neither here nor there

2012-01-31T22:24:00.000-08:00

In an effort to clear up some space on our dresser (making more room for baby!), I moved my jewelry to this frame and hung it up in our bathroom.

Source: brassrazooboutique.com via Lela on Pinterest

I was inspired by this picture I saw on pinterest, which is cooler because it involves tree branches, but I was going for simplicity, so I just used some twine and a frame I had on hand. It's great becausenow I can see all my necklaces and earrings much more easily and one end of our dresser is now free for baby things.

Two Year Anniversary

2012-01-25T16:39:00.002-08:00

January 16th we celebrated two years of marriage! I met Colin at work and we went to the beach (which was almost deserted because it was cold and windy, but that just made it all the more cozy!) for dinner around a fire. Colin made me his world famous s'more.

Our cute little cabin in the background.

On Friday, Colin took a half day and we drove up to Big Bear in the mountains to spend the night at a little cabin he found. This little trip also turned out to be a sort of "babymoon" since it's the last time we'll go anywhere before the baby comes!

It was fun to cook our own food, sit next to a cozy fire, work on a puzzle together (and then give up), hope for snow and wake up to sleet, and enjoy the cold weather around the lake for about 5 minutes before we decided to head back down the mountain.

Yay for Colin, who plans simple, fun, memorable things to celebrate!

38 weeks!

2012-01-24T09:36:00.001-08:00

Today I'm 38 weeks along, which means that Baby Thorne could come at any time! First babies usually come after their "guess date" (ours is February 7th) but we are ready whenever he or she wants to come and we are willing to wait, too.

This picture was taken at 36 and a half weeks. I've been very blessed during pregnancy because I only had the slightest nausea a few nights during the first trimester. The past few weeks I've had tingling in two of my fingers because of swelling, but other than that, I've felt great!

We packed our hospital bags, rearranged our room, and have done baby laundry in the past two days. I'm still busy getting loose ends tied up, reading books about parenting and working on projects, but we are telling baby that we're ready whenever he or she is!

The High Price of Materialism

2012-01-21T20:47:00.000-08:00

I posted this a while back on Facebook, but wanted to post it here too.

A few interesting points made in the video:

- As materialism goes up, care for the earth goes down.
- People focus more on material things when they feel insecure.
- The more people are exposed to the media, the more materialistic they are.
- As intrinsic values go up, materialism goes down.

Materialism is easy to succumb to all the time, especially when having a baby! There are checklists everywhere that tell me all of the things I need to buy and all the clothes are so cute! I think our decision to be surprised about the gender of our baby has helped me curb the urge to buy cute clothes, at least (and it has probably kept others from buying too many clothes for our baby too!)

The nest has an article that suggests we should budget $30,000 for a baby! Whoa. Fortunately, we have been given many things that friends nearby don't need anymore, and we've been able to get a few good quality things we wanted off of craigslist. Through an online forum, I recently came across this article on the real cost of raising children and this one on the what newborns really need that are helpful in keeping perspective as well.

Arkansas Instagram Pics

2012-01-20T09:33:00.000-08:00

We went to the Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville. Despite the name (which made me think it was going to be an ice sculpture show) and despite being funded by Wal-Mart, it's wonderful. Really a world class museum in an unlikely place. All of the permanent collections are wonderful and the current Wonder World exhibition was really great.

If Colin's dad decides to create an album someday, this can be his cover.

Boone and baby Valo


Family band practice

Family band at the baby shower

Sunrise the morning we left

Pojagi

2012-01-19T08:30:00.000-08:00

For my baby shower on Saturday, I wrapped up little gifts for the hostesses in pojagi (a Korean way to wrap a gift) style using some fabric scraps (I used my borrowed serger to finish the edges!). They turned out kinda cute, I think.

Arkansas Vacation Videos

2012-01-18T12:08:00.002-08:00

We went to Fayetteville, Arkansas over Christmas, where Colin's family gathered (all 5 brothers together for the first time since we got married!). I was hoping for snow, which we didn't get, but it was a fun trip just the same!

I took some video of opening gifts/hanging out one night and Kevin (Colin's twin) took some of our joint baby shower with Jeremy (Colin's oldest brother), Satu-Aamu and their son Valo. The videos will probably only be fun to watch for family, but I did edit them down to make them a manageable length.

A Camera Case For Colin

2012-01-16T22:34:00.000-08:00

Colin likes to have his little camera with him in his pocket so he likes to have a case that fits it just right without adding bulk. He had the perfect neoprene case for a long time, but it finally wore out and he's been on the hunt for a replacement. We tried a few different ones that were for small cameras but they added just a bit too much extra space. I had thought about making him one, but knowing how particular he was being, I decided not to volunteer. Finally, he asked me to trim one of his socks to make a case. Then I decided that I could do better than that and I made him one out of the sweater scraps I had out from the baby clothes. It turned out to be really easy and he loves it. :)

The Swell Season

2012-01-12T08:45:00.001-08:00

Another movie I'm looking forward to. I loved the movie Once and the soundtrack that went with it!

Projects for Baby, Part Two

2012-01-11T11:03:00.044-08:00

After the baby wipes were done (which took a lot of learning on the serger - mostly re-threading issues), I made a few pairs of baby pants (longies) from felted wool sweaters that I have in my stash. I used the arms of the sweaters to give the pants nice edges on the legs, but mostly went by this tutorial and these patterns. I plan to lanolize them so that they are easy to care for. (I hear if you lanolize wool, you can just let them dry if they get wet and then re-wear, then you only have to wash them if they get dirty or start to smell.)

I also made hats from the snow pixie pattern found here a few weeks ago. I made one for Colin's brother's baby who we got to meet in Arkansas. (They live in Finland, but Colin's whole family got together for the first time since our wedding for Christmas!) The brown hat and pants set went to a friend who had a baby shower last weekend. It was hard to part with because it was the softest one, but it was also the one with the best sewing lines!

Projects for Baby, Part One

2012-01-10T16:18:00.008-08:00

I borrowed a serger from a friend and have been working on baby projects!

The first project I wanted to get done was finish the flannel wipes I cut out months ago. (We're cloth diapering, so we are using cloth wipes too.) I thought that cutting the edges with pinking shears would keep the edges from fraying, but after washing, I could tell that they needed to be hemmed or serged. I wasn't about to take the time to hem them all and I was lucky enough to find a serger to borrow. Yay! (I have been inspired to use cloth instead of disposable things for a while. We hardly use any paper towels at our place. Here's another post I read recently about the topic.)

I also bought about 6 yards of knit fabric from the discount aisle of a local fabric store to make two moby style wraps. I just cut the fabric down the length and serged the edges all the way around. No pics of that 'cause it's just a long piece of fabric - once baby comes, I'll post one!

Blue Like Jazz the Movie

2012-01-05T20:38:00.004-08:00

It's been a while since I read the book...looking forward to seeing this!

This makes me want to travel

2012-01-04T20:37:00.000-08:00

With baby coming in a month or so, we won't be traveling anytime soon, but I will dream!

Bowling!

2011-12-23T14:44:00.000-08:00

Another advent activity we did together last week was bowling. We had some free coupons that are going to expire at the end of the month and we finally made some time to go use them. It turned out to be a workout for me since I am carrying a slightly lighter bowling ball in my belly, but we are enjoying these last two months of just us!

Christmas Lights

2011-12-22T14:25:00.000-08:00

(Photos taken on my phone with Instagram)

As one of our advent activities from the calendar, I suggested going to look at Christmas lights. I guess I envisioned driving around some neighborhoods and seeing what was out there, but as I looked online for good neighborhoods, I found out that there are some really extravagant displays nearby. I should have known that SoCal would come through in that way. One weekend, we went to Naples near Long Beach. Last weekend, we went to Balboa Island for the Christmas Boat Parade.

Both neighborhoods have fantastic houses built on canals or the beach and most of the houses are decorated. Some are decorated from inch to inch. We walked by parties that had live music on their decks, enjoyed a high school chamber music choir and other various music groups that came out to perform Christmas music. I was really blown away!

Our Advent

2011-12-21T11:33:00.000-08:00

In our second Christmas together, we are still working on traditions. I made an advent wreath for our table like last year (using free cuttings from our nearby Wal-Mart again!). We light it each night we're both home for dinner and read from the Jesse Tree devotional. Colin told me the other night he liked the one we did last year better because it's more interactive, but they're both good.

Since we are on a single income and adding to our family soon, we aren't buying each other presents. I made an advent calendar with 25 pennant shaped pockets made from upcycled sweaters like our stockings. I filled the first half with activities to do together and Colin has been filling the other half.

We got out our tomato cage Christmas tree that debuted last year and Colin helped decorate it as our first advent activity. We've made each other favorite meals or snacks as activities. Colin even illustrates each card he writes with a tiny illustration! Over the weekend, he built a fire in our pit and we had warm drinks outside around it as our activity. He told me that he loves how it's bringing us together more. Next Christmas, we'll have an almost one year old to add to the mix!

Christmas Links

2011-12-20T11:33:00.000-08:00

An instagram photo taken on the bridge to Balboa Island.

Today's Letters (a blog I subscribe to) has a collection of their favorite Christmas songs here. My Christmas song playlist has been going for a few weeks - both from my own collection and on Pandora, but these songs (and the links recommended in the comments) are a refreshing add-in.

I like this NoiseTrade Christmas CD: Ten Out of Tenn. Have you tried NoiseTrade? You can get great music and leave whatever tip you like!

I have been collecting too many fun ideas on pinterest (and even making a few of them). I took these eggnog cookies to three different friends' houses last week and they were a hit! I want to make this eggnog pound cake or maybe this pumpkin gingerbread next.

I usually make white chocolate covered cranberries, but don't think I'm going to this year. I did have some cranberries in the freezer though, so I made cranberry bread yesterday and it's yummy! I also made these fig and date swirls from Lottie+Doof. Sadly, I didn't have any anise, so I made them without, but they are still yummy!

Advent: God With Us

2011-12-15T11:06:00.001-08:00

Advent: God With Us from The Village Church on Vimeo.