Activities around the house

I haven't updated this thing recently, and here's why-- we've been busy!!

Take a look at some of the activities Jared and I have been doing around the house. I've been on a sewing kick these days and felt the need to take care of a few things before our newest arrival errr.... arrived.

First, the baby had to have a magic blankie just like Leah's (but different colors, of course).

Then I decided to FINALLY finish up the baby quilt that I started working on over 4 years ago. It has sat in our house with unfinished binding since January 2006. Go me and my fast project-finishing skills self.

Next I decided to make this other baby blanket for the newbie, similar to one a friend of ours had made for Leah. (Leah got a lot of handmade baby blankets when she was born. I didn't want this kiddo to feel left out right from the get go.)

And finally, I made this nursing shawl (it's folded in half in the photo so it actually provides twice the coverage) and little carry bag. I've still got a few miscellaneous projects I'd like to tackle, but for now I think I may need a bit of a breather.

While I've been sewing up a storm, Jared has been going buck-nutty with gardening.

He started by creating these mini greenhouses for some of our newly planted vegetables just in case we should have an unseasonal cold-snap, such as tonight. (As I type this, it is 34 degrees outside and there is snow falling in Houston.)

Then he built some new garden beds to house some blueberry bushes (they are planted in the bed above, but you can't really see them)...

... another new bed for some grapes...

... and a third garden bed for some blackberries and raspberries. (This is the one I will be frequenting most.)

And then he planted two apple trees, one peach tree, and one plum tree. Here's hoping all of these plants produce and we end up with some delectable fruit this summer!

Soooo... did you know we're having another baby? Yes? Did you know we were having that baby fairly soon? I didn't think so. Time flies when you are having fun, and we are currently less than 3 weeks from our due date of March 15th. I guess in some ways that could mean this baby could come 'any day now'. Yikes!!

I look funny in this photo. The smile is clearly fake, possibly because it was super cold out that morning and possibly because I was leaving for the commute of death in about five minutes (this is the most likely of the two), but Leah looked cute, so I figured I'd get over myself and post it.

Leah was being super sweet and wanted to give the baby nice pats. Apparently she has to lift up my shirt to do so.

Since 2nd baby is so close to making its debut, our friends offered to watch the Little Miss for a night so that Jared and I could go out on a nice dinner and a movie date to PF Chang's and to see Avatar. Thanks guys! :)

We don't let Leah watch TV too often, but Sesame Street is certainly becoming a favorite. I don't know why she gets such a kick out of Elmo, but apparently he is the greatest thing on earth. Here she is in her Elmo trance, snacking on some raisins. I particularly like how she's propped her foot up in the coaster holder as an added touch.

A little post-tub time Babe watching. I had to censor her in this one. :)

I came across this poem on another blog that I follow, and I felt compelled to share it with everyone. It really touched my heart and reminded me that our children are really only on loan to us for a little while, and that we have no idea or control over how long that "little while" will be. And every time I read it, I just want to scoop Leah up and hold her tight. So read it, and once you are done, go hug your babies (no matter how old they are) and remember how blessed you are to have them in your life.

GOD SAID
“For a little while I’ll lend you a child of mine for you to cherish while she lives, and mourn for when she is gone. Look after her for me! It may be two or three years before I will call her home.

Will you care for her?

She’ll bring you love, joy and happiness and should her stay be brief, you’ll have a whole host of memories as solace from your grief.” I cannot promise she will stay, since all from the earth returns to dust, but there are lessons taught below that I want this child to learn.

Will you love her?

I’ve looked the whole world over in my search for teachers true, and from the masses that crowd life’s lane at last I HAVE CHOSEN YOU. Now will you give her all your love and not think your labor in vain and turn against me when I come to take her back home again.

I fancied that I heard you say to me: “Dear Lord your will be done, for all the joy your child shall bring the risk of grief we’ll run. We’ll shelter her with tenderness. We’ll love her while we may, and the happiness we’ve known forever grateful stay. But should the angels call her much sooner than planned, we’ll brave the bitter grief that comes and try to understand.”

“I’ll lend you for a little while a child of mine, God said, for you to cherish while she lives, and mourn for when she’s gone.”

We had a bit of a rough go of it this past week in our house, as Leah and I both got pretty sick with a stomach virus. It wasn't pretty! But on the upside, Leah and I got to hang out together all week long, so that was a fun experience.


Here she is looking all sick and stuff.

We often let Leah play on her own in her room. This chaos is the result of one of those play sessions.

As the week progressed, we both began to feel like human beings again. That's when we started to get silly and do things like put on Mommy's shoes.

This is pretty triiiiiiickkyyyy.

Oh wait! I think I'm getting the hang of it!

Oh, and she's saying "Cheeeese!" to the camera at the start of the video. She likes to put on her cheese face every time the camera comes out. (Sorry, Laurie!)

Leah's trying to cover Heidi with the blanket and tell her that it's time for bed.

Enjoying some nice weather outside.

The girls both had haircuts the day this picture was taken.

Question: Do you like sea food?

See food!!! Sorry, I had to. :)

What's Leah doing these days? So glad you asked!

• She is learning her numbers! So far she sort of knows 1, 2, 3, and 9. But 2 is by far her favorite.
• She talks. Constantly. Up until last week, she understood the concept of sentences, but didn't quite know how to put words together yet. So she would just make noises and string them in between words she knew. (For instance, "Eeeehhhh Mommy Eeeeeen Daddy?") Last week she actually started to piece words together, the most popular phrase being "Up, please?" Which of course is tough to resist. She knows I'm a sucker.
• She likes to talk about her friends, Mia, Micah (Midah), and Ella (Owwa). On Thursday, we had friends from CT come visit, and while driving home in the car, I told her that we would have friends at our house when we got home. It was quiet for a minute, and then I heard, "Midahhh...an Miaaaa.... an Owwaaaa". Unfortunately that's not who I meant, but it's so cute how much she loves her little friends!
• She looooves to dance on our bed. So much so that whenever one of us heads to our bedroom she runs in behind us and pats her hands on the bed asking "P up? P up? Pup?" (P up = pick up). Which leads me to my next point...
• Jared and I joke about how Leah needs her own little dictionary for her Leah translations. She has a bunch of words that we know what they mean, and she knows what they mean, but anybody who is not around her all the time would have no clue. For example, "dew"=juice, "doda"= cookie, and "wee mee"=raisin. And believe me, "wee-mee" is a step up from wee-wee, which is what she used to call them. (And yes, she does have actual words that you can interpret-- lots of them! The Leah-isms are much more amusing though.)
• She likes to gently stroke your cheek, give eskimo kisses, and hugs.
• Particularly when she's tired, she likes to go "night night" on the floor in the living room. She'll pull a blanket off the couch, lay down, and pull it over herself while yelling "Night night!!"
• We have a very little slide in our yard, and she has just recently learned how to do it all on her own. The steps, the manuevering of the feet at the top, and sliding down. Her only preference is that you sit at the bottom to catch her.
• She likes to lift up my shirt, poke my bellybutton, and say "Baby".
• Old Macdonald is her favorite song to sing, and Twinkle Twinkle is her favorite song to listen to. (Who knew there are actually 4 or 5 verses to this song? And who knew that I'd be able to sing every one of them?)
• And of course, she likes to say no. A lot. She tests limits, is defiant, and is smart enough to know when I'm too tired to stand my ground (like when Jared is out of town for a while and I've had a long day at work). After all, she's 17 months old. It's to be expected.

And naturally, she is an absolute joy in our lives. We just can't imagine what it would be like without her.

Ella's Birthday Party

Ok, folks. I'm getting ready to jam weeks worth of pictures into a few short blogs. Because I am more than behind and need to catch up. (One of the items on my before-we-have-a-second-baby checklist. Right in between finish Leah's baby book to date [mostly done] and finish baby quilt that I began 4 years ago...)

A few weeks ago we went to Leah's friend Ella's birthday party. First we played on the slide...

Not so sure about this at first.
And after some words of encouragement, she finally gave in.
But the slide is the most fun when you go down with Alley!

... and then we played on the Big Bouncy Bus!

It was a little overwhelming, to say the least.