In which I ramble about a bunch of random things...

1. Well, last week held a big transition for the Kidder family - I've started working again. After much prayer we have decided it would be a blessing for both our family and the church if I worked 12 hours a week as the church secretary/Brad's assistant.  It makes me laugh that the question I've been asked the most about this change is, "How can you work with your husband?" or "How can you spend so much time with your husband?" Brad and I have always worked really well together in the kitchen and in the work place (we are working on working well together with home diy projects! :) lol) - We are both particular about certain things and pretty understanding of each other when it comes to "office" things. We have been praying for both humility and clear communication though!

Lucy has gone down to one nap a day, and it has worked perfectly for her to sleep at church in an empty classroom from 12-3! She loves playing in her daddy's office and has adjusted well to this change. When Michael comes, the plan is for me to have a swing or some sort of baby-holding-divice by my desk to help with productivity, but we will finalize all those details once he is here.


We have gone into this situation realizing the potential dangers of being "so involved" (pastor's wives can so easily become burnt out). It is such a comfort to me to know that Brad (and the elders) want to protect me and our family.  I know that he will ask me to step back if I am doing too much and often tells me, "I can't talk to you about that" (hard to hear the first few times, but I'm used to it now and trust him completely).  So far it's been great - but we are willing to make changes to protect our marriage, our family and our ministry.

2. Random tip for all you who enjoy doing have to do laundry: I have really been enjoying OxiClean lately - presoaking Lu's clothes (that have food/crayon remnants on them) has really helped! If the stain is appearing to be stubborn, I'll scrub it gently with an old toothbrush after soaking, before washing.

 (Source)

3. Tonight is the first soup night of Fall 2011 - let's just say Brad and Sarah are excited.

Love when recipes are written in my mom's handwriting. :)

4. Lucy's vocabulary is ever increasing. Last week we learned, Please "pease" and Night Night "Nigh nigh." If she sees candy of any kind she starts spewing "Pease, pease, pease?!?" :) It is hard to say no to that!

5. Little tea cups work really well to corral straight pins when in the middle of a sewing project - plus they are adorable.

6. Last week, we came home from work and it was warm in the house (due to the sun spilling in) so I pulled the curtains, in an effort to be energy efficient. Look what I saw:

I screamed and jumped onto the dining room table (I give you permission to laugh at this mental image). Thankfully Brad was home to be my hero - the mouse did escape, (yuck) but we haven't seen it since so we are hoping it escaped to the outside (we have a pier and beam foundation). I have instructed Chloe Cat to be on the alert.

7. I finished Michael's crib skirt yesterday and over the weekend a friend from church helped me surge the edges of his swaddle blankets (Thanks Sherry!!!). Here is a sneak peek of the skirt, a full reveal will come when all of his bedding is complete.

8. I have a new Pandora station addiction.

 Jadon. Lavik. Wonderful. 

I think I was hooked when the first song this station played was "This is my Father's World" for some reason, that song is so "fall" to me. :)

9. I made a fall wreath last night, I'm not so sure how I feel about it. It was supposed to look like this one, but ended up looking way more "3rd grade art project." What do you think? Honest opinions are appreciated. 

10. Fall has finally arrived in the Texas Panhandle. We could not be more excited - we have had three fires in our fireplace this past week! Yeah, we are a tad bit crazy. :)

Well, I think that is all for today - I told you this would be a bit random. :) Hope you enjoy your Tuesday!

Getting Ready For Michael: The Quilt

Michael's quilt is finished! With only 8 weeks 6 days until his due date - I have been feeling a bit short on time to finish some projects, both sewing and around the house stuff. I am really happy to have the quilt done - one more thing crossed off the "To Do Before Michael Arrives" list. :)

 How we started.

 All the individual quilt squares done. 

 Ta Da!!!

 I LOVE the fabric I found for the back! Lucy's quilt has green polk-a-dots on the back too - I like things to coordinate.

 The orange fabric ended up being much "louder" than I anticipated - after I was done piecing the top of the quilt I looked at the whole thing and my heart sank a bit. The orange was so "hello!" and seemed to me to be the focus, it was calling all the attention to itself (selfish fabric!). I hadn't bought fabric for the binding yet, so I looked for something bright that would help meet the "volume" of the orange and tell it, "You're not the only bright fabric at this party, tone it down!"

 I think my plan worked well - I love the results. :) Everyone is now having a great time at the fabric party and no one is dominating the conversation. :) 

(Don't you love how the fabrics talk in my mind? haha!)

 This quilt makes me happy. I can't wait to cuddle up with my son. :)

Something else that makes me happy: 

 The fabrics match up to form the flamingo! :) 

 And again here to form the parrot. :) Neither of these were intentional, but a happy accident nonetheless.

 

31 wks 1 day

Pregnancy Update: 

Michael continues to grow, turn and kick! He is so much more active than Lucy was - "Get ready mom and dad! I'm an active boy!" - and has already expressed his love of his daddy's chocolate chip cookies (it felt like he was doing somersaults)! :) He is measuring right where he should be and we are counting the days until we can see his sweet face. :) 

As far as how this mamma is doing, well I've been much more uncomfortable in the past few weeks as the third trimester has hit - achy and sore.  Trying to stay chipper and upbeat has been a bit hard - why do pregnancy hormones have to be so stinking strong? We are taking one day at a time and looking forward to 4 months from now when I will feel like myself, physically and emotionally. I've been trying to have more realistic expectations of myself, spreading the housework out over 4 days instead of trying to hammer it all out in one and forcing myself to sit for a little while in the afternoon - that's how the quilt got done! So it's been a good change.

That's it for now, I washed and ironed fabric and made the ties for Michael's crib skirt this afternoon. I'm looking forward to seeing his bedding take shape. Hopefully later this week there will be a Lucy/Family update! :) There is a lot to catch you up on!