One Apple Up on Top

When we moved into our house in August of 2007, the backyard was literally covered with apples from the apple tree (most in various stages of rot). It was kind of a mess.

By late September, I got my act together and bought an apple picker to reach the good, ripe apples up high in the tree. Boy, oh boy, did we have apples. We made apple crisp and apple sauce. We gave bags of apples away to our family and friends.

Last spring, I just assumed that we were in for the same apple bonanza. I waited to see blooms on the tree. And I waited. And then I called an arborist to come out and prune the tree and he told me that some varieties only bloom every other year. What! No apples?

Turns out he was right -- well, almost. I walked out into the yard yesterday to find one, red, perfect apple had fallen from our tree. Just one. I looked up and I don't see any others.

It is as if the tree put all of its efforts into making one, perfect apple. I can't quite bring myself to cut it open and eat it.

Guess Who Is Getting Ready to Be a Big Brother and Big Sister (again)?

Eleanor and Brendan getting some good "practice" with their cousin Emma.

The Belly at the Beach

I took my belly . . . .

. . .. and my bigger babes to the beach.

We snuck away to the beach for a few days for one last burst of sun and warmth to fortify us against the chill and the cold that will invade Chicago for the next six months.

It felt sooo good.

I've Been Thinking About the Holidays. Have You?

The Holiday issue of Going Places Magazine is out. I have two pieces in this issue: Getting Away Without Going Away and Teaching Gratitude. Have a look (and also check out the really comprehensive calendar of family activities in the Chicago-area this holiday season).

On a totally unrelated note, we just got back from a perfect fall getaway and I want to tell you all about it, but I need to get my pictures organized first. Be back tomorrow.

Endings (And New Beginnings)

My hydrangeas are putting on their grand finale (and it is grand).

The last few tomatoes hanging on amidst withering branches.

Daffodils for the spring (which is so, so far away).

Pumpkin Madness

Oh, Oz Park Pumpkin Patch, each year you entice us with your promise of Halloween fun.

And each year, we can't stay away so we end up standing in absurdly long lines waiting to feed goats (yuck), jump in inflatable houses, and decorate the smallest pumpkins ever. As usual, we decided to skip the longest line ever for pony rides. And Eleanor got bit by a piglet in the petting zoo, causing her to declare, "I am never feeding a pig again." But other than that, a good time was had by all.

Hard at work.

Yuck.

Sweetness.

Cosmo (Or The Boy Without a Name)

Giving another human being a name is serious business. For months now, David and I have been working on choosing a name for our new boy . . . without any success whatsoever. We have been through the baby name books. We go round and round with the same group of names and never seem to find the right one. I sit in yoga class holding my belly, trying to feel what his name is. I practice calling my children in for dinner, "Ellie, Brendan, whatsyourname, time to come inside and wash up." Nothing.

Naming our little ones hasn't always been this hard. When we found out that we were having a girl back in 2004, Eleanor seemed like the natural choice. I have always loved the name (my Mom claims that I requested that people start calling me Eleanor in preschool because I was infatuated with another little girl by that name) and David's beloved grandmother was also named Eleanor. We never seriously discussed other options. Easy.

Brendan's naming was a bit more complicated. We went back and forth between Brendan and William, possibly Brendan William, or maybe William Brendan. I thought we had settled on Brendan William, and David disagrees (to this day). To his credit, he did point out at the time that maybe we shouldn't use both Brendan and William in case we had another boy. . . .

Which brings us to our current dilemma. If Brendan's middle name wasn't William, I think that we could easily agree on that. But what's done is done. We have been unable to agree on any other suitable names -- except for Cosmo.

When my sister-in-law was pregnant with her son in late 2007, Eleanor declared that she wanted to name their baby Cosmo. I explained that you don't get to pick the names of babies in other families. Upon learning that we were going to have a new brother or sister, Eleanor quickly surmised, "Perfect, now we can name our baby Cosmo."

So Cosmo it is. I must admit that the name is really catching on amongst our family -- who all refer to the baby as Cosmo. Brendan rubs my belly and says, "How Cosmo doin?" Eleanor informs strangers that we are going to have a new brother born in December named Cosmo (people give me a puzzled look because they aren't quite sure if it is a joke or not).

David and I can't even agree on how to spell Cosmo. I say Cosmo (so obviously the correct way) and he thinks it is Kozmo (which is crazy).

For now, that seems to be the best we can do. I imagine myself saying, "Have you met my son Cosmo? He is a clown." (which I think is all that you can be when your idiot parents name you Cosmo).