It's a Girl!

Cora Elise Brindle was born Friday, December 13th at 9:30am. 7 pounds 7 ounces 21.5 inches long :)

Postal Paper

I had a couple of small gifts to send to the nieces and nephew (I don't want them to forget entirely that I exist), and instead of just shipping them off like a normal person would, I had to go and turn the packaging into a project for myself. But really, why the heck not, it's not like I'm doing anything else right now....

I carved a little stamp and then printed it one zillion times on a tube of postal paper. I doubt my brothers (or their children) will notice, but I had a lot of fun and I think the finished product is pretty dang cute. Even if I do say so myself!

A Week Overdue

You know you're super preggers when you wear a dress for a shirt because none of your (or your husband's) t-shirts are long enough to cover your gut anymore....

Also, look at how HUGE my fingers are! Sausages!!

Ergo-Eric

And the gifts keep rolling in.... people are so nice! Well, in this case, my parents are super nice (which we knew); they sent us an Ergo-baby!

I'm pretty sure that this is one of Eric's favorite gifts that we've received so far. He was pretty excited to try it out....

..... and he doesn't look thrilled here, but I think the cat liked it pretty well, too. He kept tucking his head down on Eric's chest and trying to fall asleep. If Eric hadn't been galloping around the house in glee, he probably would have succeeded :)

Thanks, Parents!

Thank You

Just got this adorable little outfit in the mail today. It's difficult to tell from the picture, but the fabric has tiny grey puckered dots - super cute. It's so soft and I'm completely in love with the little pocket and hood. Unfortunately, it didn't say who it was from... So if you're reading this - whoever you are - thank you! I love it!

Overdue

The wait continues....

Fortunately, I've been able to keep myself pretty busy.

I've been practicing my sewing skills, making puzzles by the fire, reading, cleaning (but not too much), and trying to get Christmas shopping done. I also learned to make Aebleskiver. Aebleskivers? Aebleskiver. They're basically just a round, cute, Danish version of the pancake. They may be my new favorite breakfast. So fluffy!

It's looking like it's going to be a while longer, though, folks. I think I'll go make some more aebelskiver in an attempt to enjoy the wait.

One Week to D-Date

This year has gone by more quickly than any previous year of my life. Point of fact: we have one week left until our due date.

Yeah.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

I've been a bit slow in packing for the hospital and getting baby stuff ready to go (I still have to wash clothing so the little tyke has something to come home in), but the nursery is at least ready to be inhabited.

Here are a couple of panoramic views of it:

Like I've mentioned before, we really didn't want to spend a ton of money on decorating a room for a child that can only focus on things 8 inches in front of its face. Our big purchase was the rocking chair; pretty much everything else was given to us or we had on hand already. 

I'm not a huge fan of the curtains, I think we will eventually have sheers and a roller shades, but these work for now. 

Eric's mom gave us the alphabet needlepoint and the "Never Doubt an Eagle Scout" was letterpressed by a friend in college. The dresser was mine as a kid, and the baskets and bins are full of Eric's childhood toys. A friend has promised me her changing pad which we'll put on top of the dresser. 

Here's the marvelous crib Eric's aunt gave us; my mom made the blanket hanging on the end of the crib, Eric's mom made the goat pillow (I am aware that you can't have pillows in the crib with a kid, but I'm waiting for Eric to get his guns out of the closet so I can store stuff in there), and the Viking ship mobile was given to us by Nick and Hanna.

I'd better go do some laundry - with only a week left, this room could supposedly be utilized any day now.

Retirement

Last week was my first official week of "retirement." Everything takes me a little longer than it used to (what with the forgetting and the having to stop and put my feet up every hour in order to prevent them from becoming swollen nubs), so I wanted time enough before our due date in which to throw Eric a birthday party and clean and plan for Thanksgiving. Last week was pretty busy - I waxed floors, dusted, vacuumed, GOT US THE INTERNET, and generally prepared for Eric's birthday party on Friday (which was awesome by the way). Since I don't have to cook for Thanksgiving this year after all (Eric's bros are going to Utah or some such thing), this week is going to be a lot more relaxed than I had planned. I'm thinking there will be a lot of tea-sipping and puzzle-making by the fire. We're also going to cut a Christmas tree this weekend. Perhaps traipsing around the forest will make this kid fall out of me faster? Fingers crossed...

Proof that Eric Once was Small

Well folks, there's hope! Our wee one will be clothed!

Last week, a friend gave us a box of baby clothes, and yesterday we received a couple more boxes from Eric's parents. The boxes from Eric's family were pretty fun to go through; though it was difficult to imagine that Eric (and Adam and Joe) were ever that small....

There were a lot of amazing 80s onesies:

(haha! kind of cute!)
But there were also some really nice sweaters and hats.

I'm realizing this is a terrible picture, but these were a few of my favorite things from Eric's parents. I looooooove that white hat and sweater and can't you just picture a darling little Nordic baby in that blue sweater and red hat? So cute!

It's pretty amazing how generous people are; we literally haven't had to buy anything for Baby B, yet. Though I may have to get a couple of things for the kiddo, just for fun. Maybe I'll wait until after it's born...?

Weekend Puttering

Eric's parents sent us his AWESOME Brio train set from when he was little so we played trains this weekend :) It was so much fun! The nursery is coming together nicely - probably because we're not really doing much to it (have I mentioned we're cheap?). I just have a few pictures to hang and we're going to call it good! Bring on the baby!!

Ginger Cookies

Fall is my favorite season, not just because of the weather, but because of the flavors. Fall is the time when you get to eat squash and soups, drown yourself in tea and apple cider, and consume as much pumpkin pie as is readily available. Mmmm.

A recipe that is quickly becoming a fall staple in our house (I don't know how Eric feels about them, but I don't really care because I love them enough for both of us) are ginger cookies! I found this recipe on Taste of Home and I just can't stop making (and eating) them. The first time I made them they were missing a little something but the next times I've used both fresh and ground ginger and the fresh ginger seems to add that missing zing. I love soft cookies. I love ginger and cinnamon. I love fall. These suckers with a mug of hot cider, a warm blanket and snuggly kitty - that is happiness right there. Mmmm.

Obedience & Parenting

I really worry a lot about being a good parent. I worry about being both too strict and too lenient; about looking like the bad guy in front of friends and strangers; I worry that I will royally mess my kid up. I hope (and pray) that I can be consistent while also knowing that there is no such thing as perfection (on my part or of that of the child). This article by John Piper is good encouragement to persevere in requiring obedience:

I am writing this to plead with Christian parents to require obedience of their children. I am moved to write this by watching young children pay no attention to their parents’ requests, with no consequences. Parents tell a child two or three times to sit or stop and come or go, and after the third disobedience, they laughingly bribe the child. This may or may not get the behavior desired. 

Last week, I saw two things that prompted this article. One was the killing of 13-year-old Andy Lopez in Santa Rosa, California, by police who thought he was about to shoot them with an assault rifle. It was a toy gun. What made this relevant was that the police said they told the boy two times to drop the gun. Instead he turned it on them. They fired 

I do not know the details of that situation or if Andy even heard the commands. So I can’t say for sure he was insubordinate. So my point here is not about young Lopez himself. It’s about a “what if.” What if he heard the police, and simply defied what they said? If that is true, it cost him his life. Such would be the price of disobeying proper authority.

You can read the whole article here; it has some really good reminders.

Mondays

Last week was the epitome of a perfect fall. We went on lots of walks, raked leaves, drank cider, and enjoyed the crisp, sunny days.

This morning we awoke to snow! It's freezing! Fall is officially over and winter has begun, folks! In honor of the chilly days to come, take a gander at these photographs by Andy Anderson. These photos make a miserable past-time (ice fishing in Minnesota) look quite beautiful.

Generosity

Last night, a few of my lady friends threw me a baby shower. Not to brag on my friends, but it was probably the best baby shower in the history of the world ;) There was hot cider, apple cake, fruit trays in the shape of Elmo and Big Bird, darling decorations, and a ton of awesome presents.

This morning, the middle bedroom looked like this:

So. Much. Stuff!!

I am completely overwhelmed and totally grateful for all the wonderful gifts people gave us. A few ladies even pitched in and got us our car seat. Pretty amaze-balls.

The funny thing is... I don't think people have any idea what kind of clothes to get (or, more likely, they can't find anything that would work) for a child whose gender is unknown... besides a few white onesies, there were absolutely no clothes. A million books, but no clothing. Our child will be very well read and completely nude. Haha :)

I probably shouldn't... but I have to admit I have a few favorite gifts. Chrissie made Baby Brindle the most adorable stuffed bunny in the history of the world (Made it. I love it so much!), and Hanna got us the viking mobile from our Amazon registry. I am really stoked to put it together and hang it tonight.

Wish me luck sorting through all these presents; it's going to take a while!!

Footie Again

I had to show you the footie that my mom got us, again. It's just so dang cute! Look at the little ears!!!

Autumn

Eric and I may or may not have gone to bed at 7:30 last night. Not even kidding. He got home from work, we ate, went for a walk, and then came back and climbed into bed. We are old. And pregnant.

Good news is, I'm feeling much more refreshed today and I think my cold is finally dissipating. I'm so glad; I hope I can take advantage of the awesome fall weather we've been having. Fall is by far the best season.

Comfortably Blue

I have been tired a lot lately; and when I'm tired, I like to look at pretty, soothing things. Therefore, it makes sense that Comfortably Blue has become one of my favorite tumblrs. Comfortably Blue features a collection of drawings, sculptures, and photographs by a girl named Salome who lives in Switzerland. Her art is sweet and soft and feminine and I find it inspiring. It helps me to be excited for the day when I will have the energy to create pretty (or not so pretty) things on my own again. Soon :)

Weekend with the 'Rents

My parents came to visit this weekend and I only took two pictures the entire time: one of Eric torturing the cat, and one of the rodeo.

Oops.

Possibly because we were pretty busy...

Friday we spent a lot of time shopping; we didn't buy much, but we had fun looking and my mom did get us the first baby clothes we've received. She gifted us the most darling little hat (forgot to take a picture) and the sweetest little footie -

Oh my goodness it's so soft and I love it so much!

After going to the rodeo Friday night, we puttered around the house on Saturday; we ended up painting the nursery (nothing too exciting, we just used leftover paint to "freshen" the walls), watched a little football, and even made an upholstered headboard (pictures to come). Eric and I both had colds (yech!) and weren't feeling the best so I wish we had more energy to show the 'rents a better time, but the weekend was pretty great in spite of that. Dad even made us his famous ricotta and lemon zest pancakes! Yum!

Ya'll come back now, ya hear?

Weekend in Bozeman

Just for something out-of-the-ordinary, we went to Bozeman on Friday and Saturday. Eric celebrated his buddy's birthday Friday night while I went to dinner with a friend from college; we went to Blackbird Kitchen - super delish and fun!

Then we spent Saturday with the bros-in-law; we went to breakfast, wandered around downtown Bozeman, and even made it to Hyalite for a short hike. It was pretty fun, I guess.

I Forgot

I totally forgot to share the projects we (Eric) got done this weekend. Just like last week when I forgot I had an ad due at work, or the other day when I forgot to call the printer to check on our postcards, or like today when I forgot I had to make a client poster. I think I need to quit my job. And soon... 

So, this weekend, Eric moved the heater vent by our new back door, covered our old back door with drywall, pulled out the garden (killed by the snow we had last week), cleaned the basement, mowed, and was all around an awesome husband.

I'm not actually sure what I did. I may have cleaned or handed Eric tools or something? I can't remember...

Happy Friday

Best of Baby Stuff: Mobiles

There are a lot of cool mobiles out there; these are a few of my favorites...

Symphony in 3 Movements / Circular Bunnies Mobile / Olephant Mobile / Themis Primis Mobile

... but I saved the best for last. Look at how adorable this mobile is!!!

I think Eric would actually be into this one. :)

9 Weeks Until D-Day

This kid is due in 9 weeks. Holy. Crap.

Belly!!! While I'm excited to no longer have puffy eyes, sausage fingers, sore feet, insomnia, and irritability brought on by constant discomfort (I think Eric is pretty stoked for that one, too)... I'm still pretty terrified about raising a child. At least I have Eric and we can figure it out together. Whew. :)

Best of Baby Stuff: Books

One thing I'm excited about in having a kid? Reading!!! I loved reading as a kid and I really hope Baby Brindle will, too.

These books contain several that I grew up loving and a few more that I have grown to love since then. Jon Klaussen's books are beautiful (he's a favorite illustrator of mine) and I remember pouring over Richard Scarry's detailed illustrations in our church nursery (as a nursery volunteer). Eric Carle's books were always fascinating to me, as were books like The Eleventh Hour - a story of a dinner party with a mystery to solve. The Gashlycrumb Tinies might be a little old for kiddos, but anything by Edward Gorey is an essential to our library as far as I'm concerned. Dr. Seuss is always a classic and colorful, interactive books like Press Here and Spot It! are perfect for wee ones. Of course, we'll need those chunky cardboard and cloth books for a while so Baby B can slobber all over them and help turn the pages, but I'm looking forward to reading time! Yay for books!

Zara is Amazing!!

Holy. Cow. I am so excited right now!!!!! Finding gender neutral baby clothing has been nigh-on impossible, but then I came across the Zara Mini lookbook today.... I love it all. So classic and amazing and adorable. I'm in love!!!

Above are images from the lookbook.
Below are some outfits from their website. I had a really hard time picking favorites - though their sweaters are too sweet for words. Eep! So cute!

"Parenting Does Not Create the Child"

A friend of mine shared this article today:

Parenting has become more complicated than it needs to be. It used to be, as far as I can tell, that Christian parents basically tried to feed their kids, clothe them, teach them about Jesus, and keep them away from explosives. Now our kids have to sleep on their backs (no, wait, their tummies; no, never mind, their backs), while listening to Baby Mozart and surrounded by scenes of Starry, Starry Night. They have to be in piano lessons before they are five and can’t leave the car seat until they’re about five foot six.

It’s all so involved. There are so many rules and expectations. Parenting may be the last bastion of legalism. Not just in the church, but in our culture. We live in a permissive society that won’t count any sin against you as an adult, but will count the calories in your kids’ hot lunch. I keep hearing that kids aren’t supposed to eat sugar anymore. What a world! What a world! My parents were solid as a rock, but we still had a cupboard populated with cereal royalty like Captain Crunch and Count Chocula. In our house the pebbles were fruity and the charms were lucky. The breakfast bowl was a place for marshmallows, not dried camping fruit. Our milk was 2%. And sometimes, if we needed to take the edge off a rough morning, we’d tempt fate and chug a little Vitamin D. 

As nanny parents living in a nanny state, we think of our children as amazingly fragile and entirely moldable. Both assumptions are mistaken. It’s harder to ruin our kids than we think and harder to stamp them for success than we’d like. Christian parents in particular often operate with an implicit determinism. We fear that a few wrong moves will ruin our children forever, and at the same time assume that the right combination of protection and instruction will invariably produce godly children. Leslie Leyland Fields is right: “One of the most resilient and cherished myths of parenting is that parenting creates the child.”
Excerpt from Crazy Busy, A (Mercifully) Short Book About a (Really) Big Problem

Best of Baby Stuff: Blocks

I don't like big, chunky, plastic toys that light up and make noise and roll around. Kids need to use their brains, not be constantly entertained. Plus, I really don't want to listen to "Old McDonald" on a nonstop loop all day. Yikes. That would make anyone go crazy.

They're more difficult to find, but there are quite a few non-plastic, non-noisemaking toys out there. I'll probably post them as I find them, but to start, here are a few of my favorite block sets. How cool are these??

Alphabet Box / Balancing Blocks / Face Maker Wooden Blocks (We actually saw these "Face Maker" blocks for the first time in Iceland. We both loved them, but saw no point to hauling them back home with us. A month later, we found out we were going to have a kid!) / Interchangeable Dovetail Animals / Wooden Animal Block Set 

A Low-Key Weekend

It rained here all weekend so we found ourselves puttering around the house, finishing the odd project, watching football, and cleaning.

Saturday morning we assembled the rocking moose we purchased at Ikea over Labor day. It used to be red, but of course I couldn't just leave it be. I'm not sure how well the white paint will hold up, but I am so glad I painted it. I absolutely loooove it, now!

 Also this weekend.... my dear darling husband bought me a dresser! It was another Craigslist find and I was about to walk away (I'm so cheap) when Eric told the lady, "we'll take it" and promptly loaded it into our car. He is too nice to me! I must say, it is so great to have a dresser. So great! Especially one that looks this good!!!!!

Nursery Progress

This weekend, we pulled carpet out of the middle bedroom and moved in all the "kid" furniture. It doesn't sound like a lot, but removing carpet, cleaning and waxing the floor, getting rid of glue-on trim and then replacing it with real trim took the entire day Saturday. We still need to paint and install quarter-round, but the quarter-round will wait until we refinish floors and I'm sure I can rope my mom into helping paint the next time they come to visit. Right, Mom? :)

We really need better lighting in this room (floor lamp, night light, and a dimmer switch, am I right?) but other than that, I'm not sure how much accessorizing we will actually do.... I don't really want to buy a lot more stuff, especially since I like the pieces we have now. We love our rocking chair - it's sooooo comfy that Eric wants to keep it in the living room until the kid arrives - and that play mat - while a bit mature for an infant - was something that we both got excited about on our trip to Ikea. I wouldn't be surprised if we end up playing with it at some point! Though right now it's being used to protect the floor from our new favorite chair.

And our crib... cute, no? Eric's aunt scored us this beauty (so nice of her!!!!!) and I am quite excited about it. It is a really quality piece of furniture! And it was super easy to put together. I'm proud to say I did it all by myself!

This dresser was mine growing up and it will be perfect for our kiddo; we're planning on just throwing a changing pad on top instead of buying an entire changing table.

I think the only piece of furniture lacking is a bookshelf. This kid is going to read/be read to a lot so it would be nice to have something to store books and random small playthings. Eventually.

Eric also installed a new blind in our bathroom this weekend. I'd like to show you a nice picture of it, but I don't have one because it hates me and refuses to roll up for me. It loves Eric, it cooperates perfectly for him, but I have not yet mastered the skill.

 Haha! It will probably stay this way until Eric gets home tonight.

Looking forward to next weekend wherein we can tackle a few more projects. And the weeks to come. I think even Eric likes "nesting" a little.

Saddest Before & After EVER

I really don't like exercising. And in my current condition, I find it to be even more excruciating than normal. Any extra…. jiggling…. is not exactly comfortable and twisting and bending become nearly impossible when you DONT HAVE A WAISTLINE. This has made my usual routine of a short jog or laid-back yoga session obsolete. I've been trying to walk a couple of miles in the mornings, but let's be honest, when you're already tired and feel like a whale, the only thing you want to do is sleep and eat cereal while watching Seinfeld re-runs. Am I right? All this complaining is to proudly say, I didn't exercise this morning! Instead, I traipsed up and down the basement stairs about forty times carrying such things as a nightstand, mattress, lamp, box spring, bed frame, side chair, etc…. I tell you what, moving furniture is SO MUCH BETTER THAN WALKING ON A STINKING TREADMILL. I worked up quite a sweat, let me tell you! So why was I carrying all this stuff downstairs? We are finally emptying out one of the guest bedrooms so as to begin furnishing a nursery. Yes. We are finally preparing for the little creature that is going to take over our lives and middle bedroom in LESS THAN THREE MONTHS. Terrifying. 

Anyway…In preparation for The Invader, we also had to find another make-shift guest bedroom. But the only space that would really work was in the Dungeon Room (we literally call it that, not even kidding). I'm about to show you some before and after pictures, but they're so depressing, I don't even want to. This is not a real renovation. Taking a nasty room and slapping a coat of paint on it does not a remodel make. Like putting lipstick on a $5 hooker - it only draws attention to the fact that she doesn't have any teeth. Ha! Whatever. Back to the story. 

So imagine a room with no windows in the back corner of someone's spider-infested basement and add the grossest brown shag you have ever seen in your life along with some weird shelving and a few cobwebs. Basically a dungeon. This is the room with which we began. I don't have a picture of it with the shag. Just imagine it. 

So here is us slapping paint on it. We sealed the floors somewhere in there too. 

And then here it is with furniture from the spare room. 

So sad. 

We'll put a rug in there to homey-fy it at some point, but folks, it's not going to get much better than this (at least not for a loooong while). So come on over, stay a while, why don't you? We'll put you up in our sparest of spare rooms….

Labor Day Weekend

We had a great time in Denver over the long weekend. We packed the car Thursday afternoon, got into town late that night, spent about four hours in Denver the following morning (barely enough time for coffee and a whirlwind trip through Ikea), and then zipped off to Grand Lake. The next few days included lots of walks, canoeing, an unsuccessful early morning fishing trip, a drive into Rocky Mountain National Park for a short hike, another drive into the Park for some star-gazing, and lots of great food. It was a gloriously relaxing trip!