Leili Ann

Well after the long 9 months of waiting she decided she yesterday was the day to give up her warm and compfy home inside mom's tummy and so here she is! She was born Sarurday June 20, 2009 at 2:29pm. She weighed in at a modest 8 lbs and 2 oz. and was only 21 in. long. She has a lot of dark hair, Dan's cute nose(only a little smaller and cuter than his).

The Proud Family!

Riley is so happy to be a big brother for the third time! He is so happy and helpful.

Jake is so good with little babies. He wanted to hold her all the time (and he is good at it too, he is a natural).

Last but not least is Fern with her new little sister. She spent all the time she could in the our bedroom after she was born either holding her or just sitting next to her looking at her and running her fingers over all of Leili's little small parts. It's nice having two mommies in the house.

MMMMMMMMM....

Well what else do you expect a VERY expectant mama to do but eat! :)

I have been a fan of Middle Eastern/Mediterranean food for quite some time (I don't think I have met a lentil I did not like)! But have always relied heavily on other cooks and restaurants. Well no more! I have found a very happy meal that is easy and MMMMMMM!!!!!!

Over at the blog Vegan Dad I found this recipe for Nann triangles with Dahl filling. I love little red lentils, and chickpeas, and nann so I figured this was a winner! We have now had this a couple times in just the last couple weeks! But seeing as I said easy was a requirement I will tell you the secret ingredient (Trader Joe's nann is super yummy and about the only brand I have found without dairy in it)!!! One other tip for the recipe, Vegan Dad says to cook the lentils without a lid, but it is much more creamy (less pasty) if you cook it with a lid)!

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Now what to serve with it?

How about this SUPER yummy Quinoa Tabouli!!

(Sorry about the lighting on the picture we have not seen the sun in a few days and today it never stoped raining!!!)This is a recipe from one of my all time favorite cookbooks, Feeding the Whole Family by Cynthia Lair, I just make it with quinoa instead of burglar. MMMMMM!!!!

But sorry I am quite pregnant and just do not feel like sitting here and typing the whole recipe out. So if you want it email me and when I have a bit of time I will get it out! :) Or you could just buy the book, you will not be disappointed! I have the older edition and it is hard to not justify buying the new edition (all the pages ARE falling out of mine, and there ARE new recipes included in the new one), but who's justifying? :)

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Anyone else have a super yummy dinner tonight?

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Oh and now all the baby guesses have passed, so ether re-guess or I get the treat! :) Who would have guessed #4 would be the hold out! :)

While We Wait...

Dan has been getting a couple "honey-do" items done! He patched THE hole, fixed the mower and mowed the lawn, tended the garden, and... Created my hair brained idea for quilt hanging!

Here is my quilt from when I was little, my Grandma M. gave it to me and it is well "loved"!
Here is one of Dan's baby quilts, he is pretty sure Peggy F. gave it to him (although he can't quite remember that far back).
They both look great up on the wall in our bedroom, plus it is nice to have a little extra "comfort" hanging around! :)
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Also during our waiting we got to enjoy Aunt Mary for a couple days!! It was great although always too short!


Jake enjoyed hanging around and hamming it up for Aunt Mary!

The kids even got her up in their little fort they have built in the wooded area!

And the good Aunt brought fun new baby stuff!! Now if we only had a little model to show them off. (COME OUT BABY!!!!)

Then Mama scored and brought out the squirt guns, what is more fun then squirting Aunt Mary!!!

Dad tried to stay out of the way doing yard work, but....

He was gotten!!

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Thanks Aunt Mary for the visit!

WE LOVE YOU!!!

Belly!

Now remember this is the 4th big belly I have had and that is why I like black & white photos (it hides the stretch marks better)! Thank goodness for the self timer my camera has, the tripod my mom bought me for my birthday last year, and Riley's budding photography skills (and his patience for all of mom's directions)!!Just 5 one more time!
Fern is so excited to be a big sister!

Riley just loves babies, and bellys, and mama!

Jake is the one who plays with all the babies anywhere we go, we know he will be an awesome big brother again!

And the production team!

I think this is the first picture of Dan and I together for a nice belly shot besides last time with Fern, but that was just his hands.

And then today, it is faint but if you enlarge this you can see the henna my friends decorated me with and my birth necklace they all made too!

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Well here we are on the home stretch, now just to wait until this one is ready! I know I am!! :)

Memorial Day Fun!

Yep I am a bit late, but better late than never!! :)

Well I hoisted my large self downtown to watch the parade...And was well rewarded when Riley came around the corner caring the flag for his cub scout troop. It was so very special to see him getting to do that!

Our parade celebrated WWII veterans especially, the Grand Marshalls riding at the front of the parade in a WWII jeep were three brothers all from our town who served in the war, they are all in their 80's but looked quite spry!! :)
Riley was quite proud to be caring the flag too!

Unfortunately our pack has dwindled this year, the fourth boy is Riley's good friend Orion (you will remember him from the pinewood derby)!

And of course the little bladders could not make it through, and mama was not up to walking down the street! Thankfully we were sitting near Orion's family and so Debbie took Forest, Fern, and Jake to the potty. I snapped this photo when they were on their way back! What a patriotic bunch!

For being just a small town, and not a great hub here in Connecticut, we supposedly have the largest Memorial Day Parade in the state, and one of the largest in New England! Crazy! This year we even got Senator Lieberman. Who would have guessed!

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Yesterday we took some great family photos so I will share them soon, they should be some of the last with this belly! I am now a few days over 37 weeks, so we are just waiting for this babe to decide she is ready!

Have a great Sunday!

LOOK WHAT MY HUBBY DID!!

Can I just say what a blessing it is to have a handy husband! And a money saver!

I talked Dan into bringing this dresser home from the side of the road a while ago. It was horrible looking but we needed a dresser and free fit my budget. So Dan finally caught my vision (or got tired of me asking), and refinished and built a new top for the dresser! Then the other night while I was out having dinner with some friends he and the kids got it upstairs and in Fern's room. Half is for Fern and half is for the new babe! Fancy hu!!

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Then Dan thought he would do a couple other honey-do list items that required him to go in the attic.

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And then he thought we needed a new exit from the attic into the living room. Yes this is a "Dan sized hole" in my ceiling right at the top of the stairs/ in front of the kitchen doorway. At this end of the attic there is no plywood, so he was walking on the beams, but unfortunately he lost his footing and came all the way through landing in the living room. The boys were in the bath and oblivious, but Fern was helping dad (aka: standing on the latter up to the attic) and when Dan fell yelping Fern stuck her head up to see what was wrong, and then could not figure out where Dad had gone! She was quite surprised and confused to find him in the living room! Dan is ok, bruised, and scraped up mostly. And being that this happened Saturday night it was announced three times over throughout church, including to the whole primary. :) So we have all had a few good laughs, even Dan! Dan got the supplies to fix it today and if all goes smoothly and he does not get called to fly then maybe it will be patched before I have company on Saturday! :) And so I am thankful for a handy husband who can fix such things. But I am also hoping to not come home to such excitement again! :)

Life is NEVER dull!

Planting Day!

Well last night seems to be the last frost warning, so after uncovering the berry bushes and plants we all headed to the side yard to get to work! Here is our before, we do many of our plants from seed but there are just a few I do not mess with so Dan picked up our lovely organic seedlings yesterday! Our seeds we bought from Seeds of Change a bit ago as I mapped out this years treasure!
We had the cutest gardener this year, she planted quite a bit. This was the first year she was interested and so it is fun to know we all had our hands in the garden this year!

Look at my four sweet gardeners!! I did the pepper, and tomato seedlings and then retired to my throne over there and gave direction! :)

Hake was so happy to water all the seedlings for us, but then it was SO warm we had to make a little tent for the peppers as they were getting a little over heated. I felt their pain.

So here we are all planted (except a few second crop seeds we'll add in a few weeks). Our growing season is so short compared to what I am use to so it has been an adjustment!! :)

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More later but I have yoga tonight and should get ready!

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Oh and I took some belly photos today, more of the artsy fartsy than Dan takes so there is one of them for my profile! :)

Could it GET BIGGER?

Seriously I know this is my 4th time around, but I am HUGE! I hit 35 weeks on our anniversary and so here is the belly!!
I am lucky to find a shirt that covers the bump these days!

We originally pulled the camera out to document Dan and I all gussied up for our anniversary date! (Ignore the flip flops, I am at that stage when they are the only thing that fits on my feet, or what I formerly called my feet.) It was heavenly to go out all by ourselves and to only share our dinner with each other!! We went to this great Middle Eastern Restaurant that I think we should eat at every day, it was the first nights sleep in a long time not interrupted by heartburn!

Then everyone wanted in on the action, here is Fern and her Daddy!

Riley and daddy!

Jake and I!

And Riley and I!

On our way to taking them over to a friends house so we could escape Jake said, "We should have a family anniversary and then we could all go out to dinner and I would wear my nice shirt and tie", to which Fern replied, "and I will wear a dress"! How cute is that! I guess we will have to do something like that sometime, when budget and belly allow! :)

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So as we wait for the belly (at least 2 more weeks my midwife pleads), I am slowing down and lying down! So if your looking for me, I am the horizontal one with three kids running a-muck! :)

11!

Yep 11, the number of years Dan and I have been married as of today!

Here we are 10 years ago on our first anniversary, having a picnic in Goshen Pass in Virginia!

Because you know "Virginia is for LOVERS!"

Look at those baby faces! What a crazy, wild 11 years it has been!

So here are 11 things I LOVE about Dan...

1. The way his eyes smile.

2. That he gave all of our kids (so far) those smiling eyes.

3. He is always willing to make me something sweet (oatmeal chocolate chip cookies last night).

4. He is a hard worker (even when I want to be lazy)!

5. He can fix just about anything.

6. He loves his Mom.

7. He is honest (and can't lie for anything anyway)!

8. He makes piles of all the things I want him to read and is whittling through them!

9. He loves books, and lets me buy lots!

10. He thinks I am pretty, even today when I am LARGE and have not brushed my hair yet.

11. He has been doing my grocery shopping for 2 months and today took all 3 kids too!

What a man! :)

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Happy Anniversary babe! I LOVE you!

Big Sister Love TOO!!

Well Fern needed a little sewing love too, so I sat down and whipped up a couple really easy things for her! She got a couple new dish cloth bibs, these are great and I make then for others pretty often but our supply was looking rather sad (and boyish) so we girly-ed it up a bit with these two! :)

Then I finally got around to using THIS pattern I found free online to make this too cute skirt!! Seriously it took maybe 30 min. with three kids wondering through and "helping"! :)
Could she be any cuter!! :)
There will be many more of these, if I get to the fabric store! :) It only took 1/2 of a yard to make, plus pretty ribbon!
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Wow post three days in a row, the sky must be falling! :)

Happy Mother's Day!

Hope you all had a great mother's day! Here are the goodies I got from my loves! African violets to go in my Grandma M.'s violet pots (Dan was informed during his ardours quest to find African Violets that, "only old people buy and know how to take care of them"! :) I also got these beautiful earrings from one of my favorite etsy stores, and a pile of handmade paper love letters! :) My only sadness was that the primary kids did not sing in church today, I look forward to it every year and this year would have been the first year Fern would have been up there. :( Maybe I will make the kids serenade me with "Mother I Love You" before dinner! :)

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!!

Well What DO You Expect!?

Sorry this whole post is about baby stuff! :) I recently made this blanket (material from Joan's), and "embellished" this baby shirt, I just fell in love with the giraffe ribbon and had to find something to do with it! :)
Yesterday I got a "shower in a box" from my mom! Fun but different things when you live across the country from your mom! :) It was tons of fun opening little baby things, like 3 baby shirts my mom tie dyed, too sweet moccasins, beautiful crochet blankets, and a hysterical shirt that says "drama queen" on it, just to name a couple! :)

Fern thought that all of the babies new blankets needed trying out after I had opened them, so here she is with the 2 flannel blankets my mom made and the 3 crochet blankets my mom's friend made! We'll see how well this big sister handles every girly thing not belonging to her! :)

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So there it is, just a little baby fix for the day! :)

Plethora of a Cornucopia of Random Photos!

Ok, here is a plethora of photos I have been meaning to get up! Some are old some are new!

If you have been around us, or reading our blog for a while you know we make our own Easter egg dyes using plants. This year we did carrot tops, red cabbage, and turmeric. Here are our pretty eggs!
After dyeing eggs I thought hey why not try these dyes out on a couple new baby shirts I bought! So here they are soaking, I let them soak for a couple days.

After washing them this is how they came out. We'll see how they hold their color once they are cycled into the regular wash, but they are pretty for now! :)

We were at a friends house the other day on egg hatching day! We were then back a few days later and the kids all got to hold a bird. Here is pirate Jake holding a duck!

Sweet Fern holding a chick!

And Riley with a chick too! Riley has always loved all things farm, so he was very happy to be with the animals!

My mommy pot has not seen an empty day yet! The kids are quite on top of keeping me well supplied! :)

Fern got super lucky and scored a new (to her) purple bike! Mom and dad scored by finding a free bike! :) It needs a little cleaning up and Dan is planning to take the peddles off (like a Swedish kids bike) and then Fern will be cruising! :)

Riley learns lots of fun things from friends like burning leaves (and other somewhat inappropriate things) with a magnifying glass. This completely absorbed him for a couple days, luckily two VERY hot days!

I got to snap this photo of Riley at play group a couple weeks ago when we went for a picnic. Riley is becoming a harder subject so I am always happy to get a good shot of him. Now if I could get a couple of Jake, but he is just too fast for me these days!!!

Well there you are for random photos!