hump day nuggets: pumpkin

hump day nuggets: little bits of the season in photos and words about the last week

So every photo I took over the past week was pumpkin related. Most had a pumpkin in the picture. Except for this one. Me at 34 weeks.

And it's of me with our soon to be little punkin' so I guess I could throw it into the pumpkin category as well!

Tons of pumpkin pictures from the past week at Flickr, but here are the highlights.

On our trip to the pumpkin patch this past Saturday, Corinne was in a picture taking mood while Juliet was not. So I got a ton of pictures of Corinne. She'd pose, say cheese, and then ask to see the picture. Over and over again. Such a ham!

I also learned that the only thing I needed to do to get my girls to climb on the pumpkins was bring a friend! We met Zoey and her family at the pumpkin patch and because Zoey thought it was awesome to climb all over the pumpkins (she's 4 and totally knows what is awesome), Juliet did too.

We got a pumpkin to carve into a "Jack-o-lan-tren" as Juliet calls them. It's funny, I didn't notice Corrine's concern/disgust for the pumpkin guts as I took the pictures, but you can totally see that she was not so sure about the project!

Even though you can't really see it, I love Juliet's face here. It's so her.

Inspired by these adorable painted pumpkins, I decided that I'd let the girls paint our pumpkin. Corinne hasn't had a ton of exposure to painting (since it's usually something we do while she naps) and she LOVES it. Oh, and we don't find it necessary to wear clothes outside until it's below 80 degrees ... just in case you were wondering ;)

On the first day we painted with orange and white paint.

And on day two we added some blue paint.

This girl is looking so old I can hardly stand it.

Cheesing for me again.

She's definitely the easier subject of the two.

And some randomness to top off a hump day post that's actually on time!

Third trimester woes have increased a bit. Sleep is kind of a joke for me these days and babies sure can make life uncomfortable for a mama ... but we just keep plugging along. I think my favorite thing about pregnancy is the potential. The unknown anticipation of EVERYTHING - from gender, to birth date, to looks, to likes, dislikes, etc, etc ... I find myself wondering and daydreaming about just about everything! There's just something crazy special about carrying around a big belly of potential :)

And one more random tidbit before I head to bed.

Dominic and the girls usually play outside till dark these days while I stay in doing the dishes and picking up around the house. Every night they have the same conversation. Juliet will point out that it is dusk outside. Then Corinne will try her best to repeat the word, but it currently comes out "ducks". Juliet tries to correct, informs everyone listening that "Beetles says 'ducks' instead of 'dusk'. That's silly." Tonight Beetles threw in a "It's ducks. Quack! Quack!" Silly girls :)


Note: Nugget format inspired by the very inspiring Nici over at Dig this Chick.

hump day nuggets: intentional

hump day nuggets: little bits of the season in photos and words about the last week

I bought a planner a couple months ago. I was feeling motivated to get organized. Get my menus planned and grocery lists all in one place. Make it to library story time with the girls. Get thank you notes written on time. And it worked for a month or so. My planner pages were full. Then I drifted slowly back to my old routine ... it would be Wednesday at noon and I'd realize we missed story time that morning. Grocery trips with forgotten items. And the list goes on ...

So living with purpose - intentionally - has been on my mind this past week. I realize that there won't be dinner to eat at 5:15 unless I am intentional about making it. I have to be purposeful about sitting on the floor in the playroom and making myself available to play or a day can go by and the girls and I simply co-exist around the house, each doing our own things. I have to be intentional about listening to what my almost 2 year old has to say (which happens to be a lot these days). I don't want the weeks to just float by. I want to be present enough to engage and enjoy them, making memories along the way.

I guess it's always the case with things really - from marriage to friendships and workout routines. We have to commit and purposeful about them ... I just think everything is requiring extra brain power these days :)

Nuggets.

We went back to the country pumpkin patch with my family. By this point in October, the girls think their last name is Carmichael and that the pumpkin patch is their very own farm. They tromp around like they own the place and are simply feeding the animals as part of their morning farm chores :)

I've had a bit of cloth diaper drama this past week. Leaking issues for no apparent reason. I've "stripped" them twice now and bought some detergent I am hoping won't result in detergent build up, not that I am really certain that is what the problem was in the first place. Beet has a bit of diaper rash right now so I haven't put her back in them so I am not sure the problem is even solved yet. As I stood over the washing machine scrubbing the diapers inside and out yesterday (for the second time), thinking about all the internet reading and YouTube videos I've read/watched over the past week, I acknowledged that I am perhaps crazy :) I was super frustrated on Wednesday and wanted to get rid of everything, but I just can't. I really don't want to give up.

My two cents on laundering your cloth diapers after my hours of research - there's a lot more to it than one might think and a lot of different things can cause problems. Detergent (this is the big one), soft/hard water, top/front loading washing machine, etc, etc. I completely agree with this quote, taken from Krista at Pinstripes and Polkadots.

"If you are just starting your cloth diapering journey, I can not emphasize enough how advantageous it is to choose a really good detergent. Remove as many obstacles as you can at the beginning to ensure your success. If you want to experiment with your favorite detergent down the road, do so, but only after you are successfully cloth diapering so you know what normal is."

She has the most comprehensive and helpful site I have found out there on laundering. She has a great listing of detergents (both regular and cloth diaper ones) and lists whether or not they are safe for use on cloth diapers.

For now, we are switching to Planet Ultra Powdered Laundry Detergent for our diapers and I will continue to use my homemade concoction for our regular laundry. It seems to be working really well on our clothes!!

I had my 33 week appointment on Tuesday of this week. Everything looks good. Baby Luke measuring 45th percentile, which was in the doctor's words "perfect." I am now more pregnant than I ever was with Corinne (delivered her at 33wks 5 days) so that is kind of crazy to think about! So thankful to still be pregnant. Crazy how quickly my due date is approaching. I will be 37 weeks (when I delivered Juliet) in only 3 weeks. Yikes! We have made great progress as far as getting things ready around here and I would say we are probably the most prepared we have ever been. For decorating the nursery, I had to laugh at my list - 12 office clipboards, 1 yard oilcloth, 3 different RIT dye colors, and a wall mount trouser rack. Kind of random and I don't have everything together yet, but I will share pictures as soon as I do!

We had a baby shower at Dominic's work on Wednesday night. Fun to get more blue things! I am trying my hardest to "think manly" as I decorate and buy stuff for this boy ... I have been living in a total girl world the last 3 years ... really my whole life!!

Halloween costumes are finished. It was quite a project (I made them), but I think they turned out well. They were definitely a joint effort with Juliet. She is in charge of Halloween costuming around here. Aunt Dan was over and asked Juliet what she should be for Halloween. Juliet started asking her questions like "what animals do you like?" and "what color do you like?" to help her figure it out :)

On Wednesday, Corinne decided she is into puzzles. We have worked at least 15 puzzles every day since. As much as I try to get Juliet to work her own puzzle so that Corinne can figure things out by herself, she insists on coaching. She says things like "flip it over Beetles" and "try a different one." She's helping and she knows it :)

Some little tidbits of fun from our day to day routine. The girls play princess a lot. When our prince gets home from work in the evening, the girls meet him in the garage and Juliet re-introduces him to everyone - Cinderella (Juliet), Sleeping Beauty (Beet), Snow White (Charlie), and Belle (me). The girls always want to dance with prince charming - the location of the "ball" varies. The other silly game the girls and Daddy made up is the shark (Daddy) eats the crab (Juliet), clam (Beet), and stinky fish (Charlie) game. Basically Dominic just chases them around the house and pretends to eat them when he catches them. Sometimes Corinne will spontaneously run to the other room and start yelling "Eat some clam! Eat some clam!" This is her game invitation ... that doesn't stop until the shark comes. She's a sassy little clam that one!

Not many videos and pictures the past couple weeks. Been in a bit of a camera slump as it's hard to bend down at their level to take their picture these days! Here's a viedo of the girls playing dentist.


Note: Nugget format inspired by the very inspiring Nici over at Dig this Chick.

hump day nuggets: double hump

hump day nuggets: little bits of the season in photos and words about the last week

Well we are going to do a two week double hump tonight to catch up.

I've been longing for wide open country lately. Just wanting quiet. Away from busy streets and stores. Away from the to do lists and errands that need to be run. Just away.

I've improvised to help get my fix as a vacation to the mountains is not on my calendar. We found a quiet park with pond and ducks. We were the only park visitors this particular morning and the girls enjoyed a change of scenery from our regular park that fronts a busy road in the middle of town.

They requested I take this photo of them.

We made our second trip to the pumpkin patch. In the Tulsa area we have 2 popular pumpkin patches. One (the one we went to first) is a city patch. It's at the corner of a somewhat busy intersection, but conveniently located 2 miles from our house. It's fine and all, but not my fave. To me, you need a pile of pumpkins (not just a few scattered on the ground) to be an actual non imitation pumpkin patch. And yes, I'm an expert :)

So, on Oct 2nd, we made it to the real pumpkin patch. Complete with some pretty Oklahoma countryside.

We fed the animals. Honestly the girls could care less about pumpkins!

Juliet dished her corn kernels out one by one.Corinne and Dominic were done with their bag, and Juliet still had over half a bag left!

Beetles got a lot of help from Daddy.

The girls also got to get an up close and personal with the camel. We didn't' ride. Maybe next year.

It's been a relatively slow 2 weeks other than that. I've been tired. And I'm at a loss for words tonight. Kind of spaced out lately.

We went to the park down the street one night. Evenings have been beautiful.

51 days till my due date! The past week, we have done a few things to prepare for baby Luke's arrival. Dare I say we are 'ready,' but I am feeling pretty good about where we are. Essentials down from the attic, crib assembled, and a drawer full of not pink clothes.

We have been so so blessed by friends. We got a box of hand me down clothes from some friends at Dominic's work. The girls - aka Luke's wardrobe consultants - went through everything for me. Click here for a video.

Putting the crib together. Dominic had lots of help :)

Other than that, we've just been up to our regular stuff. I have put Corinne to work cleaning the bathrooms. It's getting hard for me at 32 weeks pregnant and she does a mighty fine job :)

Movies from the last 2 weeks. Girls showing off their skills: drumming, somersaulting, and painting.

One of my favorite Instagram pictures ever.

My to do list is full of crafty and sewing projects for both Halloween costumes and the nursery. Thankfully, after 2 weeks, I can now check blogging off my to do list ;)

Until next week! Happy hump day friends!



Note: Nugget format inspired by the very inspiring Nici over at Dig this Chick.

hump day nuggets: balance

hump day nuggets: little bits of the season in photos and words about the last week

Last Thursday night I was up from midnight to 2 am with one question on my mind: am I in labor? And I guess I'll never know exactly what was going on, but it felt a lot like contractions. There was definite changes in intensity and uncomfortable enough to wake and keep me up in the middle of the night. Contractions happening WAY TOO EARLY. They stopped and haven't been back since, but my 2 hour visit with the potential impending doom of preterm labor sent me into a very different mode from last week.

We had better get ready for this baby. I want to tell myself we have plenty of time, but the reality is, we may not.

I pray we have at least 5.5 more weeks (that would put me at 36 weeks).

So, I've been trying to find a balance between savoring and preparing. Between cool evenings on the trampoline and making a list of baby stuff that needs to be retrieved from the attic and purchased at the store.

I love that these two are so completely unaware of our stress and anxiety. They just live and breathe the very moment they are in.

It is so beautiful to watch. Real joy.

Their joy is pure. Their dreams are big. Unadulterated.

I want them to stay this way forever.

I was reminded this week that some where along the path of life this changes for many. Diminishes. We are told to settle for something lesser. Smaller. More mainstream.

I am unwilling to accept it. Joy is worth fighting for.

We are in a faith stretching season of life right now. A season where we are being challenged to remember and truly believe that our God is a God of big dreams. Seemingly impossible dreams. We believe that our God will deliver. That He desires for us to dream big, remain dependent on Him, and wait and watch for Him to deliver.

Our God is greater, our God is stronger
God You are higher than any other

And if Our God is for us, then who could ever stop us
And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?

- lyrics from Our God by Chris Tomlin

God is so much bigger than mainstream.

And so we have faith for bigger things. We dream. And we wait.




We had family visit over the weekend which is always reason to stop and just be. We savor every hour we have and then spend a lot of time waiting for our next time together.

Our next time together will include two more family members (and four sleep deprived parents) which is exciting. Baby anticipation is so fun.

Cousins are fun :) Annie w/ baby N (34 weeks) and me w/ Luke (30 weeks).

Oh, and just so you're not worried I'm becoming a health food nut or anything, I made these for our visitors. They are amazing. I recommend that you nuke them just a little before eating.

Source: kevinandamanda.com via Dawn on Pinterest

Pretty sure I've gained at least 2 lbs this week due to these babies and their chocolatey goodness.

Here's a play by play of Beet Beet eating her cupcake. Girl forks everything :)

And big news around here. It's open.

Our month dedicated to visiting the pumpkin patch as many times as possible has begun. And our Nebraska family got to go with us for our first visit of the 2011 season.

We likely won't be dong the pony rides again. For Beetles anyways ;)

Juliet sat like a pro.

Beetles spent the entire time trying to dismount the horse. She did say she had fun and announce "I did great job!" once it was all over which was kind of hysterical considering her "Mommy, need off!" pleas during the entire ride.

Till next time! (Juliet getting one last snuggle in with Uncle Jeff before he had to leave).

Our weekend wore me out. Seriously. Kind of pathetic considering we didn't do anything! Just yesterday I felt somewhat normal again. Monday and Tuesday I was beat by noon. Tuesday afternoon I fell asleep on the floor in the playroom during Beetles nap. Not sure how long I slept. Long enough for Juliet to color all over herself with a pen :)



Attempted group shot.



Beet with her My Little Pony hat on. Love those two.

More pictures at Flickr.



Note: Nugget format inspired by the very inspiring Nici over at Dig this Chick.