Veggie soup with my personal chef

Owen has been into baking and cooking so I thought this morn we would make veggie soup with homemade noodles. Just like playdoh! I had some seasonal cookie cutters of leaves and a pumpkin so we got to work. Also, the noodles used 6 eggs which is awesome if you have chickens... Usually have more than enough eggs around here!

It's a Fall Full Term Baby!

            This morning I am 37 weeks pregnant with our baby girl Arabelle Mae. She is technically considered full term, although there is some growing and development that happens these last weeks as well. 

Every night recently I feel things changing and that she is coming soon. I have felt pretty good this last trimester, growing daily it seems, and usually pretty active. I don't do much after 8pm. Somedays my energy is practically normal, and other days I am laying on the floor playing with Owen. 

             The funny thing to me (and it happened with Owen as well) is how people really want to tell you how big you are. Also random people want to guess the sex... Actually not guess... They full on want to tell you their prediction, and they sure as heck are right. I was walking out of the grocery store the other day and some lady yelled at me "It's a BOY!"I didn't even turn my head, but I was tempted to turn around and say, "No, it's twin girls..."

 We have been enjoying the Fall weather, although Owen has caught a cold this week. Hopefully he doesn't share this with us and recovers quickly. Owen and Ashton on a neighborhood walk.

 My sweet boy asleep in the stroller on another walk.

 Went down to SF for a birthday dinner and dessert courtesy of Jac & Court. LOCANDA=YUMM. Ate our hearts out. This was a few weeks ago.

 Belly Shot.. Just cause it's fun! This was my 36 week shot. She is STRAIGHT OUT! My belly is like a shelf, or needs a shelf!

 Wynt hosted a small family lunch for Ara. It was fun to celebrate this little girl with both sides of the familia.

 Uncle Chris acting normal... Testing out the weight limit on kid toys....

 Owen dipping his feet in the pool with Auntie Wyntie.

 Smushing of cousin and uncle love. Cousins are the best!

Ok last belly shot. I'm kinda obsessed with belly pictures since this is likely our last pregnancy. FUN!

Nesting times Two

Chris has been working hard around here. The outlets are now working in the kitchen!! I brewed and toasted and blended IN the kitchen yesterday!!! Big news:).

The garage has been emptied & cleaned, sheds cleaned, animals stocked up for a few weeks with hay and feed, and Ara's room tasks completed. 

All that is left on his honey do list is to air up my exercise ball/ birth ball. 

We have been having so much fun with Owen... Daily dance parties, evening wagon rides, lots of playing and house neglect, it has been really wonderful to have some quality family time prior to the arrival of another bambino.

I've been nesting as well... Cooking... Canning... Cleaning... Not so much after 8pm... Ill nap when Owen naps then get a project done depending on how long his dreams last. 

Outlets are in and working! Wahooo!!!

I had a lasagna making hourish the other day. 2 of my friends have had babies recently, so they got one, and the rest went into the deep freezer for us to have easy meals as well.

I've been making one strong (little) cup of turkish coffee some days... YUM! Also sewed Ara's curtains. They still need some work as my measurements were a little short.

Dehydrated peaches for Owen (and us). His food aversion continues, but he will eat dried fruits. This week he has opened up to our heirloom purple green beans. He has probably eaten 10 of them! Success!

I have been craving my Grandma's caramel corn since last Fall... But we did not have a working oven until June of this year. So I went for it. Oh the butter stomach aches were worth it!

My new machine (birthday gift) makes many stitches. My old machine did 3.

An evening stroll with my boys.

My helpful gardner looking for frogs.

Yesterday's nap project. Our neighbor dropped off ~15 pounds of tomatoes so I pureed half, and blanched the other half. I added sage and basil from the garden and simmered for an hour. Got the pressure canner out and added lemon juice to each jar (always better safe than sorry!). Pressure canned at 11 pounds of pressure for 15 minutes.

Owen and I had a blast yesterday at a park, the fall leaves were so fun for him to explore and play with. LOVE this boy. That smile gets me every time!

Project Shirt off my Back

I have been inspired over the last year after reading an article in sunset magazine about a woman who has attempted (and succeeded) in producing zero(or very little) waste. Annually she can fit her family of 4's accumulated waste into a quart canning jar! She blogs, is on Facebook and Pinterest, and lives in Sausalito I believe. 

We minimize waste as able, but not like she does! We cloth diaper 50% of the time, compost, feed our chickens scraps, bring our own bags to the store (have since I moved out from my parents house), and use reusable cups. My next commitment is to take my used soap containers to a new store in town that will refill them up with green products. 

The Zero Waste lady, Bea, is quite into fashion. I am not. I used to be into quantity of clothing, and filled up 2 oversized closets in the past. Even though over half of the clothing was used that was quite excessive. Chris and I share a normal sized closet and I've downsized like a madwoman. My new goal is to fit all seasons into my 3.5 x 6 foot space. Now is a great time to do it as I've packed away all my non prego clothes. Yesterday I thinned out my summer, winter, and a portion of my normal fitting clothes. 

I just dropped off a garbage bag sized load of clothing to hospice, and reduced my shoe collection from 19 pair to 15 pair(including slippers). I reduced my closet by 40 articles of clothing, and proudly have over a foot of space to spare. I took a photo afterwards to share. Keep in mind the pants on top are almost all maternity, as well as 1/2 the hanging clothes. Also I haven't purchased any maternity clothes, as I have wonderful family and friends who have shared with me. 

I'm feeling free! The 2 flat bins under my bed are both half full and awaiting my weight loss to replace the maternity clothes. 

Why the tangent?! We all have too much! More is not more. We all waste too much! Why not get rid of/ thin out/purchase items that can be more interchangeable? It feels good to purge and donate to a great cause at the same time!

I didn't love the shirt I was wearing so I took it off and added it to my donate stash. Project Shirt off my Back:)

Evan is awesome!!

We connected with the Maine family a while ago, and Evan is doing great! Owen loved having him over to play. I just had to post today as I found out he is playing soccer!!! So amazing!! Take that, cancer!!

Ara's room continued

I am into this.... Not really sure why. I'm pretty basic and am not really into decorating or cutesy things. I think she's already taking a hold of me:).

Here is her room progress so far. We bought a portable ac unit for the dogs so their "room" is now the garage. They spend most of the time outside or inside but if we are gone they hang out in there. We still don't trust buster in the house or in the yard unattended for too long.

Shannon's wedding road trip

I was asked to be in Shannon's wedding 2 years ago... They decided to put the wedding off a year which meant I was going to be pregnant at their wedding. And yes I for sure was! About 34 weeks to be exact! 

It was decided that we would drive the hybrid down there, to Fallbrook (about 20mins from Oceanside). About 550 miles from home. 

The ride down was a bit rough, I started having Braxton hicks contractions (supposedly primer contractions). I didn't have them with Owen until 38 weeks but they are very common. 

We made it about midnight Friday night. Owen was to stay with the Brittons fri-sun and then come home with Amanda and josh who were keeping down the homestead. We really appreciate our Owen and house sitters! He had a blast, even orchestrated a sleep over at mamas with Mat!

Saturday am we had some time and allotted it to be spent with the Cloutiers. We drove the short drive to their home and checked it out. Dan works at camp Pendleton and Erika is studying and working at Chiccos. We went to brunch and had a great catch up with them. We even walked to the beach and put our toes in the pacific.

It was sooooo humid down there... Which I guess it never is... But yipes. After our fun morning I needed to lay in bed and hydrate and rest up for the other festivities. 

Shannon and her family came to our hotel while I was still laying in bed taking it easy. We got ready for dinner and met them at Estrella's. I could have eaten the whole basket of chips to myself but I shared!

Back to the hotel for some candy bar preparations and stuffing cookie boxes. Yes our room was the home to many many pounds of candy and 125 cookies! Chris sampled his share that night and we all had some good laughs. 

We enjoyed sleeping as free as you can feel, not listening for any child noises or anything! Sometimes at home I think I hear Owen saying mommy even when he's not. Funny how being far away just takes that responsibility out of the equation! I think I even turned my phone off 1 or 2 nights... That's what grandparents are for, right!!?

Wedding day! Went to the store to make a fun snack basket for the day, then met up with Shannon at her hotel. She was getting her hair and makeup done. 

I just took it easy knowing that in a few hours I would be squeezing into a dress and 4 inch heels. That has been giving me some anxiety for a while now. Not real anxiety, just first world problems, ya know?!

We got ready, packed up, and dropped her off at the bridal suite at the venue. What a beautiful place! The grand tradition, so gorgeous, reserved only for weddings! 

Packed up the candy bar stuff, Shannon's dress, and cookies, and we were off to do final touches and relax.

Chris met back up with Dan and Erika that day and did some sight seeing at the USS midway. They had a quick but great tour!

We got some pictures taken before the wedding and then the ceremony was underway. I didn't fall or pass out. It was such a gorgeous place the waterfall was just perfect set behind us. The bride of course looked gorgeous. Everything went so smooth, I guess having 2 years to plan it, plus a designer and coordinator makes a difference!

The food was so good and we danced quite a bit. Loved the music, candy bar, and good times. Thank you for having me in your wedding!