If you're still reading....

I have a little guy to (finally) introduce to you!

Holden was born September 14th, 2011 

6lb 13oz  :: 21" long

He is such a sweet, good baby. He is sleeping 8 hours or more a night and just goes with the flow.

I made a ridiculous amount of things (knit and sewn) for him over the last year so I will post all these fun projects over the next couple of weeks... Including the suspenders he is wearing in the picture.

I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving. Are you ready for Christmas?
I'm NOT ready but super excited to decorate a tree, hang a wreath and possibly get some stockings and lights up in the next week or so.
Stay warm! 

we love aunt "nane"

4 tan strands for us. 1blue strand for baby. (september due date = sapphire).

This braccelet is for my sister who is leaving today.
I will miss her. But...
she will be back in a couple months to be with me at the birth
or
if this little guy comes early,
then she will get here just in time to cuddle him.

mother's day

love watching those teeth come in!

don't smile your face WILL crack

you have a chocolate beard. rock it!

does this face say fun or what?

breakfast with my momma and man.

yuuuumy food at Hash.

mom picked an italian greyhound to start the festivities.

It had a sugared rim and looked fabulous! 

food, as always, delicious!

vintage furniture shopping with my man.

then a movie in bed and a nap.

Presents!

hand made gift from Liv Lu

a watercolor painted fan (so stunk'n cute!)

wrapped in orange tissue paper with love. (swoon)

then the topper... brownies and ice cream 

made with excitement, goofiness and big amounts of love.

Happy momma's day. 

I hope all you mommas made 

special memories too.

morning

may 5th

my desk at work

i'm first up in the house

no clean towel (how come even when all the laundry is washed there still is never enough towels. does anyone else have that problem?)

woke my sleeping Livi Lu… "i can't get up mom." rolled over in her pink blanket.

showered without washing my hair, cause it was blown strait yesterday and i'm as low maintenance as possible folks!

thought about the day ahead and how much i wanted to be with family instead of going to work.

"livi please get up. I'm going to get breakfast going for you."

toast. peanut butter. banana. vitamins. water.

"livi, honey, it's been 30 minutes. I know it's tough but ya gotta get up girl."

Walk out the door after saying good bye to the fam… with hugs and kisses…
success… livi is up and eating! 

drive to work with a coffee in hand.

run over an already dead cat… probably 'cause i was following the car behind me too close. yigggggggg

dad. sister. mother. brother. hospital. baby. daughter. love.

another rainy day. feeling out of control but very loved.

XO. Have a lovely day full of hugs and the ones you love. 

etsy

SOUP!!!!



Remember my rant last March? Well let's refresh your memory.
(and bring to attention that i've been very lazy about taking good pictures the last few days! 
That old picture of taco soup puts my new one to shame. sheesh.)

Yesterday was a taco soup kinda day. 

Yum Yum. 

And the day before was a veggie soup kinda day. 

And the day before that was a chicken noodle soup kinda day. 

I think if I feed my daughter home made soup tonight 

she will kick me in the junk.

My very own Circus.

My brother has been teaching himself to juggle.



I captured some pics.

He's not the biggest fan of having his picture taken.

(place sinister grin here!)

I got kicked out of first grade.

First day of school pictures. They have to be done. I want the memory and the ability and pleasure of looking back at every year and seeing how much she has grown! See her last year... she was so tiny... a sweet excited new kindergartner.



Now look at her.... This face says, "I so don't have time for this picture thing mom. Ummm... don't you know it's my first day of school and this is the LAST thing I want to be doing!"

I don't blame her... i kinda go bonkers with my camera. There are two pictures here but if you saw how many I actually took you'd be frowning at the camera too! hee hee



In the end we made a deal... she smiled her real "I'm happy today" smile as long as I didn't take the camera to the class room. .... oh, all right! Deal.

But that's not all... as soon as her name tag was on and school supplies in place... she kicked me out. Yep... already... first grade and now mom's gotta go. I was sure I'd be able to hang out on the first day of school for a bit at least to 4th grade. That's a big fat N. O.!




I love you Olivia and am so proud of you. You are such a great friend, creative and energetic student and an absolute light to be around. Go get 'em big girl!!

Ps. in All it's Oregonian charm... it rained for the first day of school. Why am I surprised!?

Beautiful Boston

Back from my vacation in Boston. (miss you Nee and Ty!)

I had a fabulous time...
more on that later this week.

Been getting Olivia ready for school... gearing up for September. I can't believe how fast the summer slipped away.

Here I come Renee!!!

I'm leaving in ten minutes to visit my sister and my bro Ty who I haven't seen in a year.... to be honest I think it's been a year and a half. That's sick and wrong people!




We are going to sail on the new boat, eat lots of sea food, dance and sing and cry and laugh. I CAN'T WAIT!

Have a fabulous week!

I'm off!

Love.

Happy birthday Mom.

We send you tons of love and hugs and wishes.
Mwah!

*pic from my mom's visit last May

Dear Campfire,

We love you.


Your glow as the sun goes down, the deep comforting smell that hugs everything. We miss you and can't wait to spend another weekend circled around you. Thank you for sending your perfume home with us... in our bags, on our blankets and twisted around our strands of hair.


Over the next few days, loads of laundry and showers and baths will wash you off. Please forgive us, we would keep that lovely smokey camp sent but all things must come to an end.

Picnics and fangs.

So here are the pictures I promised of our picnic a few weeks ago.

Did you know vampires like peanut butter sandwiches?

They do.

Olivia and I are going camping this weekend. We are VERY excited!

Happy weekend to you all and hope you had a fabulous week.

Good night nurse....

... it's been a long time!

I know.

It's been a weird

packed

unusually lonely

but all the same

very busy few weeks.

I miss you blog people.




Going camping with Olivia and my aunt, uncle and cousin this weekend.




Can't wait!!



Will be back to update this sucker Monday. Hope you all have a fabulous Weekend.


**pictures of Cascadia State Park where we are camping. Found at Flickr... pics link to source.

Oh happy day!

Olivia gets back today so I'm planning a picnic for her...


with berries and sandwiches,

ice cream and book reading.


It's going to be another scorcher today so we'll pick a good shaded spot for the quilt.

I can't wait to see and HUG my Lu...
She has been gone since last Friday and for some reason this week has moved very slow... probably due to the fact that the week started off with a

Bang...

literally...

so everything after that just kinda slugged by.
(speaking of... Happy Independence day to you all. Hope you had a special 4th!


These pictures were taken the other day when we went to visit my brother. He has a few swings outside his house and this girl can't get enough of them.




I don't blame her... pretending to

fly

is fabulous!

peace.

I took a couple pictures while I took a walk this morning.

(side note)
at 10am it was already 75 outside... as I type this at noon its 80 and It's
going to be over 100 today. We don't get that kind of heat often in
Portland!!

It was beautiful. And I didn't listen to music like i normally do. I just walked and looked and listened to the neighborhood and the thoughts in my head.



I've been learning a lot over the past year.

It feels good to...

"let go" and just "be."



My brother visited a couple nights ago and we sat talking on the back deck. We talked about what we are learning now... what we are embracing and maybe what we are having a hard time embracing.


Here is one of the things I have learned
(and still learning.)
The thing I am so happy to embrace.



Slowing Down




"...we carry our home with us wherever we go. Even as we move into the depths of emotional waters, we can remain self-contained and free from attachments....
There is no need to do anything but rest in the fullness of who you are right now. If desires and hopes and dreams are fading away, so much the better. Their disappearance is making space for a new quality of stillness and acceptance of what is, and you are able to welcome this development in a way you have never been able to before. Savor this quality of slowing down, of coming to rest and recognizing you are already home."

Dear Evan.

I Love You. You teach me something new every time I see you. You are genuine and kind and real. You always follow your heart and never settle. You exude peace and understanding and you always remind me to breath... ( I forget a lot. So thank you.)

Love,

Your sister Rachel.

Two socks. TWO!

I'm so bad about finishing socks. I make one and then never finish it's mate.

All I have are lonely socks.

Sad.

But today folks, today I finished a PAIR!

Can I get a pat on the back? A hi-five? A Yippie!!!?

Thank you.

These lovely man socks are for my wonderful fabulous handsome supportive funny and talented beer brewing dad. I love you daddy!



pattern details

Pattern: improvised/my own
two socks knit at one time on one long circ

Yarn: Simply Shetland lambswool and cashmere (2.5 skeins)
color : : mallard

Needles: Addi US3 circ

started: September 2008 (i know, pathetic!)
finished: May 21 2010

momma.

olivia and i are beside ourselves!!

my mom...

...arrives T O D A Y and i haven't seen her for 9 months!



WHAT?!




yep 9. whole. months.

Don't even get me started about how long it's been since i've seen my dad, sis & bro in law.


BUT!!!....


taking baby steps
cause today is mom day! YAY!!!!!

or "yaya" day if you're Lu.


ps. hope all you lovely lady's had a special mom's day. Mine was lovely.

*pic above is my mom and dad. Aren't they so cute... and still in love too. *smile*