Mother's Day Hike

For Mother's Day, we got to go on our first family hike and picnic of the spring. It was a lovely day and a very enjoyable stroll through the woods.

Everyone is all ready for the hike!

Picnic first

They spotted me. Joe has better pictures of our hike, but I don't think he has put them on the computer yet.

Playing in the backyard.

Mother's Day flowers from my in-laws. They were gorgeous!

Snuggling with Papa.

Tattoos. This made them extremely happy. It is the little things :)

Foxy Mama

36 weeks

I don't recall the last pregnancy that I felt this good at this far along! Will try to update in the next couple of days with what we have been up to the last few weeks!

Craftiness!

I still have a couple of posts to finish up my Kansas pictures, but I am now getting behind on blogging current things, so here are some things we have been up to lately.

The nesting is in full force! Starting in my second trimester, I began to knit a wool diaper cover stash for the baby. And here it is! I can't promise that I won't knit anything else (in fact, as I was going through her dresses, I realized I really don't have a blue or green one, so I might need to do make those) but this is a good start I think :) She has two Sheepy sacks in the top corner for easy nighttime diaper changes. The four covers next to those are size small. And the ones on the bottom row are all newborn size. My sister Michelle knit three of them and gave them to me when she found out she was having a boy- lucky us :)
I have also been working on sewing some cloth diapers for the babe. Here are six newborn size fitted diapers (absorbent but not waterproof- used with a cover, for those who aren't familiar with diaper lingo) I have four size small diapers completed, and I am aiming for twelve of those. I am going to get some prefolds and contours and viola! diaper stash complete!
Here is my trusty little sewing buddy. He likes to sit by my sewing machine on a stool and watch me as I sew, and on occasion "help". He must be growing up because up until recently I couldn't have imagined in my wildest dreams that he would sit next to me for what amounts to 30 or 45 minutes at a time and just chat and behave himself. *sniff* My baby is getting so big!

He really likes the cloth diapers for "Baby Dell" He is holding a whole stack of them here.

While I was in Kansas, Joann Fabrics was having a sale on their snuggle flannel, in all sorts of cute prints . Who can pass up a bargain? So I bought some that I hemmed and made into receiving blankets for when the wee one is born. When she outgrows the need for receiving blankets, they can easily be recycled into material for larger cloth diapers.

Here is a blanket that trimmed with ribbon, similar to one I made for a friend a couple of months ago.

All my little helpers. They were enjoying tea and trail mix while I cut out some fabric.

Zoo Trip- Part I

We had the opportunity to go the zoo a couple of times while we were in Kansas. This day we went with some friends on a very warm but windy day. We kept it relatively short (a couple of hours) but the kids had a lot of fun. Here were some pictures from our day:

Visit to Grammie and Grandpa's!

Uncle Dave reading Issy and Isaac a book. A relatively long book, at that. He is a good sport :)

Grammie reading the kiddos a bedtime story.

Liam and Grace. I have no idea what he was doing in this picture. I do know that there were cupcakes (the most delicious cupcakes I have ever had, thanks Patty!) on the counter behind Grace, so perhaps that has something to do with his hand gestures?

Playdoh. A favorite at Grammie's house (and ours, for that matter!). Here is Isaac's playdoh necklace.

Getting ready for breakfast.

Grandpa set up this spectacular train track for Isaac on Easter, of which Isaac was very appreciative!

Uncle Joe and Conrad playing blocks

Baby Zane

Well, we shall start the series of update blog posts with the cutie who started it all. Part of the reason that we were going to visit Kansas at this particular time of year was because my sister was due with number 3 on April 8th. I attended her last birth and was *supposed* to attend this one. But this tricky little fella had different ideas about that. I planned my visit from March 27th- April 18th to give a nice, generous window to make it there. But he decided he wanted his birthday to be March 25th. So I missed it by a couple of days, but on the upside, had a chance to spend my visit with this squishy little bundle:

Zane Andrew

And there are some pictures with his cousins and Uncle Joe.

So much updating to do, it is a little overwhelming!

Shortly after my last post, I spent three weeks in Kansas with family and friends. It was great, though very tiring! And then immediately after we got back (like within a couple of hours) we started moving into the new house we are renting. Then I was without internet connection for a while. But I have a functional computer, the boxes are mostly unpacked, so I feel like I can make a return to blogging with a clean conscience. There is still plenty of nesting and crafting to be done before the baby arrives, but I will try to keep this updated better!

I have a gazillion pictures, so I'll try to sort through them and blog them in a logical order :) But for now:

34 weeks

People are finally starting to ask me if I am pregnant.

They just like him so much that they all needed to snuggle with him. At the same time. Including the cat.

First day of spring and completed sewing project

The weather has been gorgeous here the last couple of days- in the high 40s and 50s and sunny. In order to celebrate this happy occasion, the kiddos and I took a walk/ bike ride yesterday afternoon. They were pretty excited since their bikes have been put away for the last few months. Gorgeous! Spring is finally here :) And yes, I realize that there is a good deal of snow on the ground still. It is melting fast, though, and I am hoping it'll be mostly gone by the time we get back from our trip.

I went to the "big city" a few days ago to visit a friend (thanks for having us, it was fun!) We had to stop at Walmart to get some reusable containers for packing, so I made my way to the fabric department to see what I could find. And I got this adorable Monkey flannel! I love it, it makes me nerdily happy. A friend is due with her second babe in a couple of weeks and I have been meaning to sew something up for her. So this evening I sat down at my trusty Bernina and sewed up a little blanket and two burp cloths for the new little one. My sewing definitely isn't perfect, but I like the way everything turned out. When I get my prefolds, I might try my hand at embellishing some!

Close up of the Moon/Star/Cloud Monkey Flannel

Issy's birthday and her pictures!

Joe was out of town on her actual birthday, so we did a little family celebration last Saturday, and we gave her the present we bought her. Here she is feeling a little shy (and excited! her cheeks were flushed and her hands were kind of shaking as she opened her gifts) while we sang to her.
Daddy telling her about her gift (a little digital camera) and all the things she could do it with.

Explaining what all of the buttons do and how to get the best pictures.

Some of her good ones- she always asks me to get a bouquet of flowers when we go to the grocery store. I couple weeks ago, I told her I would get her some for her birthday. Liam was also interested in them.

Her dolly with the new clothes that Grandma bought for Issy's birthday. She insisted on dressing Kit up in each outfit and taking her picture. The headband even manages to disguise the scary hair cut that Issy gave her a couple of months ago. Thank you, Grammie and Grandpa!

It seems only right to document the balloon that Issy got for her birthday (that Liam sat on and busted less than 24 hours later). It was the biggest, most obnoxious birthday balloon in the store. RIP balloon.

Her best friend

She looooves her new camera (as her Daddy thought she would). Wore out the batteries in the first day- we will have to limit its use in the future. I'll post some more of her pictures in the future, she has an interesting perspective.

Entering the third trimester

My Sweet Pea is 6!

Six years ago today, I became a Mama to my little girl. I had convinced myself I was having a boy, so when they told me she was a girl, I exclaimed, "A girl! I have a daughter! I am a Mama!" She cried loud until they handed her to me, then she calmed some. And the rest is history.

I am so blessed to have such a beautiful, sweet, kind little girl.

Just cause he is cute :)

I haven't been taking very many pictures lately, because I can never remember where I put my camera (pregnancy brain, anyone?). So I haven't been updating my blog since I know that my kid's cuteness is much more exciting than me yapping. So I am posting a (quasi) older picture of my Isaac to satisfy the cute kid part and then I am going to ramble.

Other than one rather bleh day this past week, things are looking up. Yesterday we signed our lease for the house that we are going to be renting. Joe was going to see what he could move while we were in Kansas, and our move should be complete by the last weekend in April. I will post pictures when I get them (or more likely, once we are moved and everything is tidy again). I am glad that our move will coincide with my nesting, that shall surely make things easier.

The weather is a bit better. For the next couple of weeks, we don't have much snow in the forecast and it is supposed to be in the 40's most days, so that means a lot of snow melt. I think this might be the hardest part of the year weather wise. I just want 70 degree days and flowers and fresh spring air! I did, however, see my first robin of spring last week. It was nice to see him :)

We are very excited about our trip- I can hardly believe it has been a year since we were down to visit last time. I am hoping for a smoother trip than last time. We hit bad snowy weather on the way down and back last time and that was very stressful. Come on, good weather!

My Issy's birthday is coming up on Monday! I'll save it for a sappy post all dedicated to her, but I just can't believe that she is turning six. Where did my baby go? Isaac is doing well, we recently got him a book about volcanos and earthquakes, which interest him very much (geysers too). He is such a smart little cookie. Liam's potty training is going well. Very well. (Too well?) Sleeping arrangements aren't *great* but much improved over January. He usually stays in his own bed until midnight-2 and we have had some success with him sleeping on a mat on our floor when he comes in. Hopefully it will iron itself out by the time the baby arrives.

Baby Adelle grows- a lot! I have noticed her taking up more space in my abdomen (and starting to compete with my organs!) lately. I still feel relatively small, at least compared to my pregnancies with my boys. She is measuring right on though, apparently she is just efficiently using her space. Until a couple of days ago, she was flopping all around- breech, transverse, vertex all in the same day! Things must be getting tighter though, because she has been head-down (I think?) the last couple of days. I can't wait to meet her in June!

There is our update for now :)

Hoping to purge myself of the bad mood

I have been in a funk this week. And it really shouldn't be that way. I have taken extra care to be diligent in chores that sometimes slip (and then overwhelm me). I have really tried to be upbeat and in a good mood, hoping that would project onto the kiddos.

But alas. The "I am ready for spring to come, but it is still two months away" funk. The kids too. I am not sure if they are being more obnoxious (well, yes they are) or I just have a really low threshold for handling their whining and crying and fighting and did I mention whining? I think it is a combination of both and I am just at my wit's end.

This would be the less than glamorous side of being a stay at home Mom. The weeks when you just want to ship them off with relatives and have two or three days by yourself. Don't misunderstand- I love my kids with all my heart and I feel very blessed to get to stay at home with them. But I think that every Mom I know of has days (weeks? months?) like this. It is just hard to admit. Sometimes I am not perfect- my house is messy, the kids watch too much TV. They drive me crazy and frankly, I imagine that I drive them crazy too.

And then there are the weeks when we get to go hiking or to the park and play for hours or to the library and get ice cream afterward. Those are the weeks I am longing for.

Part of the problem is the restless feeling. We are visiting Kansas at the end of March, which everyone is very excited about. We just seem to be waiting not-so-patiently. After we get back, we are moving into a new house- more space, better layout, more room to breathe.

I just feel like we are on the cusp of all these exciting things- our visit, the move, setting up house and getting ready for the baby, her arrival. And this part is just bleh. I would pack, but honestly, whenever I try to do something productive, the kids just make a mess and it frustrates me. By the time they are in bed at night, I just want to relax and go to bed. Sometimes I can squeeze a hot bath or some knitting in there, but mostly just want to sleep.

So there, I have purged myself of all the yuckiness that has been building since Tuesday. And I hope to now get on with life. And hope my kids can happily follow along.

Belly and Liam updates

Even though I know how much you all have enjoyed my self-portraits in the bathroom mirror, I requested that Joe take a picture of me. So here is the 25 week belly pic:
I think I look like one of my sisters in this picture, though I can't decide which one. She grows, but I am pretty much all baby. I have finally gained back all the weight I lost the first trimester, plus a couple of pounds. She is a bit of a flip-flopper, which I don't appreciate at all. She is breech an annoying amount of the time, which I find pretty uncomfortable. Commit, Baby, Commit! Other than needing an afternoon nap, without which I am dead by 8:00 p.m., I feel very good!
Here is what Liam has been up to lately: pottying! He seemed interested, so we bought him a potty a couple of weeks ago, and he has been doing remarkably well. Kinda like Isaac actually. I don't want to jinx it, but I am optimistic that it will be a smooth transition. He is even staying dry at naptime and sometimes night! I am anticipating a setback when the baby comes, but that is still 3 1/2ish months away, so we will see.

Daddy helping Liam fix the computer ;)

Issy strikes again. Her brothers are so understanding.