I Can't Stop...

...posting pictures of our little man.

Please bear with me. I'm in love!
I don't get to see these peepers very often.
When he's awake I'm drawn in.
I'm good for nothing else for at least 30 minutes.

Ethan's First Day

Here are some pictures of the past day. They aren't the greatest because the lighting has been pretty bad, but you get to see a little glimpse of our new addition.

Completely captivated by this little man....

Lucas meets his little brother...

Lydia's not too sure about this new addition, but she sure looks happy holding him....

He's Here!

Ethan Garrett
Dec 21st, 2010, 1:39 am
9lbs 12oz, 21 1/4 in long
Perfect in his momma's eyes.
Pictures soon

Recent Creativity

Here are a few things I've been able to accomplish in the last 3 months or so. I thought I'd share them before the baby comes, because who knows when I'll make it back to this poor, old blog!

Here are a few more pictures from a post a couple days ago. This is the quilt that was made for the project swap for the quilt guild I belong to. It was so much fun to design this quilt and see it come to completion. I just love how it turned out!

(Design/Image under copyright. Please do not use without permission)

Last night I realized that we didn't have any extra sheets for this adorable antique cradle a friend loaned to us for the baby. I found some plush minky down in my sewing room that I've had for a couple years and within a couple hours I had two extra sheets. (See the artwork in the background? I love the way the kids hang their artwork in random places throughout the house.)

This little sweetie is a mermaid that Lydia picked out of my Wee Wonderfuls book by Hillary Lang. There are some really adorable dolls in this book, but this is the one Lydia picked for her birthday.

Back packs for the kids. The kids picked out the fabrics from my fabric stash. They really seem to enjoy using these for various things. I forget which magazine I found the pattern in, but they were fairly easy to put together.

Below is my first attempt at a rug mug, which is a newer fad among quilters/crafters. The idea is that it is big enough for a mug of coffee and a treat, such as a muffin or scone. This was a fairly quick project that brought a lot of satisfaction. And it went to live with a very special friend. I hope to have a chance to make more of these in the future.

And here is a random picture of me at 40 weeks. Lucas took the picture for me because I think my belly may be gone by tomorrow. My due date is tomorrow, but I think our little one may come sometime tonight. My contractions are pretty regular and pretty intense which is why it took me so long to complete this post and why it may seem a bit disjointed and random :).

I hope to have pictures of little feet and hands to show off tomorrow!

Ginger, Anyone?

I'm usually a big fan of vegetable "sushi" rolls, but today's little feast is all about the pickled ginger. I am digging it in a HUGE way. See that extra little container? It will all be gone very soon. I cannot stop myself! It is piled high on each little roll and I'm in food heaven!

Anyone else experience weird end-of-pregnancy cravings?

Still no baby, obviously.
Still hanging out in the kitchen... a lot.
Most of what I'm making now is for gifts or easy
breakfasts for the kids.

Hope your weekend has been spectacular!

Oh! Hello!

I'm still here! Still pregnant! Only 6 days left until my official due date, so really any day now we will meet our sweet little one. I've been busy...

organizing....

a little holiday baking....

a little washing....

finishing up a swap-project for a sweet lady in my quilt guild....

And to be honest, I feel a little like this squirrel in his desperate
foraging for his winter food supply...

...because I'm seriously nesting in the kitchen this time! A dear friend came over last week to help me get a few meals in the freezer for after the babe comes or when I return to work. To say that got the ball rolling is an understatement! To date I have:

2 meals of enchiladas- mom's recipe
8 -10 chicken curry pineapple wraps for quick lunches
3 beef vegetable soups, mostly prepped
12 Individual Meat Loaves- Ina Garten's recipe
3 meals marinated chicken thighs
2 sausage stratas, mostly prepped
2-3 quart bags of spaghetti sauce
3 meals of frozen stuffed pasta shells
18 brown sugar oatmeal packets

I've also made...

3 loaves Chocolate Chip Banana Bread for gifts and eating. (We go through this like bananas are going to stop showing up in the grocery store!)

2 batches of homemade cocoa mix for gifts and late night cravings :) (what's up with the text size changes?)


And my favorite.....

Homemade Marshmallows! So yummy and so easy! And they make great, simple gifts!

...and I have to admit, there are a few more things I want to make while there is still time, if there is still time.

Am I CRAZY?!!!!
Bless Brian for putting up with my late evening kitchen marathons!

So, that is where I have been.

What have you been up to?

Lydia's Big Day

Happy Birthday to my sweet girl! We had such a great time celebrating such a special day! We were lucky enough to have family visiting from out of town, so there was a lot of cousin love going around. We don't have everyone pictured, but for a majority of the weekend there were 6 adults and 9 kids running around. I was blessed to have my sweet sister, Jenn, visiting for the weekend. She graciously took pictures for me. Now, if only I could edit them as well as she does!

Here's our little peanut her 1st week of life getting a little extra TLC at the NICU.

... and 4 years later- just as precious (most of the time :))

Little Lydia,

Oh goodness, girl! You are a sweet, spunky darling! You make my heart swell with pride. You are silly and snuggly. It melts my heart every time you randomly come up to me and wrap your arms around my leg and give me a kiss. You make me laugh when you make faces that only you can make. I love it when you come to me and ask me to play. Forgive me for the times I don't take full advantage of those moments. It is such a pleasure to have you in our family. You make our life richer and fuller. I thank God for the way you have helped me grow as your mom.

Happy Birthday, Gracie-Pooh!

Harvest Festivities

Here is a quick update of the past couple of weekends:

A local Fall Festival:

pony rides

bouncy house

Beggar's Night:

love the faces on my little robot and cupcake!

They were so busy running around I couldn't get any good shots. This is the
best one with Dad! We had a lot of fun running around
the neighborhood with Kate and her family!

Sunday afternoon called for my first attempt at homemade Spice Donuts. It was a ton of
fun and not nearly as hard as I thought it would be. The kids got a kick out of the
whole process. I, unfortunately, was a bit disappointed with the end result. I was
hoping for a lot more "spice", but I have an Apple Cider Donut recipe we're going to
try out sometime.... or maybe it's good they weren't irresistible. I might have eaten
the whole batch. I love a good donut!!!

I did love the look of the end result though!

Hope you had a great weekend however you choose to celebrate!

Rest

Originally uploaded by fofurasfelinas

I have a confession. I cannot rest without feeling guilty. I've been feeling pretty run down lately and when I look around at all that needs to be done or that I would love to accomplish I feel a small panic rising in my chest, thoughts of "I can't do all of this!". I struggle quite often with feeling like the condition of my house/yard/meals etc. is the measuring stick for my worth as a mom/wife. It makes me grouchy and short with my family and then the guilt just increases. I don't know why I have such a difficult time with letting things "go". I'm well aware that life is only about to get crazier, which is good, but a bit scary for me.

After crying out a quick prayer of help I sat down to read my daily reading from "Jesus Calling", by Sarah Young. What the Lord had to say to me just confirms that His timing is perfect and that He loves me even if my house is in shambles.

"Lie down in Green Pastures of Peace. Learn to unwind whenever possible, resting in the Presence of your Shepherd. This electronic age keeps My children "wired" much of the time, too tense to find Me in the midst of their moments, I built into your very being the need for rest. How twisted the world has become when people feel guilty about meeting this basic need! How much time and energy they waste by being always on the go, rather than taking time to seek My direction for their lives.

I have called You to walk with Me down paths of Peace. I want you to blaze a trail for others who desire to live in My peaceful Presence. I have chosen you less for your strengths than for your weaknesses, which amplify your need for Me. Depend on Me more and more, and I will shower Peace on all your paths."

30 Weeks

A dear friend who recently moved to the West Coast just reminded me that I had not taken any belly pictures of this pregnancy. With Lucas I carefully captured each passing month of my pregnancy. I guess it's true each successive child gets less pictures :)

So Stacie... these are for you:) Our baby will thank you!

(Please pardon the cropping of the pics... I was using the timer on our camera and I couldn't quite get it
positioned right before I finally gave up.)

I think we all have those weeks we're certain we'll never recover from, right? Well, this was one of those weeks. My wagon is draggin'! There are so many things I would love to accomplish (nesting, anyone?), but there is no energy to get it done. Thank goodness the baby won't really care if it gets done or not... and neither will anyone else.

Hope you are all having a great weekend. It's a beauty!

Early Christmas and a Little Mishap

I tell ya, I'm having a hard time making time for this little blog. Between work, homeschooling, yard work, house work, family time, being in my 3rd trimester and trying my darndest to maintain friendships there isn't much time left.

But there are some things that are so cute (to me, anyway) they must be shared....
even if it is over a week later.

We recently decided to take the kids to get bikes. We've given Lucas several opportunities up to this point- even going so far as to take him to try out a bunch of bikes- and he always turned us down. Not this time. So long story short we came home with two smokin' bikes for the kids. They were so excited!

Brian and I decided since it ended up costing more than we anticipated we would consider the bikes a big chunk of their Christmas gift. We will still get them a few things in December, but this takes a lot of shopping pressure off of me. This brings much relief to me since our babe will be joining us during the Christmas season.

Here are a few pictures of the kids first time out:

Aren't they cute? Of course, I think they are absolutely adorable.

The unfortunate part is right after the last picture was taken Lydia cruised on by Daddy, veered left and bit the dust as her training wheels dropped off the pavement. A certain somebody was caught up in the moment of "capturing the moment" and didn't realize Lydia didn't quite have a handle on using her brakes. I felt so bad!!! Her little knees were so scraped up and she seems quite intimidated by her bike now. I am hoping that this will resolve itself or this momma will feel awful.

The Little Things

The kids and I recently went on a nature walk and as we were walking we started noticing the small detail of nature that we sometimes miss...

A doe silently observing us...

The spiny texture of a seed pod...

Tiny green, glossy leaves on a petite plant....

Time etched in the root of a tree...

Tiny orange flowers....

The way the light sparkles and plays among the leaves and water....

Happy and content hearts!

M is for Monster

As I venture into the realm of homeschooling our pre-K children, I have tried to come up with ideas to reinforce the letter we are studying that also let me to release some of my bottled up creative energy.

This past week we studied the letter "M". What better way to remember this letter than a plush creature to play with! I let the kids guide me in making their monster the way they envisioned. They chose all the colors, shapes and placement of the details! I'm so pleased with the way they turned out! They are so much better than if I had tried to guess what they would like!

These monsters were made with stuffed fleece, fabric scraps, buttons and glue, and minimal sewing. But you could make these with felt or construction paper as well.

The kids with their best "monster" faces. Lydia said she is a happy monster!
(P.S. Not all of our projects are this elaborate!)