the story of my life right now

 Climbing and Dumping.  Climbing and Dumping.  Climbing and Dumping.  

an early gift

According to our Advent Activity Calendar, day four directed the girls to open an early present.  I have to be honest.  This present was as much for me as it was for them.  I have wanted this for years.  

 I wanted a creche that was beautifully made, yet functional.  And functional for a three year old means she can play hard and it won't break.

We put the creche together by ourselves, which is a feat in itself as I have a terrible time following directions.  You know it's bad when your three year old is looking at the pieces and the picture and telling you what to do.

We like to read The Jesus Story Book Bible.

Abby liked using the both the pictures from the story and the characters during play.  There was a lot of singing about the beautiful baby.  She has just started to engage in imaginative play contently by herself.  As you can guess, hearing a three year old retell the Christmas story is pretty awesome.  My favorite part was Mary and Joseph using their cells phones to call their aunts and uncles with the good news.  :)

christmas tree saga 2011

                                           

every year i make our family buy a live tree.  except for one year when we bought the cheapest, ugliest artificial tree from craigslist.  we did that because josh seems to be allergic to Christmas trees.  for the first three years of our marriage, i didn't believe him.  i'm such a jerk.  the artificial tree was so depressing we went back to live trees  - even though josh has issues with it.  please don't be offended if you have an artificial tree - there are some beauties out there.  both of our parents have gorgeous trees.  

finding the *perfect* tree consisted of shaking two trees and asking abby which one she liked.

coco was made. 

i get a little uptight about placing the lights correctly.  josh knows his role at this point.

planning and plotting the light situation.  we had to go to home depot TWO times in ONE night for more lights and a bigger tree base.  yes, they must be color lights.  one little lady insists.

 drinking coco late at night was too much excitement.

ornaments were dumped in a frenzy.  even the glass ones.  and abby jumped on one splitting her toe open.  and that ended christmas tree hunting fun day very quickly.

and we were out of band-aids so josh made abby a much needed cast from paper towels and purple tape.  if it fell off in the night so awoke screaming, "I need my cast!"

one night later the blasted allergenic tree is up and decorated.  and all is well.  as well as it can be if you have a fake cast and an allergy to Christmas trees.

but really.  all is well.   

this moment

joining amanda in - 
{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

the birthday girl

last weekend we celebrated this little lady turning one.  

photos above courtesy of the godmama, rachel stadelmeier.


birthday morning:

i know it's out of focus and the horrendous tv is in the background, but can you feel the love?

big sister needing a turn as well.

eleanor's birth story.

After my big day out to three grocery stores, cooking for an army but really just to feed our family of soon to be four, and a late night run to a baby superstore, I woke up tired and feeling very slow.  And feeling all done being pregnant.  But it was a still a week before my due date and things in our life are rarely early... we are ten minutes late kind of people.

I went to see the fairy godmothers as we refer to them around our house.  Without going into too much detail, the midwife said I could probably have the baby today but maybe tomorrow.  Okay.  I should probably go pack a bag or something I remember mumbling dumbly.

Instead of packing a bag, I went to my mom's and took a nap.  Gram played with Abby and I think I slept a bit.  After my nap, I felt tired but okay so I decided to take Abby back to our house and so I could hurry up and wait.  On my way home, I started to have contractions but didn't want to admit it.

Abs and I played a bit.  I wandered aimlessly upstairs and down.  My bag still wasn't packed and I really needed to finish knitting a hat for Eleanor.  Obviously, I am completely rational.  Hence quadrupling recipes.  Clean sheets needed to be put on the bed.  I knew what needed to be done, but I couldn't do a thing.

And then contractions started to come steadily.  Slowly and not too strong.  Just enough to be annoying.

Our kitchen was freshly renovated and finished the week before.  Someone came to complete a few little things.  I joked with him that if I had to go get the ladder in the basement I would have the baby that night.  I didn't tell him I was having contractions.  I hadn't even told Josh yet.  So once he left, I called Josh to tell him it was probably time to come home.  It was around 4 p.m.

Josh took his sweeeet time getting home.  I probably should have been a little bit more direct, but I didn't know how fast things were going to go.  I called the midwives to check in.  I called my parents and they came to play with Abby.  At 5 p.m. I went up stairs to try to finish knitting my hat, make my bed, and pack my bag.  Yes, in that order.  I halfheartedly packed a bag with a sweet little outfit, some newborn diapers, a hat, and some random odds and ends for me.  The bed didn't get made by me nor did the hat get finished.

Nearing 6 p.m. Josh came home and had some dinner.  I was doing the strong contraction thing upstairs.  It may appear that I am painting Josh in a bad light, but I might be like a cat when it comes to labor - I would rather go off in a dark corner and do it by myself.

At 6:30 p.m. I knew it is time to go to birthing center so we go.  I kiss my little girl goodbye and tell her we will see her soon.  The car ride is as close to hell as I want to ever get.  Nuff said about that.

I literally bolted as fast a woman in transition can bolt to the jacuzzi tub.  I quietly hung out there trying to let go of controlling the pain and go with it.  But truthfully, I was scared and tired and I kept saying, "I just don't want to do this anymore."

Our midwife gave me some options and I choose the one that could bring Eleanor here faster: break my water.  Josh asked if I want some music.  It was still in the car.  Do not leave me was all I could think.  I'm not sure if I responded verbally.  He stayed with me.  My water was broken.  I had an urge to push that could have moved a mountain and Eleanor was out of me and in my arms.  Just like that.  So quickly.  So quietly.  Just like the night.  It was around 8 p.m.

At 9 p.m. even though it was late, our parents came with our little night owl so she could meet her baby sister.  The first thing she said as she held her sister was, "Oh Mommy, can we take her home with us?"  I think we can arrange that, my dear.

A very happy birthday to my dear little Eleanor.  

last day as an infant

 

A year ago today, I was driving my husband crazy by spending about three times what our weekly food budget is in one shopping trip.  I had to.  Some people clean before the baby arrives.  I double quadruple meals to freeze.  I needed to quadruple three different meals so we did not starve once our second-born arrived.   All in one day.

And then once I had cooked all that food and and frozen it,   I had to go to BabiesRUs with my mom and make her buy a carseat for her car so that Abby could be carted around by her - just in case.

No wonder Eleanor came the next night!

And now here we are a year later.  She is walking.  She is giggling.  She is starting to talk.  She is amazing.

Stay tuned for Eleanor's birth story tomorrow on her first birthday.  I should have done this...well... months ago.

weekend craftiness

My dear auntie came back to the Burgh to visit and craft last weekend.  It was a really special time.  We got to do all of my favorite things - go out to lunch, wander aimlessly around Anthro all the while saying, "We could so make that." and of course craft a bit.  I even was convinced that I could in fact wear goldenrod - a color I have always wanted to wear but never thought I could.  Yes, it was a big weekend.  

I've needed to make new pillow covers for about a year.  That was my goal for the craft time... it also became my aunt's goal to help make it a possibility.  

Some garland love.

Brother number two trying his hand at painting fabric for (different) pillows that my aunt makes with her equally talented husband.  

Final Product:

My mom's turn:

One of Abby's favorite activities - pinning.

Abby also worked on her pillow

And then another pillow with her aunt

The finishing touches on the pillow covers

Love!

remember kindness

something abby and i are both working on:

we had a quiet moment to paint.

both paintings are hanging above the sink to remind us to slow down and remember to be kind with ourselves and each other.