had a lot of fun, and loved seeing our new neighborhood!