The Non-Things, Q3

Before I delve into all the Non-Things that have filled our days over the past few months, I have to take a moment to note how surreal it is to be blogging from this location. Here I sit in a cozy orange armchair nestled in the corner of the Starbucks on East Boulevard. This is the same spot where I used to come to fill my brain with descriptions of mental diagnoses and therapy theories for my graduate studies ten (!) years ago. If I could have told that gal where she would be today: living just two miles away (after living in two other states in between), sharing life with a remarkable man who she wasn't sure even existed, and on the cusp of giving birth to a third little love; her mind would have been blown. Life has evolved in amazing ways, and I love taking the time to acknowledge some of them. So for that 24 year old with her head in the books...

Here's a look at the best Non-Thing Things of 2012, Q3...

1. Sweet Summertime... staying up late, sleeping in, catching fireflies lightning bugs (have to adjust my vernacular now that I'm back in the South), enjoying frozen treats... Summer has been especially sweet this year. I'd been a little nervous about moving back to North Carolina in the middle of the summer and at the beginning of the last trimester of pregnancy. Truth is, though the humidity did really get to me for a month or six weeks, the temperatures rarely rose above the mid-eighties. Since the girls' body clocks were still on Denver-time, we took advantage of cooler evenings outside and then slept-in till mid-morning. The sounds of summer have lifted my spirits as well. Our house is directly across the street from a little league baseball field, and the roar of the crowd and the crack of the bat have provided the perfect backdrop for summer evenings. 
2. The Beach within Reach... having grown up within driving distance from a beach (well, actually, several beaches), I struggled a bit with being landlocked in Colorado. Within weeks of getting settled in Charlotte, we planned a weekend trip to Wrightsville Beach. On a Friday afternoon in early August, we got on the road right after Lindsay got home from his work week in Oklahoma and were on the sand by dinnertime! Carter has memories of past beach trips and was immediately running through the ocean and rolling around in the sand. She savored every moment and never tired; she begged to stay for another few days and has asked repeatedly since that weekend when we will be returning. Murphy had little interest in the ocean (she clung to Lindsay or me for dear life if we neared it) and was not a big fan of sand covered skin. She did, though, love her time in the 'simming poo' and continued to be the water baby she'd been all summer. 
3. Gestational Speculation... we have kept the gender of this third little Lewellen a surprise. This has lead to both moments of frustration (mostly on the Daddy's behalf) and anxious anticipation. We've found ourself having many 'what if' conversations... how will a third girl fit into the mix with our other two? What on earth would we do with a boy? What girl's name would fit best with our other two? How would each of us parent a boy differently? What's it going to look like? Will a child of mine finally have blue eyes (Mommy's question)? All these speculations have been fun to have, and, of course, every stranger on the street has his or her own prediction based on the look of my belly. Carter dreamed that the baby was a 'boy who looked like her but with different hair' but is still insistent that she'd like another sister. I've only dreamed about the birth once, and in my dream, the babe was a girl. As we're just two weeks from finding out what it is, I've come to fall in love with both possibilities. I'm living each day in eager anticipation of laying my eyes on the little prince or princess that will be the perfect completion to our family. 
4. Matchy-Match... prior to having children of my own, anytime I'd see siblings dressed alike, I'd always assumed it was the parent's doing, likely out of convenience. Prior to the past few months, I'd probably bought three or four coordinating outfits for my girls. Murphy mostly wore hand-me-downs, and Carter has always had very particular opinions about her style. In recent times, those opinions have stretched beyond sparkly shoes and fancy skirts to include Matchy-Match. This phrase in our house describes coordinating outfits for Carter and Murphy. I'm a self-admitted sucker when it comes to buying clothes for my girls; I have a very hard time saying 'no' to an enthusiastic little fashionista browsing the racks at CrewCuts. I'm even more of a sucker when Carter gets excited over finding something in both her size and Murphy's. I just love that, especially as the cool big sister, she wants them to be alike. I know this could be a fleeting phase, so for now I'm happy to oblige! 
5. Sarah, Who's Seven... our Murphy Girl is quite the character. She's really come into her own over these last few months and her self-expression is often simply hilarious. For example, if you ask her what her name is, she'll nonchalantly reply, 'Sarah.' How old she is? 'Seven.' If she passes a mirror, she'll often wave and cheerfully say, 'Hi, Sarah!' An interesting addition to this is that she always said she was six until she had her birthday the first week of October; I was impressed that she began adding a year to her fake age! Rather than saying 'this one' or 'that one' when referring to something, she says 'this guy' or 'that guy' which makes most all communication with her quite humorous. After listening to the book I Love Monkey over and over and over, she's developed a love affair with all things monkey. Anything she doesn't care for is 'yucky', whether it be a song on the radio or a picture of a baby (Monkeys, she loves. Babies, not so much.) She refers to herself as Mur-Mur, and this nickname has stuck around our house. I can't believe my baby will only be the baby for two more weeks. She gives the best hugs of anyone I've ever known and is still the snuggliest little girl in town... even if she is seven. 

Narrowing this list was especially difficult this quarter. I'm so in love with my life. Our life.