giant crayons

So today is designated to menu planning. It's kind of sad that I have to block off well, a day.
And how is it coming along?
Well I made some giant crayons.
Yes, that's what happens when the queen of procrastination tackles a project that she hates.
Not that I haven't started my menu planning.
I'm currently surrounded by coupons, grocery lists, sale lists and some raisins (my snack).
But this morning I had the brilliant idea to try one of my pins on pinterest that I have been wanting to try.
Truly it was easy. They had about 3 steps to make these crayons and it really was that simple. The hardest part was pulling the labels off the crayons- some seem to stick more on certain colors. But since we have an abundance of crayons in our house, I've been wanting to try my own giant ones. I figured they would fit well in Oliver's little hands and I even thought they may make a nice party favor for his birthday. I happen to have molds that are circles- so "O" for Oliver would be appropriate.
Here are my giant crayons in the end:

I think for next time, when I make a big batch, I will stick to simpler color blends- maybe just two per crayon. Plus I also realized it does matter if you use cheap vs. crayola brand. The ones in the front are crayola, and the ones in the back (see that layer of wax underneath?) are from a carebear coloring book.
I was overall very pleased with how easy it was. Now to go draw with them- I need Oliver to try them out, as soon as he wakes up from his nap. For the pin here is the link.
For now I'll go back to my favorite task....that isn't going anywhere fast.

22 weeks

Here we are at 22 weeks! I have been slightly horrible about updating any progress throughout this pregnancy, and it makes me feel terrible. I always heard that as you have more babies there are less photos and such for each one- and I know this firsthand since I'm number 4 in my own family and there are very limited photos of my own childhood- not to mention the gaps in my baby book.
I hoped to do better with this new baby, and well, the ongoing sickness from the pregnancy really really slowed things down. I am just now feeling better- around 5 months I started to turn for the better. I am just past that and I still have some queasiness here and there, but I am able to go out in the world!
We did find out who this little person is- at 20 weeks. Another BOY!
We are thrilled with this news as we thought it would be fun to have two boys- a brother for Oliver to play with.
Names are still not decided, and I am not worried as it took us til day 2 after Oliver's birth to finalize his, although I'm truly truly hoping we will have it settled well before then!
I have been praying over our second son's name, as it's powerful to be named for life. I know God has a name already chosen for this boy and I am excited to find out what it will be. I've been writing a new list, some from our last pregnancy, but mostly some new ones.
We are just past halfway now in the pregnancy so we have some time!
Here I am at 22 weeks....

Our little Oliver is also growing like a weed. He is such a joy to be at home with day in and day out. At  22 months old, he is very nearly the big 2 years old! I can't believe how quickly the days fly by when you are a parent. But what a wonderful speedy journey it is. Oliver is becoming so much more vocal these days and we love hearing his little baby voice say big words. He tries to mimic us in so many ways and it's hilarious sometimes. It is also teaching us to watch exactly what we say to him- and ourselves. He picks up words so easily I have to be mindful of what words he's saying!
We are planning a party for him this year since we weren't able to really do a big one last year. I'm so excited about it and I'm planning now. Since it's a summer party I have big visions of food already- what else is new these days?
I have also been mentally planning out what we will do room-wise for the new baby. I thought about putting them in the same room and using the other guest room for a play space, but now I'm debating that again, and thinking we may just keep the boys separate and let them play in our loft space that currently holds Oliver's books and many of his toys. It's a great open space and I may just utilize that....
So many ideas, I just need to focus on a couple and tackle those. That's the plan anyways.
We already have a toddler bed for Oliver when we are ready to convert him to that, I just need to touch it up with some paint. We also found a sweet little table and two chairs for his (or playroom) room, but it's going to need some paint for sure. This is part of our birthday gift to him, and depending on when we get it touched up we may let him see it early? Maybe. Once it's done we will put it in the second room, regardless of what we decide to do with that room.
I am excited about decorating, even if it's going to be very budget oriented. I don't mind being thrifty, it makes me have to be creative in a way.
Here is our little monkey at 22 months now, my how I love this little boy!

20 months

just hanging out in mom and dad's closet

after bath goofiness

found oliver behind his blinds in his room tonight

fascinated with the cars, birds and doggie's outside

Valentines day

Happy Valentines Day! I don't really get into commercialized holidays, but this year I am loving the opportunity to show some creative love to my valentine. While we are waiting to 'celebrate' until the weekend, I am looking forward to just spending some time together. 

I am so thankful for this man in my life. My husband is truly a special gift from God and I see Jesus in him. 

What more can a woman need or desire than a man that is leading, loving and providing with God as the heartbeat of his life?

We have been married 6 years now, we have one precious son, one precious baby due in August, and many many wonderful memories of silly, happy, meaningful times together. Marriage is a lifetime journey that we truly celebrate together. Happy valentines day to my one true valentine, my dear husband. And happy valentines to my littlest valentine, my son :) And while I may be too sick to bake up some special treats this year, I look forward to just being together, it's really the best thing in the world!

Have a very love filled day/week- whenever you celebrate!

um happy new year

Yes, so I can see it's been over a month since I posted here, and it may be that long until I do again. These days I am not feeling up to writing in my blog. I am not feeling up to doing much of anything actually.
Because of this morning sickness!
We praise God for this gift that he has given us- baby #2. What an amazing thing it is to sit and watch the heart beating of a new little tiny life inside of you.
Our first appointment was yesterday and by God's grace and mercy He sustained me to be able to get through driving and sitting through that appointment. These days have left me housebound with Oliver as my sickness lingers all day long, progressively getting worse as the day goes on. Driving makes it worse. These are definitely the hard days and I have not been able to do much. But I can think of that little life growing away and I know that is cause for it all and I praise God again, no matter how queasy I feel.
I'm eagerly anticipating the days of feeling better, but I am mindful that this phase will end and that is encouraging- there will be an end!
It was surreal to be there yesterday looking at the little baby on the screen.
Before I went my mind had plenty of time to think of all the things that could go wrong, as I am in the first trimester. The moment we waited for the wand to pick up that tiny baby felt long....until there it was, the tiny little body with a tiny little heartbeat cheerfully ticking away. Oh the joy of hearing life is like nothing else!
Jonah and I are excited about this new little one, and we are excited to watch Oliver take on the role of big brother. He is going to be great, and the love he shows to us now will only grow as he shares it with his sibling. We have been telling him about the baby and he finally started saying "baaabeey" very clearly back to us. So sweet it is to hear him say that, even though I'm sure he has no idea what exactly the baby in mommy's belly is. When he saw the screen yesterday with the little baby, he pointed and said, "baby". So maybe he does know more than we think :).
So this is the latest in our household. I don't do very much, I try hard to get meals together, Oliver taken care of in the days, and pretty much lounge at night. It is nice to get out sometimes to see the outside world- but for now I am okay just being able to be at home.
Last time I was working full time and I well remember those early mornings and how tough it was to get up and get going when I was fighting nausea. Thank you God that I am home with Oliver, where I can lay down at the worst.
Perhaps my next post will be one with a stronger stomach. For now, I'll just be here, hanging in there!

9+ weeks

Little boy

Little boy when did you grow up so fast? Did I mention I love being home with him? Love these days and I wouldn't trade them for a 40 hour week paid job any day. Thank you Lord for the blessing of being a mom.

a little flour, 18 months

Our little Oliver turned 18 months old today- wow we now have a little year and a half year old. Halfway to 2!
Some favorite things that he has started doing this past month: peek a boo has been a game he's enjoyed for a long time but he just started doing it himself. He'll put his little hands over his eyes and hold them there...until we come move them. He'll laugh as we say "peek a boo!" it's so darn funny because he doesn't quite get the part that he needs to move his hands!
He's also started touching our faces when he says our names. He'll say, "mama" and reach up and touch my cheek. He started doing this when my parents came to visit us. My mom asked him where grandma was and he reached up and touched her face. How sweet that memory is! Thanks for giving that gift to your grandma Oliver!
He has also started talking to himself more and laughing too. I'll hear him gabbering away with his toys then he'll chuckle and gabber some more. It's so funny to hear him and wonder what in the world is going through his head.
He has also started to outgrow his second nap. I am so thankful we scheduled him early on to have a sleep, eat, play pattern as it really seemed to teach him what to expect. He goes to bed without any problem, as well as naps. However I am thinking it's time to start putting him on just one nap a day. He will take a morning nap and quite often here lately when I put him down for his afternoon nap he'll talk and talk and talk, take his socks off, throw them out of the crib, talk, turn on his sleep sheep- cry if it's on the whale noises (not sure why but he hates that sound, he prefers the rain), I'll go in and turn it off, lay him down and finally towards the end of nap time, he'll fall asleep. In which case I usually have to wake him up if it's getting close to dinner time. So I think we will be converting to one long nap.
We are also working on some training sessions with Oliver. Teaching him to be still and quiet throughout the day, to teach him to listen. He's been doing great with these 5 minute training sessions and has learned to sit still quietly- usually sucking his thumb.
We've also been working on shapes, counting, and colors for the past couple months. This month (actually 17 months) he finally recognized the four shapes I was teaching him. It was an exciting realization to me to see that he really knew what each shape was. After months of nothing (which was okay, I don't pressure him to learn, we have fun) he just suddenly knew them. It was encouraging to me to see that the time we spend looking at letters, numbers, shapes and colors is now starting to click in his mind.
He has also really started to mimic us- a lot. He has learned animal sounds: sheep, dog, cat, lion, gorilla, monkey, cow, horse, rooster (this one is hilarious and sounds like 'goodle-oodle-oo), and a duck.
There is never a dull moment here in our house!

oliver is 18 months and loves peek a boo!

But moving right along here... today was just like any other day. I treasure each day at home with this little guy. Even if he follows me around when I need to be in the kitchen. I decided that I would give him something new to explore while I baked bread.
Our kitchen has laminate flour so I had Oliver sit down and plopped a bowl with some flour in it right in front of him.
He poked one little finger in it and looked up at me and grinned. This new texture was pretty exciting and I could see his little mind taking it in. He was cautious to play with it, almost expecting me to say no, don't touch. But I encouraged him to touch it, and gave him a spoon to swirl it around.
Oh my.
What a fun thing this was!
The next thing I knew he had dumped it on the ground and was happily playing in it, as well as tapping the spoon on the bowl.
The belly laughing! I didn't expect him to be as thrilled as he was, and it was so much fun to watch him laugh at the joy of flour.
I ran to get the camera so I could take some pictures for Jonah. I am so glad I did. I treasure these shots- you can see the gleam in his eyes from it all.
What a fun little boy we have!