The Final Countdown

There's less than a month to go before we're a family of four! Our friend Andy took some belly pictures of me when we were at his house for dinner a few weeks ago. This is probaby a 34 week belly shot and I already feel significantly bigger. The midwife has informed us that this baby will likely be larger than Gretel's 6lbs 15oz. Makes me a bit nervous but I'm sure it will all go smoothly. We'll post pictures of the little nerd when he/she arrives!

We've Moved Upstairs!

With some help from Uncle Brian, we've finally trimmed out the upstairs and made some improvements so we could move our bedroom up there. It's a big enough space for us plus a nook for Baby Bambi (Gretel's newest favorite name) when he/she arrives. We feel downright spoiled by all the extra space!

The boys trimmed out the whole space and opened up the closet to make it more functional. Casey added electrical to the closet so that I could see my clothes, and I made curtains for the windows and closet. We even have light fixtures up there as well as in the hallway, and a handrail going down the stairs! Will wonders never cease??!

Auntie Sally Lackaff's Birthday

We spent Auntie Sally's birthday weekend with her and Roger in Astoria. We had a great visit, with lots of outings - to the park, to the beach and to the aquarium. Gretel and all thoroughly enjoyed themselves!

Baby Honey

Poor Baby Honey has had no attention at all on this blog, although he/she is already a very important part of our family. Gretel talks about Baby Honey daily and is so excited to be a big sister! We're currently 31 weeks pregnant and starting to get excited and nervous about the big arrival. Casey and I moved into our upstairs bedroom, after doing a bunch of improvements up there (photos of that to come) and the baby will be up there with us for the next 6 months or so until he/she is sleeping well enough to move in with Gretel downstairs. Gretel is doing great sleeping in her big girl bed downstairs all by herself. Her new favorite song (which we think is about Baby Honey) was written and performed by our friend Matt Clark. It goes something like this...

There's a funny little fella, he's about to be born
He's been living in large in the belly
Where he flips like a seal, where he wriggles in the jelly
But he's getting mighty big for the belly

And his mom and dad are waiting for him on the other side
There's a carseat ready in the Chevy
And his head is getting wide and his mom is feeling heavy
And he's gonna have to move from the belly

We're all looking forward to meeting you Baby Honey. But please stay in there for another 9 weeks or so!

We Love Valentine's Day!

Gretel and I had fun making Valentines this year. After our photo shoot this is what we ended up with. Below are some outtakes.

We made a special Valentine for Pops, with Baby Honey (in my tummy) also in the picture. Surprisingly, it took us several attempts to get the right picture for that one too.

Papa and Gretel surprised me with a special delivery of chocolates to my office! It was Gretel's first visit to my new job so she got to meet some of my co-workers for the first time. We all got to eat some chocolate after dinner that night, so everyone was very content. A great day!

Lazy Sundays

Gretel and Ziggy have been spending some these dark gray January days reading and napping with their pals.

We've taken the opportunity to watch a few Disney movies in the evenings. Below, Gretel and Pops are captivated by Mary Poppins (or as Gretel calls it, the Dirty Man Movie).

Christmas Time 2011

We had a wonderful Christmas! Above, our tree at home. We headed to the log house in Eugene for three days of fun with the family. Gretel and Soleo, below, have a snack.

We hiked the butte on a gloriously sunny and warm Christmas Eve day. I'm 5 months pregnant here and look pretty big already!

All the kids got to open new pajamas on Christmas Eve.'Twas the night before Christmas.....

The next morning was spent opening stockings and gifts.

Lots of pickles and preserves were exchanged!

Gretel opens her new easel as Grandma D and Grandpa John look on.

Little June Bug in a new Christmas dress!