Baby Girl Names

So now that we know what kind of baby this is: human: girl.

Inevitably, the discussion of what to name this little girl is brought up.

Bryce has put forth the name of Stevie.

As in Stevie Nicks.

From the 70s.

Oh, and Emma {hi, Shauna!}.

Elizabeth put the names

Samantha

Felicity

Kit

Josephina

and

Kristin

on the table.

Which if you were ever a young girl

or have young girls

or know young girls

you know that these are the exact names of:

The American Girls.

And Spencer, in all his sweet, three year old boy innocence has mentioned on more than one occasion:

Puncher.

So there is the run down {or the low down, depending on where you’re from I guess} about the female naming situation.

It’s a good thing we have a good 20 weeks to come up with something.

Poor, poor little girl.

Hope you’re having a good week and you’re finding some of the Christmas magic.

Or at least glitter all over your house.

{Which I tell myself is kinda the same thing.}

And if you view this post as an invitation to put forth your own ideas for baby #6, by all means…

Katie

Christmas Prep and Dec

Today I was asked by two separate people to post pictures of my Christmas decorations.

Because they love to flatter me.

And I love to be flattered.

Because I’m a girl.

And an American.

So here is what my house looks like around Christmas time.

Bennett

How we wear our Christmas stockings around here.

Meg helping me look for the perfect Christmas tree….

fashionably attired as well.

 

Elizabeth really wanted to hold the chainsaw and Bennett really only wanted one sock on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My favorite thing this year are the ornaments hanging in the frames.

We actually have two live Christmas trees, one is just a bit more charming than photogenic.

You can it in the doorway.

 

 

 

So, there you go.

{Complete with sad lighting because the sun never shines in the month of December.}

Hope you’re having a good week,

Katie

It’s a…

 

GIRL!

 

{My mom when she was younger.}

Halloween and What’s New in the Living Room

I know, I know.

It’s been ages.

And by ages, I mean a month.

Since a lot of you have had any idea what’s happening over here.

There just hasn’t been a lot to say.

I got one Christmas present sewn.

Got caught up on “The Paradise”.

Read The Princess Bride, spoiler alert: it’s just.like.the.movie.

Cleaned out my garden.

And winterized my bees.

Pret.ty exciting stuff over here.

But,

in case you’ve been dying to see pictures of my cute family dressed up for Halloween, which was over two weeks ago, here are some pictures:

Bumble Bee

Police Officer, which actually has a hat and pants, but when you’re three….

Egyptian Princess

Tea Party Girl

The whole family.  Bennett was dressed up as a pant less orphan boy.

a.k.a. baby number five

Bob and Helen Parr

And this is Bennett in a vintage Oregon Duck outfit that I put on him for a Saturday game day. 

So funny.

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I finally made some covers for some down filled pillow forms I had picked up this summer.  The green fabric my friend gave me and I was waiting for the perfect project.  I picked up the white pom poms in Ohio.  And the glasses pillow idea I stole from another friend.

And we put in a wood burning stove.

Which I thought I would hate.

Like loathe.

Mainly because they are u-g-l-y. 

And energy efficient.

And a big black box.

In the middle of a decent looking living room.

But it turns out I love it.

Most of the time one of the kids have pulled the little rocking chair in front of it and can be seen reading a book or looking at the flames.

And that is pretty tender to watch.

I’m still figuring out how to make the wood and kindling look more attractive.

And less messy.

I have an enamel coffee pot that I need to find the lid for so I can keep it on the stove with water for hot chocolate on cold mornings.

And truth be told, it’s making me kinda lazy.

It’s just so easy to sit down and read a magazine when the fire is so welcoming and toasty.

And here’s a picture of this fun boy from breakfast this morning. 

He’s taking more and more steps.

And he’s also becoming more and more content.

Which means I could sit down and right this post.

Hope you’re having a good week.

Katie

Throw Back Thursday

I love Throw Back Thursday on Facebook.  I love to see old pictures of my friends when they were younger.

However, I, nor a lot of people that I associate with have old pictures of me. 

So instead I thought I’d re-post a blog entry from almost five years ago.

Hope you enjoy.

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{And here’s the oldest picture I have of me.  Bryce and I were recently married and living in Pocatello, ID.  We had planted a small garden and this was the first fruits of my our labors.  Don’t you love that faux brick?}

Dear Bryce,

I hope that you enjoyed your last trip to Home Depot by yourself, because it will be your last.

Is this an insane attempt to control your life by playing the victim? Yes, yes it is.

I would just like to recap what happened the last time you went to Home Depot by yourself.

I stayed home with all three girls. They were all in bed. You, in your naivety, thought all was under control.

Minutes after you left the premises, I was summoned by that all too familiar Adeline-sobbing-hysterically-over-'itcouldbeanything' sound.

I bring her down stairs.

I manage to decipher between the hiccups and tears that she has some how managed to lodge a very small wad of toilet paper way, way up her nose.

Now, Bryce, have you ever had to deal with something like this?

Probably not, because you were at Home Depot.

Now onto the confession...I am not a rookie mother. I know perfectly well that you're not actually supposed to try and get the object out for fear of pushing foreign object even further up small tunnel of a nose, if that were possible in this case.

But those doctors have never met a hysterical Adeline.

And I did try other means. I tried having her blow out the toilet paper. Did you know that Adeline thinks sniffing is the same as blowing? At least that's what she believes at 8pm at night when you're gone to Home Depot.

I laid Adeline down, found some tweezers and I pulled that sucker out of there.

I know that you're probably thinking after just such a circumstance I can handle anything when you're gone to Home Depot, but I would rather not test my limits.

Your adoring wife,

Katie

Ohio Finds {You’re Welcome, Mom}

Here’s some pictures of the things we picked up in Ohio.

Some are where they’re going to live and some are just waiting in the sun room.

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Old quilt tops.

This first one is hand pieced and the lady who was selling it said her 3rd grade teacher had made it.

These next two are from the same quilt.

One part was the top and the other one was the backing.

 

I picked up some old arrows.  I bought one set at the Country Living Fair and was carrying them around in my backpack, which generated a lot of comments.

Everywhere we went there were tons of scales for sale at outrageous prices.  Lots of scales were so rusted over you couldn’t even read the numbers and they were going for $25 plus.

I managed to picked up this old infant scale at a good price at a flea market.

And some real felt banners. 

I couldn’t find tacks anywhere in the house, hence the super bright teal tape.

Numbers and letters were everywhere…and again super expensive.  The plastic letter ‘o’ was on the cheaper side.  And I also picked up that lantern that’s sitting on the crate to the right.

At an estate sale this lady had all of these faux birds for $.25 each.  I grabbed some and strung them up for the girls’ room.

When my mom came to visit we had a fancy tea party.  We were missing some gloves so I made sure to keep my out for some in Ohio.

I also managed to expand my non-working clock collection.  I bought that old egg basket on the left of the mantel.  I had to carry it on to the plane.  Which encouraged some awkward conversations with TSA employees.

And just some fall decorating, while I had the camera out and the kids were already falling apart.

One of the most fun finds was this antique egg scale.  It grades individual eggs.

This California Canning Peach Association sign was purchased in Portland and then traveled to Ohio where we bought it and took it back to Oregon.  I love it.

Blue enamel beverage dispenser

Hanging scale

Red metal stool and a cement chick lawn ornament.

Four wood measuring sticks.  I’m going to make a wreath out of them.

A green industrial light I’m going to clamp to my sewing table.

I guess that’s most of it.

Hope you’re having a good week.

Sorry I haven’t been responding to comments.  Our computers been a little wonky lately.

Katie

We are now THAT family…

Oh sure, our family’s been lots of things before.

But never THAT family.

Until Saturday that is.

We were at Costco.

Text book, right?

Did you know we have a Costco here?

It’s always packed.

With a bunch of old people.

Buying vitamins and oranges.

No offense.

But it’s always crazy busy.

Which is why I have no idea why we were there on a SATURDAY afternoon, of all days.

But, we were.

Buying flower bulbs.

Which is right by the jewelry counter.

The locked jewelry counter.

Which Spencer was ‘admiring’.

And was told repeatedly not to.

By us.

{And a member of the staff.}

{Text book, remember?}

So, apparently if you finagle the glass door just right and put a tiny three year old finger between the sliding panes….

The alarm goes off.

And it’s not really just a quiet, jewelry counter alarm.

It’s more like a prisoner has escaped and all of Costco should be made aware.

And lose all of their hearing.

At the same time.

Kind of alarm.

Well, the wardens employees with special keys were dispatched and sprinted {probably more exercise than they’d received in a while, let’s be honest} to our exact location.

Where they found a crying Spencer being lectured by a humiliated mother and father.

So embarrassing.

Spencer said sorry through a veil of tears and hiccups and was put in solitary in the cart.

And that, my friends, is how we became THAT family with THOSE kids.

Katie

I’m Back

It’s a good thing I don’t blog for monetary gain.

We’d be bankrupt.

But, thankfully, you’re a forgiving audience.

And will forget my almost six week absent.

{Probably because most of you are related to me.}

I actually have no idea how long it’s been.

I’ve also been gone gone.

On a trip to Ohio.

With Bryce.

For like 12 days.

By ourselves.

Without kids.

A-lone.

For our 11th year anniversary.

{We were supposed to have gone for our 10th, but someone got pregnant and had a baby and really complicated the whole thing.  Seriously.  Rude.}

We went antiquing.

Bryce says a cruise would have been cheaper.

But not as fun.

For sure.

And now we have like 50 souvenirs to remember the experience.

I’m debating about how to share the finds.

My mom wants me to take pictures of every individual item.

Which would be a long post with a lot of pictures taken by an inferior photographer.

I’m kinda leaning towards taking pictures of the items as I utilize them.

So…what do you think?

Also, Bennett turned one!

{Only some of you will get the significance of this sign…}

Katie