Summer Time and the Living is Easy…

Found out the hard way that if you click your heels three times and repeat, “I wish it was summer,” you’ll end up with a fresh newborn in the middle of a sticky heat wave.  There’s been a shifting of the sands, a turning of the tides, the washing away of childbearing and welcoming in a new stage of child-rearing.  Skittering in with those sands came Summer, the cutest baby girl ever, which is to say that all of our girls were the cutest ever because they are spitting images, all spitting at each other.  I’ll let her tell it:

Dreaming of bright lights and faces

The first picture I ever took of Erin holding a baby in the hospital (oops)

There was plenty of spring and summer to be had before her arrival.  Once sufficient warmth graced our region, we fled east—the kids for Carlisle and the mommy and daddy for Philly.  We celebrated a baby moon walking on tours downtown, eating ethnic cuisine, playing purse-able board games, and breaking just long enough to keep Mama’s pregger legs alive, then joined Hannah and Travis for a day exploring Lancaster & its friends.  The kids lived it up Easter-style with Oma and Opa (prior to our reunion for Easter Sunday) where, from purple pancakes and prime rib to window markers and wet underpants, we hit all the holiday traditions.

"Can I see the picture?  Can I see it?"

Some old building in some old city

Plague struck in late April, laying a critical hit to the Joseph residence, infecting all but Mom.  We made use of Timken’s sick day policy, several large mixing bowls, and our washing machine and made it through without any permanent stains on fabric or otherwise. 

Later in spring we took our summer beach trip to good ol’ Tarkle Ridge with the Kauffman/Dombachs, where the weather was perfect for a 7-month mama (or a dad with a fleece jacket and leg blanket).  We had limited rain, but made use of some gloomy weather for a jaunt to Manteo to see the North Carolina Coastal Aquarium, perfect for our kids.  We enjoyed a diver show in the shipwreck “Graveyard of the Atlantic” giant tank exhibit.  Both girls loved their turtle rehabilitation clinic--both the real and pretend versions--and now Elia wants to be a turtle saver.  And a people doctor, and a restaurant owner, and a diver, and an artist, and a toy shopper.  Elia even saw a surround sound and video mini-film about the USS monitor (ghosts, cannons, and all), which may have been too intense for her…Fun times!  

Trippy color choices for the black light

The rest of the trip was devoted to joint kayak rides and giant sand castles (with Dad/Uncle assist).

A few more years before we trust her with a paddle

Handler in practice

Highlights include water fights with Dad

Same month, different weekend, now atop the Laurel Ridge Mountains in a beautiful cabin with a million-acre view: the Joseph/Hartland retreat.  Situated only 40 minutes from Greensburg, we found an amazing place near Seven Springs to spend Memorial Day weekend playing games, sharing meals, enjoying corn hole, foosball, and the cold tub on the back deck (the hot tub with malfunctioning electronics).  With SS Resort just minutes downhill (depending on which downhill road adventure you choose), we spent a day there at the pool, crowded but perfect for the kids.  One kid loves water, one hates water, and one doesn’t understand water.  And Elia impressed us all with her leg strength on a woody, 4-mile hike.  Afterwards, the girls spent the week at Mimi’s, the best retreat center on Earth.

June and early July were our calm before the storm, and it’s shocking to see how this “nesting” period differs from birth to birth.  Before Elia, we painted our nursery and living room, assembled cribs and swings and high chairs, registered at Baby’s R Us, and took delivery classes at Aultman Hospital.  This year, before baby #4, we closed on a duplex rental property, took Elia to 3 different weeks of VBS, went to New Hampshire for a business trip, started teaching a few new piano students, built a ton of furniture, and kept 3 kids alive, awake, alert, & enthusiastic. 

Happily skipping the 90-degree 4th of July parade

A rare glimpse of Dad actually reading assembly instructions

Though we left the house less often, we still had one big trip planned for Dad and the older girls: Idlewild and a week at Mimi’s.  Our 3^rd summer day at the World’s Best Children’s Park, we stayed a good 6 ½ hours, which was far longer than expected, and we were able to ride a lot thanks to Bay surpassing the 36” mark a few months back!  Beginning in Jumpin’ Jungle, we were joined by Aunt Erin and Cousin Lily for 2 hours in Kiddie Land (the realm of rides traveling slowly in circles), including Daniel Tiger’s neighborhood.  The girls experienced the thrill and madness of Soak Zone on a hot, summer Saturday, but we escaped without losing either and stomped around the park until dinner time.  The next day Dad said goodbyes to the girls after a Sizzlin’ Sunday picnic at Crossroads and headed home to have a baby.

Quintessential SW PA kid Doodlebug pic

Scared to life in Jumpin' Jungle

And now, here is our cupcake, one more Joseph girl of the same height, weight, build and complexion!  

The real reason you've kept reading this far

She performed well on her physical exams, and Mom had the best C-section of her life.  Dad spent much of the following week hanging out with Ezra and taking him to and from friend-day-care and the hospital to see Mom and Sis, plus enjoying some bro time together.  Summer, being the fourth, no longer looks like her parents, but rather like her siblings.  A fine blend of Ezra’s hair, Sophia’s facial features, and Elia’s grumpy face.  She has cute sneeze-sighs, very long toes, and an “angel’s kiss” birth mark high on her forehead (which fortunately should help distinguish from the others in baby pictures).  

Startled baby starfish

Elia likes to hold her but is usually too busy, and Sophia likes to hold her but only for 30 second increments.  Our main goal is to keep her high up and away from Ezra, destroyer of worlds, who has already proven himself a capable baby-flipper.

"I've penciled 10 minutes of baby time into my frantic schedule"

"I've been in human contact for 10 seconds longer than I can handle"

"Watch me squat 10 bro"

Ezra, our banana nut bread, was a late walker—and will be an extremely late talker—but has made up lost time aiding entropy.  He loves to reach higher than we thought possible to pull things down and scatter them (toys, tools, tax forms) and especially to climb on the kitchen table (which is our bad for placing him there all the time as an infant).  As expected, dance moves are second to none, and is one of the funniest guys I know.

Wondering, wondering...when will my life begin?

Looking exactly like Dad.  Doing exactly what Dad wishes he could do.

Trippin' over my own shoes but it's OK because I turn it all into a funky dance move

Sophia, a pleasant vanilla cone with sprinkles, has progressed in her pre-preschool knowledge and now can count and “add”, knows her letters, and can identify half the states in the US.  Erin plans to start our loose home school curriculum with her this fall, with workbooks and flashcards for math, reading, geography, and anything else that strikes our fancy.  We both nerd-out hard on back to school season.  Sophia has also learned to ride a tricycle and potty like a rockstar (i.e. all on her own). 

March 23: "MOM CAN WE GO TRICK OR TREATING TODAY?"

Happily hand carting

That moment when your burger is 3 times taller than your mouth

Elia, our chocolate lava cake, can hardly contain her enthusiasm about going to school in a few weeks, and about getting older in general.  She absolutely loves the outdoors, the playset, her neighbors, and capturing all the toads in our backyard.  Piano lessons have begun and Elia is hoping to become as good as Daddy in the next few weeks here.  She has literally taken off with bike riding and can completely start and stop on her own, speeding along at Daddy-sprinting pace without need of training wheels.

The toad torturer

Oma's beach house has the best climbing trees

Atop the Ferris wheel

And now Dad is home on paternity leave for a while, which equates to holding chillen, doing chores, lifting heavy things, getting house projects done, and having more fun than normal with the kids.  They now have a sweet playset (and copious accompanying cuts and bruises) thanks to Daddy, Opa and Mr. Thomas/Ella’s Dad.  Bike rides, trips to parks, and hitting up every Pigskin Pal’s location in Stark Cty (check it out!) are just a few of our priorities in the next few weeks.