entry #134

1. spontaneous trip to get things for a spontaneous
movie night at home with my kids while husband
worked late.

2. raspberry sorbet

3. the time i've been taking for myself everyday
at nap time. (since monday) it's really helped
with my insanity.

4. my daughter asking me if i can just not feed the
baby like i did with Liam (breast feed) and just
put it in a bottle so she can feed her baby sister.
i assured her i could do that sometimes for her.

5. trying out a new crochet pattern and it working
out. it's my new obsession. i love a new challenge.

today...

our friend's meet their son!!!!
i'm overwhelmed with such emotion for them.
this is something that they've waited a long
time for and the day is finally here!

we pray and believe in a safe and quick
natural delivery of little baby abram.

love you guys!

entry #133

1. getting the yard cleaned up and it looking spectacular!

2. cool weather. great sleeping weather for a pregnant mommy.

3. my homemade hot cocoa i'm drinking at the moment

4. seeing my grandparents last night from wisconsin.
love them!!!

5. my daughter's planning abilities. just like me :).
she's planning out her next birthday that isn't until
april 1st.

entry #132

Dear Husband,

Thank you for making my computer faster even if you did disable
the track pads abilities somehow for scrolling. I'll manage.
Also, thank you for putting up with me making you do things
on the weekends. I'm hoping after a few more years of this
that you'll just take over on your own! ;)

Dear Faye,

Now that I know that you are the one in there I am
so very excited to meet you. My anxiety is gone and
in it's place is pure excitement and anticipation. We
are all excited to meet you. Your big sister can't stop
talking about you. She's so excited that God answered
her wish. She's planning out all that you can do together.
We love you and will meet you in less then 2 months!

Dear Olivia,

Thank you for loving what I make for you and for
wearing it all the time. I'll soak that up. I'm sure you
won't love to sport anything your mom makes you when
you're a teenager.

Dear Stormy night,

Thank you for the peace you brought as I fell asleep.

Dear Lord,

Thank you for renewing of mind and spirit. Thank you
for the me that is me today and not me a couple of years
ago. Being at peace daily is a wonderfully freeing experience
that I know will not dwindle soon.

drum roll please.....

i am soooo pleased to introduce to you
our baby!

we were not going to find out what we
were having this time since we have
a girl and a boy. and i really thought
that is what i wanted.

last night i finally figured out why i
was having a hard time bonding with
the baby when i had NO problems with
our other two. it's because i had no idea
who was going to be joining our family
in 7 weeks! i hadn't seen it at all with
a sono. i didn't know if it had all it's parts
and was healthy. i didn't know if it was a
boy or girl. and i was starting to feel some
anxiety because my husband and i had just
decided we didn't like our original boy's name
and couldn't find anything we liked.

ahhh it was nerve wracking!!!!!
so last night i had a little emotional breakdown
and decided i needed to see our baby and know who
it was and start getting to know it by name.

so i called the dr's office today that oversees my
midwives and asked for a sonogram and they
luckily had an opening today!!! so of course we
went and saw our beautiful baby.

it's super healthy and perfect!!
it has chubby little cheeks.
it's so cute!
and we found out that we are
having a GIRL!

Faye Louise!!!

and a cute little fact about our faye and olivia...

me and my sister were named after
stephanie powers and her onscreen
name on 'heart to heart' - jennifer.
we aren't twins. we are 14mo apart and
my mom just really liked both those names.

well Olivia is a name i always liked but the
way i got my husband to agree was because
i said we'd call her 'Liv' which he loved.
he loved it because of Liv Tyler who
was in his favorite movie - 'That Thing You Do'.
and her character's name in the movie was...
Faye!

we are so excited to meet you Faye!!!

you are due in 7weeks but i'm counting on
59 more days!

oh, and thank you for turning head down. mommy
really appreciates it!

entry #131

1. lunch with my hubby yesterday at cyd's cafe.
it was sooo yummy!

2. getting quiet time to just think and re-group

3. watching my sister get her baby bump. love it!
can't wait to meet little parker!

4. getting our hotel booked for the hannah montana
concert we're going to next month. olivia is soo
excited!

5. having a wonderful conversation with my hubby
last night and making some important decisions.
i feel sooo much better!

entry #130

Dear knitting-in-the-round,

Thank you for actually working for me! I completed a little
hat for Liam. Well, it's a little big but it's all good. Now i'm
working on a little scarf and mittens to match.

Dear countdown till baby comes,

Today you are at 60 days. I can handle that.

Dear Olivia,

Thank you for cleaning your room yet again for the 2nd
week in a row! You have no idea how relieved I am. One
less thing I have to do while being pregnant and after baby
comes. Now if I could only teach you how to do all my chores...

Dear custom license plate I ordered for my hubby,

Thank you for being the one I liked and not one of the other
3 I came up with on the spot. The extra 100$ (give or take)
was totally worth the look on his face.
He's never had plates of his own.
Poor deprived little boy...

Dear Husband,

Thank you for helping me fix the ottoman last night. I
appreciate it. Maybe we'll get lucky and all the tufts will
stay tuft(ed). Oh and thanks for rubbing my back
whenever I need it for as long as it takes to relieve pain.
You're pretty awesome like that!

entry #129

what my mornings look like...


currently my children are upstairs fighting
but i'll try to be positive about what i love
most about my mornings....

1. getting the dishes washed while the kids are
eating so i don't have to wonder what liam's in to

2. putting my fall music on and doing a little dance
and making olivia laugh over my baby belly dance

3. my daughter actually learning from me. we'll
see how long this lasts...

4. liam asking to draw while his sissy is doing her school

5. my mornings going fairly quickly right into lunch and
naptime. my favorite!

entry #128

1. having what felt like a 4 day weekend because

of all the festivities

2. getting stuff done around the house
and mapping out the next couple of weekend's
projects

3. sharing in the joy that my kids got from
the parade


4. my daughter's keen observation(ing)

it's a baby elephant she found in her popcorn...

5. knowing that in all things God is always
watching out for us even if we never know
it or find out after the fact. it's comforting.

trick or treat!

since halloween is fast approaching for mommies,
like me, who are planning and making ahead
i thought i'd re-post the halloween costume
that i made for my son last year.












i was his miss piggy and jess was her prince charming...

this year i am making my son's costume
again and tying it into his birthday party
which will be on halloween this year as
he was born on nov. 4th.
the theme is...
'where the wild things are'

can't wait to post my tutorial on his suit
just as soon as i figure it out for myself.

my daughter was going to be belle but just
informed me that she might want to be
a pug.... maybe i'll be making her's too.

so proud!

of my brother-in-laws for making great
music....

Livy & Liam Dancing to "Truth From Lies" from Amy Dunham on Vimeo.

and cause my kids are so darn cute!

entry #128

1. the family time that the pumpkin festival brings

2. pure joy in the small things

3. olivia getting to go on a ride with her daddy

4. lip smacking good junk food like cotton candy
5. the train ride that didn't happen. they looked
so cute though until a baby freaked liv out and
liam wasn't going to have any of that seatbelting.

entry #127

Dear Pumpkin Chili that I made up last night,

You were awesome! Thanks for not being a waste
of food. Can't wait to have you for lunch.

Dear Weather,

Thank you for being so beautiful! It's perfect fall
weather. I was actually cold last night walking
around the festival.

Dear Pumpkin Donut man,

Thank you for finally understanding that I
wanted to buy six individual donuts and have
you put them in a bag for me since you
were no longer selling them in packaged groups.
I didn't think it was that hard to understand.
Slowly but surely you got it. So, thank you for
not making me walk away empty handed
out of pure frustration towards you. I've enjoyed
3 of them already!

p.s. never come between a preggo and a craving!

Dear Cori,

Today is your due date and I am getting so very
excited for you that soon you will be meeting your
very own precious child. It's a joy that I know you've
always wanted and you are SOOO close to experiencing
that, that it makes me teary-eyed. All this waiting and
wondering and planning is coming up to the moment
you will meet your little man. I can't wait to see you
holding him and beaming as you show him to everyone.
You will make an excellent mommy. He's a lucky little boy
already.

Dear Olivia,

Thank you for that small breakthrough a couple days ago.
It made me feel like I was actually doing something to
benefit your education other then just teaching you
to listen and obey. You are very smart and
I appreciate that breakthrough more
then you know. It possibly
fueled my enthusiasm for another week!

entry #126

Dear Pumpkin Festival,

Thank you for finally arriving! I'm very excited to
eat all the goodies that you bring. I can't guarantee
that pregnant me will like them but I'll try!

Dear Dora and Diego,

I find you highly annoying but thank you for keeping
my kids occupied while I get ready for the day.

Dear Washer,

Thank you for not ruining the cute shirts I have
that still fit. I was worried there for a bit cause
I washed something that was supposed to be
by hand but it all turned out ok.

Dear Dishes,

Thank you for being practical in our daily life.
But, do me a favor and wash yourself!

Dear Baby,

I love you. Please turn head down and stop
kicking me down there. There are only so
many kicks it can handle until you bust your
way out the wrong way!

entry #125

1. being so crafty lately thanks to my friend cori
for getting me started and obsessed with crocheting

2. calm mornings with my kids in our quiet home

3. two nights in a row without waking up
to pop a tums! no heartburn thanks to
pepcid and maalox. now if i can just make
myself go to bed at a decent time to enjoy
the sleep i'm getting....

4. pumpkin festival starting tomorrow!

5. fall being in one week!!!

ham and potato soup...

i made it all in the croc-pot.

15 diced potatoes (i used small red and didn't peel)
1 cup diced celery
chopped onion
2.5 lbs of diced ham
3 cups water
2 tb chicken bouillon granules
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

then in a sauce pan you make your white sauce

5 tb butter
5 tb flour
2 cups of milk

add to the croc-pot

cook on high for 5 hrs.
at the last 30 min. add 1/2 cup to a whole cup
of instant potato flakes to thicken up the soup

enjoy!

as seen in the picture i also made cheesy pockets.

1 bag of frozen bread loaves (3 loaves come in a bag)

let rise. cut ea. loaf into 5's.
roll out each piece and cut off a
piece of moz. cheese and put to one side of
the rolled piece and fold dough over it to
make a pocket with pinched edges.

bake at 350F for 15 minutes

(ham and potato soup recipe was found here but was tweaked)

entry #124

Dear Liam,

Thanks for making us laugh last night when you downed
half a bag of jalapeno doritos without flinching and
only saying 'hot' in between bites.

Dear Olivia,

Thank you for listening better today with school. You
are very smart and you always make me laugh with
your drawings and letters. Thank you!

Dear 'Birth your way',

Thank you for answering the questions or concerns I
had and for re-confirming my feelings of having
a homebirth. I feel even calmer.

Dear ham and potato soup I made last week,

Thank you for turning out so wonderfully. You will now
be added to our rotation of meals since the family loved
you.

Dear first attempt lemon jello dessert mom makes so well,

Thank you for turning out just like hers! It hit the spot.

entry #123

Dear Liam,

Why did you stay up so late eating 3 bowls of chips
and wake up before 7? Your happy spirit makes it
not so bad for mommy. Thank you for greeting me
so happily every day!

Dear Papaya juice and geztyme,

Thank you for working! I only had to chew 2 tums
overnight! That is a HUGE difference.

Dear Husband,

Thank you for being considerate of my sleep
and sleeping on the couch while you've been
sick. That is very sweet of you.

Dear Today,

Thank you for arriving because ea. day
is a new day to refresh but please be
good to me today. I'm exhausted!

Dear Olivia,

Thank you for actually being a help with dishes
yesterday! It made my task more fun with
you by my side. I love you!

my first beef stew....

and here is the recipe!

i got it off of allrecipes.com
but tweaked it a bit.

2.5 lbs of beef stew cut into cubes
1 can of stewed tomatoes
1 cup of chopped celery
4 carrots chopped
5 small red potatoes cubed with skin on
1/2 onion chopped
1 cup of water
2 beef bouillon cubes
thyme
rosemary
1 package of gravy mix
1 small frozen bag of peas

1. flour meat and brown in sauce pan

2. cut-up all veggies (except peas) and put in bottom
of your croc-pot

3. stir in the can of stewed tomatoes

4. add water

5. put meat on top

6. cook for 2 hrs. on high in croc-pot

7. add spices and gravy packet
(stir every 30 minutes)

8. after 2.5 hours add the peas
and serve about 30 minutes later!

I served this with cheesy corn bread!
Enjoy!

entry #122

Dear Uncle Chiropractor,

Thank you for giving me something that will hopefully
help with my terrible indigestion problems and
for adjusting me and pushing my stomach down. I
truly truly appreciate it!

Dear September,

Thank you for joining us. You are possibly my
favorite month because you start my favorite
time of the year.

Dear my first stew,

Thank you for smelling lovely in the croc-pot
and for giving me hope that you may just
turn out!

Dear beautiful mums,

Thank you for gracing our front steps to
add to the beauty of fall I wanted to create.
Please stay alive! (as i don't do well with living plants)

Dear Daughter,

I love your drawings. They make me smile and warm
my heart. I want to frame each and every one of them.
Thank you for making me laugh this morning when you
were trying to draw a horse for school and it ended up
looking like a elephant-ant eater. Never give up on
your creativity. It's who you are.

unicorn by olivia