Because we can always use more pictures

It seems we have a citrus theme today.

She's here!

On Monday February 23rd at 1:30 PM Evelyn popped out. At birth she was 7 lbs 9 oz and a week later weighed in at an even 8 lbs. So far she loves to eat and sleep but in her short spurts of wakefulness is quite alert and curious already. To me she looks much like Logan did as a baby but definitely has her own personality and I can't wait to see how she grows and develops.

Painting

With the frigid temperatures we haven't been making it outside for very long (if at all, sometimes) these days but thankfully there are enough options for activities inside that we always seem to have something to do. And there's always running roundabout the house (James always spoke of getting a place where the boys could run around in a circle through the rooms and that's exactly what we ended up with). The boys spent part of yesterday afternoon painting and I had to capture the lighting (have I mentioned how I LOVE the natural light in this house?!). They both received mini-easels and painting kits for Christmas and it's fun to see them all set up painting the small canvases. By the time I got the camera out this time they had moved on from the canvases to painting their chairs and other wooden things James has made them. Oh and James had just given Logan another haircut an hour or two before this. I think he does an amazing job (completely by hand -- our electric shaver hasn't been working for a while).

Waiting

My due date isn't for a few more days but for some reason it feels as though the time is dragging and all I'm doing is waiting for something to happen. It's very strange because this feeling is very different from how I felt before the boys were born. Anyway here are a couple pictures of waiting and of enjoying a boys' night before the girl arrives!

When is a duck not a duck?

Logan has recently taken quite an interest in drawing, in writing out letters, in spelling words, and in adding numbers. We have a preschool workbook that we sometime go through but the main impetus is his own (which I think is the best way!). He brought this first picture to me yesterday and told me that it was a bird that didn't use its wings because it didn't fly. So I said "oh, a flightless bird?" so he asked me how to spell that and labeled the picture accordingly. Then he drew a duck and asked how to spell duck. I was a little worried about how more formal homeschooling would fit into our daily routine but I'm starting to think it won't be as hard as I may have anticipated.

$0.99 worth of oranges

Last week James brought home a bunch of oranges from the reduced rack so we've had some fun in the kitchen using them in different ways. I am in the process of making candied orange peel (and am tempted to coat the peels in chocolate, of course) and from that have a couple jars of orange simple syrop. The boys really enjoyed the process of putting the oranges through the juicer (along with a few grapes just because) and have been enjoying the product almost as much. I'm thinking of a way to use the left-over pulp and, if I do, every last bit of those oranges will be used and enjoyed in some way. Of course, just eating the oranges and composting the peel (or using them as a natural air-freshener) uses the entire orange and is a lot less labour-intensive but it's nice to try something different and a little more ambitious every once in a while!

O Christmas Tree

Having moved this year, we now have 9' ceilings (our apartment had 7' mostly with bulkheads that lowered it in several places another foot or so) and a much larger living space. So we were pretty excited to be able to get a big Christmas tree (why else would we need 9' ceilings and more space?). Back in June, while discussing how the livingroom would be set up, one of the questions posed was where the Christmas tree would go. Yes, this is a very important part of what this house is all about! The tree we got isn't quite 9' tall but fills the space pretty adequately being about 8 1/2' tall and 5' wide towards the bottom. We had to buy extra strings of lights to fill it but we already had more than enough ornaments. I love our collection. We have some that are merely decorative but the majority of them hold special meaning for us.

December already?

Wow birthday season has already passed us and Christmas is coming up quickly! We threw a joint birthday party for the boys on the Saturday between their birthdays (first party for either of them) and I think it went quite well! There was nothing fancy (at all! I even resorted to decorating the cake during the party because it hadn't cooled in time) but I think all those present enjoyed themselves so really, that's all that matters! Pinterest will have to wait until I have a few more parties under my belt. Or maybe not even then. Having that many people over was a bit crazy at times but it also made me realize that we can manage to fit not too uncomfortably. We're not set up to have a large sit-down dinner but the space here is laid out in a way that a decent number of people can gather without being too crowded. Okay, maybe it's not crowded only by my family's standards - being part of a fairly large family, it isn't often we don't have to squeeze when we get together. Our apartment made it difficult to show hospitality unless it were only one or two people coming over so it's nice to have the feeling that we finally are able to host things. And now Christmas is coming I can't wait to begin decorating! This seems like the perfect house for Christmas. Well, I am a little worried about the cats destroying the tree and decorations but aside from that things should be wonderful! The one strange thing about this year is that with the two boys I had given birth by this time and had a Christmas baby to add to the cheer but this time I still have several months to go. At least I'm through the horrid first trimester! Perhaps another reason I am more conscious about not having my baby out yet (not that I want her to be premature!) is because my sister-in-law and cousin have both just had their babies and it just seems strange not to have mine, too. There are so many other wonderful things about this season that I shouldn't be worried about a little detail like that and I'm not upset or sad, it's just different. But then each year is different. I love so much about Advent and Christmas and perhaps it's a good thing I don't have a little one to distract just yet. Any way, thinking about babies at Christmas, here are pictures from the boys' first Christmases. Awake: Sleeping: