BIG (not so new) NEWS

I took some really cute photos right after Ronan's first birthday.  With news. BIG news. My model was not incredibly cooperative, but they are still cute and get our message across.  At the time, I was exhausted, not feeling well and pretty much best friends with the couch (thank you Lord for giving me a child who plays well on his own!).  And I figured that the ten or so people who actually read this blog already knew this "news" so I was completely unmotivated to edit photos and blog.  You may have noticed a serious decline in posts between October and December...

Anyway, I'm feeling much better these days and even though the whole world already knows, I thought I'd share these photos. :)

Surprise!!! Ronan is going to be a big brother! Ok, so it's not a surprise, but we are seriously excited about this new addition to our family!  When Ronan was about 6 months old (after a few months of light discussion), we decided we were ready to grow our family.  In hindsight, I'm glad it took a few months to get pregnant, 15 months seems a little crazy. 19 months is much better right? We're really excited that the two will be close in age and hopefully grow up being good friends.  The top photo above perhaps reflects how Ronan first felt about this ("seriously, you did what?"). I hope the second photo is how he really feels, he's doing a little happy dance :) 

Just two weeks ago, we found out more exciting news: we're having a GIRL!!!  I was pretty surprised (even though I had a feeling based on my body's signals), but so, so excited. More excited than I imagined I would be. I always envisioned having a houseful of boys and even though I am a girl, the thought of raising one is slightly terrifying. But, I figure, God knows what he is doing and apparently this little family needs a girl! Now that I know how cool it is to deliver and meet a baby and then watch this little person develop and grow, I can hardly wait to meet her. What will she be like? What will she love? What will her expressions be?  What will she look like? Luckily this pregnancy is flying by and it won't be long before we will know the beginnings of these answers.

I may or may not have bought those sweet little pink boots a month before finding out ;)

In case you needed any proof... :)

Now that we have some gender direction, my creative juices are flowing. There are so many fun things to make (and buy) for baby girls.  She already has some adorable outfits and a full bin of clothes.  A good friend couldn't pass up these sweet shoes (can you blame her?).  I bought a cute little dress without even realizing they match perfectly.  So cute! I'm in trouble...this is way too much fun :)



Lake Roosevelt

We got to spend this past weekend with a large group of our friends at a cabin on Lake Roosevelt.  With the exception of just a few, our entire group of close friends was there. There were 25 people! 10 of those were kids! (8 of those kids were 4 or under) Does this phase me? No way.  That is how my family has rocked every holiday since the beginning of time so I'm pretty much used to it. I will say that this group is outgrowing this particular cabin, but there is a potential expansion in the works. With babies on the way and more planned for the future, we're going to need all the space we can get!!!

The weather was stunning so we got to stretch our legs a little with some sledding and a walk down to the lake. But otherwise we ate, played games, ate, read, ate, slept (kind of) and ate some more. I usually gain about 5 pounds at the cabin :)

My beautiful friends. We're missing a few from this picture :(

Ronan had so much fun with all of our friends and watching all of the big kids. He's a little young for them to take much interest in him so he mostly observes.  There are a couple kiddos close to his age and I'm sure they'll be perfect playmates by this time next year.




Somebody snuck a drink from my cup and got caught.

Yummo

I had a mini bake-a-thon this morning in preparation for a fun weekend at Lake Roosevelt (in fact, I should be packing now...).  One of my favorite new recipes are these insanely amazing cupcakes and they were requested for this weekend's birthday festivities.  Seriously, they are so good and easy to make.  I have frozen strawberries left from the community garden so I used those instead of raspberries (but the raspberry version is incredible too!).  Ro was my taste tester for the whipped cream.  He approved :)

I better go get packed. Have a great weekend!

Ski Bum

This week Ronan "helping" me sort through and organize all of his clothes.  I found a hat I had put away last spring and though it looked like a possible fit. It actually fit! And doesn't slide down into his eyes like every other hat that is supposed to fit him at this age. You first saw this hat 11 months ago here.  11 months ago! Can you believe those cheeks?!

Doesn't he look like your average Northwest ski bum?

I really wish I knew what he is thinking sometimes

Daddy's Boy

Somebody wants to be just like his daddy...