three

Happy birthday, dear Avery!  Our baby turned three today.  Three!  We had a sweet and happy day together that was filled with little treats for her from morning to night.  At breakfast she opened one little present - a pinkie-pie pony and some stickers (from her cousins), and then after her pancake lunch she got to open two more from us - a mama-made ballerina doll and felt play cake for tea parties.

We spent the afternoon having a playdate with her besty, Ava, and her mama (and baby brother came too).  They played super well together - at least until the magic unraveling hour - and I enjoyed the perk of a good visit with Erin and the freedom from playing with blocks and dolls for the day.  Ava brought another present for Avery and the fun continued with a new dress-up bear family and movie and cute new shoes.

Here comes the cake!  After supper, Avery got her request for chocolate cake and sprinkles.  It was so fun to see the change in how she reacted to this birthday compared to her second and her first.  I'm pretty sure the actual cake is what the word 'birthday' means to her, as opposed to a date on a calendar, so this got some pretty excited smiles out of her.

After cake we had a surprise call for some computer facetime from Nana and Papa in Korea.  Avery was so excited to show off her new presents and the cake and tell them about her day.  With lips and fingers wiped clean of frosting she was snuggled into bed ... the shock of chocolate likely making it difficult to start dreaming of sugarplums.  Her birthday was overall kept pretty low-key and simple (about as much as my overwhelmed preggo brain could handle), but she seemed to have a great day.

Happy birthday, beautiful girl!  We love you so!

happy things

:: Homemade chocolate chip cookies.  Are they "the best ever"?  You judge for yourself, but I can say they were just what I was hoping for.

:: Choose your own outfit day.  This is her idea of the 'princess-ballerina' look.

:: This hair.  Oh this hair.  We're a little bit stumped as to what to do with this hair.  There's an undeniable seventies/muppet/angel vibe going on ... with a strong dose of dutch ... and we just don't know what to do.  Barrettes only last a minute.  Pig-tails, pony-tails and braids, well really who does that unless there's a reason to leave the house?  Any suggestions out there?

:: Baby goodies made and sent off in the mail for another commission.  Now my slate is clear and I'm prepping to begin sewing for a wee little shop opening in the near future!  

Happy weekending!

bumpdate :: week 30

This weekend marks 30 weeks of growing a baby!  Three-quarters done and I have a feeling the last stretch will go really fast.  I feel huge (already) and have to remind myself that I still have another good amount of belly-poppin' to go.  I'm getting tired, and uncomfortable, and can't believe how awkward I feel.  Beginning the third trimester seems to have caused some haywire on my emotional switchboard.  It doesn't take much to make me feel a little off kilter, and I'm quickly figuring out what things will definitely set me off.  For example, being outside just long enough to feel a little warm guarantees an emotional breakdown and an uncontrollable time of sobbing.  I want summer to last, if only to get my crop of tomatoes, zucchini and cukes, so I won't wish fall on too soon ... but I plan on spending the rest of summer inside.  Gah!  

Otherwise, it's a good time, this growing a baby business.  I can't get enough of feeling the baby move around - kicking and rolling and shaking things up.  All is going well, according to the doctor's visits, and I'm trying not to worry too much about another early delivery.  I'm trying not to 'will' it into happening, too, because I am feeling just so ready and excited to meet who this little one is.  

I've been in a nesting mood.  Seems early, but then again I suppose I've been nesting for nearly three years now and this is technically super-nesting.  

:: Levi painted the baby's room at the start of the week - "calming cream" and a much lighter feel overall.  It must be calming because I keep finding myself sitting in there, letting time slide past.  

:: I've come up with a new 'inspiration page' that I could add girly or boyish touches to once we bring home our baby.  I love the butterfly pillow in the middle ... so if baby isn't a girl, I might have to whip it up for big sister's room.  

:: I've sorted through boxes of baby blankets and newborn clothes to wash what can be used by either girl or boy, and to decide on a couple things to bring baby home in.  Surreal ... and wonderful.

:: We've had a pretty steady stream of desserts thanks to a recent urge to bake ... and thanks to a plethera of berries and fruit that have to be used up somehow.  Cherry pear crumble, raspberry buttermilk cake, chocolate chip coconut oatmeal cookies, plain cake with all kinds of toppings ... not just nesting, but craving.

:: Like you saw, I canned one jar of green beans ... and then today I learned from my Mom that I didn't do it right at all - as in, should have processed for 3 hours as opposed to 25 minutes and leaving them as is could well have given us all food poisoning down the road.  Nesting = having no remorse throwing them in the garbage because I enjoyed the process anyway (as in nothing made me cry).  

As for the little Miss ... she's nearly three and is acting accordingly.  Impossibly demanding, whiny, and emotional, but just as impossibly adorable, clever, and imaginative.  She moves all day long, chatters all day long, sings loud and begs for companionship constantly.  When she is playing on her own, her chatter is adorable to listen to as she creates scenarios between her little play people or dollies.  Something new, as of today, is creating names for her little people when usually it's simply "daddy, mommy, baby, or dolly".  Today she added "Jammeo".  She asks us to read books to her constantly, around the clock, and she has amazing patience for the incredibly long stories that have us gasping for a glass of water by the end.  And if it's not books then she's asking for us to build her things out of lego or blocks.  "Daddy, should you build me a house?  And a crib?  And a farm?  And a rodeo?  And a bike?" 

We often wonder what it will be like with two to take care of, but given Avery's personality we're pretty sure we'll be okay.  We're down right excited!

beans

I canned green beans today.  One full jar!  Ha!  Not exactly an applause-worthy picture of productivity, but it did prove two things to myself.  1) I'm able to can things and remembered enough (with the help of my BH&G cookbook) from my Marmee's tutorial last summer, and 2) I have a terrible sense for calculating volume.

practicing

... and already pretty sweet at it.

farming

Avery's feeling pretty sure of her green thumb these days.  Yesterday, while searching for more ripe raspberries to pick she informed me: "Hey Mom, I'm a good farmer".  She then helped me collect green beans and peas (what's left of them), and today she helped me dig up some of the first red potatoes for supper.  Well, I dug - she counted them - and then she flung dirt around for a while - but in her mind she was farming.

I finally tackled my overgrown rhubarb plant and now have a few bags ready for desserts in my freezer.  

I love that Avery's getting the chance to see what it's like to grow our own food, even a small amount - to enjoy the process of watching things grow and waiting until they're ready.  I love that she happily ate her portion of potatoes tonight (which are delish with fresh parsley, butter and sea salt), knowing that she'd helped in the 'farming', when normally potatoes don't get much attention on her plate.

I love having something come up wild and untended that we can throw on our lunch (leftover) pancakes.  I love that my Mom sent a second set of canning supplies home with us and that I'm casually looking up how to can green beans ... like I'm domestic or something.

 

holidaying

Being away from home and in Kelowna with family for 2.5 weeks was such a treat.  I miss family + I miss mountains, lakes and trees + I miss city indulgences and availabilities = perfect getaway.

On day one we spent about 14 hours in the van to get to Kelowna in one stretch.  I had bags and bins stuffed to the gills with treats and activities - fully prepared that such a long trip was surely a bad idea and Avery would be miserable.  As it was, she was an absolute stellar little traveler and hardly needed a single thing that I'd packed.  We didn't even hear her whine!  I chalked the trip up as a miracle.  Levi and I kept ourselves entertained with angry birds on the iPod and a brand new baby name book to help us narrow down a shortlist.

We started our holiday with four days camping out at Hedley, BC, with a large group of extended family from my Mom's side.  It was a Wedel family reunion!  Really nice time of getting reacquainted with family (and in some cases meeting for the first time) and simply a lot of fun to take Avery camping for the first time.  She was giddy about sleeping in a tent and charmed our socks off by going to sleep without fuss and not stirring all night for all three nights.  During the day there were long hikes, old gold mines to explore, gold panning in the river (for the hopeful), and board games to play.

Our agenda for the next two weeks in Kelowna was a clean slate with only a wish list of things we hoped to do while we had the opportunity.  Things like going to the beach, seeing movies at the theatre, dining out, scouring the best used bookstore in town, buying some new goodies and of course spending as much time with our families as possible.  Having that much time made it all feel possible and really restful.

We loved staying at Mom and Dad Simpson's, especially as they were preparing to leave for Korea at the end of the two weeks.  Dad has begun a new adventure as principal of a BC off shore school, and Mom has joined him for one month before she'll return to Kelowna and her job there.  We had a different kind of visit with my parents (but just as great) as they've just moved out of their home of 24 years and were living in limbo at an RV park.  We missed their move-in date by two days, but we'll be able to stay with them at Christmas.  The funny thing is that their new home is on the same street and about a 1 minute walk from where Levi's parents live!  We got to spend a weekend with Ian and Steph, who came down from Vancouver, and we enjoyed good one-on-one time with each of my siblings, too.

Our trip home on Monday was just as easy and whine-free as the first trip.  Avery was amazing again and we enjoyed a couple different pit-stops.  Took a good walk around Canmore's trails and pushed our way through Calgary to drop in on Ikea.  Our van was stuffed to the max when we left Kelowna, but we figured it was worth a little time spent reorganizing and repacking if something caught our eye in Ikea.  

Sometimes it's a bit of a relief to come home after a long holiday away, but in this case I think it was harder to come home.  This week has been spent catching up on yard work and organizing and cleaning and it's all felt a little LOT overwhelming.  I have to blame my wild preg-mones for a lot of my emotional state, but I do recognize that it's simply not easy to come back to reality after having such a lovely rest from life's regular duties ... not to mention four doting grandparents who took on Avery's requests for attention 90% of the time.

It's taken me all week to feel like I like my home and I'm okay with being here, but we do have some pretty great things to look forward to as we finish up summer and anticipate fall.  One more month of summering, a visit from our dear friends the Browns, the return of students to the college, and of course the arrival of baby!

home

We're home.  It's been vacay time and our little family escaped to Kelowna for a good two and a half weeks.  It was such a good holiday, and I'll share more later, but not today.  With a full day of traveling and a very busy day of unpacking and organizing the mountain of stuff that spilled out of our van, we've been in need of some time to return to normal.  In the midst of the first day of unpacking the mess was abandoned and Avery and I headed out in the yard to inspect the garden and see what we could find growing.

I think we made it home just in time to catch the first crop of ripe raspberries off our straggly patch in the back corner of our yard.  We have some pretty self-sufficient bushes back there that are giving us berries despite never being watered and only getting partial sunlight.  Avery was a great harvester, being gentle enough not to squeeze that many, and not keeping too many for her cheeks either.

Otherwise, our garden has made some good progress while we were away.  Weeds are definitely growing, and the job is enormous enough to spread it out over a few days, but it's also a little easy since they've grown taller than the vegetables at this point.  Tomatoes have little green babies, and both our zucchini patches are showing some life.  Our potatoes are enormous and I'm sure we could dig up some little baby spuds by now.

Last night for supper we enjoyed the first pick-and-eat of the season as I filled my colander with long green beans, teensy little carrots, and sugar snap peas for a stir-fry.  Had to do it in blitz mode since the skeetos were out with a vengeance, ticked off that we'd hidden our fat arms from them for so long.  Welcome home to us.