Magnolia's brother is due to arrive this time next week! However I'm not sure what she's more excited for; her baby brother or the Easter Bunny. We are trying to explain that her brother will arrive first and then the Easter Bunny. Once I told her he would bring her a big chocolate bunny, she's been super excited. I made her these bunny ears today(pattern courtesy of Martha S.) and she loves them.

I'm so excited to have this little baby and will be so happy when he has arrived and we are all at home together coloring Easter eggs!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We had a very warm and sunny day here, it was wonderful!

Still not a whole lot going on around here, just waiting and waiting to have a baby and trying to take it easy. With a day like today being housebound isn't so bad!

We have been really housebound lately. It's gotten way too hard to go out and about being this big and uncomfortable. The strange thing is that I prefer to be at home. Not sure how Magnolia feels about it but we've been trying to stay busy around the house. Here she is playing in the bathroom sink, her new favorite activity.

I hope to do Magnolia update soon but before I forget I want to mention what happened today.
Magnolia has been throwing things for some time now when she gets frustrated but lately the throwing has been replaced by high pitched screams. Most of the time I don't react and tell her calmly that she looks frustrated but it's not polite to throw or scream and she just needs to tell me she's frustrated, she needs help, or maybe she just needs attention. Sometimes I don't quite have the patience and tell her to stop! :) Today I was cooking dinner and apparently she was getting frustrated with something and I didn't even realize it. She marched into the kitchen and promptly told me that she needed attention. I was so proud that I swooped her up with a big hug and kiss and thanked her for telling me. I set her up in the kitchen to help me and when she had her fill, she got down and went back to playing. Ah, I love when there's good communication but mostly I'm proud of my little 2 year old. :)

I love handwritten notes, embossers, stamps, and beautiful stationary. I've always wanted a writing desk for this reason. When I saw this desk at Goodwill last fall, I just had to have it. Of course at the time it didn't look like this at all, it needed quite a bit of work but I saw the potential. George was not happy when I came home and told him we'd need his car to go and get it. We have a house (make that two) and a basement full of furniture. It's sort of a problem, we love furniture and have too much of it. The last thing we needed was another piece. Good thing it was my birthday and he conceded. The minute he saw it he loved it too. With a pregnant wife and a two year old, it sat in his shop for many months while he slowly took his time stripping it down to its original finish and giving it many repairs. It's finally done and I just love it so much. What you don't see is my laptop that sits there for most of the time. It's my favorite place to sit with a cup of coffee. Thank you George, I love it!

Last weekend we had Papaw and this weekend we had Nani! Sure was nice having visitors! We had 6 inches of snow when she arrived making it a cozy day in the house. For the rest of the weekend we did a whole lot of nothing but Magnolia loved being with her Nani and Molly Dog. It's crazy to think Nani will be our last visitor until the baby arrives! I'll be back again this week for some posts I've been meaning to share. Have a great week everyone!

Magnolia had a visit from her Papaw this past weekend. Oh how she loves her Papaw! They had a great time visiting the Children Museum, reading books, playing the harmonica, and singing songs. Thanks Papaw for visiting!

Magnolia spent Saturday morning with her one and only Valentine, her daddy. To say Magnolia is a daddy's girl is an understatement. I have never seen someone turn corners at such a high rate of speed to greet her daddy every night. So when our local children's museum was having a breakfast with Little Nutbrown Hare from the book Guess How Much I Love You on Valentine's Day, I bought two tickets for them. They had a wonderful time and I cried when she came home wearing the bunny hat she made with her face painted in whiskers and handed me a beautiful handmade Valentine. We opened presents or as Magnolia calls them, "presidents." She loved everything especially the chocolate. I put her to bed a little early while George cooked a delicious Valentine dinner for the two of us. It was a very nice day. Here's Magnolia getting one last look at herself before heading off with her daddy.

Opening her Valentines

Children's Museum

Apparently Magnolia didn't eat the breakfast and didn't want to go near Little Nut Brown Hare although she knows him well from the book. She did say hello from afar. She's been sick for the past few days with no signs of feeling better. We'll be off to the doctor tomorrow. Poor thing, I hate to see her feel so bad.

We traveled to my niece, Lilah's, 4th birthday party this weekend. My other sister, her girls, and my mom and dad also made the trip. We decided to make a weekend out of it and stay in a hotel with a pool. My doctor gave me the okay to go and boy was I excited to get away! We had so much fun visiting and swimming. Cedarburg is a very quaint town north of Milwaukee. When we arrived on Saturday they were having their Winterfest. We got to see a two hump camel and artists doing ice sculptures along the street. We stopped at the wonderful chocolate shop and then my sister's adorable salon where the girls were treated to hairdos and cuts complete with lollipops! On Sunday we went to Lilah's birthday party which was a lot of fun!!! I was sad returning home as it was all over and I'll have to wait for the baby to come before we can get away again.

Welcome February! I hope this month goes by as fast as it always seems to. It's been cold, too cold to do anything. Being pregnant in this weather is hard! With that said, I've been back in the sewing room. Not doing a whole lot but at least doing some things. I've been trying to gather my projects and take them downstairs so I can sit with my feet up in front of the fire. I'm enjoying the hand sewing far more than standing at my machine. For most of my pregnancy I've been needle pointing. Needle pointing a belt for George. I know that sounds strange but it's a St. Louis thing and if you're from STL then you'll know what I'm talking about. In doing that, I've discovered that it's the only thing to really relax me. Now I'm onto baby things and a couple of things for Magnolia. I made some beanbags and hair bows to give to her for Valentine's Day. I saw hair bows similar to these on JCr*w's Cr*wcuts site. Anytime they're having a sale things go so fast. I saw these one minute and then they were gone the next so I decided to try to make them. I used ribbon and tulle I already had. I like how they turned out but I'm having the hardest time finding alligator clips to glue them to. The first picture is of Magnolia wearing a hand knit sweater and hat by my sister, Emily. Thank you Emily, they are both beautiful! The last picture is Magnolia in the sewing room pouring me a cup of tea on top of the baby blanket I'm making out of a cashmere sweater. We have a lot of fun in that room!

My sister, Emily, and her three girls came for the weekend. We loved having them and miss them already. They carried around Magnolia all weekend and she loved it. We called her a koala because she wouldn't let them put her down. They played and read together and had a really good time. We made crepes, shopped, and just hung out. The girls loved to talk baby names and feel the baby kick. It was a really nice weekend. On Sunday my other sister, Mary, came over with her husband and two girls. Mary is pregnant also. She's due end of June and just found out she's having another girl!!! This little boy of ours has NO idea what he's in for! :)

This photo was taken a couple of weeks ago at our local FCC celebration. Magnolia had a blast playing with all of the other children. She also won the door prize, a stuffed polar bear that she now can't seem to live without. This year I just couldn't muster enough energy to put together a celebration but we did eat out at a Chinese restaurant. It was a very nice night. Magnolia ate so much and exclaimed how good everything was which the staff got a real kick out of. :)

Gung Hoy Fat Choy!

In redecorating our kitchen we took the big hutch that was on this wall and moved it. We put a big mirror there in its place. Magnolia has loved this mirror being there. She spends a lot of time in front of it, talking to herself, making faces and well...just acting silly.

It must have been the coldest day of the year yesterday. I can't keep track anymore. It always seems cold here. Wind chills were 40 below so we decided to stay in all day. I took advantage of being in and continued my cleaning and organizing rampage. I also turned on the camera to record a day in the life of Miss Magnolia.

1. Magnolia brings graham crackers, milk, and her red screwdriver (see number 11) to my bathroom. Somehow she got into the pantry to get these out and within seconds we both stepped on them and crushed them into a million crumbs.
2. Giving her favorite dog, Clifford, morning kisses.
3. Wearing my headband, she loves to wear my headbands.
4. I can't put on lotion without her wanting to put it on too.
5. Trying to get dressed, jumping on the bed, and trying on new clothes to see if they fit. I no longer buy her things for the future because I've been so off on sizes and seasons when it's time to wear them. She grows at such a slow rate! These jeans are 18-24 months and even though they fit in length, they are huge everywhere else. Back in the drawer they go with so many other clothes.
6. Reading books in her chair.
7. Finally dressed, dusting the walls. What a great help that is!
8. Making a phone call to Santa on my cordless alarm clock. There was talk about reindeer and more toys...
9. Lunchtime. Hot dog, avocado, and apple.
10. Nap with raccoon.
11. Awake and watching her current obsession, Harold and the Purple Crayon. It's the first obsession of hers. All day long there's talk of Harold and his purple crayon. She begs to watch it all the time. She only likes to draw with purple crayons. Her red screwdriver from her tool bench set has become her purple crayon and the last scene in this show is constantly played out in this house.
12. Playing in big girl room, changing polar bear's diapers.
13. Daddy's finally home and now she can get thrown in the air and swung upside down.
14. Magnolia refers to her nighttime chart when getting ready for bed. It lists bath time, pjs, brush teeth, read books, and lights out. She loves this chart, it has kept us all on schedule and nighttime is a breeze now in her new room!

Magnolia's Big Girl Room is finished! It was easy to do once we got going. George took down the seagrass wallpaper that was on one wall, painted the ceiling white and the walls a pale pink. We used pretty much everything from her nursery as far as decor. In her little alcove we put the white chaise longue that I reupholstered a few years ago and hung a wall shelf low for her books.
We used the antique dresser I found at the second hand store on the island this summer and loved the old finish on it so much decided to leave it as is. We hung up her collection of birds I found at a fabric store in a small town in Ireland while we were waiting for her. The weathered branch they are hanging on is from the shore on the island. Below the branch is a framed copy of her arrival home announcement. The beautiful needlepoint was a gift from her Aunt Elizabeth, it hangs above her bed and is the focal point of the room. The wool felted things were made by her Nana. The dress she wore in China and I adore. The quilt on her chaise I made for her from napkins I found at Wm. Sonoma. I also made her the bouquet of paper magnolias on her dresser. These are just a few of special things that fill her room, there are so many more! I don't know if it's because of that, or because it's pink and green, or just because it brings out the little girl in me, I just love it and so does she!

(The only new things we bought for her room were these closet organizers which I highly recommend and these pillows which were a real steal!)

You have been a lovely year!

May 2009 bring us a healthy son!

Warmest wishes to all of you for a wonderful 2009!

We had such a nice Christmas at home. It was very quiet and simple and so much fun to see Magnolia get a visit from Santa! Fondue has started to become our tradition on Christmas Eve which I love. It's so easy and good. It also means eating in front of the fireplace and Christmas tree! Here are our pictures of our Christmas.

The elves have always dropped off pajamas on Christmas Eve. Usually right after dinner and just before reading T'was the Night Before Christmas. Magnolia and I heard a little jingle at the front door and sure enough a red sack was left with our name on it and brand new pajamas inside!

Magnolia's stocking was left at the foot of our bed. We had coffee cake and grapefruit in bed while she opened her stocking presents. The sun wasn't even close to rising at this point!First glimpse of what Santa brought!
A basketball hoop!

A train!

A drum! A tool bench like daddy's!

Mr. Potato Head!

And many more...

Magnolia was worn out and took her place at the table to wait for her breakfast.

Hoping yours was merry too!