Weekend wrap-up

It was a busy one here, so get cozy! Started out with mom coming to town to take my class at Reminisce on Thursday night. It was a very fun and sweet group of moms who came to make the mini-album. Then she stayed at our house all day Friday while I worked and worked on cleaning and organizing projects. How great! Friday night we had a delicious family dinner at Atlas.
Saturday was a day I had been looking forward to for a long time - Wendy threw me a baby shower for local family and friends. What a treat to see everyone, and the way she organized it was so sweet and fun. Of course there were delicious snacks and so many thoughtful (and practical!) gifts, including favorite children's books from everyone (Wendy had included that suggestion in the invitations). I'm planning to add more photos to my flickr when I have time this week.
After the shower, mom and Bethany and I hung around to help feed the baby kitties. Wendy rescued these 5 abandoned sweeties from the playground at her school. She and Jeremy are giving them pretty much constant love and affection (how could you not love those little faces!). They even made one of my favorite blogs today - IBKC.
Saturday afternoon I hung out with mom and sis. We did some shopping - visited Home Ec Workshop to drop off some WeMiKiWi earrings that they are including for sale in the shop. And just hung out...
Then they headed home to Des Moines and Bill and I headed up to C.R. for a hockey game. No good photos, but lots of fun. It is one of our favorite things to do together, even though neither of us is a die-hard fan. Maybe our last big pre-baby date?
Yesterday I got some work in on my quilt - now that the back is done, I can work on pinning the layers together and basting it to prepare for the handquilting! We also did some more preparations like putting the carseat base in the car, setting up the bassinet in our bedroom and getting those last minute details ready! This afternoon I picked up my new mommy-mobile from the dealership (traded in my little hatchback). Now I think we are physically prepared, but I'm not sure either of us are mentally prepared for him to arrive yet!

a long week

Still here - just a busy week right after spring break. I've got lots on my to do list and not a lot of extra energy to do it. Looking forward to my class at Reminisce tonight and my last baby shower on Saturday morning, thanks to Wendy.

* photo courtesy of Bethany, who somehow managed to capture this great photo of Alice on Easter.

Happy Easter!

Hope everyone had a very Happy Easter! Ours was laid back... Bill and I headed over to Des Moines last night and spent the day at church and at home with my family today. Bethany made the great dessert pictured above (mini-cheesecakes) and we had a delicious lunch. The only thing we did *not* do was dye Easter eggs! Bummer - we'll have to save that for next year.

Shop update!

Wendy and I had a fun shopping and art day yesterday (more on that later) and one thing we did was photograph some new jewelry for our WeMiKiWi etsy shop. Loving the photos and the new jewelry - lots of it has me thinking about spring! Did you know it was the first day of spring yesterday? It was actually a very nice sunny day here, but today does not look very promising...

Playing catch-up...

on my Paper Adventure pages today. My scrap space has been a total disaster for a couple weeks, so getting up there and cleaning this morning inspired me to make some things. I'm also reading Stacy's new book Photo Freedom, and it has me totally fired up for reorganizing and scrapping. Really enjoying this process so far. I love seeing my little mini-book get fatter, and at the end of the year, I think it will be a good snapshot of my everyday life.

Operation #10: Got Talent?#11 - Habit
#12 - Luck
The backsides with journaling are on flickr.

Here I am, still a little obsessed with the quilt. It's spring break time, so I am working a little at Reminisce, but otherwise I am sewing...doing some organizing...a little relaxing... and still pregnant! The photo below is from my 35 week mark a few days ago. He'll be here before we know it! Love this idea of a monthly baby photo. Even though I already received these two great slings, I still really feel like I probably need one of these?!? They all serve different purposes (or at least I can tell myself that, ha ha).

In other baby-related news (that's about the only news we have around here these days), Bill and I watched The Business of Being Born this past Sunday. If you haven't heard about it, Ricki Lake recruited a filmaker and friend to make a documentary after deciding to have a home birth. Here's a description from their website:

"The film interlaces intimate birth stories with surprising historical, political and scientific insights and shocking statistics about the current maternity care system. When director Epstein discovers she is pregnant during the making of the film, the journey becomes even more personal."

You might imagine that it is geared towards those interested in "alternative" birth methods, which is true, but it is also incredibly informative and compelling. I highly recommend it. Both Bill and I found it to be very reaffirming for the choices we have made for our birth plan, and it was great to see some ecstatic birth experiences. So anyway, yeah, if you're pregnant or thinking about it - see the movie!

TGIF!

You crow girl
Originally uploaded by Kirsten W

Friday has arrived, and with it, spring break vacation! Unfortunately, I'm not en route to warmer places, but I am looking forward to a week - for relaxation, knocking some items off the to-do list and catching up with friends.

This evening I suddenly got the "nesting" urge while I was waiting for Bill to get home from work, so I was hustling around cleaning out my car, putting away things that have been piled up around the house, and washing dishes & laudry. Now I am really tired! But it is nice to get some things done - 35 weeks pregnant today, so I only have 5 weeks until my due date. Time to really get ready and start the countdown.

The photo above is from a card class I took at Reminisce with Lindsey last night. I *love* the clever card designs & greetings she comes up with, so I was excited to be able to take one of her classes. Now I have some very fun bird themed cards to send to friends and family!

Tuesday night

Doing: trimming sewn fabric squares
Watching: American Idol top 12
Listening: Mike Doughty's new album
Inspired by: KupKup's Petit Patisseries
Excited about: Old Furniture

sunrise/sunset

sunrise/sunset, originally uploaded by Kirsten W.

We had the "spring ahead" time change this past weekend and it's throwing me off a little - but it is nice to have more daylight in the evening. This pair of photos is from this morning when I got up, and tonight after dinner.

Still keeping up with my photo everyday this year - 70 in a row today!
You can see the sets here if you're interested: January,February, March

Tag, you're it!

Ok, I better get down to it and fulfill my obligation, after being tagged by Shelley and Rachel last week!

The Rules:
1.You must share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
2.You then tag 7 people (if you can) and at the end of the post you provide links to their blogs.
3.Lastly, let them know they are being tagged.

1. I dislike trying something new unless I am sure I can do it successfully the first time.
2. I have been watching the soap opera “All My Children” pretty much my whole life (my mom started watching when she was pregnant with me) and now I’ve sucked my husband into watching it with me!
3. Sometimes I think my hobby is trying out new hobbies (especially crafty ones).
4. I love watching cooking shows and reading cooking magazines, but I am a completely incompetent cook!
5. I haven’t had any really weird cravings during my pregnancy, but I have eaten an absurd amount of Kraft mac & cheese and Honey Nut Cheerios.
6. Once I worked as an “elf” in one of those Santa/Christmas spots in the middle of the mall.
7. I’m obsessed with all things Macintosh (ok, if you know me you probably already know this one). I adore my MacBook, my iPhone, iTunes and my iPods (yes, I have more than one – even more embarrassing!)

I tag: Wendy, Diane, Dona, Zhenia, Amy, and Kristi & Josh.
(Lucky you!)

Quilt Beginnings

I first came across the idea of a "birthing quilt" on Chickpea Sewing Studio's blog. I think it is a lovely idea to have something special and handmade to bring along with me to the hospital for delivery. Plus, I had some of this amazing Amy Butler fabric left over from making bags, and I've been a bit obsessed with sewing since I took my machine out again. So, I went searching at Sew Mama Sew and found this doll quilt that inspired me to work with the squares, divided by a solid color. I made another trip to Home Ec Workshop for a little more fabric and started cutting away. Hopefully I can make some good progress on it this week before I lose my motivation! : )

A little new scrapbooking

Just for you, Jess ;)

I cropped at Reminisce on Friday with some of my favorite ladies who I used to work with at Prairie and had a great time. I worked on my pregnancy album a little more, and made a couple pages about my great baby showers. This afternoon I couldn't resist making a layout with photos I took yesterday while we were visiting our nephew.Also getting caught up with my Paper Adventure pages and looking forward to tomorrow's prompt!

Six One Way

I just recently found and starting posting to the flickr group called: "Six One Way"

Here's their group description -
"A group for parents who enjoy and are inspired by Six One Way . This is your chance to post your own triptych photo each week. Your post should tell the story of your family's week in three photos."

I decided to play along with pregnancy photos, since I'm getting ready to have a little boy. If you want a reminder of how sweet and wonderful childhood can be - head over to the pool and check out some of the triptychs.

Today is the first Saturday in a long time I haven't had work or travel obligations, so I better stop putzing it away on the computer and go make something! (Although I did get some good advice from a mom at one of my showers who said "Spend as much time on the couch as you can now before you have kids")