Apple Picking & More

It felt so great to be home and make time for something fun we could all do together, not just work on the house. Although it is still warm out, not much fall in the air yet, it was fun doing a fall activity.

Before we set out, Tony and Harper were on pancake duty. Plain and blueberry were the options. It felt so nice using our kitchen and also eating delicious pancakes. A small taste of a return to our normal life. P.S. - No, the kitchen isn't finished. The blue tape is for the backsplash design...and the shelves still need to be sealed before we can put anything on them. Torture I tell you!!! It's on the list for this weekend.

Once at the apple orchard, we walked through the rows, looking for the good ones to take home with us. The trees were low, which made picking very easy for Harp and for us too. We got enough for a pie and a few left over to snack on.

New haircut. Woot!

Otto looks almost as big as Harper. He's a big boy.

Apple Blossoms

We left the baby snail there.

We are still unpacking and setting up the house, in the areas that are finished enough to do this in. So, Halloween this year was sadly minimal. We had a great day on Halloween, but the house wasn't celebrating with us. I think there were only two decorations on display. A very very sad showing in my opinion, but we had nowhere to put said decorations, even if we did bring them down from the attic. 

Very wet, yet happy kiddos. The adults had wine and a ridiculously good Thai soup our friend made, and the littles had pizza with soup and carrots on the side. Tony and Harper dressed up, I put on some makeup and a witch hat...next year. This is my mantra.

My Heart

I read this today and thought it was perfect.  I couldn't have said it better. I look forward to finding out what they dream of and what they do with it.

"What is your biggest dream for your child?"
"We'll let him dream for himself."

P.S. I am still shocked, shocked, that this brown eyed mama has two blue eyed babies.

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Our Bear

We call him baby cookie, but he has adopted another nickname...bear. Bear comes out at night, around 4pm-5pm and cries and cries for one to two hours. Our sweet boy. It is an exercise in patience, but I love him.

The term colic has been thrown around. I think it may stick, even though I resisted it. I think Harper had it too, but we didn't want to admit it then either. Denial works pretty well for me most of the time.

I have cut out dairy, caffeine, chocolate, and nuts. They say it takes a week to fully exit your system. Maybe this time next week we will see less of bear...only time will tell. Either way, he should outgrow it by three months. Seems like an eternity! But thankfully, in reality, it isn't.

Or, this is just how babies are. I never can tell.

My lovable Otto...

Baby Cookie

Bear

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Paint

Harper, Otto, and I picked out bathroom and trim paint yesterday. This weekend we are hoping to get trim and doors painted, as well as the entire interior primed. It is a big wish list, but I am hoping with the three day weekend that it can be accomplished...we shall see!

Thank goodness Sherwin Williams is prepared for kids!

For those of you interested, we picked Swimming for the bathroom and Snowbound for the trim. There is a 30% sale this weekend, so we saved $60. Woot!

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Kinder Kid

I can't believe that summer is nearly over and my Harper is starting Kindergarten. Next, it feels like she will be off on her own life adventure without us.

Sigh.

"And suddenly you know...Its time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings."

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He's Here!

Otto Flynn Nixon, born July 22 at 1:06 am. Weighing 8lbs 9oz and measuring 21 inches long. He is a big boy, yet tiny all at the same time.

He is a fan of eating...a lot, and is still working on sleeping.

We are very happy! But, we won't have much time to revel in him alone. There is still a pink house that we have to move into, but needs to be fixed before that happens, Tony still has work, and we have a very energetic big sister to keep busy.

So very in love with my family.

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Baby Cookie

I'm starting to get excited to meet our newest family member...and to see our Harper be a big sister.

He is head down and ready to go, but not for another four weeks at the earliest, please.

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Baby Cookie's New Blanket

We decided to make baby cookie a blanket after I saw a tiny one at a craft fair being sold for $40! I did some research on fabric, and found Michael Miller to be one of my favorites. I had found a few online, but I wanted to buy something local that I could look and to make sure I loved. We narrowed it down the three below. In general, I am always drawn to blues and greens, so it was no surprise when I stood back and took a look at the final three.

I knew I wanted to use Minky on the flip side because it was soft and thick, which eliminated the need to use batting between the two fabrics. We decided on the far right, since it didn't have a specific theme and also had more colors and. We went with a Minky color to match. I think I would have gone with the dark grey, but they didn't have any in stock, so cream it is.

We wanted this to be a blanket that would last longer than the infant stage, so we went with a yard and a half for each. Once we got home we washed them and laid it out on the table to trim it down, with help from this beautiful girl.

Placing the face of the fabric towards each other, we pinned along all four sides, about every 6 inches. Knowing now that Minky is difficult to sew because it is so stretchy, I think we should have pinned every inch and ran over it with the machine. I would also have sewn it Minky side up...

Now we sew. I read a few tutorials that seemed pretty easy. Sew three sides, and the fourth back stitch an area 8 inches apart at one corner in order to be able to flip it right side out, which is what we did. I went pretty slow during, so I could make sure it was feeding straight and to attempt to make the Minky stay in line with the other fabric.

Once this was complete, I flipped it right side out and hand stitched the hole closed...

and ta da!

Once we were done, Harper decided she would like to sew a blanket for her Care Bear. So, Tony taught her how to use the sewing machine. She has also decided she would like a blanket of her own. We need to make another trip to the fabric store to pick out what she wants.

These two have the same expression when they concentrate.

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Baby Cookie

After going to the Dr. this week, it seems my weekly count was off.  I'll officially be 8 months on Monday. This is crazy!!! We need to start preparing soon. We need to pull out clothes, diapers, diaper cream, changing pad, find a place for him to sleep, and a place to put all of these things

All the while, we need to start packing to move into the pink house. Hmmmmmmm, this is going to be interesting.

Don't you love this photo? I adore it.

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Easter

On Sunday Harp woke up to her Easter basket and an egg hunt. After we returned from brunch we colored eggs.

Later we went to brunch at a friends house. We sat outside, it was sunny and beautiful, with fresh cut flowers from their yard on the table. She had a feast that reminded me of a Tony meal - cinnamon muffins, lemon curd, fruit salad, french toast bake, and the pièce de résistance baked eggs with spinach and mushrooms. It was amazing and also solidified that I want to have The Smitten Kitchen cookbook. I saw it the last time we were at Costco, but passed it by...

I will definitely be making this. It will most likely be a staple in our house from this point forward. Yummm, I want to eat it right now.

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