Reasons I'm glad I'm no longer pregnant

I did a list like this last time I was pregnant. I'm in that post-partem fog right now, trying not to panic that I have two children now, very little sleep, and a hard time getting to sleep when I get a chance! But there are so many WONDERFUL things about being done with this pregnancy.

* No more heartburn!!! HOORAY!!
* Being able to bend over again!
* More than two pairs of pants fit me (not any of my originals, of course, but lots of those in-betweeners).
* I can go more than an hour between potty breaks.
* I can sleep on my back without feeling guilty.
* My weight has now crept way back away from my husband's weight. =)
* I can squeeze past people again!
And of course, the best reason of all...

Welcome!

Søren James
8 lbs, 9 oz
July 17

Well, here we go!

Well, guys, it's about that time. I went in to the doc today, and they were pleased enough with my progress to give the green-light for a scheduled induction later this week. The planner in me is SOO glad -- my in-laws are here, my parents will be able to make it, my all-star team is just about assembled. And what's on my list this week? Other than *ahem* encourage my handymen to finish up some painting in the baby's room: 1.) Get hair cut, 2.) Get pedicure, 3.) Go see Harry Potter. Sounds like a week to me! Oh, and pick a name for little Rothgar. I can't wait to meet this little one. There's something so cool about realizing that God alone knows what time he will be born and what his name is and how much he weighs.

In the mean time, here are some pictures of our last few weeks:

The theme for Adventure Week at church was Lost in Space, and Daddy indulged her with a robot helmet. =)
I can't even tell you what an incredible joy it was to watch my baby really participating in Adventure Week this year. To have people I trusted helping her learn about the One who Rescues us. My kiddo who would never before sit still for anything went joyfully to her class, did all the motions to the songs (well tried!), and really had her head in the game. What a delight!
And yes, guys, THE only picture you'll ever see of me in a bathing suit, because I'm supposed to have a big tummy right now. =) This is how we've spent every afternoon during the last week or so. Thank heavens for the pool!!

Have a wonderful week, friends, and we'll let you all know when Baby Brother Cub (Lucy's been reading lots of Berenstain Bears lately!) makes his appearance.

The tart!

Seriously, guys, if I don't get a piece of my own pie, I think I may weep. Or make another one tomorrow.


Edit: I didn't win, but I DID get some of my own tart. It wasn't the best I've ever made, but I still enjoy it! Next year I'll go with my lemon meringue... that one should win some points!!

Welcome, Summer

Can't believe you're hearing that from me, eh? Well, I'm sure I'll recant, but I'm giving summer a good deal of credit for coming in like a lamb. We had the longest, lovliest May Gray/June Gloom that I remember, providing lots of a/c-free days. I think I turned on the a/c twice in June, which is lovely. And even now, we're looking at days in the 80's for the first few weeks of July. God had mercy on this pregnant lady. =)

Speaking of pregnant, I'm 2 weeks from my due date, measuring at 1.5 cm. Just where I want to be. Not 0, not 4. I'm thinking this little one will come somewhere close to his due date, and that is fine with me. My mom was here helping out with some preparation, and once we get a little more done on the window in his room, we should be about ready. STILL do not have a name for him. Ah well. How does "Baby Brother" sound? I think that's what we're sticking with at the moment. =)

In celebration of the 4th of July weekend coming up, we had the absolute privilege of welcoming home my sister-in-law from Iraq on Saturday. She's been there six months, serving in the area of base security with 30 of her guys. I say "her" because she's the head hauncho. Seriously, my sister-in-law could not be cooler. =) The welcome home is something I wish everyone could experience. Watching that enormous plane taxi right from the tarmac, seeing her come off the plane to sharp salutes and a flag bearer escort was incredible. Seeing how much people respected her for being an incredible service-woman. It was almost too much for this pregnant lady. =)

Waiting for the door to open...

Seeing her auntie for the first time in 6 months--it was really special to watch her give hugs and kisses.
And just for good measure... sitting on the little potty outside on a break from swimming. =)

Up this weekend: 3rd of July celebration at church, in which I will try to win the pie contest with my favorite blueberry tart. 4th of July, probably a bbq at home and some driveway fireworks. Missing our old neighbors who always provided the show in the past!

Rumblings

With a 7 weeks to go (now 6!), we kicked it into gear around here. The baby will be taking Lucy's room, and Lucy gets Bud's old room. We had some upgrades that needed to be done before all this shuffling took place, so Mimi and Papa came down for the week to get things moving. We removed the flimsy-glassed door and the floor-length, flimsy-glassed window, and replaced them with a good-sized brand new window. Note: by we, I mean Steve's dad and Steve. So far, all I've done is an hour of taping to prep for trim painting!

The boys making holes in the walls.
The window going in. The stucco guy comes tomorrow to finish up around the window.

Meanwhile, we girls went shopping. Lucy is buried here between her new bedsheets and my new body pillow.

And since playgroup had to be moved for the week, we decided to take our first field trip of the year. We went to Oak Glen Nature Reserve in Anaheim Hills. They had a great program for pre-school aged kids, which included story-time, a craft, some hands-on wildlife viewing, and a nature hike. Here's Lucy looking at what I think was called Monkey Flower. We heard right after we went that the Nature Reserve will be closing because of budget cuts, and this had been our last chance to go! We were thankful to have seen such a gorgeous spot so close to home.
Now on to what's left to prep for the baby. I bought the carseat (our old hand-me-down one was toast) and some diapers today, so we can at least bring a baby home! =) Still to do: finish painting the trim in Lucy's room so we can arrange the furniture and accessories, sort through her things and move her stuff into the new room, unpack the baby stuff I've been collecting, sew my baby sling, finish packing my suitcase... oh, and pick out a name for this kid! Wondering if 6 weeks will be enough! =)

Vacay

We realized our vacation 2 weeks ago was the first that we'd ever had with just the 3 of us. We've been so blessed with family vacations since Lucy was born, and we've enjoyed every minute of them. But it was also just so wonderful to be together as a little family and go with the flow that we 3 created. Lucy was at a fabulous age for vacationing, and I was able to read an entire (useless but fun) book. We went to Cayucos, and thanks to the awesomeness of my sister-in-law, we got a ridiculously good deal on a house there. It was the first house on the cliffs to the north of the pier, with amazing views, right next to the beach, plenty of room to spread out. Our most pressing items of business were laying around, digging holes and scaring seagulls. It was glorious.

And the last picture is just for fun. =)

Catch up

Oh my goodness, just moving along around here. I'll just narrate the pictures, as that's about all the brain power I've got left! I'm having trouble aligning my pictures and the comments--so sorry!

The blue cloth is for a blessing quilt for little Levi who just came home from China with his new mommy and daddy and big sister. I got this idea from a Martha Stewart magazine that originally proposed paper invitations like this. I loved the lanterns and wanted to see how it looked on cloth.

The picture of Lucy is her first trip to the dentist! After the horror of the first few days of potty training, I thought this would be a disaster. I told the staff I'd be delighted if they got to count her teeth. Not only did they count her teeth, but they flossed and polished them! She called the polishing tool his "tickle toothbrush." Dr. Winter held out the polish to her and asked what it smelled like. She says, "MMM! Fresh tomato!!" Um... try berry. =) As we were leaving, she says, "Can we please come see Dr. Winter again??" I'm still in shock.

The picture of the 3 girls is the 3 cousins on my side. My sister surprised my brother and flew down from Seattle to help him fix up his new apartment. She's his "Head Design Ninja." The girls, 9, 6, and 3, had a fabulous time together. The 9-year-old is a little mother and does such a great job looking after the littler ones. It's so amazing to see them enjoy each other!

I have more pictures to update... I've been feeling SOOO tired lately. I found out I'm anemic, so I'm hoping that the increased iron should help level me out soon. I'm at 33 weeks now, and starting to freak out a little about how much there is to do! I have no idea whether this baby will be early or late. Lucy was induced almost 3 weeks early because my amniotic fluids were low, and this time they are fine. So with no gague for labor, it's anyone's guess!

Potty Talk

Well, my world has changed a bit. We had Spring Break last week, so we decided we needed to take a very serious turn with trying to potty train while we had a chance. We're at a week now, and thankfully I think we're past the worst of it. It was definitely a hell week. In retrospect, I'm glad we did it, and now that I've adjusted my expectations, I think we're doing well. We've heard a lot of tips and methodology. It's amazing to me how few people who had really easy experiences really recognize that they are unusual and fortunate. However, lots of stories of kids who took lots of time and had their own way of doing things have surfaced--making me both grateful that our experience is normal and frustrated that there's no way around this being a difficult experience at some level. I remember being in labor with Lucy and the nurses were talking about how awful potty training was, and I've been dreading it ever since. But now I think we'll just keep taking baby steps forward.

In other news, we went to the dentist, and it went awesome! I was sure I'd brought the wrong child--she was excited to go, she was cheerful and cute, she followed all instructions, and not only did she let them count her teeth (which was really my goal), but she let them floss AND polish her teeth! Dr. Winter (a saint, by the way), asked her to smell the tooth polish (some kind of fruity something), and she goes, "MMM! Fresh tomato!" =) We left with Lucy saying, "Mommy, ishwee (can we) go back and see Dr. Winter again??" Seriously. She owed me one, though.

It could be the potty thing, but I am wondering if I'm entering 3rd trimester sleepiness early. Yesterday I felt like someone had drugged me I was so tired, and today is only a wee bit better. Let's hope the nesting thing kicks back in soon!

By the way, pictures are from Easter. =)

Resurrection Weekend

I love Easter more and more as the years go by, I think. For several years in a row now, I think 6 or 7, we have chosen to celebrate at our own church rather than travel to be with family. This just seems like the right holiday to be "our" holiday. When my sister lived close, their family came up for Easter lunch with us, which I miss. But I've also been highly involved at church in the last several years, too. I used to help with the Easter Brunch, but somehow I got involved doing the flowers for the brunch and sanctuary. This makes my family (and me) laugh, because of all the members of our family (minus my brother), I have the black thumb. But somehow every year it seems to work out. As I discovered today "I'm best at arranging FOR the flowers, not so much in actually arranging them."

This year we are in our new sanctuary, which is decorated in earthy tones, so the options are a little more limited. In addition, it's a huge space, so smaller flowers will get lost. But then the new huge stage is completely jammed this year with an orchestra and choir (which I get to sing with! Yay!). So. With on the advice of the church's wedding coordinator and the ordering help of a wonderful florist in my church, we went with 3 arrangements of lepto, which is a flowering branch. So pretty! We also got 5 big ferns, and I put in a few bits of lepto here and there to give the appearance that they are about to blossom, and to tie them in with the big arrangements. Then a greenery garland for the cross--next year I will either ask them to put some kind of flower in with it or else I will get white fabric to drape underneath the garland. I like it, but have even higher hopes for it next year.

Pictures aren't great, but here they are!

The rosebud next to the ferns is for baby Levi, who just came home on Thursday from China with dear friends, the Clarks!

The lepto arrangements... the copper pots are from Cindy, the florist. Nice choice!


The cross-- on Good Friday, it was draped with black fabric, so it's neat to have it draped with something living!!


You can see the grand scale this is all on now. My little efforts look pretty small. But I'm delighted that they at least contribute to a celebration, the occasion of which delights in even our humble offerings.

End of an era

Today my favorite brother signed a rental agreement to move out of our house and into his own place. I'm so happy for him, and it's just a couple of minutes down the street, but I'm so sad to be saying goodbye to having him here all the time. He's lived with Steve and I for almost 5 years, which is more than half our marriage! He was 12 when I left for college, so when he came to Biola (much to my surprise and delight!), we were really intentional about getting to know each other as grown-ups. Eric being an introvert, it took about 2 years for us to really feel like we knew each other.

I'm sad, because Eric has been here for the big things in our lives, especially watching Lucy grow up. She looks forward to him coming home every day, and they have such a special relationship.

He's helped with a number of our house projects. My favorite was scaring my parents about one of them. The guys had put drywall up on the ceiling, and one of Eric's jobs was drilling the screws into the drywall while someone held it up there. I called my parents, and in a forlorn sounding voice, said, "Well, Eric screwed up the ceiling." "Oh no!" my mother gasped! HA-HA! He was supposed to screw it up! =) Okay, sorry for the pun, Strandy.

So Bud, words are inadequate, but we love you and will miss having you here constantly. Don't be a stranger!

How I mashed my thumb

That would be a much cooler title if I'd broken it or something. Nope, just an annoying bruise. But I always like making sure my friends know when I do something dumb. I was trying to eek out the very last bit of tan thread on the spool by holding the machine tension with my thumb. Lesson: Hold tension above the needle mechanism while operating machine. I never knew how much I used the outside of the knuckle of my thumb until today. Actually, I should take a picture of my thumbs so you can marvel at the weirdness of them. If you're ever worried that I've died in a highly publicized accident where they haven't released the bodies yet, look for shots including my thumbs, and you'll totally be able to tell if it's me. Wow, this post is taking an odd turn... *ahem* ... on to other things.


So yes, I've been sewing away like a madwoman. Because the baby MUST have cute burp cloths! And because Lucy's all became cleaning cloths because they're awesome at that, so I needed to gussie the new ones up so we'd know which ones were for spit-up. I also finished another changing pad cover for the at-home changing pad, and a to-go model for the diaper bag. Someone gave me all the fabric for the to-go pad, and it just happens to match the diaper bag I made. Serendipity!






Can I just say how much I love bias tape? Hiding on the inside is a cute-cute-cute floral pattern in those same colors, but the ultrasound dictates that the flowers hybernate in the middle.









And here's the cutie-pants who is lucky she's cute, or else she'd have gone out the window long ago. Yes, folks, she's taking a truck, a tooth-fairy pouch, and a toothbrush to church. Please tell me these aren't somehow connected in her imagination.

Why in the world would you put this off??

I think every time we get up to Yosemite, we wonder why in the world it's been so long since we've been. I mean, really, it's one of THE most beautiful places in the whole world, and it's 2 hrs. from The Grammie Resort. Our dear friends who have been living in Bosnia for several years were in Fresno for a short time, so we hooked up with them and headed up the mountain. We couldn't have picked a better weekend. Wild flowers in the hills, snow in the mountains. Cool, but not cold. Blue, blue sky. It's early Spring, so almost no tourists. Seriously... can you believe it?

I love the moment when you get through the tunnel and BAM! This is what you see...
This is what our family will look like in a year. =) We borrowed little Noah for the shot.

The hat was an old hat of mine that's become a dress-up item at Grammie's. Lucy thought it would be awesome with her blue snow pants.

How happy is a child who has just been encouraged to pelt her parents with snow??
Scaling the vast peaks of Yosemite...


Did I mention it was a perfect day?

Someday I'll make you listen to the story about how I hiked to the top of Upper Yosemite Falls. And then how I produced a radio broadcast on Valley Public Radio about the Yosemite Institute and "scooped my competitors" by interviewing the president of the Curry Company, who never does interviews. Or about how I killed my knee running down from Vernal Falls. =)

Updates

Apparently my industry will be coming in fits and starts. But I'm definitely nesting. I had my carpets cleaned, and oh, the cleansing of the soul that comes with it! It kicked off the cleaning of the laundry room and the cleaning out of the crayon cupboard. If you don't know the joy that brings, I can't explain it. If you know about the endorphine rush, then you can appreciate the sunny color my week has adopted. Only about 18 drawers and cupboards to go...

I've also been sewing like a mad woman. Sadly, my diaper bag project is not quite what I'd hoped for. I have changes I now would make, but just don't feel like starting from scratch again. I wish I'd made it wider at the bottom, and shorter from top to bottom, and with a stiffer interfacing between the lining and outside. It's just too long and narrow and floppy. But it's a fun swiss army bag, with D-rings and carabeaners for keys, pockets for diapers, diaper pad, wipes and bottles, and extra little pouches for things like vaseline and nail clippers. I figure you only use a diaper bag for a year anyway, right?





Next up is a baby blanket for my little man. He needs one just like Lucy did. I wish I were a knitter, as the pattern I really, really want is a knitting pattern, but I am making some adjustments and making it up as I go in crochet. When I've got something of a pattern going, I'll take some pictures.

Giddy

This morning during playgroup I went to M&L fabric in the Anaheim/Cypress area, and came home skipping like a schoolgirl! I have to share my excitement with you all because my poor husband, while definitely encouraging and supportive, will probably never skip with me about fabric. M&L is amazing... seriously huge selection, and it's a warehouse, so the prices are phenomenal!

I chose this dark teal corduroy to make my diaper bag, and the striped one next to it for the lining. I like a bright lining so you can actually FIND things, but it's nice to have some variegation to minimize stains and spots. I thought of posting the design I'm going to use, but I will wait until you can see the finished product. It's got just enough frill so it's not too industrial looking, but still works for a boy.



I chose these 3 flannels to dress up my burp cloths. Had to get new ones because my old ones have all become cleaning rags. =) Here's the awesomest thing about buying these... they were displayed for almost 8 bucks a yard at the front, but I dug around in their $2.97 section and found the SAME PRINTS! Had to be careful not to do the fabric jig in the store. The off-white/tan behind there is terry cloth for my changing pad, since I only have one changing pad cover and it's actually a little too small for the pad I've got. Again, choices were $8.00/a yard and found this for under $3!
And now for some home decor. Remember this fabric I was coveting awhile back? It was something like $12 on-line. Then I couldn't find it on-line. Then I found it today for less than $4 a yard!! This will become a fabric board to replace this sort of camouflaged wreath above the fireplace.

This isn't new fabric, but I got it at the same place awhile ago for $2 a yard. I finally got around to re-covering my pillows to incorporate the brown of Steve's leather chair into the room. The quilt over the back there was my sister's contribution. It's really gorgeous and totally original! I should lay it out so you can see the whole thing.
And lastly, one more pillow to round out my love of the blue and brown in my living room.

Okay, thanks for letting me vent all that... I was pretty beside myself. =)

Out of the fog

I look at other women and wonder where they get their get-up-and-go sometimes! Flu? Meh, they're cooking 5 course meals the day after. Family in town? Their houses are perfect, and they host a baby shower the next day. I seem to just be a little slow on the up-take with such things. =) I had the flu twice in the last 6 weeks after not having had it since college, and a lovely flat-on-the-couch cold got sandwiched in the middle for good measure. So with that and having family in town in between the cold and the flu (and actually overlapping a bit), I feel like I'm finally coming back from wherever I was.

In spite of it all, we've had some wonderful days here and there, and I'm enjoying my favorite months of the year. Jan-Feb-March are just the best here. Torrential rain, then beautiful, sunny skies and snow-packed mountains. Do we go to the snow or the beach today? What a decision! I need to "summer" in Seattle or something, because "winter" here is such a delight.

And now I'm ready to hoe-in and start sewing again! Why? Because if you hadn't yet heard, we just found out we are having a BOY! (See here for "the reveal.") So I've got burp cloths to make, a new diaper bag, changing pad covers, and if I really get ambitious, a hospital gown instead of the uggo stuff they have at the hospital. I plan to head to the fabric store on Tuesday and then hole up at a friend's during play group and sew-sew-sew as fast as I can!

Here's a glance at the last few weeks through the fog...

Blossoms beginning to peek out...
Steve with Lucy and my niece at the Getty... apparently bronze naked men make her shy.
The three cousins checking out the lily pads.
There's my pregnant belly peeking out at you... nice excuse to eat a little extra Valentine goodness.

The cousins celebrating Emma's NINTH birthday!
Our traditional Valentine's Day Mrs. Fields cookie cake with some wonky script on it. It was supposed to say "FDIC Insured." Oops. =)
And a quick trip to Down-town Disney, which Lucy thinks is just as good as Disneyland! A ride on the tram and a visit to ply-wood Mickey, and we're all set!