Lula Belle

Adeline Mae

Little miss Adeline came into this world on a beautiful Sunday morning surrounded with love.  I woke up just before 3 am on Janurary 20th having mild contractions.  I stayed in bed keeping track of the time for about an hour.  At that point they got a little more intense so I got up and snuck downstairs.  I stopped to fold some laundry and check on my big kids.  

They were tucked in tight so I shut the door and made my way downstairs.  I put away some dishes, picked up toys, and made the necessary phone calls.  At about 4:30 I decided that it was time to get Matt up.  We had some tea and chatted between contractions.  As the crew started rolling in with coffee and doughnuts things started picking up.  I was able to visit for a spell before the midwife  thought that we should go up and check things out.  It's a good thing that she did because I was at 7 cm and headed for transition in a hurry.  I got in the shower and enjoyed the hot water.  I was in for about 10 minutes when I started to feel pushy.  I got out and moved toward the bed.  I was standing up and bearing down when the midwife asked if I wanted to have this baby standing up.  I was starting to feel a bit dizzy and did not.  Matt helped me onto the bed and a few intensly crazy moments later our beautiful daughter was on my chest.  I called it as a boy after briefly seeing the cord, but was told that no it was indeed a girl.  

 

She was born at 6:59 am.  Just as the sky was lighting up.  Tommy and Katie woke up just after she was born and came up to meet their new sister.  It was an amazingly beautiful birth on an amazingly beautiful day.  Our family is now complete.

today

eggs

trains by the tree

snow on the ground

sledding

gettin' cozy

hat hair and hot chocolate

 

December...so far

fall

freshening up

I have the fall bug.  Every fall I want to deep clean, organize, and decorate.  I know that most people get the spring cleaning bug, but for me, it comes in the fall.  It is a time when I really start focusing on our home and preparing to be spending lots of time IN it.

I have lots of sewing projects in the works at the moment.  This just happens to be the first one finished.

I just bought a cheap plain white shower curtain from Target instead of trying to sew a curtain.  It cost $15.  I figured that would be cheaper and easier than buying the yardage of nice cotton.  Then I made 2 inch strips from scraps of varying lengths and top stitched them on.  The edges were left raw so when it is washed they will fray a bit.  I was too eager to hang it up so the washing will have to wait.

 

The whole project took me about 2 hours from start to finish and it really changes the room.  Now to tackle the awful flooring and that pittiful light fixture.

It's Beginning To Feel Like Fall

Pretty colors from the garden ~

My helpers ~

Chestnut collecting ~

We made this soup with them.  It is hard work, but quite tasty.

Decorating ~

Oh and the knitting has begun ~

finger painting

 

Hard Lesson Learned

We had a rough morning last week.  When went out to check on the chickies we found that the door hadn't been properly latched.  A wiley raccoon or 4 took that opportunity to eat some of our girls.  There were many tears.  Nine in all were taken.  Two of our fastest and hardest to catch somehow made it.  We thought that only two had survived when we heard a peeping from behind the trash can.  There was Goldie.  Now we have three survivors.  Fluffy(Ruby), Goldie, and Maple.  I swear they changed after that.  They let me catch them and they like to perch on me when we take them out to the garden.  Everyone talks about how stupid chickens are, but I wonder how true that really is.  

Katie is having a hard time with the loss of Isabella.  And Bertie our most friendly and curious bird is missed dearly too.  We are now trying to figure out how to replace them.  It's late in the season to get chicks and grown birds might pick on our little ladies.  There is a swap meet in a couple of weeks that I am going to check out.  I have never been to one and have no idea what to expect.  My fingers are crossed.

So now we lock the coop every time we leave.  Even if it's just for a moment.  I'm sure that this won't be our last loss.  We still have lots to learn.  But, hopefully we won't make the same mistake twice.

Feeling like fall

With the weather cooling off, the tomatoes are slowing down, the tea is flowing, soup and roasts are creeping into the dinner routine, and the kids are off at school.  Next week things will really pick up as soccer and dance begin and reminding me that hockey is just around the corner.  The thing is that I am a little excited to be getting back to our routines.  Quiet days with just the little man and Pandora make up for the craziness of the evenings and weekend flurry.  

Right now I am enjoying

the Kate Wolf station on Pandora.

This soup with goat cheese, spinach, and homemade croutons.

Baking again!

My new yarn made from corn that I got at a fiber festival last weekend.

 

 

Today