What a whirlwind and its only THURSDAY!

Sewing project: carseat canopy! this is the finished result

Here is the another view of the canopy and the contrasting fabric on the other side

Here is a close up of the fabrics

Freezer meals! our top drawer in our freezer is completely full (and organized nicely)

Pumpkin chocolate chip bread- yum yum!

Nathan getting the nursery ready to paint

Shelley painting around the baseboards

Starting to paint the nursery!

Lentil's room is painted! here is her crib with her bedding (we'll be changing out the bumpers to breathable kind when she moves into her crib)

A close up of the bedding, somewhat girly but still modern and funky!

Another view of her bedding and some of her stuffed animals

(just in the crib for fun for right now)

Changing table

Another view of the nursery with the glider rocker

Nathan taping off the guest room- this was his first time painting a room- he did AWESOME!

Nathan peeling the tape off

Me helping to paint- I did the middle of the walls, Nathan had to do up high and down low.

All done! Nathan picked the color and everyone loves it!

(I guess living with an artist is rubbing off)

This week has been super crazy busy for us! We've accomplished so much, which feels really good, but the sore muscles feel not so good. Nathan and I painted the guest room Saturday night and cranked out the whole room in 2 hours. My aunt Shelley and uncle Curt came down and had a "getaway" weekend, we had some fun date nights. Curt left on Sunday and Shelley stayed with us to help us with some projects (she just left this morning).

Monday we grocery shopped and cranked out 18 freezer meals. Tuesday we cranked out another 6 and painted the nursery and put the bedding in. Thats 24 meals in two days! (22 now since we ate two to try them out!) plus we froze cookie dough and loaves pumpkin chocolate bread for treats. These freezer meals will come in handy after the baby comes and I'm so grateful for Shelley's freezer meal knowledge- I learned so much!

Tuesday and Wednesday we also did a lot of shopping, picking up odds and ends for the nursery, painting, and getting stuff ready for the baby to come (it really helps having someone who has kids telling you helpful hints to make everything easier). Wednesday we also made a carseat cover for Lentil's carseat (ok so I did more watching and Shelley did the sewing). These past few days have been such a whirlwind filled with a lot of laughs and busy busy days! (my legs are so sore from all the running around!) THANKS so much for all your help Shelley!

Trimester

From XKCD.COM

Family Baby Shower

I had to find a photo of Loralie with her darling son Bruce (he was the star of the party), he is so CUTE!

Nathan's finger puppet that Aunt Diane and Uncle Paul gave us, this gift couldn't represent Nathan better! He loved it! (I loved how Aunt Diane had to show Nathan where to put his fingers)

Lentil's room after we arrived home- we are very blessed, thank you everyone!

Another view of the nursery

Lentil's first Madame Alexander doll- Nellie gave it to her (Nellie got one when she was little and wanted to start the tradition with Lentil- how sweet!)

Presents everywhere!

Lentil's crib bedding set from my dad- just incase you were wondering we are painting the walls the purple gray color (next week's project)

Nathan was so excited to get clothes that say "daddy" on them

Lentil's first "tree hugger shirt!" it says "little miss nature" on it

Aunt Diane and Uncle Paul know me too well- this is Lentil's tree hugger book- made from recycled materials and its about saving the environment!

Me pointing to my eyes as I'm crying- this blanket was started by my mom and found among her things after she passed away, my grandma Helen finished it for me (there wasn't a dry eye in the room)

Quilt made by my grandma Helen

Sitting by the gifts

Loralie, Me (of course being a dork and laughing) and Nellie

My sister Katie and my Aunt Shelly (party planners!)

Aunt Jill and Aunt Dee

Faye, Aunt Diane, Sharon, and Suzanne

Our fab buffet

Take home favors- Katie did an awesome job!

The family shower was a blast! Thank you to everyone who came! It was so much fun laughing and spending the afternoon with friends and family. The boys hung out downstairs and played the Wii and the gals enjoyed the party. Unfortunately, my grandma Helen woke up that morning with the flu and was unable to join us for the shower. It was sad that she couldn't come out of her room to join us but you can't control when you get sick, she is doing much better now. My family has been very excited for this new baby (I think Lentil will bring a lot of healing and joy to our family) so they went a little crazy buying gifts, I was opening presents for over an hour! However, we are very grateful for everyone's generosity! The gift that was the most special was a crocheted pink afghan that my mom was working on for someone when she passed away, my family found it, and my grandma finished it for me (thank goodness Lentil is a girl). Of course I was crying and so was everyone else- it is something that I will treasure forever. Thank you again to everyone!!!

Just a few things-

This is an exciting week for us. Tuesday was Steph's birthday and we attended baby class which was on baby safety (cpr, heimlich maneuver, etc.), we also had our car seat checked by safety technicians to make sure it was installed correctly. On Friday, we will be driving north to spend time with family who are throwing us a family baby shower. Nathan is even taking a half day so we can go up early.

Nathan also rearranged "the man cave" aka the loft- I'm still trying to decide if I like the new arrangement, it works though. We also welcomed a new niece two weeks ago, and we are really excited for Steven and Kara!

Star Wars Man

So we don't normally post links to stuff but we had to post this one! We came across a different link of this pianist (Jason Lyle Black) who showed up Jon

Schmidt during Schmidt's own concert (which rocked since we CAN'T stand

Jon Schmidt).

Anyway- check out this video of Jason Lyle Black's musical parodies!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlsBGygj2xQ

29 weeks and counting!

Baby bump at 29 weeks

Our new travel system!

The stroller!

The carseat!

For our combined birthday gifts we purchased a travel system for Lentil. Nathan was excited because it arrived on his birthday- so it truly was a birthday gift! We had been researching travel systems for weeks, checking out safety ratings and recalls. We found this Chicco travel system (Chicco has some of the highest safety ratings) for an INCREDIBLE deal- like such a smokin' hot deal we could not pass it up (think Graco prices and you'll know how sweet of a deal it was). We were so excited we put it together yesterday and we've already installed the base in our car!

Happy Birthday Nathan!

Nathan and I finished reading The Count of Monte Cristo on his birthday

Nathan reading his birthday cards he received from family

Nathan's birthday cake- he wanted a spice cake with coconut pecan frosting (he always asks for this cake for his birthday)

Nathan making a wish and blowing out the candles!