Mr. Blue Eyes

Three Peas in a Pod

A Book or Two or Three

I thought I had no time to read right now, but I seem to be managing just fine. I just devoured this book, The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield. If you loved Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, this is a great choice for you. The ending was sappy-er than I expected, but all in all I loved reading it. Last night, I told B that I had 20 pages left and he responded by saying, "Whew, I get my wife back." It was a quick 400 pg. read for me, because I became so absorbed in the story. Very odd and slightly eerie story about a secretive old woman's life involving twins, strange siblings, tragedy, a spooky old house, a fire, and an abandoned child.



Midnight at the Dragon Cafe was the beginning of my current reading spree. It was an impulse pick up at the library. Just thought it looked interesting, and it was. A story dealing with Chinese immigrants living in Canada, it discusses topics like family relationships, loyalty, love, and immigration.
Now, I'm reading The Hidden Power of Prayer and Fasting. Obviously, quite different than my other recent reads but a good change up. I'm a good way into it, and it's great and very challenging.

Crafty Babies

Once a month, me and a few girlfriends of mine get together to craft. We crochet, knit, sew, play with pretty, paper, and mostly just talk and eat lots of naughty things. This last year the original group totaled six ladies, and three of them got knocked up in the same year! That's half the group. What I'm saying is, be careful about getting invited to one of these "crafty" times, because fertility must be in the air. Here are the boys of the crafty group. My little lion is in blue. All boys and all with in four weeks of each other. We had our first crafty time this last Sunday
with the newborns. It was a great time to be free from larger children and husbands, craft, nurse, laugh, and enjoy ourselves.

Wordless Wednesday

Smiles

This little guy has been smiling a bunch recently, and we can't get enough of it!! It's the sweetest thing. So if you ever are wondering what I am up to, take a look at this pic and you'll know what I do all day. He's five weeks, and we saw his first responsive smile around three weeks! He's quite the smiley little man.

The bottom pic is Bug recent accident with a chair. He's such a bruiser and it's very hard on mama! We thought he might have broken his nose on this one, and he's not even two! Thankfully he didn't.

Good Morning Sunshine

Yummy omelet and toast for my honey :)

Our Newest Addition

We just got the best Christmas present ever! Here he is!

He came in the biggest snow storm the Portland area has seen in 30 years on Sunday, December 21st. B and I trekked over to Alma Midwifery Birthing Center in full winter gear, mom pausing a few times on the steps outside for contractions, standing in a foot of snow. We made it there a little after 7 am and he was born at 8:41 am, weighing in at 8 lbs. 5 ounces and 21 inches long. We are so blessed, and fully in love all over again.

Lil' B was so excited to finally meet her new brother, who she lovingly calls "Moose Truck" or "Jo-Jo", and on here he will just be "moose". Bug is surprisingly accepting of his new little brother who he refers to simply as "baby".

We're snowed in for the holidays, reading lots of stories, changing many diapers, cuddling a lot, drinking plenty of tea and cocoa, and playing in the snow. Papa B built a six foot snow slide in our backyard with Lil' B. Our neighbors built snowball fighting forts at two strategic locations on our block. I love watching people skiing through our neighborhood streets, and families pulling kids in sleds to go to the grocery store.

Merry Christmas to you all!

SNOW!!!!

Making A Gingerbread House

We made out first gingerbread house over Thanksgiving break with Grandma Mern. It was so fun and adorable. It was just a kit, but still fun and really yummy(Trader Joe's rocks!! :).



These pics below are pictures of our Safari Hunt. It's a really fun game for the kids. You hide stuffed animals around the house, turn off all the lights, have the kids climb on Dad's back, give them each a flashlight, and you search for the animals. They had a blast, although Bug is still a little small to fit on Dad's back.

Conversations with Lil' B

Overheard this afternoon, conversation between Lil' B and her dearest friend Sam.

Lil'B: Don't squish my baby!

Sam: Ok, I'll squish my baby.

Lil'B: I can squish my baby.

Sam: Can I squish your baby?

Lil' B: No, my baby only likes it when I squish her.


Four year old females are are so fun.

Cell Phones vs The Bible

I know it's been too long. I just can't seem to think about blogging right now, and it always seems good to take a break every now and then. We're busy getting ready for BABY, preparing for Christmas, stocking up on food, cleaning random things and areas, sorting through kids clothes, always doing laundry, and trying to remember my focus in life is always to know my Creator and become more like Him. With that in mind here's a thought I liked.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ours was spent in Corvallis with my wonderful mother in law, and it was so peaceful and nice. Oh, and I can't wait to have this baby!

Cell Phones vs The Bible

Cell Phones vs The Bible
Ever wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phones?
What if we carried it around in our pockets and purses?
What if we flipped through it several times a day?
What if we turned back around to go home and get it when we forgot it?
What if we used it to receive messages?
What if we treated it as though we couldn't live without it?
What if we gave it to others, to our children, as gifts?
What if we used it when we traveled?
What if we used it in case of emergency?

This is a post snaked from a blog I read from time to time called A Plain and Simple Life.

Wordless Wednesday: My Little Man

Nesting

Recently, I realized that I am going to have a baby soon. Six weeks actually. I've been a little carried away at the thought of meeting this new person, and ignoring the disorganized house in which I am living. I get so excited to have the baby, that I forget about how much work it will be and how I should get some work done around the house before he gets here. So most days I ignore our bedroom, the basement, any closet, any kitchen drawer. They are all my enemy. Oh, and organizing kid's clothes. Don't even get me started. I have a wardrobe of clothes for a boy and a girl through age 6, for only two children age 1 and 4. Seriously. It's a lot to store. But you never know who's coming next, so I'd rather keep it all in case I need it, right?

I've been hearing other pregnant women talk about how they are "nesting." I know what nesting means, but maybe someone else doesn't, so here is a beautiful definition of "nesting." The dream day of a mother!

Nesting :To create and settle into a warm and secure refuge.

Or you could think of it as meaning de-cluttering your house of all the crap you don't need and organizing. I do like the first definition, because it is so serene, I will admit that the second is very practical. Combination of both, I'd say. So, I should be nesting, but I rarely feel like nesting, although after reading that first definition, maybe I do. Creating a refuge that's warm and secure for our new little one and the months ahead which contain lots of family time, home time, and rest.

Yesterday, I let lil'b watch a movie(GASP) and Bug napped. With all that free time I thought, I should get something done. I walked into the kitchen and thought, "I'm nesting, what do I do?" Then my mind got overwhelmed with all the little projects I'd love to accomplish before baby gets here, and then...I stopped myself. One thing at a time. One project today. That's easy right? So, I open one drawer and dumped out all it's containments and organized it. It felt good, and I felt like I was nesting.






Before :(




After :)