Happy Birthday, Honey!!

This day, 27 years ago, I was crawling around in the summer grass with no idea that my world was changing for good. I bet the air smelled sweeter, the sun shone brighter, and everybody's smile had more warmth and meaning.

what happened?




Matt was born!!

I got to take him lunch today at work (jalapeno chicken salad at his request)

and we had an hour in the park to picnic and relax. It was nice! A little chilly, but that's okay! It's always nice to spend time together :) And we have a feeling that that time will be more rare & precious in the coming months...
We're going out on a "dinner date" tonight thanks to a giftcard from my step-mom- but that's the extent of our birthday adventures being it's a Wednesday and I'm quickly loosing steam!

Honey, I hope today is a great birthday! And even more than that- that this year will be your best yet! See you in a couple hours. <3 <3 <3 <3

Preparing the Phone Tree

People are starting to mention that they'd like a phone call when Rowen is born. I want to make a call plan so that Matt doesn't have to do all the work and can enjoy his new son! (you know, Matt calls parents, parents call siblings, siblings call all sorts of random people, and so on!) So- if you're one of those people who would like to be on the list (and willing to call someone else you may or may not know), let me know so I can start putting it together. Keep in mind this could happen at any hour of the day- so I think we'll also send out an email as soon as possible for those who'd like to know but would rather not be woken up at 3am, haha, and of course it'll end up on the blog fairly quickly! So leave a comment if you want on the phone list or the email list! Can't believe how close it's getting :) :) :) :)

Plant for Adoption

We got a couple of really nice house plants not too long ago. They were perfect in the living room in the Condo on either side of the TV- they hid all the cables & wires- and then we moved. To a much smaller apartment. Where there is no room for giant house plants. :( I think we can keep one, but two is just not going to work. We need to make room for baby stuff. Houseplants are so great for adding life to your living space & cleaning the air we breathe- I'll be sad to see them go- but if anyone has a good home for some luscious green life let us know and it's yours. Plants this size are pretty costly! I may try to sell them on Craig's List if no one is interested, but I wanted to check with all of you guys first :)

Baby Shower!

It was so nice to get together with a bunch of gals and celebrate our coming little bundle of joy! We were SO blessed with gifts- holy cow :) Thank you thank you to everyone again!! Look at all this loot! He's going to be a spoiled little man!We got blankets, towels, fun toys & practical necessities, all the diapers & covers we'll need in the smallest size (which I promptly washed, re-washed, and folded the next morning with glee!) My mom made a baby book of ME (since I didn't have one, which was so sweet and I cant imagine where she got the time,) a rocking chair (to be delivered) and the pack-and-play; which of course Matt had to set up and take down as soon as we got home.
yay!
Of course I forgot that I had my camera during the shower, so I failed to get any pictures DURING the party- hopefully I'll see some that other people got! But here are a couple afterwards.

Four little friends-to-be: Baby Bustamante, Rowen, JJ, and Riley!

Matt (Craig) saved the day when Jen's tire went flat! Oh no!
All in all it was a very fun time with yummy treats and great fellowship! I'm so blessed by everyone that came- and thanks again Tracy for hosting! What great friends I have :)

Thanks, Marilyn, for sending me this photo of my mom and sister and me!

Family Beach Trip '08

Every year, my family takes a little trip (to the coast for the past several years) to get a family portrait. Yes, we're still getting family portraits. Why? Because it's pretty stinkin' funny.

Funny? Family portraits?

oh yes, for those of you who don't already know, we get them done at an Old Fashioned Western Photo place. That's right- there are about 17 western photos hanging on the wall at my folk's house. It's a fantastic display. ;)

Matt and I decided to continue the tradition and have gotten our second picture done this year. With my laaaaarge belly - pretty funny stuff :)

It ended up being the perfect weekend to go since it was 104 here in Beaverton, and I did NOT want to hang around for that. At the coast it was maybe 70 degrees tops, and overcast. I wore a sweater all day. Aaaahhhhhh. After lunch, our picture, and a little walking & shopping on the prom (including ice cream of course)
we headed to Gearheart where you can drive on the beach. This is what it looked like- I'm probably 50 feet from the ocean- can you see it?We couldn't either. We never got out of the car!!
So we headed home and had a yummy dinner at the spaghetti factory before calling it a night. mmmmm...... mushroom and mazithra....

Me and Matt-


Mom & Pa-

Lindz & Trev-

Brit & the PDA-
;)

Announcing: Evan & Jackie Happel!

We had quite a weekend in Seattle! We drove up last Thursday and were there through Sunday for all the festivities. My camera took horrible pictures, and then ran out of battery early on in the reception, so.... go figure :) Here's a few shots I got that aren't TERRIBLY blurry or otherwise awful. Guess I need to figure out how to work my camera!
Anywho- congrats Evan and Jackie! We love you!

Rehearsal:

wow, look at all those ladies! (And one poor dear is even more pregnant than me!)
And all those boys- it was quite the wedding party, for sure.
ah, love.
Rehearsal Dinner at Bucco di Beppos (sp?) There were so many people! And sooooo much food! We had calamari appetizers, Caesar salad, garlic bread, chicken Parmesan, fettuccine Alfredo, lasagna, and cheesecake. Holy cow!







Wedding day: aren't Bob & Sue lookin' good?

Best Matt - er - Man and Maid of Honor, Martina
Jackie & her two brothers- she looked so pretty! I didn't get one good picture :( But I'm sure they did, and that's all that matters :)
awwww....

Okay, this picture is beyond horrible, but it's the ONLY ONE I got of us! So.... here you go. Ugh.

Matt givin' a toast-

Mmm.... cake

hehe :)

Again, congrats you guys! Hope the honeymoon has been awesome so far!

Birthday Poll!

When will Rowen's birthday be? Vote in the poll!
I can't believe there's only 49 days until our due date. Crazy thought. Sometimes I feel like I've been pregnant a year already, but most of the time I just don't feel that close! Apparently I look it, however; on Sunday Matt and I were out walking and this guy walks past the other direction saying, "shouldn't you be somewhere having a baby right now?"






nice.

Haircut!

boy, it's cooler in here without that blanket on my head. ;)

"Hooter Hider"

Yay for craftiness! Sold in baby & maternity boutiques all around, this is my attempt at a knock off of the "hooter hider" or "bebe au lait" nursing cover. (Grandma Norma suggested I call mine the "Boob Blanket" haha) They hang around your neck so you don't have to hope it stays draped over your shoulder, and the neck pouches out so you can see your little one nurse. :) These babies are so nifty- I mean, I have yet to use one because obviously I've never nursed before- but they seem like such a great idea! So I have to give credit where credit is due. However worthy of credit, I simply cannot give them the CASH for such a simple piece! These cost around $35 - and I spent - well, way less than that. It was fabric I already had, so go figure. Maybe 10 bucks if I had bought the fabric for it? Maybe? The only things I had to buy were some boning, and a couple D rings which was like 2 or 3 dollars. (and of course I bought twice what I needed, so I can easily make a second one later!) I didn't have the camera when I whipped it up, so no tutorial today, but let me know if you're interested and I can tell you my secrets! ;) Or if you want me to make one for you, I'll do it on the cheap!

Another Diaper Post :)

Not interested? Read no further ;)




I finished my cloth wipes!! I've been making a few here and there- I now have three dozen which should be beyond enough- so I've decided I'm done! I still have so much left over fabric all cut out- but I can always make more later on if I decide I need them. I've read I'll only need 1-2 doz so I'm sure I'm good to go. Thanks to advice from Jamie, I just cut up an old flannel sheet. The measurements I found online were 4"x8" so I just went to town and cut up the whole thing in nice long strips, and then into rectangles. Easy peasy!
To make them extra absorbent, I decided a double layer would be nice. So I just put them back to back and zig-zag stitched around all the edges so they wont fray (using up random spools of thread! bonus!) and then threw them in the wash so they're all ready to go! Exciting, huh?
I've heard that all you need is water to make them moist, but I found a whole bunch of yummy wipe solution "recipes" that I'm just going to have to try. Here are some of them:

Castile Solution
Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap comes in several yummy scents!
1 tablespoon almond, apricot, or other oil
1 tablespoon Dr Bronner's Liquid Castile Soap
2 drops tea tree oil
1 drop lavender oil
1 cup water

Chamomile 'n' Honey
Brew the tea, add the honey, and drink any leftovers!
1 chamomile tea bag
1 teaspoon honey
1 cup boiling water

Fruit 'n' Veggie
1 teaspoon fruit or vegetable-based oil (apricot, olive, grapeseed, etc)
1 tablespoon vegetable-based soap (like Dr. Bronner's liquid castile)
1 teaspoon 100% aloe vera gel
1 cup water

Just One
1 chamomile tea bag
1 teaspoon oil
1 teaspoon baby bath or shampoo
1 drop lavender oil
1 cup hot water

Lotion Potion
Baby lotion adds more softening power to this solution.
1 tablespoon baby oil
1 tablespoon baby soap
1 tablespoon baby lotion
1 cup water

Zany Apricot Solution
1 tablespoon apricot oil
1 tablespoon unscented baby wash
3 cups water

Zany Lavender Solution
1 tablespoon baby oil
1 tablespoon lavender scented baby wash
2-3 drops lavender oil
3 cups water

And a side note- I found these fabric bins at Target and I'm so excited about them because they fit PERFECTLY under the changing table like they were MEANT to go there! Even with the little laundry basket that I already had (from college!) Isn't that the coolest? Okay, okay, I know I'm a nerd... (come on- they're PERFECT!!) I can't wait to fill them with cloth diapers, covers, pins & snappies, lotion, powder, wipes, liners, doublers, onsies.... :)

32 weeks!!

baby boy at 32 weeks gestation:

Gee- and I thought I was getting uncomfortable!! hahaha
8 weeks to go! (5 until full term!) ;) He should be about 4 lbs today. At the ultrasound last week (sorry I still haven't gotten pictures up- I need to borrow a scanner) he was approximately 3# 9oz - which is right on track. He's "supposed" to gain a half pound a week now until D day. And I'm supposed to gain a pound a week- I've got to eat more. My weight hasn't budged since June, darn it.
He's so wiggly and squirmy!! I read this morning that he's sleeping 90-95% of the time. I...... don't think so. I guess he's pretty quiet most of the day, but it seems like he's a busy little guy much more often than 5-10% of the day!! Let's see... with 24 hours.... that's.... 21.6-22.8 hours of sleeping, leaving 1.2-2.4 hours of awake time. Hm..... well if that's average, I think I'm going to have a busy little beaver on my hands in a couple months!
Of course, movements are supposed to slow down starting this week as he gets more and more out of room. Poor little guy, that does look mighty cramped in there!!

Nursery Walls

I did a little painting this weekend :) What do you think? Matt & I picked out this scripture for him- it's Psalm 25:4,5 which reads (in case you can't read it in the picture...) "Show me the path where I should walk, O Lord; point out the right road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me, you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you." Seemed like a pretty good life verse for all of us.

Two of my favorite children's books are The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, and Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. Okay, I have a lot of favorite children's books- but these two are stories about little boys so I couldn't resist :) I also threw in a little cow jumping over the moon, although the rest of his buddies from "hey diddle diddle" are no where to be seen.
I have one more spot above the changing table where I thought about putting peter pan- another great story about a little boy- but there's so many wonderful classic books out there I thought I'd poll you guys and see if anyone had a better idea. (I'm not attached to Peter Pan like the Giving Tree or Wild Things.) So leave a comment and tell me some of your all time favorite children's tales!!


Now for the rest of the room...... oh boy.