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.

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.

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.

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 :)

"I Could Kick Your Butt" and other thoughts

Recently, while perusing the Target aisles I found my daughter some clearance undershirts that came in a pack of three of white, pink, and lavender. I'd been wanting some ever since my mother in law bought her some when she was 2, but those undershirts are a couple inches above her belly button now. At the time, I thought they were useless, but they turned out to be extremely handy during the winter season. Anyways, she finally has some more, and wears them under her clothes almost everyday. Each time I see them sitting in the laundry basket I think, I should sew something on them, but then I feel silly because nobody will see them under her clothes. Tonight while sweeping the floor, I thought of a shirt idea for them. I was thinking about embroidering on them "I could kick your butt" and "I ain't no sissy." This gave me a good chuckle while I worked away, and then I thought, "No, that's a good idea. That really sums up Lil'b."

Someone reading this might assume that I am very modern and maybe a "little gender bending," if I may use the term, but the humorous thing is I am not. I am also known to have read and enjoyed Mary Pride's The Way Home, devour my "No Greater Joy" magazine when it comes in the mail, and frequent blogs of Christian women known as "living the grid," keepers of the home, help meets, homeschooling etc.

Still, I think that it is a great shirt idea, especially for any energetic little girl, which I happen to have. If you know Lil'B, you know what I mean. I do not think it means she won't be feminine. It's just that she CAN kick your butt and it's sometimes funny (other times not :). I also thought of a shirt for my son, who is quite the momma's boy which would say, "I am a sissy." I think these things are funny. I'm sure someone else might not, but stay tuned for her new shirts. If I ever get around to them, I'll post them on my craft blog.

Other thoughts:

I've been reading a lot about "Off the Grid Living" recently, I find it very intriguing. Could I ever live with a compost toilet or wash my clothes with a bucket and plunger or grow all my own food? I think about these things a lot recently and I have no idea what will become of these thoughts. I like aspects of off the grid living like: low environmental impact, no mortgages, less city government dependence, lots of outdoor times, simple life, more time at home for everyone. B said no compost toilet, and he likes a washing machine. We'll see if he changes his mind.

Sunday Morning with Gramma and Grandpa and Playdough Recipe!!!

We had my folks over for breakfast this last Sunday morning. We all had a truly wonderful time. After munching down all the omelet and roasted red potatoes one could eat, I put Bug down for a nap and lil'b and I got working, making some playdough. Grandpa and Gramma thought this was so fun.

Grandpa really got into playdough fun and started creating a little world of creatures with lil'b. They made a snowman and our whole family with a bed to sleep on. Lil'b appropriately named the snowman Kim.

I'll share my playdoh recipe with y'all because it's the best, I think, and it was given to me by a good friend Jamie.

Playdough-

In a sauce pan mix-

1C flour
1/4 C salt
1 Tbs Cream of Tartar

Add-
1C Water
2 tps Oil

Mix

Cook on Med/High heat for 5 mins. Stir till ball forms in middle of pan. (It looks like it will never turn out, but it does, and it's wonderful to play with:)

After it's done, we put in food coloring and glitter!!!

Have you seen this man lately?

This used to be my husband. Nice somewhat clean shaven face(when he does shave-it's once a week.) But pretty fresh faced most of the time :) Over the summer and his hair continuing to outgrow mine, he decided to grow a beard. I'm not anti beards, I just don't like them when they get soooooo burly! Can any women blame me? Anyone out there a burly beard lover? I should ask for your help. I need to learn to love the beard.












So here is my husband today! Burly beard and still growing. I LOVE this man, but the beard is hard for me. I tried to be supportive in the beginning, and that was easy because I like a little scruff, but this is way beyond the scruff. I'm starting to feel like we should move to Alaska and start a fishing business-(for anyone living in Alaska owning a fishing business, no offense). The other day at work a co-worker of his said he looked like a rabbinical student, and he took it as a huge compliment. When he returned home to tell me, I was less than pleased. I'm not a bear of a wife, seriously I'm not! But the beard! WHY! Okay, that's enough complaining. Sorry you had to listen to all that.

Where Did We Go?