Headbands

Part of the joy of having a little girl is being able to dress her up pretty! I love making little things for her. I made some headbands and I thought I would show you my little secret. One band- many styles. It's nothing too impressive. I simply made the band and attached a piece of felt and a snap to it. Every flower I make I simply attach the other side of a snap to. So it's even quicker and easier to whip up an accessory that coordinates with her outfit before leaving the house! I'm planning on making some felt hearts for Valentine's Day.

Now- the part you really want to see, my little model showing them off. I purposely made the headband slightly too big so it will last a long time and so it won't be too snug.




We could seriously nickname this girl smiley. She is always so smiley and happy- it just melts my heart!

2010

I had three big goals- I thought if I limited it to 3 I would actually accomplish them. I was too much of a chicken to share them on my blog this year. Especially because uh- making a baby isn't a predictable thing and it seems really creepy to have that as a "goal"

So I was 2 for 3. The goal that I thought would be the easiest to accomplish proved to be the toughest. It was the only one I thought that was reasonable. I didn't reach 100 etsy sales, but I am happy with the Farm Chicks turnout. I'm also glad that I got another show in.

Here is the picture of my booth at The Farm Chicks. My friend Jess came out to help. It was so much work, but so worth it. I really need to do some treasure hunting for this year!

Here I am pretty much popping out of my dress!

These are pictures of The Funky Junk Show I did with my friend Janessa. (They're her photos) I never got around to blogging about it. We went camping and had so much fun. The show was a blast. Low key with the nicest people putting it on. Her son Preston is a little cutey! He's the most curious little boy who says the funniest things.

And here are the latest Luna pictures. More on her later! I have so many blog posts to do!

She was so smiley and happy all day today. And she's almost fitting into her skinny jeans- I can't wait!

I had a lot of little goals and I forgot to look at them in 2010. I still like the ideas so I'm going to look at them again for this year.

A Chilly But Pretty One

I love blogs that have one or two really perfect photos- but I'm one of those more is more kinda people.

It has been C.O.L.D. the last few days. But it's also been gorgeous. The sky has been bright blue and I have been loving it. I had to get out today and take some photos. It's so good for my creative soul to get out and take photos. I still remember the first snowfall of 2009. I love those photos. Doing this reminds me to look at life with new eyes- it's so much easier to do when it's gorgeous and so inspiring outside!

I think this would make a cool backdrop for a photoshoot

One of the cutest houses on a neighboring street!

Love this little new dad addition- Sam sports a burb cloth in his back pocket- so cute! Click on the picture to see it bigger.
My little Spokane boy couldn't handle the cold and had to go in early, even though he had a little heater on his chest (Luna) and long johns on. I had skinny jeans on- but I had toasty boots and a hat and a scarf. But I'm a Minnesota girl, what can I say I love the cold when it's gorgeous out! Here he is calling it quits! (Don't worry Luna was bundled well!)

My hand nearly froze. I had a full card so I had to keep pausing to delete old photos- annoying.

Happy 2011- I'm so doing the 365- photo a day this year!

It's a Girl... Welcome Little Luna

Luna Violet Lux

Saturday November 20th

5:18 am

7 pounds 11 ounces

20 1/4 inches

She came right on her due date, how perfect is that? On Friday night Sam and I were out shopping and getting some groceries. I started to feel a few contractions but nothing that painful. We came home and made supper and watched an episode of The Office. We decided maybe we should time them and they were 8 to 9 minutes apart. This was at about 8:30 pm. We waited a little while and then called our doula. She said it was still early. I took a bath, I thought they would slow down and I would go to bed that night and get some rest. I was in denial that this was actually it, I thought it would take a really long time. After the bath they were 5 to 6 minutes apart. I was wondering how long it would be like this. The time actually went by kinda fast, before we knew it it was midnight. We decided to ask our doula to come to our house. It seemed to take forever for her to arrive. I thought we would maybe have to leave before she came. I didn't want to have the baby in the car. Megan arrived and decided it was time for me to go. It was the longest 40 minute drive! We arrived at the birth center at about 2:00 am. Our midwife came and checked me. I was at 5 or 6 cm. Then it all went pretty fast. I remember being on the birth ball and finally being able to relax. I walked downstairs, upstairs, downstairs-then my water broke. Transition was really quick, I had two terrible contractions and then I got in the tub and started pushing. I was amazed at how non invasive they were and how I was able to just let my body do what it needed to. I pushed for about an hour. This seemed like the longest part. I felt like I wasn't getting anywhere. I remember praying in between each contraction. I got a longer break between a contraction and I told my midwife she was coming out on the next push. Inga told me, "They don't just fly out." Well, two seconds later-she flew right out. Later she told me that she literally had to catch our baby! Sam missed it, he said he looked at me, and then he looked down and she was there. We were so overjoyed with our little girl. We got to hold her right away and spend time together. They checked her really quick and she got a perfect score. I can't believe how instantly in love we were. The midwives left and we spent time together as a little family of three and then they came back in with a wonderful breakfast for us to eat. The only sad part was that I had to leave Sam and Luna to go to the ER to get stitched up, I got back to the birth center at about noon. It was a beautiful sunny day. I returned to this:

Luna sleeping soundly on her daddy's chest.

The midwives all left and we had the house to ourselves. We enjoyed a little more time alone together and Luna and I took an herbal bath. We started calling people around 2 pm. Sam's parents came to the birth center and then we went home at around 7 pm. I remember being at home with Luna resting peacefully on my chest at 8:30 and thinking that just yesterday at this time I was at home in labor- she was in my belly.

We got home and settled in and it started snowing that night. She couldn't have had better timing. It's been snowing ever since, so it's been a good excuse to just stay inside and cuddle all cozy with our little girl with all the candles lit.

I'm so thankful that the birth was a good experience, and went just as we hoped it would. I know everyone says that having a baby is the worse pain in the world. And I was nervous wondering if I could really handle a natural unmedicated birth. But honestly, I didn't think it was so terrible. Yes, it was painful but I thought it would be worse. I really think that my yoga class helped me learn how to relax and I think that the Bradley class prepared Sam for how to handle it. I'm so thankful for two wonderful midwives and a great doula and a really supportive husband.

I've been sipping tea and cuddling with lovely Luna all day. I can't believe she's a week old already! We were both tired today I guess. I like to call her Lunabelle. We love staring into her pretty blue eyes and watching her silly faces. We can't seem to put the camera down. Sam has been taking good care of us. He's at the laundromat right now in fact. She's had lots of skype dates with loving aunties and uncles and grandma and grandpa. I'm looking forward to next week. We will get a whole week to spend as a little family of three. My mom is coming on Friday for a week. And we're going to have little Luna here with us for Christmas. I'm looking forward to going and cutting down the tree with her. Sam and I are already talking about the ways we can take her with us cross country skiing and out on adventures. It's a good snow year and Luna's not going to miss it! And I've been telling her about all the pretty vintage dresses I've been saving and the girl clothes I just couldn't resist buying. It's so nice to say her and she! She is a little sweetheart and we love her!

Sandpoint Getaway

Two weekends ago we decided to try to get away for the weekend. I originally wanted to go to Seattle, but we figured we should play it safe and go to Sandpoint Idaho. We only got away for one night but it was really nice. We stayed at The Inn at Sand Creek. It was a really nice place and a good price too. I was sad because I was looking forward to eating at Dish, a gourmet take out restaurant. It had rave reviews and Serena talked about it in Country Living magazine, but it went out of business. It was good to get away one last time for just the two of us.

Craigslist Tool

Craigslist is no longer the big headache that it was. Does anyone else already use this? Craigseasy allows you to search craigslist and it shows the listings of the pictures only. No more clicking on the "great vintage couch" that turns out to be a hideous floral thing from the 80's. Thank you Courtney for sharing this. Maybe I'll actually use craigslist more now. FYI, I think you need to be using firefox for it to work, it didn't work in Safari for me. Try it out, it's awesome.

Babies, babies, babies

Ok, I definitely have babies on the brain. I just got to hold this sweet little one day old baby yesterday! Isn't he just adorable? He was so alert and wide awake and happy.

I've been thinking a lot about this. Obviously because I'm ready to meet ours any day now- but it's been a crazy year of babies. I have friends all over this year having babies. There were four women that I help volunteer with who have had babies in the last few months. I have a friend who wanted one so badly, but it didn't look likely, and God answered our prayers and she is pregnant. I have another friend who is still suffering from complications from a birth back in August. And now just a week ago a new friend had a baby very early and the little baby girl is suffering from heart complications and fighting to stay alive. You can read more and see sweet little Ella here I've been praising God for all the miracles of these little babies. I have seen such testimonies of faith in all the people who are suffering and the pain that some have to endure. It's impossible to try to figure out God and why certain things happen but I definitely see him through it all. Please pray for all these babies and families who are experiencing crazy life changes.

I am wondering when my little baby will meet us. I'm still pretty calm and patient. Sam is so cute, he is much more anxious than me. He's always asking how I'm feeling and if I'm having any contractions. We can't wait to hold him?(Sam thinks it's a boy) or her (we'll see who is right!) We have the cutest little outfits picked out, I'm sad that one won't get used. They are adorable and we had fun picking them out. I think it's funny that my birthday falls the day after Thanksgiving this year- the same way it was the year I was born. I can't help but wonder if this little one will share my birthday- after the big meal! I'm definitely getting things crossed off of my list and it feels so good! This sweet friend took pictures of us on Sunday. I can't wait to see them, I'm so thankful she was able to squeeze them in at the last minute! Only a few more things to get done. I'm hoping to take some pictures of the handmade goodness this baby has been getting and share it.