oh, hello.

nice to meet you! (virtually)

yea, that's my tongue.

and there is definitely NO question i'm a BOY!

burp cloths for baby king.

i know, all my posts lately have been about babies, babies, BABIES. subject of the times, I guess :) while i was organizing my pics i realized i've been sewing quite a bit these days but never shared any of the projects...

i actually tackled these burp cloths back over turkey day when my fam was in town. they're easy-peasey and don't take very long at all!

basic ingredients: cloth diapers and fabric (i used fat quarters)

pin the fabric on the cloth diaper and then top-stich.

my fam was a BIG help. auntie justine helped iron all the fabric, mom oversaw the sewing and uncle jon actually busted out a few moves on the sewing machine. wish i had a pic of jon's fat fingers using the machine to share :)


next sewing-for-baby project up: diaper & wipes case!

31 weeks preggo.

many have asked for a belly pic... and here it is. (or as close as anyone is getting these days!) i did my best to crop off the flabby arms and my complete dis-regard for undergarments peeking out of tank tops. yay for wintery layers :)

the bump at 31 weeks gestation.

mom & baby are both healthy and active. (well, he is definitely more active than me these days!) mom's been blessed with a fairly textbook pregnancy so far - reflux & roadrage included! they have appts every two weeks where we get to check in and hear his heartbeat and have been spending their free time thinking about the nursery, pediatricians, daycare, the hospital stay and all the other wonderful joys that can overwhelm first time parents!


only 58 more days to go!

meet the babies 2009

sondra's little cutie pie, LELA, is featured in the democrat and chronicle's 2009 meet the babies contest. you can VOTE with either your facebook account or email address (or a hearty combination of both!) but hurry up because voting ends today.

pinecone garland.

a neat-o blog I follow is Twig & Thistle. well they had this project tutorial to make pine cone garland that I swooned over ages ago and then filed away for a rainy day. (common theme which relates directly to my arts-n-crafts binge-ing)

well i finally got around to making it, with my friend Allison's help. all you need is those yummy smelling pine cones that come out this time of year, some ribbon or twine and a few screw hooks.

my mantle BEFORE garland:

my mantle AFTER garland:


next craft on deck, this short tree-stump trivet made out of felt that will make some slightly altered appearance in baby king's nursery. yay!

skype xmas.

it's always tough to make those decisions on where you'll spend the holidays and this year was no different. we couldn't visit everyone we wanted to in person, but that didn't stop us from using the next best thing to connect with as many folks as we could!!

SKYPE! Or as my brother calls it SKKYYYYYYPPPPEEEEEEEE.

you might remember when i posted about it back here when i went to Singapore. my other half and i use it almost every week to connect with my siblings. we call them - skype dates. sometimes we eat dinner together or just spend an hour vegging on the couch. depends on the mood :)

this christmas justine was stuck in florida working so she couldn't make the trek up north. sooooo we opened presents over Skype and it was a HOOT!


it doesn't beat the real, in-person thing but it far outweighs not getting to see each other at all. Yay for SKYPE!

closet fit for a king.

so baby king already has a TON of clothes. people just keep buying him gifts (mommy included) and dropping little, darling outfits every time they drop in.

my sweet sister brought him 2 track suits, 2 pair of shoes, a few cute onsies & sleepers and the most ADORABLE baby blanket a co-worker knit for her (more on that later!).






some other folks have dropped off adorable sleepers which baby king loves as he is super fond of DINOSAURS.


can you believe his closet already?!


thank you so much everyone for your kindness & generosity. baby king and i feel very, very BLESSED.

happy holidays.

wishing you and yours a BLESSED holiday season.

with love, the King's

birthday wishes.

thank you SOOOO much to everyone's outpouring of birthday wishes for me yesterday. i had quite a frustrating day/week with work coupled with/by malfunctioning pieces of technology i operate daily. (aka: blackberry, laptop AND home computer. sigh. all things easily taken for granted!!)

the well wishes and happy sentiments were much appreciated & enjoyed in my extremely hormonal, crazed state of mind. and special thanks to my hubby for sparing a few hours with me yesterday when our schedules actually aligned to keep me calm & sane.

here are just a few of the FUN eCards I received from thoughtful friends :)




29 is fun so far, but next up - the BIG dirty thirty. double sigh.

Face to Face Tour re-scheduled AGAIN.

ok, so like you never hear about concerts getting re-scheduled - right? if that's the case - what are the chances it'll get re-scheduled TWICE?!?! over thanksgiving i was informed that the Billy Joel/Elton John concert scheduled for Dec 4th was postponed AGAIN.

so guess when the new date is? MARCH 9TH. a whole NINE+ months after I bought the darn tickets. What else usually happens in NINE months?!?! oh I don't know, perhaps the growth of a small human! my new 'estimated' due date is the 14th which puts this concert 5 days before. i already attempted to get a refund but ticketsnow is so not cooperating, nor is their customer service being very friendly.

ugh. what do I do?!?

owls, owls everywhere.

just one of the few things i'm loving lately. OWLS. It started a few months ago when I had to order new checks.


then last month I ordered an owl maternity shirt from Jellybean apparel, she customized it to be a blue owl and I was able to get it in long sleeve. CUTE!


now i'm keen on anything OWL for baby king. these are a few of the things i put on our registry or have been drooling over.

owls are a HOOT!

happy thanksgiving

with many things to be thankful for this year, we wish you and your family a happy thanksgiving from our home to yours.

edensbouquet giveaway.

a few months ago sondra introduced me to the cutest of cute blogs/websites. it's a lady who makes vintage-y children's clothes that are absolutely adorable. she also happens to live in the most spectacular place called Windy Ridge with her 9 children. i've only been following her blog for a little while but sometimes i day-dream about being the 10th child over there at her estate. i'd love to romp around with edna, her goat, emily, her donkey & their guard dog simon.

if we were having a girl i'd probably squeal with delight every time i was on her site b/c of how many adorable options there are. her boy stuff is a bit more limited, but still adorable nonetheless. check out the clothing collections here but don't waste your time entering her give-away b/c I'm gonna win anyways!

happy birthday lucy.

one of the LOVES in my life has a big ole' birthday today. we'll be celebrating pretty low key this year. no hats or dressing up but we'll be sure to shower her with presents, Frosty Paws and even more love than she gets every other day of the year. these are just a handful of things we can do to celebrate our appreciation of her never-ending love & loyalty!

(click to enlarge & see the many faces of LUCY)
happy 6th birthday LUCY :)

happy poppy day.

happy Veteran's Day everyone!
Thanks to all those who are serving or who have served our country!

and to all my canadian friends and family...
happy remembrance day!

christmas countdown begins.

50 days until Christmas. Yikes!!!
Every year I try to begin early and get as much done as early as possible. This year - having SERIOUS trouble getting the momentum! Lots of distractions with house renovations, baby related excitement and work kicking into major high gear. Drats.

Last night I was reading an article on 'simplifying the holidays' and had to laugh aloud at the tip "try moving other projects to different parts of the year". don't see that in our future! there isn't the time, nor the energy, to be as creative and crafty as I usually like to be. that is probably the most overwhelming part.

Haven't set the holiday budget, made the lists yet, thought about Christmas cards, nothing. Better get cracking! I will take their suggestion to set small, attainable goals.

(i take that back, I actually have purchased some items and can cross one person off our list. consider progress made!)

it's a BOY!

yesterday we had our anatomical scan and got to watch Baby King live and in all his glory for about 25 mins. i started to feel his kicks last week and now a day doesn't go by where I'm not poked, prodded or kicked throughout the day. he (yes, i'll get to that part) was very active at the scan - alternating between sucking his thumb, giving the technician a few punches back when she wanted him to move her way, and when all was quiet looking at his heart and other internal organs - giving a few swift low-blow kicks to remind us he was there.
(i think he was waving at us in this one!)
him being a 'him' came into view quite clearly. and more than once! he definitely doesn't seem to be camera shy (who had any doubts?!) and he had a blast showing off his goods every time the camera came near his tush. quite the little acrobat already. she knew we wanted to know the gender but before she even had a chance to point it out it - i knew it was a boy!
it's quite fascinating all the measurements and photos (like 75!!) they take. they spent quite a bit of time on all the internal organs measuring all 4 chambers of the heart, the blood flow, size of the kidneys, lungs, spine measurements, stomach and brain scans. so far everything is looking good and the little one is measuring a week ahead of schedule.

everything is pretty easy to follow when you have a technician explaining everything but i'm afraid the recording may not have taken audio. i wouldn't know though b/c a) i forgot to ask and b) it's a VHS! i'll need to get that converted to a technology of this decade so we can watch it again.

until then - we're holding onto these memories of our already perfect baby boy!!

witch finger cookies.

now this recipe was tasty, festive & fun!

To take a break from attic renovations last weekend, we didn't go to Sugar Mountain Bake Shoppe as planned b/c we had already made witchy finger cookie treats!!

Here's the recipe:
1-1/4 cups Sliced Almonds
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. almond extract
1/4 tsp. salt
1-1/2 cups flour

HEAT oven to 325ºF.

RESERVE 60 almond slices for later use as finger nails; chop remaining almond slices.
Beat cream cheese, butter, sugar, extract and salt in large bowl with mixer until light and fluffy.
Gradually beat in flour. Stir in ground nuts.

ROLL dough into 40-60 (3-inch) "fingers," using 1 Tbsp. dough for each.
Place, 2 inches apart, on baking sheets sprayed with cooking spray.
Press 1 of the reserved almonds into dough @ end of each finger.

Shape for appropriate 'witchy-ness'. (Try using a sharp knife to make slits in top of each finger for the knuckles)

BAKE 15 to 20 min. or until lightly browned.

Cool a few mins; transfer to wire racks. Cool completely.

(here's my mother trying to imitate her exact finger) (i perfected the female witchy fingers)


they're like a dense almond shortbread cookie & are the perfect match to coffee or tea. (they perk up my decaf!)

objects in mirrors

are closer than they appear!

woof!

lucy's excited b/c we were headed for stroll @ the beach.