A Peek at the Poulsens

My youngest brother, Sam, is heading off to college tomorrow and after saying goodbye today I was left with tumbling emotions: Michigan is so far away! Will his roommate be a weirdo? Will he keep in touch and let us know what is going on in his life? None of us have ever been so far away; he's not coming home until Thanksgiving! Holy cow, my little brother is a college freshman!  I hope he has fun; I hope he meets great people and makes incredible memories. What an adventure! I reflected on my own college freshman experience and I realized that the theme was definitely FUN. Fun fun fun, all the time. Fun being busy, fun making friends, fun staying up late, fun even doing homework. I LOVED it. So I want to make sure you love it too, Sam. Here's my advice for how to have an amazing first year of college: (I guess I should mention that he is going into a competitive dual Voice Performance and Education program on scholarship, playing trombone in the Marching Band, auditioning ...

It's already THURSDAY!? How did that happen? Time is flying by at an unbelievable rate. I feel like I can't get control of my apartment: any time I clean up one mess there are three more waiting for me. I've sort of given up for the time being - it's fun to just play and leave toys out and not put things back into the cupboards after Natalie pulls them out...but it also sort of stresses me out a little so I try not to let it get too crazy. The kitchen is consistently clean though, if anyone is keeping score. Our typical day: breakfy play nap lunch errands play nap play dinner play sleep. Repeat. What "playing" looks like: checking out our friend's exersaucer (trading was a great idea!) having some private time in the corner a bout of pouting  pulling clothes out of the dresser (a favorite pass-time) then spontaneous reading amidst the mess checking out the rain this morning Her favorite game: du...

Last year as I got closer to Natalie's due date I started to experience uncomfortable to severe swelling, turning my already large legs into troll trunks and making me explain that yes, I do have ankles, you just can't tell. It got so bad that I couldn't even sit through all of church and the only footwear I could sort of make work were Old Navy flip flops. On one of these Sundays when we left church early my wonderful, thoughtful, caring husband decided to refer to me as "Mrs. Puff," which earned him a lecture about how I was carrying his child and did he want to go through nine months of this? But then we laughed, because that's exactly how I felt: PUFFY. So, happy happy joy joy, we are at that point again. Yayyy. I have now pin-pointed the exact sensation that means my feet are swelling up. I haven't been able to take my rings off in ages (yup, my hands swell too), and if I wear socks or restrictive shoes, I have lines on my (obscured) ankles and feet...

When someone hasn't seen Natalie in a while their first comment is always about how she's changed. Living with her, we see the process of change every day so it's not as startling to us. But after being gone from Sunday-Sunday, I now know how they feel - my baby girl seems so different in just that little sliver of time (which felt like an eternity ).  In one week, Natalie: -learned to squeak and has a higher-pitched cry -takes the same amount of steps (or more) than crawls -switched from baby babbling to more intelligent, conversation-like babbling -points with her index fingers -dances any time when music is playing -doesn't wobble or teeter when she stands up or sits down by herself -is getting better at sticking the shapes into their holes in that one toy -doesn't try to get in the bathroom anymore -regards diaper changing as okay (as long as it's quick) instead of torture -keeps the blanket on during naps/at night -is HEAVIER! and bigger o...

Every year on my mom's side of the family all girls age 8+ go to Cedar City, UT to see three plays at the Utah Shakespeare Festival and enjoy a female getaway with shopping, good food, and lots of relaxing. And Shakespeare, of course! I didn't go last year since I had just had Natalie, and I almost didn't go this year because I was afraid of leaving her/I'm big and pregnant, but I didn't know when I'd get a chance to go again since we'll have two children by next year and there will always be more going on. So, I shipped off for a week in Utah with my mom, sister, aunts and Grammy Bee. there were 59 total girls from our extended family, but 10 in our Sanders group  It was hard leaving Natsby. I'll leave it at that for now. BUT the trip was fun - lots of reading time, staying up late, laughing way too loud in public and not caring, great plays (although none this year were craaaaazy amazing like they are sometimes), and walking around the quaint M...

Once a year, all of the females on Jessie's mom's side of the family travel to Cedar City, Utah for the annual Shakespearian Festival. No husbands are allowed. Period. I was a little bitter when I first heard about this yearly ritual, but after thinking about it, I got really excited for a full week of Austin-Natalie bonding time:) Shakespeare looking fly Jessie wasn't able to go to the Festival last year because Natalie was about one day old, and she was seriously considering not going this year because she is over seven months pregnant! But, in the end, we decided that it would be a fun getaway for her, and she decided to go. So, since Jessie will be out of town until late next Sunday, I felt that it was my husbandly duty to update the blog, lest all of our adoring fans become angry at the lack of Peeks at the Poulsens. Anyways, as the title of this blog suggests, I wanted to write a little bit about Jane Austen. As I have said in blogs past, I usually only read...

At 8:44 pm on August 1st, 2012 I was 22 minutes away from meeting our first baby. I remember my head being so clear, just focusing on bringing our little girl into the world, nervous that I was doing it right, wondering how she would look, taking deep breaths to calm my racing heart. Nothing can prepare you to face the actual moment when a new life is all of a sudden there , and you did it and you are responsible. When the doctor said, "Say hello to your new baby girl!" I remember being so overwhelmed; I didn't know what to do or say or how to respond to something as HUGE as this except to open my arms and reach out for my baby, tears streaming down my face as I tried to fathom that my body had worked on creating this being for nine months and now she was here , tangibly in my arms. I was trying so hard to stop crying because I wanted to see her more clearly, but I remember looking into her face with those perfect cheeks and beautiful eyes and searching for her little f...