Our girls

I've been wanting a new camera for ages now and my sweet friend Becky let me borrow her Canon Rebel for a few days to try it out and capture the newness of the little peanut before she turns into a coconut.  I was really happy with the shots I got of all my girls and thought I'd share after a little nudging from mama wicky.  I had so much fun using her camera that I've put it on my Christmas list to Santa with the hope that I haven't been too naughty.

My time has been pretty used up these days with nursing, swaddling, rocking, diapers, storybook reading, and trying to get a few extra winks in from time to time.  Friends & family have been incredibly thoughtful by bringing us meals, helping with the little miss, and sending gifts of love.  We are grateful to be surrounded by our little community of friendship.  You are all a blessing to us. 

The littlest sister

Sweet Josie Love joined our family
 on Sunday, November 21st at 3am
 in the comfort of her daddy's arms.
She was born a healthy 6 pounds and 12 ounces
at home while her youngest sister slept.
Her biggest sister was an incredible help
throughout the labor and birth
and stayed up with us until dawn
welcoming our little peanut.

Josie's birth story:
The "due date" for our baby was said to be November 20th which we were skeptical of as the other two girls were born ten days and two weeks later than the projected date.  Needless to say I was a bit surprised (although excited) by the contractions that started around 4am on Saturday the 20th.  I asked Matt to call in sick as I was sure the baby was coming.  He did.  And within 3 hours the contractions had stopped almost completely I was so disappointed.  We went on a walk around our neighborhood, visited friends at a birthday party, and laid low for the day.  Matt debated going in to work that afternoon since there was no sign of labor, but stayed home at my request.  By 10:30pm the contractions started coming much more
 regularly and with more power than before.  Bri got out of bed when I told her I thought the baby was coming that night and kept me company until around 1am when I decided to wake the Mr up.
It was not a friendly wake-up.  It was a "why the hell are you sleeping while I'm suffering" awakening.
Needless to say he was slightly dazed and confused by my crankiness.  I wanted to know when the heck he was going to call the midwife cause the contractions were coming fast and furious.  The next couple hours were somewhat of a blur.  My daughter, husband and midwife were readying the room while I concentrated on getting through the contractions.  They took turns assisting and comforting me between preparations.  At 3am our little girl made her entrance with my oldest daughter and husband by my side.  Mr. N held her as she came into the world and announced to me that we had another little girl.  I looked up at Bri who had lost the color from her face and looked like she was about to drop on the floor.  She was helped to a chair where she could regain her stomach.  Josie was wrapped in a towel and brought to my chest immediately.  My Mr woke Maya to meet her new sister.  We were left alone as a family to enjoy our beautiful new gift.

I loved having our little Josie at home.
I loved being in my own room, in my own bed.
I loved the sweetness of our time to enjoy
our little beauty and embrace her new life as a family
in the warmth of our nest.
I loved the peacefulness that surrounded us
from the moment I went into labor,
throughout the birth and after she arrived.

I love my little Josie.
She is yet another blessing in my life.
I am thankful beyond words.

Nesting

{our pre-pregnancy nest}

{our little nest now}

My sweet Mr. has been working away

 to carry out my every desire in preparing our home

 for the newest little addition

 and he has left nothing undone.

 He has built, sanded, scrubbed & painted ~

feathering our nest to my heart's contentment.

 Just adding to the many reasons I LOVE this man!

I've still got some wallspace to decorate,

but oh how I am enjoying my new restful space.

The time is drawing near and I'm feeling ready

to embrace this new little life with arms wide open.

the baby~moon

The Mr. and I went on a
little getaway to Cambria last week
for some "we" time
where we soaked up the solitude & quiet.
No whining.
No arguing.
No chauffering.
No attitude.
No entertaining anyone but ourselves.

We spent our time walking by the beach,
eating fabulous food at Robin's
(my new Cambria favorite~thanks Amy),
listening to the waves crash from our sweet little room,
reading,
yoga,
surfing,
just being.

It was wonderful.

A big thank you to my in-laws for allowing us to take time
for ourselves before we venture into babyland.

We loved it!

Showered & Blessed

This past weekend my sweet cousin through me a party
for the new life growing inside. 
Regardless of the gloomy weather,
some of my favorite mothers joined me in a sweet celebration. 
We dined on a freshly catered french meal
set before us on a table dressed for royalty. 
I felt utterly spoiled and loved.

After our amazing lunch~friends and family
blessed me with words of love, support and kindness
while I just sat and savored the treasure of their friendships. 
It was truly a beautiful experience that I will always remember. 

"Labor" day is fast approaching (a month away)
and I am getting prepared for our new little life outside the womb. 
We've decided to wait on finding out the sex
of our sweet new journey, but will know soon enough. 

Hoping to start posting a bit more before that day comes.

So long

to our favorite summer treat...the root beer float.

we will miss you as fall approaches, but are looking forward to
our winter friend...warm apple cider.

do you have a favorite summer or winter treat?

A little tart

is the best description i can muster of how i've been feeling...emotionally.  this pregnancy stuff sure gets my hormones headed in every direction except the sane one.  the lapse in posting has really only been due to every day busy-ness and stress of life.  that and i really haven't had any words that seemed worthwhile. 

but here are a few anyhow: 
teenagers are meant to drive you to tears and push you so far over the edge
that the empty nest fear becomes more of a countdown
(NEVER thought i'd say that). 
of course i'm joking. kind of. 

tantrums at five and a half years old should really be illegal. 

making housing and health care decisions for the elderly who didn't plan in advance
for old age causes the gray to come in quickly.

paypal is just way to easy to use...and can really get one into trouble.

etsy floats my boat. 

a couple of hours with good friends
feels like seeing rainbows in their brightest hues.

chickens are really dumb. cute. but dumb.

i love the fact that whether my mood is sour or sweet, i wake up to the precious sound of my children's voices, the sparkle in their eyes, the caress of the man i adore and a growing faith in God.

xoxo

Got away

Last weekend my mum and I got away for a wee little girls trip to Seattle then off to Orcas Island to explore the charm and beauty of island life.  It was truly magical.  From our sweet little boat shed (with the outdoor shower), to the amazing food, and the scenery...just breathtaking.  Most of all I enjoyed some one~on~one time with my beautiful mama ~ laughing, shopping, hiking, feasting & sharing precious time together.

 Today, I feel truly blessed to have the opportunity to go on travels that fill my life with happy memories.

A little break from reality

This is where you may find me in the next couple of days ~ exploring, reading, eating, relaxing.  Looking forward to a few days away for some girl time.  Be back later next week...

Happy August.

the beach party

Sweet Bri's birthday was last April, as was her party.  I was just thinking back on what a fun time it was and since I never got around to posting photos, thought I'd share a few.  The party was held at my cousin's beautiful beach house.  The kids had a laid back beachy day that was spent playing games, munching on dentist~friendly goodies, surfing and gathering around the bonfire.  It was an "awesome" day.

The slide

Do you love the orange goggles?

Little Miss has been taking swim lessons for the past few weeks and has progressed so well.  It's really exciting to watch her swimming on her own.  She is still lacking some confidence in her abilities so it was fun to see her teacher push her a little this week past her comfort zone.  Little M was really not sure that this was a good idea and kept trying to put it off to the next lesson, but Mrs. Pauletta insisted (kindly) that today was the day and went down the first couple runs with her. 

Of course she loved it.  And went again and again.

Seeing emotional growth and confidence building in my children really is such a joy. 

wonder.full.friends...

 play dress up nanny with your four year old with gusto.  This is no amateur we're talking about, this woman's got professional drama skills when it comes to getting down an dirty with the baby dolls.  Honestly.  She could teach a class on tapping into the imagination of children of all ages.  The best part is, she lets the little miss know that she takes this playtime seriously while she sports that pink boa! It makes little M feel oh so special. 

Not only is she a great playmate to my little one, she is my partner in crime when it comes to thrifting.  Nothing is better than finding your frugal shopping soul mate!

Thanks Julia for being such a wonderful friend to me and my girls.  We love playtime with you!

sundress & cupcake day

My first pregnancy photo (at 23 weeks) taken by the little darlin on the right.  We decided to do a photo shoot in the hallway today sporting our summer dresses and one unhappy little potato head.  Don't know if it's just me, but it looks like the baby's coming next month and not in November.  I know they say with every pregnancy you get bigger sooner, but really.  I look like I'll be giving birth to a horse.  As large as I am, I have no complaints.  Pregnancy has been good to me and I love feeling the life moving inside.

Maybe I should just lay off of foods like this:

Don't these just look too fun to pass up?  We spent our morning baking muffins for breakfast and cupcakes in honor of grandma's 92nd birthday.  I think she enjoyed the pink beauties, how bout you?

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Good to see you can have your cake and eat it too.

My heart is aching

I was just lead to take a look at Daisy Love's webpage after her 6th birthday and return from vacation to read that she has another large tumor.  I am just so devastated for the Merrick family and ask that you join me in prayer for them in these coming hours and days. 

Updated: 07/14/2010

I had previously posted that Daisy's cancer had returned, but adjusted it to read that she has another tumor (which has now been biopsied ~ pathology results to come).  Daisy Love is the daughter of my church pastor.  Little Daisy has been through more than I can fathom since she was diagnosed with Stage 3 Cancer last September.  She has undergone surgery, radiation, chemotherapy and unimaginable pain yet through it all has remained strong and brave with the support of her incredible family and their faith in God.

I continue to pray for sweet Daisy and the healing of her body.

Happy 4th Friends!

Just a little view of how we started off our day of independence.  We headed down to our local red, white and blue parade then made our way home for a bbq potluck to welcome friends and watch the kiddies jolly~jump to their heart's content.  Oh, and by far the coolest part of the day....not having to drive anywhere and watching the fireworks from our backyard with good friends and full tummies.

 Hope you're day was full of happiness in all the freedoms we are blessed with.

Celebrating Summer

Last weekend we ventured out to the Santa Barbara Summer Soltsice Parade.  It's always full of eye candy, rythmic sounds and plenty of toys.  I'm constantly impressed by the effort that goes into the floats, costumes and performances for display on State Street.  After the parade there's a huge party at the park with live music, a drumming circle, vendors of all sorts, food and great entertainment for the kids.  The little miss decided to try and fit the theme this year at the dress up booth while her big sis was shakin her hips at the hula hoop booth.

Hope your summer is off to a good start!

Settling in

Life has been crazy busy around here between all the critters and childhood drama...mama needs a vacation.  But since we're buckling down here for the summer (the Big Miss is taking a summer school course) we'd might as well get everyone cozy.  The "girls" got there very own coop donated by our sweet neighbors.  It will need some extra work, but is perfect for now just as it is.  We are so grateful to have a new home for the chicks, since they were sneaking their way out of their box in the garage and leaving little brown gifts for us everywhere.  Blehhhh.

Our ferocious beast of a dog has taken well to all the critters and they are pretty bold with her to.  I had one slip so far where I left the house for about 30 minutes with chickens and the dog loose in the back.  Once I realized what I had done, I raced home dreading the possibility of feathers and blood strewn in every direction.  Luckily she hasn't aquired a taste for raw chicken yet, but I'm hoping not to make that mistake again (at least until they're big enough to give her a fight). 

Hoping things slow down a little bit so we can relax this summer but until then, we'll just enjoy the company of our happy little friends.

Sweet blues

A day filled with delicious blueberries for the pickin and watching the chickens dance is not one short on smiles.
There really is so much to love about summer.

xoxo

Livin country in the city

To add to our ever expanding household I have temporarily gone insane leading to the 4 pooping chicks in our garage and 6 rambunctious kittens in our bathroom.  All this on top of the dog, fish and two young humanoids sharing our seemingly shrinking space.

The kittens are temporary.  They are.  I found them at the feed store when going to acquire the 4th and final chick that I'm probably not supposed to have.  They were in a small unsheltered cage outdoors.  One had already escaped.  They were all starved and had only dog food pieces set out for them so large that they couldn't get their little mouths around it.  Apparently someone had dropped them off the day prior leaving the feed store to "care" for them.  I knew that if I left them there some of them would not make it.  So, here we are all cozy with a mini farm living in our home.  Luckily, I found an animal rescue that will adopt them out once they've been spayed and neutered (hopefully no more than a month away).  We are fostering them until that day comes meaning feeding every 4 hours (except at night between 10 and 6 at which time I will only leave my bed to pee or to feed a newborn child).

All we need now is a goat and a pot-bellied pig so we can start charging for the petting zoo.

Told you I had gone insane.