Twin Sheets Pasta Party.

28 January - 5 February 2015.

As part of the Punxsutawney Pilgrimage, Aunt Rachie came out to visit for a few days.  As always, it was so fun having her here.  Some of the highlights of her days in Normal include: dinner at Meatheads * clothes shopping at Target (with Roo our little tagalong) * seeing the AMTRAK train pass the Towanda Post Office * Sending valentines packages to friends * stocking up on car snack and ISU gear (Alex commenting on his big head ;0)) * gondola sandwich from Avanti's * cooking & baking together * prepping for Brie's 100th day of school (note for Mrs. Kauten and fun lunch) * spa afternoon for the kids * nap time with Alex on the couch * Pasta Party & Trifle * Dad surprising us with a streusel cake breakfast before Aunt Rachie flew home *

A week before Aunt Rachie came out, she & I decided that we'd do our own version of Brick Oven's pasta & salad bar for our birthday dinner.  The morning of, I had the idea to tweak some of the designs I had (for your cousin Isaac's 5th pizza birthday party) to make our dinner feel even more authentic.  We had 4 different pastas (fettucine, fusili, angel hair and farfalle), marinara and alfredo sauce, meatballs, garlic bread and quite the spread for our salad bar.  We also had frosted glasses for our rootbeer :0)  To top it off we had a twin {groundhog} trifle with two flavors: cherry banana vanilla chip and chocolate cherry brownie chunk.  We had Puccini playing in the background and had such a fun time serving dad & you kids your dinner.  It was a great evening and kickoff for our 32nd birthday.

a little corner for our Baby Girl.

Last month Brie, you & I devoted a Saturday afternoon to decorating a little corner in my room for your baby sister.  I had brainstormed ideas for the space with Tiffany while she was in town and the soft peaches and pinks with an elegant touch of gold came to mind.  Thankfully I was able to use supplies that I already had on hand so it didn't cost me a dime, yet I think it turned out so beautifully for our baby girl.  And I loved working on the project with you!  You're such a great helper.  I'm getting so excited for Spring and your baby sister's birthday :0)

Gold frames: Goodwill Outlet, 

Flower banner: punched out paper with pearl scrapbook embellishments, hot glued to some vintage gold embroidery thread I got from a garage sale in St. Louis.

Fabric hearts: hand-me-down fabric and buttons I bought last summer from Walmart

Fabric bassinet skirt: hand-me-down fabrics, tulle and ribbon.

Gold wall polka dots: gold tissue paper glued to card stock, punched out and taped.

*Brie helped me design a print out for one of the frames.  It has our baby girl's first and middle name (and meanings) on it, but I blurred them to keep you all in suspense ;0), OR in case we end up going with a different name.*

Visit from the Tooth Fairy.

Brie, you have been waiting for over a year to lose your first tooth!  For the last several months you've had a good candidate that you've been wiggling non-stop.  About a month ago you came home from school with a HUGE gapey grin...you'd pulled your tooth out at school!  It was SO cute to see how excited you were :0)

That night you put out the tooth pillow (that you and I made last year), a note (that you'd had written and ready for a few weeks) and an adorable drawing of your tooth fairy.  Low and behold your tooth fairy came!  She even used my craft room, computer and printer...that sneaky little fairy.  Good thing dad was out of town and that I'm a heavy sleeper so the noisy printer didn't wake me up.  The next morning you raced into my room around 6:45 to show me what you had gotten!  What a great idea to let you keep your first tooth...if only Alex hadn't gotten ahold of it :0/  It's currently lost in your carpet.  In any case, what a big milestone moment for you Brie!

Home Tour in Panorama.

After spending an hour trying to find random pictures of our house (scattered throughout blog posts) to show Grandma Stevenson, I decided I would do an official home tour post...in panoramic pictures.  Out of sheer laziness I'm not showing all of the rooms, but this will at least give you an idea of what our house is like.  We are just LOVING our home!!!

MAIN LEVEL:

Entry.

Front sitting room.

Formal dining room.

Kitchen.

Family room.

UPSTAIRS:

Master bedroom + mini baby corner :0)


Master bathroom.

Boys' room.

Brie's room.

My craft room!

DOWNSTAIRS: 

Movie room.

Toy room.

Guest room.

P.S. Photoshop decided to not blend the different layers on some of the panoramic pictures (boys' room, brie's room, guest room), so they look a bit funky.  Oh well, c'est la vie.

Fabulous Food, Friends and Fun.

Dad was going to be gone for five days (for a consortium and conference in Palm Springs, California) so we invited Tiffany and Kenzi to come visit.  They drove all the way from Kansas City and stayed from Wednesday night to Saturday morning.  Other than Lij being sick and a bit miserable, we all had a fabulous time!  Some of the highlights include: sewing bright & cheery burp cloths for our babies on the way * chatting, chatting, chatting * making yummy food (monte cristo crêpes, pita pizzas, lemon blueberry muffins) * doing a valentine's day photo shoot and designing a postcard * Wonder Pets movie party * Tooth Fairy Adventures * ALL of Tiff's help with dishes, holding Lij, wiping up spilled drinks, more dishes, midnight garbages-to-the-curb run) *

 

 

Tiff (expecting a boy) and I are only due 3 days apart.  It's been really fun to keep up with each other's pregnancies over text and Facetime.  Now that we're in third trimester we're both trying to get our baby corners ready and decide on names, and in a few months we'll see whose birthday comes first.  Thanks for coming out to visit!!

Creating a Room to Create.

My dear nesting instinct + my helpers (Alex, Bry and Brie) + getting ready for sew much fun with a friend = a Room to Create.

My craft room has been halfway done since we moved in.  I've had a lot of it decorated, but piles of unorganized chaos has been cluttering the floor.  The week leading up to Tiff's visit, Alex was my awesome assistant and helped me to get things in order.  The curtains arrived thanks to Amazon 2 day shipping, and Dad changed out the butterfly fan.  Last but not least, you kids helped me assemble the futon (it came just in the nick of time and the awesome UPS guy was willing to haul all 80lbs. of it up the stairs for me!).  In any case, it is so fun to finally have it finished!  My own space to create :0)

A matter of inches.

We have our baby girl's bassinet set up now, a few feet away from our bed. It's funny to me that in just a few months she'll no longer be nestled up with me at night but will be in her own little bed. And that it is such a short journey, a matter of inches that will make that difference. It makes me think that our little tiny movements in the right direction are much more important than they seem. What is seemingly insignificant progress is actually monumental on our path to be like God.

I l-o-v-e...

Brie, when telling you the name that we think we're going to give our baby girl, you let out a little gasp ans said, "I l-o-v-e finger space t-h-a-t n-a-m-m-e."  Glad you're a fan :0)

According to my Motorola, 3.

Thanks Heather & Rex for the date idea :0)

Puzzle time on Sunday morning.

 Roo reading in the siting room.

 Dad ready for first day of his second semester of teaching.

 A little note (alluding to a note I gave him while we were dating) to go with breakfast.

 Visuals for {what ended up being} my last lesson to teach in Relief Society.

 Brothers :0)

 Facetiming with Tiff & Kenzi.

 Getting ready to play in the snow...

 Roo, you crack me up :0)

 Sibling love.

 Family Home Evening treat after giving a lesson on building on a firm foundation.

Our family's theme board for 2015.

Taking a nap with Alex.

Beautiful winter sunrise.

Alex playing with snow inside on a VERY cold day.

Brie at Hannah's 5th birthday party.

Princess Waddles :0)

 Brie helping to lead the music in primary with Sister Kimball.

Cleaning the kitchen after dinner.  Yay for teamwork!

Finding out on a Graden family hangout that both Heather AND Julie are expecting!

Brie dressed up like Minnie Mouse.

Only took me 7 months to get my earrings hung up and organized.  Thank you dear nesting!

 26 week baby bump.

 Cuties :0)

 Snuggling with 2 2/3 of my kiddos.

 My view when Brie walked in from her carpool :0)

 Love these two.  And oh Lij how you love your Daddy.

 Brie ADORES all of her stuffed animal pets.

 Alex in true form.

 Me & my baby girl.

 Brie & Alex loving our new-to-us air hockey table.

 Alex & Brie reading their magazines (Mémé got each of the kids their own subscription).

Brie filling our mail boxes o' love.

28 week baby bump.