Livin' the Life We Dream

11.08.2010

Welcome Baby Girl!

At about 12:30 this morning, November 8, my little niece was born healthy to a very tired Mama! I heard it was both stressful and amazing, and that Carolyn was steadfast and inspiring! Baby was bright eyed and alert after the first few moments and has dark hair, a dimpled chin, and many of her Mama's beautiful features. Congratulations, Mom and Dad!

Zac holding his baby girl for the first time!!

*She wasn't named or weighed when Grandma left at 2 am to get sleep. : )

11.07.2010

Today I'm Thankful for ...

BIRTH!!

I've been stalling on this post tonight, waiting with my cell in hand, to hear big news! My brother and sister-in-law are at the Birthing Center as I type (they've been there all day) working towards the arrival of their first child, a little girl! It's all very exciting!!!

Congratulations, Zac and Carolyn!!! Can't wait! I'm sending you the very best vibes I have and lots of love and the rest of my energy! I hope it helps! And I hope everything is going well down there! Love you!

*I'm also thankful for the rise in technology! That I can follow along via text in the birth events is amazing!! (although I haven't been updated now in 51 minutes ... makes me nervous ... except my step-mom is actually in there with them, and, really, she should not be texting. I'm sure there are more important things for her to be doing!) ... When one of my cousins was born, 20 of us were on Facebook having a running dialogue for an hour or more as my cousin brought us play-by-plays from the delivery room, and we placed bets on the time, the size, the sex, the name. Even then I remember being so shocked (and yet so, so glad!) that he was posting as he watched the birth of his child!

The birth of a child is an amazing and wonderful event, and I feel so blessed to have experienced it four times myself. Indeed, I am very thankful today for birth.

Pumpkin Patch 2010

Along with approximately 7,000 other people, we headed to Stoney Ridge Farms as a family one beautiful Saturday afternoon. *You may recall, we also went with Collin's class the week prior. We had intended to also go with Owen's class, but we thought he was going on a Friday. His class split up, and he went on Thursday unbeknownst to us. (Well, we knew he was going on the field trip and had given permission, but we thought he was going Friday AND had planned to join and assist!) Major bummer. But anyway, the whole family went one sunny Saturday:

Two and a Half and Oh-So-Fabulous!

Eli was just under three months.

On the wagon ride out to the patch and apple orchard!

The pic above is one of my favorite pictures ever. One of my others is of Collin eating his first hand-picked apple!

(I love the biplane in the sky above!)

*Kate is clapping for joy! The perfect, round, green pumpkin is a treasure indeed!

As you can see, we went straight from a soccer game! : )

That's Uncle Jared pushing Kate and the pumpkins! He and Janae came up for the adventures!

Seriously, Owen is eating one of the biggest apples ever!! Several people commented and asked where he'd picked it!

The pics on the farm are some of my favorite every year. I'm a total spaz with the camera on this day - both because I love the pics and because I have so much fun on this trip that I don't want to forget a second of it! (and I have a terrible memory; pictures work wonders to jog it and bring the memories flooding!)

Jack-O-Laterns 2010

Collin's beard says it all! Cleaning out pumpkins is mucky business! But it can be so much fun! This year after a day at the farm with Uncle Jared and Aunt Janae, we did the pumpkins in two phases:

I. Clean out the Pumpkins (at our house with J+J)

II. Carve the Pumpkins (at the neighbor's house, with Kevin's pumpkin waffles for dinner!)

The Boys' Halloween Art

Collin's Pumpkin (He's big into drawing castles and knights and dragons at the moment - I think there's a medieval drawing book at school - so a haunted castle was right up his alley!)

Mine, Kevin, and Kate's Pumpkin - we all contributed to this work of art! I wanted a traditional Jack-o-Latern. Kevin wanted a beauty mark (which inspired Rebecca to name our pumpkin Robert De Niro). Kate wanted triangles.

And now for the token cheese:

11.06.2010

Siblings

Today I am thankful my kids have siblings.

This morning, Owen became inspired to write. He started by writing out the alphabet on a card, then he asked if I'd help him write a few words. I agreed (of course) and helped as I made coffee, hot chocolates, and omelets for breakfast. Next thing I know, Collin has stepped in and started writing the requested words on cards for Owen to read and copy from! By the end of the morning, Owen had drafted this card listing some of his favorite things:

Meanwhile, Kate turned Eli into a real-life doll:

Poor kid. *I confess that once Chrissy and I painted our little brother's nails and dressed him up. He was so cute! (He was maybe two then, but to this day, he has better hands and nails than either of us.)