And baby makes four

Introducing Little Tank. Born June 19th at 1:42am, 8 pounds 1 ounce, 20 inches long.

Sadly, Bug got two different colds, a double ear infections and the stomach flu all in a 9 day period right before Little Tank was born. So, she missed a trip to the hospital to see baby brother. Here she is seeing him for the first time right after a bath. When we made the introduction she said, "Baby brother is an angel" very sweetly and was genuinely pleased.

Bug has already been a good helper and as you can see is throughly enjoying being a mini mommy. We are all so excited to have a new addition to our family!

39 Weeks

The idea of taking photos while being pregnant has never appealed to me. However, I knew that I needed at least one to document each pregnancy. So, here I am, 39 weeks pregnant with Little Tank.

With my second pregnancy rapidly coming to a close I thought I should record some of my memories down. Although, I really can't complain about this pregnancy there were some annoyances along my way.

1) Having your baby decide to move up into your ribs at 20 weeks and stay there the remainder of the pregnancy makes for a really uncomfortable 4 months. When you then factor in the morning sickness for the first 2-3 months you only have about 1-2 months of feeling comfortable. Bummer.

2) I love soda when I am pregnant. Loved it with both my first pregnancy and my second. I only caved to such a craving about three weeks ago when McDonald's started selling $1 large sodas. Thank heavens that deal just started.

3) My last pregnancy I craved apples. This time around grapes did the trick. I could eat those tasty juicy balls of sugar any time. I wonder if Andrew noticed we started having them as a side to dinner...a lot.

4) And finally, 9 months really is a long time to be hauling another human being around. I know I thought this at the end of my last pregnancy but I must have forgotten.

And now Tank, with the couches done, pillows sewn, and a picture of my pregnant self posted on the blog, you are welcome to enter the world.

Pillows

I finished the pillows! And word to the wise; covering two buttons with thick velvet type fabric and then sewing them through looks much easier than it is. I broke 5 needles trying to get those things on.

For the grandparents...

Bug's rendition of 'Itsy Bitsy Spider.'

Living room make-over

I have not so secretly been trying to get rid of our couches since Andrew and I got married. My sister gave them to us when we moved into our first apartment. Although I was grateful we didn't have to buy couches, I have never loved them. My plan was to off load them before moving to Washington. But, somehow they ended up coming with us. It was at this point I realized they were here to stay. In reality, it was just the fabric design I didn't like. This left one solution; reupholstering. So, over the last three months, I have been spending all my free time reupholstering our 2 couches and 2 ottomans. I am so happy to say about a week ago I officially finished! I gave a big smile when I tossed the last of the blue floral fabric out.

Before;

After;

Considering my sewing machine hadn't been pulled out in 12 years, no exaggeration, this was quite the project for me. I am still doing some work on the green and orange pillows and am hoping to get those done before Little Tank decides to make his appearance.

And a slight confession. I ended up re-redoing the piano bench. Luckily piano benches take about a half an hour to reupholster.

Before.2;

After;


I'm a sucker for animal print and this one has some great texture. Whew! Thank goodness that is all over!

Hammock

Andrew has had a really nice hammock for as long as I've know him. However, with apartment living we did not have a place to hang it up. Sadly it sat for years. Recently, Andrew built a hammock stand in our backyard. Of course Bug "helped" and we have all been reaping the benefits of some relaxing summer swings.

Summer

Well it is getting warmer here. Andrew and I are bracing ourselves for the upcoming warm weather. The warmer weather also meant it was time to turn on our sprinklers. There was no stopping Bug from running through them when we first turned them on. And for some reason, I really love this photo. I think it is the way Bug is eying that sprinkler she is about to jump into.

Photography

As I've said before, I am trying to develop my photography skills. Lately, as in the past 9 months, I have not found much time to pursue such an interest. To state my point; 1)I got a really cool macro lens for Christmas and have failed to even put it on my camera and 2) Andrew gave me photoshop elements for Christmas and I just barley downloaded it to the computer. As in this afternoon. It was a goal/repeated guilty thought of mine to get to know how to use the lens and edit my pictures before Little Tank came. So with 2-3 weeks left in the pregnancy, I thought I could at least pretend to meet that goal.

Here are some shots of me just playing around;

Easter

Bug's excitement upon finding her easter basket. She had been coveting that ball for months

Working hard at opening her eggs.

Bug was all excited to dye eggs until she smelled the vinegar in the dye. I have a particularly sensitive nose and Bug has definitely inherited it. Quite often she will come into a room and pronounce something as "stinky." Usually she is right. Lets just hope she has Andrew's hearing because mine is not so great.

The smell was forgot as soon as the "pretty" dye was placed in front of her.

Bug's excitement at being offered a chocolate ball aka cadbery egg, if she would just let us take one final picture in her easter/spring dress from Grandma.

We then spent the evening at my sister's house enjoying a traditional easter dinner and having yet another easter egg hunt! We are so grateful for the reminder easter gives us of Jesus Christ and His resurrection.

California with the cousins

Shortly before Easter we had the opportunity to go to California for a visit. My brother and his family were in town and we couldn't miss the opportunity of seeing them. It was so much fun watching all the cousins interact with each other!


There was an early easter egg hunt. Papa did a good job of making sure everyone found their eggs.

Checking out the loot. Bug caught on pretty quickly this year.


Reaping the rewards of the search.

Cousin Z brought fake nails for everyone to put on. There were just a few concerned tears when they fell off.

Enjoying a bedtime show.

And the zoo!

Considering there was only a two day overlap we did a lot!