A tree-hugger among us!

We have a son that absolutely adores being outside.  In fact, we often struggle most with his behavior related to him wanting to be outside.  When it’s time to come in, he resists terribly, or if it’s not time to be outside, he often begs to go outside.  Seriously, if this kid would be allowed, he’d be outside all. day. long.  Rain or snow, sleet or hail, hot or cold.  We remember the days when he was an infant and would cry, cry, cry.  Nothing would console him, until Tim stepped over the threshold of the door and took him outside.  It was almost magical (and rather comical) to watch – you’d hear crying, then silence, crying, silence… as Tim was going back and forth between the foyer and the front porch!  Sebastian’s love for the outdoors continues, and he’s ever-so-eager to share his enthusiasm with his baby sister, Maya.   We took our first “family of four” hike about 2 weeks ago.  We went to one of my favorite spots – Tucquan Glen.  It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon, and getting out was good for the body and the soul!  We’re happy to have a little guy who is addicted to the outdoors as opposed to TV and video games.  We celebrate his enthusiasm for nature!

Casting the vision

I had wanted to do a belly cast for this pregnancy, as I had done for Sebastian.  And my dear friend, midwife, professional belly-caster, Jennifer, made it work into her schedule to come for a visit in order to get the belly cast done before the baby came – we did this on February 20th, just a few days before my due date.

For anyone who’s ever considered this, I highly recommend it – not only is it a very neat way to capture your beautiful belly while carrying a child, but it’s also just really cool to experience the plaster on your belly while the little one is moving around, trying to “break the mold,” so to speak!  

It was amazing to me to see how different my belly casts turned out from the two different pregnancies.  Of course they say that the way you carry a pregnancy dictates what gender of baby you’ll have… not sure how much truth there is to that, but it seemed to hold true this time around for me.  ;)

Even though my hubby is always questioning what in the world we’re going to do with these belly casts that are lying around our house, Jennifer and I were able to get him involved and cast his hand into cast #2.  We didn’t take nearly as many pictures (um, if any) of my belly this time around – I guess that’s what happens when you have a very active toddler to chase after and life at home and work is going at a pace faster than you can keep up with!  For that reason, I’m happy to have the cast, and glad to have Tim’s hand in it too!  And someday, I will do something with these things… I have a vision for them, which involves painting them, preserving them, hanging them, etc., but it will just be a matter of time til I make that vision a reality!

Thank you for my red boots

Sebastian recently received a pair of red boots that his Grandma M scored for him.  He is in LOVE with these things; if he had it his way, he would wear them all day long and everywhere…probably even to bed!  Here he shares a special message with his Grandma!  Thank you, Grandma M!  XOXO!

Big brother, growing big

Yesterday was a big day for the big brother, Sebastian. This was the day’s events for a growing 21 month old:

1. Woke up asking for kefir… yes, kefir! How many 21 month olds ask for kefir first thing in the morning?

2. Went pee pee in the potty STANDING UP for the first time!

3. Climbed into his highchair all by himself (see video):

4. Finished the day by eating way more Ethiopian food than I did, all the while insisting that he pull off his own pieces of injera and scoop up his food properly.

Maya Hope’s Newborn Photos

We welcomed Regina from Radiant Images into our home again to capture images of our newborn baby girl, Maya.  She had also done Sebastian’s newborn photos, and as always, she did a fantastic job!  Click on the photo above to go to Regina’s blog, where you can catch a glimpse of some of the photos she took.  We’re anxious to see how they all turned out!  Maya was a mere five days old when these pictures were taken.  She’s changing so fast, right before our eyes!

Maternity Shots for Baby #2

Approaching the 35th week of pregnancy… we finally got some belly shots this afternoon.  This time around was a very different experience from our last pregnancy photo shoot, as we we trying to corral Sebastian, engage him and get some photos of the two or three (or four!) of us!  At least we’re able to document the fact that I am pregnant with this baby…

 

 

 

Holiday.Family.Fun

The holidays have come and gone in the blink of an eye and are done for the year… unless you count my upcoming big-ish birthday.  It seemed like such a whirlwind between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, but we enjoyed some great times together as a family.  We’re blessed to have most of our family nearby, and we’re thankful for the opportunity to see those that don’t live so close around this time of year. 

I don’t recall ever making a gingerbread house as a child, and it was great fun to do that on Thanksgiving Day at Tim’s parents’ home.  All the kids – big and small – gathered at the kitchen table to create their masterpieces.  It was quite the contest!  This is our “green” house that adorns the buffet in our dining room now. 

And some more shots of the gang showing off their work:

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And the winner was:

We all put money in a pot to participate in the contest, and the winner got to choose which charitable organization he or she wanted to donate the money to.  I’m not sure what organization Angel decided upon, but it was a great way to share our blessings with others at Thanksgiving.

While on the ginger bread theme, we had another grand time making ginger bread cookies with our niece and nephew (my brother’s kids).  A lesson learned, however: ginger bread cookie batter should not be made with whole wheat flour.  It just-so-happened to be the only flour I had in the house, but now I know it’s worth a jaunt to the grocery store!

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We took the annual excursion to get a Christmas Tree with my parents and my brother and his family the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  Frysville Farms is a family-owned business that has great trees and good prices, plus the largest selection of poinsettias I’ve ever seen and a horse-drawn hay ride, with hot apple cider to warm you up at the end.  Unfortunately this year during our hay ride, we were taken right past the incinerator, which was full of plastic that they seemingly are burning.  Blech! Not only is this a huge disappointment for us, but may be cause for change of location next year.  Tim’s planning to write a letter to the company conveying our sadness and impetus for no longer being customers.  So here’s a series of photos from what may have been our last trip to this particular farm…

Despite the less-than-eco-friendly encounter, we enjoyed ourselves, and it helped us to get a little more into the spirit of things this season.  Never mind the fact that our tree, wreaths and swags sat on our front porch for several weeks afterwards… our house sure looks beautiful with it’s holiday touch now!

Bath time, bath time!

One of Sebastian’s favorite past-times is bath time.  Before bed each night, Sebbie signs “bath time” indicating it’s time to get the evening routine underway (and for some reason we always say “bath time, bath time” as part of the cue.  During his bath, he plays and plays and plays in the water, splashing, giggling, smiling and helping to wet and rinse his own hair.  It’s usually difficult to convince him that bath time is over and that it’s time to go to bed.  But he knows that when the water runs out, it’s time to get out of the tub.  One of his favorite Christmas toys was this addition – the red tug boat -  to his bath time toy collection… thanks to Aunt Traci, Uncle Steve and cousins, Isaac and Lauryn.  

I’m pretty certain they don’t come much cuter than this little guy!  And, Sebastian gained big points and lots of hugs, kisses and high-fives this week when he peed on his new potty – TWICE!  Tim might get his wish after all – only one child in diapers at a time!  I’m not holding my breath, but it certainly wouldn’t be a bad thing! 

Sneak preview of the family Christmas photo…

Just a little bit of photo editing and look what we have – a lovely family, all bundled for the wintry, snowy (huh?) weather… hats included!  It really was cold, people!

Beach Trip

It seems a bit odd to be posting these photos now, when we were at the beach over 2 1/2 months ago, and it’s now getting blistery cold… but in an effort to forget about the temperature outside and my winter garb, as well as catch up a bit on posting, I thought I’d post away…! 

We spent a weekend in Ocean City, MD with our dear friends, Marvin & Dori.  It was beautiful mid-September weather, the temperature was in the 70’s, and we were thrilled to be hanging out in OC during “bike week!”  We didn’t know exactly what to expect, but it was a cultural experience, nonetheless.

Two preggers, two daddies, a super adorable toddler, lots of fantastic food, great company… what more could we ask for?!? 

Take a peak at some of my favorites from the get-away:

Still didn’t have a big enough belly to prevent me from carrying Sebbie in the Ergo on my front!  My, how things change in such a short period of time!

Nanny Dori & Sebastian watching the waves.

Loved, loved, loved to play in the sand!

Buried daddy!  Where’d his legs go?

  

Evening stroll on the boardwalk…

That baby ended up weighing almost 10 pounds!  I’m sure it had nothing to do with Thrasher’s fries (see below)…Holy French fries!  I’ve never seen such a thing in all my life… but boy, were they delicious!  Not sure who ate more – Sebastian or the pregnant mommies! 

One last walk on the beach before we loaded up the car and headed home, after a great weekend away.  It was time too apply aloe vera and drink lots of H2O, especially for the men-folk in the group! 

And after it was all said and done, I think we might go back for “bike week” again!  The price was right, and never mind the roaring motorcycle engines and too much leather for beach attire…!  It was a blessing to have a little escape and share a wonderful time with our friends!