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We've had a sad weekend here.  Stephan's grandmother died early Saturday morning.  She took a sudden turn for the worse last week.  Thankfully, Stephan was able to see her one last time.
Posts might be a little spotty this week as we spend some family time together and decompress a bit.  Please keep Stephan and his family in your prayers. 

The Two Amigos

One of the many perks of becoming a parent has been getting to see my parents as grandparents.  They do a particularly fabulous job....in my humble opinion.  ;)  Yesterday they came over for a visit, and Baw-Baw entertained the munchkin while Nanno helped me do a bit of organizing. 

These two fellas make me smile....

"Mama, I a good climber!"

And, then a little pretend sleeping to top things off....

I love Levi's squinched up eyes in that one. 

I Wanna Paint, Mama!!!!!!!

Until yesterday this little boy of mine showed very little interest in painting.  He's enjoyed it for brief spells on occasion, but overall, he rarely wanted to get the paints out.  My how everything changes overnight with these little ones.

Yesterday was "Mama, Mama, I wanna paint!  I wanna paint, Mama!  I reeeeyeeee neeeed to paint, Mama!"....all day long.

It's a serious job, y'all.  But, somebody's gotta do it.

We spent at least 3 hours painting.  If eating, sleeping, and bathing hadn't gotten in the way, I can say with reasonable certainty that this would have gone on much much longer.  I wonder what today has in store.  :)

A Baby Gal Quilt Update

I finished piecing together the top of the baby girl quilt!  However, since time is running away rather speedily these days, I've decided to set it aside for now.  There are more pressing crafty matters to attend to....oh, yeah, and some other non-crafty stuff as well.  I figure since Levi's baby quilt is still minus a binding, then maybe it's not so necessary to  have both a boy and a girl quilt finished upon baby's arrival.  It also dawned on me that if I did start quilting this one and out came a boy, it (the quilt not the baby) would likely sit unfinished on a shelf with safety pins in it for the next couple of years waiting for me to get pregnant again.  Sounds like a recipe for rust spots.  So, there it is....neatly packaged with coordinating backing/binding fabric, batting, and thread....waiting to see what's in store.  Will it be a boy or a girl?  Any guesses?

Sweet Dreams

The other night Levi decided he wanted to sleep in his bed.  By his bed I mean the twin bed next to our queen....not his bed in his room.  To make a long story short, Stephan laid down on that bed, and Levi freaked.  "Dats MY bed.  Get off my bed!!!  I wanna sleep on MY bed!!!!"  Well, alrighty then.

It took him forever and a very long time to actually fall asleep.  By the end of it he had requested somewhere in the vicinity of a million sips of water, his "rubber band mallet", his dragon, and his anteater.  Apparently, reinforcements were necessary to accomplish the monumental task of sleeping next to us instead of in between us.  The amazing thing is that he slept there through the whole entire night.  Fingers crossed.  Maybe there is hope after all.

I snapped these photos in the morning.  In 3 months he'll be 3 years old, and I could still spend hours just looking at him.  Sigh....

Morning Me

I probably should refrain from posting photos of myself fresh out of bed, but the pretty photos I'd planned on never happened.  Did I mention it's ridiculously hot out there?  Totally drains the energy out of a gal. 

I'm down to just a few outfits and my pajamas are barely fitting now.  With less than 4 weeks to go, I'm hesitant to buy new stuff.  But, if my wardrobe selection gets any slimmer you might find me perusing the maternity racks.

Weekend Loves

I've got baby on the brain....hmmm....wonder why?  ;)  Here are a few links that made me smile this week:

: : When babies hit the brain so too do diapers, so I've been doing lots of diaper stash fluffing.  I've made a few new wool soakers.  One from this awesome book (Thank you, Nell :-), and two from this free pattern.  I have plans to stitch up a few of these and these, and I want to knit a couple of these for winter.  Although, something tells me all of that will not be done before baby gets here. 

: : This wonderful roundup of baby knit patterns makes me wish I was faster with those needles.

: : I'm loving this bunny and think it would make a wonderful first stuffie for this little one.

: : Being pregnant in the oh, so hot month of August has me dreaming about fall and winter.  These little bird seed cakes are already going on the list of things we must do when the cool weather comes in.

: : This last link is for my mom.  She has a thing for magic shell.  So, Mom, next time you run out here's a recipe for making your own.  :)

What's on your brain this week?

Levi-isms

I just realized that it's been forever since I've done a post of Levi-isms.  I keep them on scraps of paper strewn about the house.  There are some things a mama just doesn't want to forget.

: : "Where's my rubber band mallet."--referring to the rubber mallet seen above.

: :  Levi: "You have eybrows?"
    Me: "Yes, I do."
    Levi: "You have plenty of eyebrows!"
    Me: "Um, yes."
    Levi: "I have two eyebrows!"

: :  Levi: mumble, mumble.
    Me: "What was that, Baby?"
    Levi: "I'm just talking to people."

: : "Sing peas on a river!"--referring to the song "Peace Like a River."

: : "Fix it, Mama!  Fix it!  You're a fixer!!"  Unfortunately even us 'fixer' mamas can't fix everything a munchkin can break.

: : "I like dat wheel, Mama.  Come here and smell it.  You can have an idea when you smell it."  :-) Smelling is Levi's thing.  If it's near him, he's going to smell it.  Including our doula's feet during her last visit.  Thank goodness she has 6 children and gets the craziness of 2 year olds.

: : "Come here, doggy.  Come here, doggy.  Sit in my wap."  Pats lap.  There is no dog in sight....not even a stuffed one.  I do believe we have a full blown imagination on board now.  Or a child trying to convince us to get him a dog.  "Can I have a doggy?  I reeeeeeeeyeeee neeeed a doggy!"

: : Here's a real heart melter for you....at least, it melted my heart:
    "Mama, can I marry you?"
    :) "No, Baby, I'm already married."
    "I reeeeyeee need to be married."
    Soft laugh. "Not now, Baby Bear.  You still have a few years.....And, you'll need a job."

*I don't generally dress my child in jackets during the heat of August, but sometimes he's stubborn and insists.  So far he's always taken them off before having a heat stroke!
   

Stephan's Shadow

"Can I help you?  Can I help you? I a biiiiiiiig helper!!!  Watcha doin'?  Watcha doin'?  Watcha doin'?   Watcha doin'?" ~Levi

During Stephan's days off this week the 'watcha doins' never ended.  Stephan , however, was endlessly patient with the munchkin....even when his "biiiiig helper" freaked out over getting glue on his feet.....oh, the injustices of life.  "I STICKY!!!!  I STICKY!!!!!" followed by sobs and a very strange manner of walking until a wipe was brought to the rescue.

A Full Belly....36 1/2 weeks

Our midwife came for a visit yesterday.  Levi was her "big helper"...measuring, and checking on the baby.  After she left, "Where's my Miss Norma?"

P.S.

While I'm seeking advice, how does one go grocery shopping with two munchkins?  It is beginning to sink in that I am soon to be outnumbered.  The fact that my husband's work schedule is crazy and involves 12 hour work days for a whole straight week now scares me.  In case you need me to do the calculations for you....add about 2 hours for commute and you get me home alone with TWO children for 14 hours straight....for 7 whole days.  He doesn't get much time off in between either, so it's not like I'll get a whole lot of breaks.  Oh, I think I should quit thinking about this.  My head is beginning to spin.

Bed Sharing With Two?

The earliest sleeping post I have marked is here...a little over a year ago.  Can you believe his tinyness? 

His favorite sleeping spot is still snuggled up next to mama.  Sigh.  Where are we going to put a new little one?  Levi says the baby can sleep next to him.  Ha!  Not happening little squirmy worm.  Any tips on bed sharing with two?  I'm at a loss.  We have a twin bed set up right next to ours.  Levi thought his bed was cool for about a nanosecond.  And, then he was back in between us.

Sweet Dreams

It's nap time...

This would be some kind of seed pod found on a brief excursion to the mailbox.  Levi thinks there's a speck on it....a la Horton Hears A Who.  I'm pretty sure this is what, as children, we referred to as dust balls.  If squished, I have a feeling that a dust cloud comes out....reason #1 it is no longer in his sleeping hands in my clean bed.

Weekend Loves

Levi and I have been staying indoors lately.  I feel a tad guilty that he's not getting as much outdoor time as he's used too, but he doesn't seem bothered.  I don't think he's a fan of super hot weather either.  As y'all can probably guess I've been hacking away at that giant to do list of mine....well, that and falling asleep a lot.  Of course, I've still been bookmarking wonderful links that make me smile.  So, I figured I'd do a little sharing.

: : Well, most of the links make me smile.  This one just makes me go, "Huh?"  Maple Bacon Ice Cream?   I'm unconvinced.

: : If you scroll to the bottom of this post there is a super cute freebie print.  I'm thinking about printing it out and putting it in the baby's room....

It seems fitting for those late nights spent rocking and singing to a fussy little one.

: : Speaking of freebie prints these number and alphabet prints are adorable!

: : Are you looking for fun stuff to do indoors?  How cool is this life sized game board?  

: : I want this mobile to hang in the corner of the baby's room!  It would be look fabulous above the dresser.  Dear God, could I get a fourth trimester, so I can do all the things on my "Oh I so want to do that! List"?  Just Kidding....sort of.

: : Inspiration for a boy quilt has been lacking around these parts.  I've had lots of trouble finding coordinating boyish fabrics that I really like.  Well, the search for inspiration is over....this baby blanket has hit the official to do list.  It doesn't require lots of coordinating fabric patterns....just one top piece and three coordinating flannels....totally doable!  I say doable, like I have all the time in the world.  In fact, I wonder how I'm going to get one quilt finished in under 5 weeks.  Two?  Am I nuts?!

: : Levi is going to need a few new pairs of pajama pants for winter.  I'm love, love, loving these.  No pressure though.  We do have quite a few more months before long pjs will be needed.

: : Stephan's response when I showed him these uber cute duck feet socks was a look of confusion followed by, "Why?"  Me: "Why not?!!!" 

What have you been bookmarking this week?

Oh, August....

....how I wish I could love you....but I don't.  Your heat sucks the life out of even the non-pregnant.  A heat index of 115 F is intolerable.  And, the mosquitoes?  Really, something should be done about them.  Maybe you could see to it that the rest of the month is at least a tad milder.  M'kay?
                                                                                      xoxo,
                                                                                      Madeline

Seriously though, this heat is getting to me.  It's hard enough to move quickly while pregnant, but in this much heat it's impossible.  I've felt the need to sleep....a lot.  My camera, my blog, the entire internet, and all housework have been sorely neglected.  I'd be okay with this, except that I'm so hot it makes me irritable.  If I step outside, it takes the rest of the day to cool back off again....something about a personal heating system rocking away in my tummy.  Sigh.

On a semi-good note, storms are moving in.  The temperatures will now be in a "reasonable" early to mid 90's.  Of course, rain means more humidity.  Can our air feel any more like split pea soup?  Oh, yes, indeed.

And, entirely unrelated to the weather, if you're in need of a good read this week check out Erin's latest post.  I'm bookmarking it, so I can reread and remind myself of this stuff post baby.

Hope y'all are enjoying your week and staying cool!