Our Weekend (with a little video too!)

Our weekend was pretty busy!  Sienna had her last swimming lesson and soccer game of the season.  While she will miss swimming, she was excited to see soccer come to a close.  : (    Sorry, Daddy!  Since I completely forgot to take a picture of her with her trophy, I will use the one from the fall season.  It gives the same effect.

She originally wanted to skip the last game altogether, but then remembered she would be getting a trophy haha!

Another exciting part of the weekend was my friend Raj's book launch party at a nearby cafe. She has just released her first young adult novel that is available as an e-book on Amazon.com.  Check it out here and visit her on her blog!   Raj is such a fun, genuine person to be friends with.  Her youngest daughter is friend's with Sienna and Raj and I instantly got along well and became fast friends.  I have just started her book and have to say it is very captivating and I can't wait to read more!

Although I don't have a photo to capture this, David and I had a dinner date with friends on Saturday night at a local pub.  This was the second time the two of us have left the house together alone since Henry was born!  It was really nice to go out, relax, and just have an uninterrupted meal! 

One of the highlights of the weekend was celebrating my Mom's birthday on Sunday.  My parents, sister and brother-in-law, brother and sister-in-law (does that make sense?) and three nieces all came over to eat, play, and have some cake!  We barbequed and everyone pitched in with sides and dessert.  The kids played really well together and ate their dinner picnic-style in the backyard because the weather was gorgeous.  The only snag was when my Dad threw a chicken wing at my Mom and got grease on her new shirt...but that's a long story.  : )  

This was the first time my nieces were meeting Henry, and it was so sweet to see them enjoy a little cuddle. 

This little one really loves babies!  I think she was the most excited to meet Henry and hold him.  She also held him the longest, and kept holding his little hands and feet and smiling down at him.  It was so sweet to watch.

Smiling at her Momma

 

My youngest niece just had a quick little hug and then was done!

 

Their bigger sister is the same age as Sienna.

 

She was super comfortable holding Henry, probably from her experience with having two little sisters!  It didn't take long for her to exercise the one-armed baby hold.  : )

All the grandkids with the birthday girl.  : )

Blowing out her candles on the delicious cake my sister made.  Notice the candles?  We realized the only number candles we had were a 1 and 3 so David thought it would be funny. My Mom appreciated it - you're only as old as you feel, right?

Here's a quick little video that touches upon one aspect of life as the third child.  David and the kids were having an impromptu jam session upstairs and what was Henry doing?  Watch and see: 

Sleeping like a baby.  : )

A Boy and His Blanket

I have wanted to try my hand at knitting for a while, so when I found out I was pregnant with Henry I thought it was a great time to knit a baby blanket.  For some reason I did not start with a simple stockinette stitch blanket, but instead decided to make my first ever knitting project a chevron baby blanket that I had previously seen here on the blog Made.  The pattern is from Purl Bee and can be found here.  I bought myself a pair of bamboo circular needles, which felt better to me than metal ones.  I totally downgraded on the yarn to save money, but I think the yarn still has a great look and feel to it.  I used Red Lion Soft 100% acrylic, worsted weight.  This blanket is knit with double strands of yarn, which makes the finished product thicker and chunkier. 

Here's how it turned out:

I got lucky that Henry is a boy; gender was a surprise this time around but I was obviously drawn to more boyish colors anyway!

I think he likes it!

Yes, there are a number of imperfections and wonky lines (where there shouldn't be any) but doesn't that add to the charm?  At least that's what I tell myself.  I am so happy with it regardless! 

 

Henry at around 1 week, sunbathing on his blanket.  And no, I am not in the habit of tanning my newborns - it was the doctor's orders to help his jaundice.  : )

I would love to try another knitting project when I have a little more free time (and more importantly, free hands!)

Felt Playhouse for the Kids (A Successful Sew!)

Before Charlie was born, I decided I wanted to have a gift for Sienna to open "from Charlie" after we brought him home from the hospital.  I saw this adorable playhouse on the website Homemade by Jill and thought something like that would be perfect!  And so began the most time-consuming sewing project I have ever done.  I wondered if it was worth all that time and effort, but after three years of play and seeing the kids still loving it, I am convinced that it was!  When Henry gets a little older, he'll be able to join in the fun too.  The house fits over an Ikea table we have, that I pull out into the center of the room.  When playtime is over, the whole thing folds up and I store it in one of those oversized Ziploc bags made of heavy duty plastic.  Would you like a little tour of the house?  

 

Welcome!

 

The house also works as superhero headquarters.



You've got mail!

On one side of the house is our window box filled with flowers.

Flowers need plenty of water!  The watering can has strips of Velcro on the back so it sticks to the house.



The flowers are hand sewn and the stems are filled with pipe cleaners to give them structure.

Peek a boo!

The curtains can be open or closed.

The back of our house has a totally unrealistic fruit tree (but how great would it be if one tree produced all of that fruit?) and a basket for collecting it.  The tree also houses a little owl friend.

Thanks for coming, see you later!

Memorial Day

I know this is a few days overdue, but here are some snapshots from our weekend.
Sienna marched in our Memorial Day parade for the first time with her Daisy Scout troop!  She was so excited and I was proud to see her walking confidently with her group, smiling and enjoying herself.  She was thrilled when she spotted us shouting and waving to her and her face lit up!  Since they were on the move, I only got one close shot of her, but it's a good one.  Here are a few pics from the morning:



The boys are excited for the parade to start!

What the holiday is truly about: honoring the men and women who have served our country.  I got a little teary watching a number of elderly veterans riding in cars and waving, thinking about the sacrifices they made to protect our freedoms.

 

It was picture perfect weather! 

There's my gorgeous girl!  In typical fashion, she had to add a little flair to her Daisy beanie to make it extra fancy.  See how she is walking right behind the blue parade sign?  David said the leaders instructed the girls to stand behind the sign, and so little Sienna placed herself directly behind the sign, to be sure she was in the right place.  She's a rule-follower, like her Mommy!

Capping off the end of the parade with some festive popsicles!  They had a little ceremony at the school after the parade, during which soldiers fired rifles into the air.  David said everyone was silently watching, and after the guns went off, Charlie said loudly, "Is yem (them) shooting bad guys?"

In other news from the weekend, this special little guy turned SEVEN!


This picture makes me smile.   : )

Our oldest nephew, Sam, turned seven on Saturday.  He is a gorgeous little boy who has such a sweet disposition, is intelligent, funny, creative, loving, and determined.  When he sets his mind to something, he is so focused and won't give anything less than his best.  Sam has a little brother, Joshua, who is five, and his Mom (or Mum, I should say, as they're English--she is David's sister) is about to have baby boy #3 any day now!  It is unfortunate that they live on another continent, but I am so thankful for living in a time with Skype, where we can still talk and see each other in between the times we get to visit in person.  These are some pictures from a trip we took to England last August:

Sienna, Josh, Charlie, and Sam

A more accurate representation of the cousins!

We love you, Sam!

And now a gratuitous baby photo to end the post:

My (Our) Newest Love

On April 26, our family was blessed with the safe arrival of Baby Henry.  I can't believe that at this time four weeks ago he was still in my belly, and after having mild, sporadic contractions all day was by this point pretty sure that I was in labor.  Two hours later I was definitely sure, and by 10 pm that night I would be holding my newly born second son in my arms and my heart felt like it would burst with joy.  Four weeks later, I am still overcome by how much God has blessed our family with this little man.  Maybe you can see why I adore him so much:


Although only four weeks old, I am certain that he has smiled at me and in response to me!  And yes, I'm sure every mother has made this claim. 

 

I'm ready for my nap!

I love love love his soft, newborn baby skin!  As you can probably see in this picture, his face still has a yellow tint to it - remnants of the bilirubin that caused his severe jaundice at birth.  (That's a story for another day).
 

I'm not the only one who's smitten with this little guy...

Exhibit A:

Yes, we love kissing his face!

 

Exhibit B:

Charlie is "sweeping" (sleeping) in this one.  Very convincing, right?  : )



On a side note, when taking the above photos earlier today, I was reminded once again of how Charlie is no longer "the little man" in our house.  I have to admit, I shed a few tears in the first week after Henry being born over how big Charlie is now.  Although that may sound strange, he has been my baby for 3 years, so to see him in the role of a big brother is wonderful, but to see him shed the last remnants of his baby status was bittersweet.  He doesn't seem to be missing it at all, as he is constantly reminding us that he is a big boy and a big brother now.  In fact, if we happen to call him "the little man" he corrects us and says he is not the little man, Henry is. : )  And if we need an added reminder, we can look at this picture:

Yes, Charlie is definitely not the little man of the house, although Henry himself is topping the charts at 11lb 4oz (90th percentile) and 23 1/2" long (98th percentile!)