Well, Sweet Baby Jane!

Go has 2 more weeks of vacation that he has to take before the start of June. And what do you know? This next week is one of them. We're doing a couple of little trips:

1. Pittsburgh! For the Super Bowl. Mmm...ok, if you say so. But more like to see our dear friends the Ringgers and Jacksons while we eat delicious food and laugh ourselves to oblivion. I think the game might be on in the background. Maybe. I really don't care. Go Steelers? Sure. Whatever.

2. Great Wolf Lodge & Waterpark!
The water is 85 degrees. That's all I need to know. My apologies in advance to the Jacksons who will be accompanying us.

3. D.C.! Probably!

It's going to be a lot of driving but our kids like riding in the car. I guess it's bigger than the cage they're normally kept in. More leg room.

I know I said I was going to lay off the craft projects for awhile but I have to do something while we do all of this driving, so I'm going to attempt to crochet a headband similar to this one.


"What's with the headbands, Annie?", you may ask. Well, folks. Big, fat headbands cover up big, fat roots. I've got at least a month left until I'll let myself get my hair done again. In the meantime, I'll be looking like those poor babies you see every Sunday at church.

What We're Feeling Like in Late January on the East Coast

I'm helping May put on her coat, her hat, her gloves, her boots, etc.

May: Mom?

Me: Yah?

May: (said with great dramatic disdain) Putting on my coat is my LIFE.


A. Men.

No, I am Not Superstitious

As of right now, I will be induced on Friday the 13th of March at 8 am.

Busy Little Bee

Some projects I've done in the past three months or so:

This table runner, which was made out of scraps left over from a FABULOUS quilt my mom made me:

A bag for a friend also made from leftover fabric from the fabulous quilt. I don't have a picture of the bag, but trust me, it was super cute. I really, really wanted to keep it for myself.

This baby mobile made out of wool felt balls and bent wire:

This bag made out of felted sweaters and wool felt balls:

This scarf made out of cotton yarn (knitted in a double seed pattern) for Ruby: (this picture was taken about 3 months ago...obviously not recently seeing as I am presently about double this size.)

This scarf made out of organic cotton yarn for myself (no elaborate knitting stitch--I did this while on my trip and knew I'd be knitting amongst chaos and didn't want to keep track/count of the stitches.) I have to figure out how to block it and make it actually stay flat. Nothing I've done so far has worked: any knitters out there, please advise.

This scarf made out of cotton yarn for Go (knitted in a basketweave stitch). Actually, it's not done yet but probably will be tonight:

These hair things made out of wool felt:

This one actually isn't done yet but probably will be tonight:

wool felt and feathers:

just feathers:

A bunch of hair things for my girls (not pictured)

Some silly wool felt bracelet thingees for my MIL and SILs (also not pictured)

This pillow, which was for the baby's room, which I eventually dismantled and decided that I didn't need or want. Aren't you proud, Merz?

A bunch of little baby shoes like these for friends' new babies.

And that's about it.

In semi-related news:
Two fabulous quilts have joined our family and are now on display:

The one made by Camie for the baby's room, which was exactly what I wanted. I love it. I like how it also will make for a kind of "mobile" almost--the baby will totally look at it from her crib. (That's why I put the mobile over the diaper changing table.) I wanted to get a better picture of it but I couldn't because of the angle of the room, etc. but you can tell even by just a corner of it what a great job she did.

And this one made my Mom which is now in the front room.

The front: (which made a great fancy hijab one sleepless night) I have to say all of the pictures I take of it...they just don't do it justice. It's truly breathtaking and I wholeheartedly believe that this quilt is ME is quilt form. If I were a quilt, this is what I would look like.

The back: (which I almost love as much as the front)


Two other additions that have added a lot to our home:

The easel that the girls work on for hours which was their Christmas present from Go and I, which we keep in the corner of the kitchen--right next to my art studio, which works out nicely.

We brought this kid table/chairs from the basement upstairs into the kitchen. It is now their "craft table" which also works out nicely. I can have food, etc. out on the table and not distrupt any of their projects.

I feel like a lot of creativity has been flowing through this place lately. And I love it.

After Go's scarf and my hair thing is done, I am done crafting for awhile (though I might whip out a couple of baby gifts seeing as like everyone I know is pregnant.) For the last month I have left before BeeBee Three comes, I will be working on an oil painting portrait, which I need to keep a secret for now since it is a gift. I need to get it done before I have the baby because newborns and paint fumes do not mix. That's what I read on the packaging, anyway.

Per Their Requests

I had two post requests within an hour of each other and since I only aim to please:

1. My Mom requested I also post this picture of Joe: (It's very him.)

It was the runner-up to the one in the prior post and could possibly make it into the hallway at my parent's house where the senior pictures are displayed. Right beside these two young bucks.




2. And then my friend Mandy reminded me of this story from Sunday. I was sick so Go took the girls to church. After they returned May and I had the following conversation about Primary, the childrens' portion of Sunday School:

Me: May, did you like Primary today?
May: YAH!
Me: What did you do?
May: I HIT A BABY!

What in the world...?

It turns out that she actually DID NOT hit a baby...she was "juuuust kiiiiiidding." I don't even know what to say about this.

Merry Christmas, Mom!

Me sometime in late November: Hey Mom, what do you want for Christmas?

Mom: I want you to take Joseph's senior picture. For real this time. Make it look like your's and John's.


Do you remember the first request a year and a half ago? It involved a tank top and a flash light. Needless to say, none of those pictures made the cut.


And did I mention that my brother graduated from high school like 5 years ago?


This was the first shoot, which happened on a cloudy morning after I woke him up and dragged him out of bed, which to his credit, he let me do and he was even cheerful about it. But that's Joe.

You most likely won't get much of a kick out of this post unless you know him. But if you know him, you will because you'll probably be able to say he is the funniest person you know. Besides me, silly.

Some gems from the shoot:

Proof that I am funny: I can make the funniest-guy-you-know laugh.

Our mother was gone that morning and was not there to inspect him before we took the pictures. When she arrived home, upon looking at the photos, she announced that they must be redone. REDONE? Why, YES! But why? What's wrong with these? His hair : wet! His face: scruffy! His shirt: untucked!

The final result: not too shabby.
If you're into dry hair, shaven faces, tucked in shirts and that sort of thing...

More Pictures from CA

Oh yah, I forgot. I had more pictures from California I wanted to post.
Yes, from like a month ago.

But things are slow here.

Good times at ZooMars.
Papa Tommy and his May-Bone.

Can you guess what their favorite color is?
Nope. Guess again.

"He remembers me from last year!" Ruby exclaimed.
Behold:
The Smartest Guinea Pig in the WORLD.

A piggy-back bunny.

Fashion Island.
"What's so funny?" you may be asking.
Have you ever been to Fashion Island?
Oh. So many possibilities...

For instance:
May says: "Look at those people pushing their dog in the stroller!"

Decorating Grandma Caren's "Grandkid Tree"
I call this the Miss America pose,

which of course, she learned from me.
Because I do it all the time.

A Monstrous 3D Event!

The other night, Go came in the door and said "Hey, I brought home something fun!" and you know I was totally thinking "Oh no. Goats milk. Pickled herring. Wasabi-flavored matzo balls." But instead of proudly holding up a brown paper bag with something green oozing out of it, he handed me these:
Me: Where'd you get these?
Go: At work! They just had a big pile sitting there for people to take and so I grabbed one!
Me: What are they for?
Go: I don't know! An episode of Chuck or something!
Me: Why didn't you get two?
Go: I don't know! They're for you, though!

That Go. Always the giver. And always excited about the oddest of things.

And yes, I know I am wearing a Timpview High School sweatshirt. It's a long story but I'll tell you anyway. Go coached pole vaulting there while he attended BYU. Hm. I guess it wasn't as long as I thought.

Why, Thank You, May

My belly was itching, so I lifted my shirt and was scratching it, exposing my huge and not-so-pretty 7th-month pregnant stomach (which actually looks more like a 9th-month pregnant stomach) exactly eye-level with May, who was standing on a stool.

May: Whoa, Mama. You body is big.

Me: I know. I've got a big baby in there.

May: That baby is making you body willy, willy big.

Well, everybody knows that the bird is the word! A-well-a bird, bird, b-bird's the word!

I've got about a month and half left and I am already in nesting mode. If you don't know what nesting is, then you fall into one of the following categories:

a. You are a male and have never fathered a child...that you know of.
b. You are a male and have fathered a child but are not a good listener.
c. You are a female but have yet to birth a baby.

If you answered a, b, or c, let me edumacate you:

Nesting, according to www.ivillage.co.uk says:

"Near the time of labour, many pregnant women feel strong urges to get ready for the new baby. Nesting is often characterised by manic cleaning and organising."

I hope you read that in a British accent. (What do the English have against the letter "z" anyway?)

In the last couple of days I have:
Cleaned out the baby's room and have started decorating it.
Cleaned out and organized the closet in the baby's room.
Cleaned out and organized the closet in the girls' room.
Relocated all of the girls' books and put them in a central book shelf that is now held in the hallway.
Organized the pantry.
Cleaned out and organized underneath the kitchen sink.
Organized my Tupperware/Lazy-Susan cabinet.
Organized the coat closet.
Organized the laundry area.
Organized the girl's art cabinet.
Washed out and organized the girl's bath bin that holds all of their shampoo, etc.
Cleaned out and organized the medicine cabinet in the kitchen. (If you know our family well, you know this particular task took several hours.)

Things I still have on my "Things That Must Be Done Well Before This Baby Comes Or I Won't Be Able to Sleep At Night" list:
Finish decorative pillow for the baby's room. Yah, you heard me, Merz.
Construct some sort of mobile for the baby's room.
Make some sort of artwork for the baby's room.
Have Go shampoo the carpets. Yah, you heard me, Go.
Have all surfaces swept and/or dusted and/or mopped and/or scoured.
Organize art studio.
Organize closet in bathroom.
Organize bathroom cabinets.
Organize pots and pan cabinet.
Organize computer area.
Organize the utensil drawers.

Because newborns must have organized forks and knives, that's why.

A Good Book I Just Finished

This Will Have to Do

As I've mentioned before, I will not have a music player on this blog.

But I really want you to hear the song I just bought so here it is on youtube. I can't stop listening to it. I love Get-Up-&-Dance! music as much as the next teenybopper but my roots run deep, thick and twisted around just a dude and his acoustic guitar. I can take or leave overdubbing but I think it works well in this song.

Listen if you wish. Especially if you are in a melancholy, angsty mood or have the desire to get in one.

Here's Bon Iver's Skinny Love.

Another Exciting Adventure While at Gymnastics

I am at gymnastics, listening to music, knitting, and watching my squirrely kid ignore her gymnastics teacher. I take one bud out of my ear for a moment and the woman next to me with the appliqued snowflake sweater vest points to my iPhone and says "What are you listening to?"

"Oh, it's on shuffle," I say with a shrug, not really feeling in the mood for chitchatting it up with a stranger. And, ok SUE me for judging a book by its cover but I didn't for see much music-compatibility with Appliqued Snowflake Sweater Vest Lady, as pleasant as she seems to be. I know, I know--I'm a total snob. I realize this and resist the urge to stuff the bud back into my ear canal and let it dangle there, which in case you didn't know, is the universal sign for "We may now converse."

"Well, what song is it right now?" she pushes.

"Uh, right now?"

She smiles. "Sure."

"Um...O.P.P."

"O.P.P.?" she says and cocks her head to one side.

Without hesitation, I start singing "Yah, like "You down with O.P.P.? Yah, you know me!" I am also in the mood where I don't care what anyone thinks of me. (I am in this mood most of the time.)

Her nose automatically wrinkles but she tries to cover it up. "Oh, I think I remember that song..." and she sort of shifts and turns her back to me.

Aaaaaand conversation over.

Back into the ear the bud goes.

Well, she's the one who asked. If only she had asked a minute before, I could have replied with a much more palatable Cat Stevens.

Who Says Domestic Tasks Need to Be Boring?

Today I am baking artisan bread. I'll let you know how it turns out as my bread baking skills are more than lacking.

Thanks to the many hours I spent at the Eaton household over my lifetime, I cannot bake bread without saying this over and over:

"They say bread is life. And I bake bread, bread, bread. And I sweat. And shovel this stinkin' dough in and out of this hot hole in the wall and I should be sooooo happy. Huh?!!! Sweetie?"

It confuses my children.

Good Good Good

I have lots of $ in iTunes right now. The only person I know who loves iTunes gift cards as much as I do is the man I live with, which makes for a supreme collection of music, I must say. We both usually go for new indie stuff or old eclectic songs that are just must-haves in any decent music collection.

Today's download was a little out of the norm: Robert Plant and Alison Krauss' Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On) but it's really, really good. It's not like it's super new or anything but whatever. I am indifferent towards Alison Krauss but anyone who knows me well knows how I feel about Robert Plant and/or anything Zeppelin related. I heart it all. Like, a lot.

If I had a music player on my blog, I'd put the song on there but that goes against everything I stand for and believe in. I refuse to have a music player on my blog. Why? Because I don't like yours, that's why.

Hugs and kisses!

Here There Be Dragons

Warning: I have absolutely nothing specific to say but feel like blogging anyway. This could be dangerous.

1. May is sick and threw up all night long. She never made it to the toilet or the designated "This-is-where-you-should-throw-up-if-you-don't-make-it-to-the-bathroom Bowl" once. That's ok. I always feel weird using a bowl (even after it's been thrown up in and then washed and washed and washed) knowing that it was once used to catch vomit. It's kind of like the "Tooth Glass" at my parents' house. It's this glass, a very 1950's-jukebox-diner-milkshake glass, you know, it looks like it should be filled with something creamy and pink and have two straws jutting out of it which are being sipped on by a boy with curly, greasy hair and a girl wearing a pony tail with a scarf tied around it and a pink poodle skirt which is the exact same color of what's inside the glass. It was the only one we had of it's kind and was used for nothing else but for when one of us lost a tooth. We'd fill the glass halfway with water, drop the tooth in and anxiously await for it to be filled with one million dollars. Or like 2 quarters, whatever. No one actually ever drank out of this glass, because GROSS!--our teeth had been in there! Even though it was always put through the dishwasher afterwards, I think we were just mentally weirded out by it. I may have, once or twice, given this glass to a friend from high school to drink out of. He was bugging me and it gave me secret delight to know that "Ew! He's drinking out of the Tooth Glass!" While I was home this Christmas, I was thirsty, went to the cupboard to retrieve a glass and found nothing there but the Tooth Glass to use. Did I use it? No. I used a sippy cup with a chewed on nozzle instead. Which was probably grosser.

2. I got released from being the Relief Society secretary (Thank goodness, because those opaque tan panty hose had one two many runs in them!) and was called as the Nursery Music Leader. I go into one Nursery, sing with them for 15 minutes, go into the next Nursery, sing with them for another 15 minutes and that's my Sunday duties. Two words: (of which I am not used to being able to say regarding my duties in my current ward thus far) PLUSH. GIG. I'm pretty excited. I've already started making little instruments for the kids to play while we sing and I think I'll really like it. I hope they like it, too.

3. This morning while I was washing the vomit out of May's hair:
May: Mama, I like you.
Me: I like you too, May-Bone.
May: I glad you're not dead.
She's a morbid little thing.

4. The question I'm getting A LOT lately is "So do you have a name picked out yet?" To which I tell the truth and reply with "No, not really." I think maybe because Ruby and May aren't your run-of-the-mill names, people are interested what we'll come up with this time. Then they always ask "Well, do you have any ideas?" and then I tell a lie and say "No, not really."

5. It is cold here. And in the next few days, it's supposed to get even colder, like below zero with the wind chill factored in. We refer to this weather as "Iowa Cold", which I had always thought I had finally gotten away from but no. "Iowa Cold" is, like, freeze-your-face-off cold. It's so cold that not only can you see your breath, but your breath actually turns into tiny snowflakes that shoot out of your nose along these little naked, blue fairies that dance around your head and laugh at you. Oh how I hate you, you naked, blue fairies. Go put some clothes on.

A Bunch of Pictures from California