Success

Stella made the change to her new room like a champ. I don't know why, but I was kind of dreading it. It ended up being a breeze. Phew. That's one less thing I need to worry about before the baby comes.

Only 5 weeks to go.

I miss baking.

Freshly ground whole wheat is so pretty, don't you think? We needed bread, so I lugged my impossibly heavy wheat grinder out of the pantry and put it to work.

Baked goods give me heartburn these days. And ever since we opened Yodipity, my sweet tooth has been sufficiently satisfied so that my every-other-day baking sessions are no longer needed. I've been using my bread maker, but it's just not the same. Happily, yesterday's neighborhood block party gave me a good excuse to bake some cookies. It felt good.

I made standard Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies. They are a favorite around here.

Here's the recipe I use (it's from the Quaker Oats canister):

1/2 pound butter, softened

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

3 cups oats

1 cup chocolate chips (or raisins)

1. Heat oven to 350.

2. Beat together butter and sugars til creamy.

3. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.

4. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well.

5. Stir in oats and chocolate chips; mix well.

6. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.

7. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes about 4 dozen.

Sometimes I use whole wheat flour or add coconut (yesterday I did both). I usually only make half a batch, as I would most likely eat my weight in them if I could.

Stella enjoyed a cookie after her nap. She really did like it, I promise. What a silly girl she is.

Speaking of cookies and Yodipity, did you know that they have freshly baked cookies to add to your yogurt now? I may never need to bake again.

some Monday things

the requisite Easter Sunday shot in front of the front door
Do you take this picture at your house, too?

I know that Easter is not until this Sunday, but since we have General Conference* this weekend, we broke out the Easter outfits early and wore them to church yesterday.

I just love these blonde kids of mine. What do you think the chances are that no. 4 will have blonde hair and blue eyes, too? I'd say they are pretty high. I'm getting so anxious to see him. And hold him. And smell him.

I just remembered that last Easter, Stella was in her cast. Oh, it was awful. I'm so glad her little femur healed well. I wouldn't wish a SPICA cast on anyone.

It's definitely spring here. The wisteria vine on our house bloomed practically overnight and temperatures in the mid-80s are headed our way. To prepare for the heat, Mike installed a whole house fan on Saturday. He's so handy. Hopefully it will keep us from needing to use the air conditioning for a few more weeks.

My goal for the day is to finish alterations on a prom dress for a girl in my ward. I've put it off for too long. And I need to bake some sort of treat for our nieghborhood block party tonight. That's right. Our neighborhood has block parties. I love where I live.

Did you have a good weekend? What are your Monday plans?

*from mormon.org: General Conference is a bi-annual world conference of our Church, held in April and October, where members gather for five two-hour sessions to listen to instruction from Church leaders and at which official Church business is conducted. General conference is broadcast via satellite from the Conference Center at Church headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Unfortunately, men don't nest.

 An old trunk that belonged to my great-grandma makes a perfect table between the beds (and holds extra bedding). The lighted globe is my favorite night light. A red box from IKEA holds all of Oliver's secret things.

Welcome to Oliver's room. It is my new favorite spot in our house. I've been itching to get it finished before the baby comes. The last and biggest project on the list was installing paneling. It was a project I couldn't quite handle by myself, so I had to enlist Mike during some of his non-existent spare time. He was very helpful, even when he would have rather been relaxing on the couch. He must love me, because he certainly doesn't love installing paneling.

 Oliver's side, complete with "shippy", his fleece pirate blanket.

Since this room is in the basement, it doesn't get much natural light. I wanted to lighten the walls with more than just white paint. So we matched the paneling we have in our family room, which is next door, and also in the basement. I think it worked. The room is so much brighter now.

Mabel's side

Until the new baby is old enough to move downstairs, Mabel will sleep in Oliver's room with him (he would never in a million years sleep in the basement alone). I thought I should girl up her side just a bit with a pink M and the flowery quilt I made for her toddler bed back when she was a toddler and I thought toddler beds were a good idea.

I think my favorite part of the room are the reading lamps above the beds, from IKEA. They make a perfect spot for curling up with a good book, as demonstrated by the very willing Mabel.

Next to Oliver's bed is his red dresser, also from IKEA. His collection of boy things, like bottle caps, rocks, and seashells is housed in an old type drawer I yanked from my in-law's donation pile a few years ago. I knew it would come in handy some day.

And now we are one week and one major project closer to having this baby.

6 more weeks.

Yay!

That there's an RV, or How we spent our Spring Break.

Let me tell you something, when camping on the beach in Mexico, sleeping in an rv is about a million times better than in a tent. I promise.

It was even fun. There, I said it.

And now for some picture proof:

We frolicked in the pretty ocean.

And dug super deep holes in the sand.

Some of us looked really good in our swim suits.

And went crazy at sunset.

We ate lots of sugary cereal out of styrofoam bowls.

And of course we flew kites and found pink seashells.

It was definitely a success. But next time, let's get a condo. :)

The crib is ready.

Can someone please tell Stella that it's time for her to move out?

I really liked the design of Stella's crib bumper, so I kept it, just substituting the toile and check for the flowers. It's not fancy. But I was going for subtle and calming, anyway.

7 more weeks.

p.s. I think I felt my first ever-in-my-life contractions while booking it through Walmart the other day. Please note: Saturday afternoon trips to Walmart should be avoided at all costs. Whether you are 8 months pregnant or not.

This is the kind of thing that gets purchased when Grandma is in town.

But every girl needs her very own pair of pink ballet slippers/everyday shoes, don't you think?

The onesies are washed and folded.

Since this baby will spend the first three months of his life enduring a blazing hot Arizona summer, all he needs are onesies and light weight swaddling blankets. This week, I washed and folded his supply. They are tucked in his changing table and ready to go.

These are my favorite swaddling blankets. I hadn't discovered them in time to swaddle Stella, so her swaddling blankets were 45 inch squares of unfinished jersey fabric. They were perfect, but I think these aden + anais blankets will breathe better in the summer heat. They get softer and fluffier with each wash. I can't wait to wrap him up.

8 more weeks!

You could totally make this.

Honest.

The tutorial will be posted here over the next few weeks, but I am not that patient. I wanted to wear mine today. So I had to wing it. I am sure it would have turned out better/been easier if I had waited for all of the instructions first. Oh well.

I used a remnant of fabric marked as "linen" from my favorite fabric store (Sally's for all you locals - they have the best service, a ton of fabric, and they take Joann's coupons!). It has some stretch in it, which is ideal for maternity wear, of course, but I don't think it is really linen. After I washed it, it ended up kind of crinkly, which I love. Plus, since it was a remnant, it only cost $1.73. Score. The only problem was that I didn't have the full 3 yards the tutorial called for. So I had to make do with what I had.

If you happen to see me out and about in the next little bit, chances are, I'll be wearing this shirt. It's that comfortable.

I think it would be super cute even if you weren't sporting a ginormous belly like me. You should make it.

And now we are headed to the park. Because this day is just too lovely to spend indoors.

Have a good weekend!

This is what nearly 31 weeks looks like.

Well, this is what it looks like when you're short. I must not remember just how big I get when I am pregnant. Because right now I feel like I am all filled up. Like there's no more room. Like this baby can't get any bigger or my stomach is going to pop.

It's no wonder people get wide eyes when I tell them I have two solid months left. I wouldn't believe me, either.

p.s. I'm totally making this today. I am in desperate need of something easy to wear, something that doesn't require a modesty tee and doesn't slide down my bump. If I have 9 weeks left, I want to be comfortable.

The artwork is (mostly) up.

I am not an artist. I like to cheat and use fabric as art. It's foolproof. And anyone can do it.

I used things I already had: a swatch of the toile from the crib bumper, a pillow front I made but never used, and my newly embroidered e. I put them in the same hoops I used for Stella's nursery. What can I say? I know what I like and I stick to it.

I mod podged the cardboard E with some dark red scrapbook paper. Here are some delightful letter mod podging instructions from one of my best and most brilliant friends, Mrs. Dub.

9 weeks to go!

I like to pretend that I know how to embroider.

But really, I don't have any idea what I'm doing.

Oh well. I think this gets the point across. And it was fun!

Do you want to pretend to embroider, too? Here's what I did:

1. I printed a really big "e" on the computer.
2. Then I traced it with a light pencil onto the fabric.
3. I used 4 strands of embroidery floss for my stitches, which I tried to make as even as possible, but they are definitely not perfect.
4. After I finished the "e", I thought it looked a bit bare, so I added a few little knots around the edges.
5. It's plain and simple and just my style.

Are you a real embroiderer? Do you have any helpful tips to share?

Naming a baby is hard.

It's just so permanent. Mike and I have been having a hard time agreeing on names this time around.

So you can imagine my surprise when out of the wide open blue yesterday, Mike gave me the go ahead to name this baby whatever I wanted. Of course this immediately caused me to second guess the name I've been nearly begging him to choose for the past few months. After sleeping on it, I'm still not completely sure, but that didn't stop me from running to the craft store to pick up a big E today.

E is for Elliot.