The not-so Nursery

???Not a chance. . .
Here is the state of the "nursery" today; a week away from baby's homecoming:

Four kids, two bedrooms, no doors and an unfinished master bathroom. . . Make it work! Our long term plan, regarding children and bedrooms, is to have a finished basement with two bedrooms for the boys someday. The five-year plan is to have the boys sleep together in one room in a funky triple-bunk arrangement. The immediate plan is to have the baby use our master bathroom as a nursery until he sleeps through the night. And then Caelah will have her brother in her room for a year or so. "But he's a boy!" She'll embrace the idea eventually, I'm sure.

While I wait for renovations to progress. Baby's things lie in wait also.
Here, there and everywhere.

Nesting

Maybe it is the cozy, curl-up, nesting instinct that has taken hold of me these past few weeks that has me so drawn to these images. So homey and inviting. These cottages belong to a little village in California called Carmel. Apparently the architect responsible for these beautiful creations became known as "The Builder of Dreams." To read more about him and this place *CLICK*. How I would love to explore every one!



As for my personal "nesting," our house has been completely purged and organized. The basement. My craft supplies. My clothing. The children's clothing. The toy room. . . There isn't much excess left. It feels good. Unfortunately, this condition awakens a heightened awareness of the unfinished state of the house, but I have been mostly at peace in this regard. I love my nest.

Bumped. . .

. . . UP!

Baby will be here on March 3rd! Ten days earlier than previously expected.

ME: "Hi, I'm scheduled for a c-section on the 13th and was hoping you could check for any new openings in March?"
SECRETARY: "Ok. Let me call over."
[Put on Hold]
SECRETARY: "Johannah? I'm so sorry--- pause ----(I begin to assure her I hadn't really had my hopes up anyways,) but I got you spot on the 3rd!"
ME: "What?! Oh! You're horrible! You can't mess with c-section women like that!"
SECRETARY: "I told you it pays to keep bugging us."

So, now we are in a whirlwind of lining up childcare etc.

ONE week and counting!

"M, N & A" are for. . .

...Three little cousins!"M" for Michaela

"N" for Nick

"A" for Abby

THREE more weeks. . .

. . . and counting!!!

"I love so much, I bought you a mini van."

I think Aidan needs to cope with our recent acquisition by telling himself he did it out of love. The truth is, it was out of necessity. We are about to have our fourth child. The Saturn is one seat short. For awhile, Aidan made a desperate attempt to find us a truck. A big manly vehicle that could haul our family around, and a load of flagstone in the summer. But, the prices weren't right, and I think he knew that a mini van was inevitably awaiting him,with it's tongue stuck out, at the end of his bout of procrastination.

So, here she is:
And the prettiest thing about here are her 7 seats.
Baby can just come on down now. . .

Everyday in Photos #25

A heart-warming moment the other day: Elijah, Lyssa's big cousin, felt she needed a bit of "protection." So he pulled out his skipping rope "caution tape" and carefully hemmed her in, securing the end of the rope with his big yellow school bus.
In his mind, he had done here a great service.
To us, he had too: He loved her.
There's much protection in that.

Handpainted Alphabet Letters

I apologize for the double posting between blogs. When I make something I'm proud of, I wanna share it...twice even!

Something new

Just because this little man is the fourth down the line, doesn't mean I can't get him something new.

The ultimate gift for a boy turning two. . .

. . . is a tape measure.
For real.
We weren't being cheap. We just know our kid. The pictures back me up.

He opens up this big beautiful metal dump truck. Does he play with it? Drive it around? Nope. He measures it. We knew what we were doing. Best $4.99 we ever spent on him.

Everyday in Photos #24

A tear to mend.

Our Hearts

Since my beautiful tulips last year, I have come to think of fresh flowers as integral to Valentine's Day.

A sweet gift waiting at the breakfast table for the kids. Yeah, major sugar intake before 8:00 AM, but it's that kind of day.

The art of heart-shaped pancakes.

Yes, even heart-shaped pizza. Go big or go home, I say.

Cinnamon Bun CAKE, to top of the sweet day.

"My Heart Wanders"

I have plenty of my own hearts to share with you tomorrow, but today I will share someone else's: A truly unique photo project by Pia Bijkerk. I love this kind of thing. When nature offers up odd visual moments. I once found a tiny rock by the river that was shaped like a perfect little teddy bear. I don't know why this pleases me so much, but it does. I think it's because it makes you very aware of what is around you, even if for only a little while, before we continue on in our higher velocity, destination-oriented, wanderings. Here are some of the photos Pia has collected so far:

I decided to send in my own contribution, though very humble. I posted this picture on September's Apple Day post:

I can't wait to see the project finished, with all of it's hearts exposed.

Powder Room Passion

And so another room in our house has been given some attention, and has arisen from the drywall dust to shine. I love this bathroom. I know, it's a bathroom! But I love it. (It is also a room that has become increasingly important as I find it more and more difficult to climb stairs.) I think what is most satisfying about it is that is was almost cost-free. The cabinet set was gifted to us from Aidan's brother, fixtures were purchased on SALE. And all of the other trinkets are, and will be, garage sale finds, altered pieces and homemade art. Yeah! for cheap beauty.

So passionate about my Pier 1 "Flower Medallion Rug." Birthday gift certificate purchase!