Fenced In

Join the warm weather of summer with the nesting instincts of a pregnant lady and you get: lots of home improvement projects! :-) Our most recent has been to fence in our small backyard. While we initially pursued this project so that my parent's dog would have a place "to do his business" during their visits, we've since discovered we LOVE having the privacy and security. Every evening has found us out back blowing bubbles, doing landscaping, daydreaming - you name it. Here are a few shots of the work:

Getting started. Notice all the utility marks on our lawn?
Red, yellow, and orange... it looked like a parade route or something!

My dad was kind enough to employ his talents for us.
Father and son-in-law workin' together...

Even this pregnant "nesting" momma picked up a hammer.
Tasks done as a family are much more fun!

Break time!
Here we all are: Uncle Buddy, Morenna, Baby Roo and I.

And the finished product!

So Blue

The last weekend in June was a beautiful one. The weather just demanded you to be outside, so our little family trekked to a local farmer's market and then off to a blueberry farm deep in the VA hills.

We really enjoyed the organic grass-fed New York strip steak we selected at the farmer's market (totally sold on buying local beef now). But we really enjoyed the rolling hills of blueberries. In just over an hour we had picked 7.5lbs. Morenna, who is a big fan of blueberries anyway, appeared to be in complete awe that she could go 'round and 'round the bushes and pluck handfuls of the juicy little fruits.

And I forgot my camera.

We were able to get some video footage on Matt's phone, though. It's a bit blurry and the volume is, well, obnoxious, but if you listen closely you can hear her going "Mmm, MMMmmm!!!" after every bite. Enjoy!

Winter Joys

Yesterday was a snowy day. And seeing how Morenna had yet to be properly introduced to snow, Matt and I decided it was time. My parents had bought her little rain boots and we used them as snow boots, seeing how her big feet already fit into the T-2 size boots!

(The boots are special ones to us. I'm not sure if you can tell in the picture, but they say "Rescue #4" on them... the exact station where my dad is a firefighter. When we stumbled upon them at Babies 'R Us we exclaimed "What are the odds!" The rest is history.)

It definitely took us longer to get Morenna bundled up than we were actually outside. She appeared a solid combination of the abominable snow monster and the Pillsbury Dough Boy. It made for a good laugh. At her expense.

Once outside, she was very cautious of the white powder, but on the whole seemed relatively unimpressed. I think the bitter wind that was nipping at her cheeks stole most of her attention. After only a few minutes she appeared miserable and cold... so we headed back in. Maybe next year she'll be a bit more interested.

The Snowy Day

It was a snowy day at our house today. I love snowy days, and particularly this one. You see, I discovered last night that I had jury duty today. Though I had been hoping I would be selected, as of last night I wasn't looking forward to rising at such an early hour and leaving Morenna all day (with Matt, of course!).

But wonder of wonders, VA actually received a decent amount of snow overnight... along with so much wind that I had trouble sleeping. :-P When I phoned the jury management office early this morning, I discovered all jurers were dismissed... so I went back to bed. As did Matt.

And now we are all cozy here at home. Together. Let it snow.

Thriving

Dear Journal,

Thriving. I've often voiced to M since Morenna's been born my longing not just to "get by", but to "thrive".

I want to be as a tall oak by a flowing stream that gives brilliant beauty in every season. Beautiful. Useful. Strong.

Yet so often I feel as though I'm a cactus in a parched desert, with just enough water to make it through one more sun-scorched day. I offer little beauty to the world around me. No shade. Just sharp thorns for any passerby.

But even the cactus can flower. It's a choice.

Each tree is beautiful; each serves a purpose in bringing glory to God. I need to find contentment as either, for each relies on equal amounts of God's grace to get through the day.

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
~ 2 Corinthians 12:9

Grace

I found this post today at Girl Talk to be really encouraging:

Grace When We Need It

Tell me you can’t relate to this scenario. You talk to a woman who is in the middle of a trial. She testifies to God’s overwhelming and sustaining grace. You marvel at her peace and joy that belies her suffering. But instead of praising God for His evident faithfulness, you begin to imagine yourself enduring her ordeal. "How would I cope?" "I don’t think I could handle it." "I hope it doesn’t happen to me." With high-definition clarity and color you see yourself in the midst of her ordeal. Grace is nowhere to be found, and you are gripped by fear and dread.

So often we ignore the awesome displays of God’s faithfulness to people in trials and instead imagine ourselves in their situation, minus the grace of God. We would do well to heed Elisabeth Elliot’s wise reminder that there is no grace for our imaginations. None. It’s simply not available. God is not waiting in the wings to help us through whatever horrible imaginary trouble we can conjure up today. But His goodness is stored up and will be abundantly poured out whenever we walk through a real trial.

I’ve passed along this piece of advice to oodles of women. Maybe that’s because there are so many like me who easily submit to fear. So let’s resolve together: the next time we observe someone going through a trial, let’s turn off our imaginations and instead fix our gaze on the marvelous, abundant, overwhelming and timely grace of God—the same grace that will be available to us when we actually need it.

“…do not fear anything that is frightening.” 1 Peter 3:6

Baby's First Outing

Earlier this week, Morenna got to go on her first outing downtown to see the cherry blossoms. Seeing how we call her our "little cherry blossom", we thought it only fitting that we should have some baby pictures with some real blossoms. Unfortunately M couldn't get off of work to meet up with us, but Grandma, G-Daddy, "Aunt" Rachel and Baby Kavan came along for the fun.















Mommy, Morenna, Kavan, "Aunt" Rachel






























Grandma with her lil' blossom

Snow Dayz

Today brought an unexpected snow day to our little Virginia home. One thing that is unique about this area is that winter snows most often blow through only once or twice a season, but when they do they leave behind a lot of snow. Today was no exception. Currently 5 inches and counting.

I worked from home part of the day, taking a quick break in the morning only to head out to the store for milk and the chance to have fun doing doughnuts. (Hey, an Ohio girl HAS to practice her ninja snow-driving skills AT LEAST once a season.) The snow is so beautiful and even now is falling in lazy soft-white clumps. To set the mood, I placed cinnamon-apple candles throughout the house and have a batch of banana bread baking in the oven. Mmmm. I love snow days.





In other news, M & I purchased a new piece of furniture for our kitchen. The new buffet fits perfectly in an otherwise wasted corner of our kitchen/dining room. Thankfully it came with lots of storage space, too... so I've been able to unclutter my kitchen cabinets and discover things that I didn't even know I had. :-) Moving the coffee pot has also freed up space on my counters, making me a much happier home-maker. I heart iKEA.

Pumpkin time!

Well, fall has arrived! Hurray!

M & I had such a busy weekend getting things done around the house and enjoying the beautiful fall weather. And most importantly, we carved our pumpkin! M originally named the pumpkin "Porky" but after carving for 3 hours he rightfully changed the name to "Wilson". I guess by scrolling through the pictures below you can see why. :-)



Other accomplishments this weekend included:

• Attending the baby shower of a friend where Baby S. was introduced to Baby Boy Z. and Baby Boy H.... future playmates, we're sure!
  
• Baking a delicious apple crisp. Mmmmm.
• Baking zucchini bread. Mmm Mmm Mmm.
• Roasting pumpkin seeds.
  
• Steam cleaning our basement couch.
• Cleaning the carpet in the future nursery.
• Watching the entire Ohio State vs. Penn State game. Go Bucks!
  

Whew. I'm ready for a nap.

Columbus Day Weekend... A little belated

Time flies when you're having fun, they say. This is true. But time also flies when you're busy, sleeping, chatting on the phone, and sunbathing... but that's just my two cents.

For whatever the reason, I'm just now getting around to posting our Columbus Day weekend festivities. Although the weekend was HOT, I did get in my date with a local apple orchard and some good friends. Granted, strutting around in a hot, sticky orchard was not my vision of fall apple picking, but, well, you can't have it all. :-)

On Saturday, Rachel, Bruce and Hannah (Rach's sister) decided to join us for the fun and we made a day of it! Due to the heat I'm afraid I only picked 6 apples before succombing to the shady base of an apple tree and directing my poor husband to all the "really good" apples. One bushel later, we headed home with our harvest, some fresh apple cidar, local honey and apple butter. Mmmm. After that, a bubbly homemade apple pie finished off the day. (Pictures of the pie to follow once Rach actually sends them to me - ahem.)



Sunday, the W00SH came to spend the night and he and M used the afternoon to move Matt's entire office from a 3rd floor bedroom to the lower level to make room for our up-and-coming nursery. They certainly had a lot of heavy lifting to do but it looked great when they were through. Wow, that was a bit of an emotional shock to see an empty bedroom ready for a "nursery" facelift. I guess the realization of our future arrival is starting to sink in. *gulp*










As if our now-empty room wasn't enough, we spent this past Saturday morning taking a class at the local birthing center and touring the facility. Two words: wierded out. Not sure if I'm ready for all of this, but then again, I don't have much of a choice. :-)

In other news, my parents came for a visit this past weekend, too. It was so nice to see them, despite the chaos of their puppy and Moel Joughon's cat (whom we're catsitting) in the same house. Deadly.

Of Cleaning and Clumsiness

For better or worse I've been in a cleaning and straightening mood. Absolutely everything I've laid my eyes on recently has need dusted or organized, vacuumed or polished. And that went for my blog, too. So my loving husband spent part of his weekend helping me redo the HTML coding on my blog to get it the way I wanted it. What a guy!

But it's probably a good thing that I'm in this cleaning mood because I'm afraid I've been making a lot of messes lately. Don't shoot me, but yes, I think it has to be pregnancy-relatd. I never was this clumsy before. Two weeks ago I spilled my berry frozen fruit drink (yes, as in BLUEberry, BLACKberry, RED rasberry) all over our beige suede couch. Thank God that Oxi-Clean came to the rescue. Then last week it was sugary ORANGE juice that I spilled (as in literally dumped the whole thing over with my hand) all over our new turkish rug, which a friend had brought back from Iraq for us. Brilliant. Oxi-Clean to the rescue again. So you can see why it's probably a good thing I'm in a "cleaning" mood. Who knows what I'll attempt to destroy next.

In other news, Fall decided to make a laughing-stock out of my previous emotion-filled post announcing his arrival. It's been 93F today and hot as the dickens. All that wonderful canned pumpkin that my husband bought to fulfill my autumn cooking drive is now just sitting in the cupboard waiting for a rainy (or colder) day. I'm not bitter.

I AM bitter at the nurse who took all my blood today at the doctor's office. How nice of her to assure me ahead of time that my body wouldn't need it anyway. I still think it's bogus that my body "didn't really need" the 6 LARGE viles that she extracted. I wanted so badly to ask if all the bloodwork was really necessary, but everytime I broached the subject I got that evil eye... you know, the one that says "this isn't about you, it's about your unborn child... and you wouldn't put it's health in jeopardy now would you?" I hate that look.

But Baby S. has certainly benefitted from the physical abuse I've survived the last couple of months. It's little heart measured in today at 160 beats - right on target. I must say I really enjoyed hearing it this time since previously I was too sick to care. So far we're on track to have a healthy happy little one! But for now, I'm enjoying the peace and quiet at home...

And for those of you who we've neglected for the past bazillion weeks, please know we hope to resume our regularly scheduled social calendar very soon. :-)

Days of Rest

Fall is in the air... there's no doubt about that. I'm pretty sure it arrived Wednesday of last week and has been blowing about since then. With it came the strongest desire to go apple-picking and hiking, something I can't exactly do at the moment, but it's on the calendar. :-) My mind has been lost in thoughts of homemade goodies like apple pie, pumpkin bread, apple butter and butternut squash. Mmmm.

Saturday was absolutely beautiful here and I felt the best I had in days. I was able to take a shower (not a bath like I'd been doing the past 5 weeks - yuck!) and make the bed. I ran into a bit of an awkward dilemma, though, when I could not find any clothes that fit me. I guess that's what I get for wearing pajamas for so long.

Arm in arm with my husband we went out into the fall air for a little walk and I felt the sun on my face for the first time in weeks. How glorious and refreshing it was! Matt spent the rest of the day doing household chores and I watched the Ohio State football game (how's that for a little role reversal?). Finally as the sun set, Matt and I reminisced of childhood memories of fall... camping, harvest parties, rolling around in hay, pumpkin carving. It was a delicious day.