She was born early the morning of August 23rd, a short 30 minutes after we arrived at the hospital- no epidural, hospital gown barely on, my Doctor making it in just in time for the final few pushes. It was ideal.
She has long eyelashes and dark dark hair. Sometimes she looks like her brother but most of the time she looks like Ginger. We spent our entire time in the hospital trying to pin down her middle name and hastily “decided” on darling when the birth certificate needed to be filled in- it is possible that we may change it.
She has long skinny toes and feet and heart shaped lips. She sleeps and eats and burps and yawns and messes her pants and then repeats that cycle. We are in love with her.

so. much. more to come

xoXXXOOOOxoxo
elle

*subject to change

Well, here it is- my estimated date of delivery. I was optimistic that I would be holding a little ginger girl by this time, but here I am waddling around the house, wishing that I could choose the time of her arrival. Tonight would be great. Ya hear that ging?

It’s a surreal thing, waiting for the arrival of a child. She has already been with us this whole time, I’ve taken her everywhere that I’ve gone and she’s eaten everything that I’ve eaten- but shortly she will be outside rather than inside. And, much more demanding than she is now.

Garth and I have been using the phrase, “the kids” when referencing our offspring since we learned that we were pregnant with a second child so we are prepared to use the right terminology, but I’m not sure that we are ready to double the amount of kids that we have to look after (is anyone?!). We’ve been lazing about the house, napping, cleaning, chasing Jack, and wondering what it’s going to be like to have a newborn again. Garth has been busy (and successful) teaching Jack how to “show ‘em who’s boss” (a quick couple of elbow blows to the palm followed by a flexing of the muscles and growling) in preparation for being an older brother. I am still trying to pick out a middle name and wonder if that’s what Ginger is waiting for. We are both trying to capture these days in our memory and slow down enough to appreciate them before this next gigantic life change.

Photos from this past week:

If you have any, please send some going-into-labor mojo this way- being able to attend my brother’s wedding next week depends on it.

xo
elle

We have a vintage Jenny Lind crib that we picked up for you at a garage sale, and even though it isn’t painted (red with a pinky or orangey hint?) and doesn’t have a mattress, it is tucked safely into a corner of the playroom for your use when you’re a couple of weeks old. We’ll certainly have it ready by that time. I’ll make sure that there are coordinating sheets and such and you’ll be upgraded to your very own room, as cool as your brothers, when we move in a few months (to Hawaii!).

There are ginger snaps in the kitchen. Jack likes to munch on them. Last night it was all he had for dinner.

I have mended a few things for your use- a pink blanket that I made needed some new bias tape and the bouncer cover I made for your older brother needed a patch. It is so fun to make girly things!

And, I couldn’t resist recovering the carseat since it was dark blue. I think that it took me longer to pick out the fabric than it did to recover it- even with the struggle that I had with the elastic.

We are all packed for the hospital, and Jack is all packed for a night or two away. We have a great selection of ensembles tucked away for you, and even a tiny dress, tights, and ballet slippers in case your arrival is close to a Sunday. The cameras are all charged and the data cards have plenty of room. The book we’ll write to you in has been made and it’s ready to filled.

The only thing that we are ill-prepared with is a middle name. We’ve polled family and friends and talked about it endlessly late at night, but we might just have to officially meet you before we decide. Is that ok? Will you come soon anyways? We promise to let you eat and sleep to your little heart’s content and bundle you as tight as you like.

Not to rush you, but this weekend would be perfect.

We love you already sweet little one,
Mom & Dad & big brother(!) Jack.

hello long lost friends!
My absence these past few weeks can be explained in the news that Mr. Jack is so eagerly sharing with everyone. We found out shortly before Christmas that baby #2 is on the way. And for me being pregnant= months of nausea, fatigue, and sparsely attended pity parties. So I’ve been hanging out in my bed as much as possible and expending all of my energy to keep Mr. Jack fed and changed and played with at the park. This of course means that non-essential activities like changing out of my pajamas, preparing meals, and doing laundry have been cut from my schedule. I’m considering getting a to-do list that only contains space for one item a day.

Luckily I have an amazing husband (have I mentioned that he has his own website?) that has cut out his non-essential activities to keep up with mine. He makes a mean smoothie, and always separates the darks from the whites. He even mailed out my bow tie orders when I was accross the country hanging out with my family. Totally rad.

This little blog o’ mine and my shop have been sorely neglected. Hopefully I will feel better soon and be able to add a few more spaces on my daily to-do list.

hugs and naps,
elle

ps. The baby’s due date is either July 27th, or August 27th, depending on who you ask. I’m voting for July 27th since my darling brother is getting married August 31st, thousands of miles away from where I’ll be delivering. Golly.

Garth and I are heading to the hospital tonight for some medical intervention to get little Jack born. I’ll be induced this evening with the hopes that he’ll be born sometime tomorrow, so I’ll be signing off here for a little while- but I’ll still try to tweet.

love and peas,
elle

Visited labor and delivery and they hooked me up to the monitors. Jack is healthy and happy. My Doctor plans to induce on Thursday if Jack doesn’t make an effort to join the world by then.

xo
elle

The bassinet set that I made to replace the standard that it came with.

All packed for the hospital!

make planet mobile
pack for the hospital
buy:lanterns, camcorder, changing pad, diapers, wipes
paint crib
clean and stock baby room
make Jack Danger painting
honeymoon photo album
wedding photo books
choose photo sorting program ( think I’m pretty settled on lightroom).
fix back seat
clean new toys
install carseat
compile phone lists/groups on phone
freeze a week of meals
make Sam/Jack/Maci quilts
get bassinet ready
lots of bow ties ready to list
clean chair
write in Jack’s book
houseguest cleaning
organize baby stuff in garage (thanks Garth!)
crib bedding
make rug (in progress!)

I decided against shelling out hundreds of dollars for a gray flokati rug (oh how I heart flokati rugs!), and opted to make a latch hook t-shirt rug instead. It’s in process right now…I’ll share it when it’s done!

I’m not too worried about getting the rest of the list done before Jack gets here…my parents are coming in a few days and I know that they would love to help me with some of the fun making projects. And, I’d rather have him here and meet him than have my list all crossed off.

By the way..anyone who wants instant gratification and bragging rights to first notification about Jack’s arrival can follow me on twitter. In addition to texting our innermost circle of family and friends when the baby arrives, I’m sure that Garth and I will both be tweeting as well.

xo lovies!
elle!

Dear Jack,
In case we forgot to tell you, we’re ready. We have diapers (enough for a month or two), and a bassinet (with custom-made-just-for-you-sheets!), a few lasagnas frozen for dinner ready to go in the freezer, and our hospital bag is packed and waiting by the door (with a loaded ipod and nilla wafers!). Please feel free to move in with us anytime. Your Dad is eager to meet you and take the time off of work, and we’ve got both sets of grandparents coming to meet you. Please don’t be late.

Love,
Mama.

p.s. If you could make your entrance into this world easy and pleasant (and generally fast), I’ll let you go out with Dad on the motorcycle as soon as he thinks you’re ready (which will be all too soon, even if you are 32 at the time).

39 weeks means:
more drool on my pillow in the morning.
carpal tunnel syndrome and weak & tingly hands.
my shoes no longer fit.
no matter how much water I drink, I’m thirsty.
no matter how often I eat, I’m always up for eating more.
garth is so far away, even when we’re hugging!
I can sleep till noon.
our house occupancy is about to go up.
the list is still in progress.
I have time to keep the laundry and dishes up to date.
we’ll make at least one more trip to the baby department for supplies.
the carseat is installed in my car and four outfits for Jack are packed in my hospital bag.
our parents have scheduled flights to come visit (yay!).

and….there’s waiting.

xo
elle

From our wedding planning book. We started daydreaming/planning in it when we got engaged, and used it our entire engagement to manage guest lists, plan reception menus, design wedding attire, organize calendars and family phone numbers, and just basically keep everything in one place. It’s now this beautiful record of the planning of our wedding, including the ideas that we didn’t use!

Our wedding card album. I got this fabulous handmade album from flyleafbooks, intending to use it as a wedding album…but it’s perfect for this. All of our well-wishes together!

My bachelorette party scrapbook! I created this one using the wrapping and boxes from the presents I received. The cover is from a Victoria’s Secret box (from my sister, she’s the best!). I used my binding machine at home to keep it all together.

Pages from our honeymoon scrapbook. This one took me two full nights of scrapbooking- probably a total of 15 hours. Yikes!

And a scrapbook from a trip to Orlando we took last May.

SO nice to have these done! The nursery isn’t done…but I know that Jack won’t need it for a while anyways- he’ll be hanging out in the parents room all night. =)

Here’s the rest of the list:
make planet mobile
pack for the hospital (almost done!)
buy: rug, lanterns, camcorder, changing pad, diapers, wipes
paint crib
clean and stock baby room
make Jack Danger painting
honeymoon photo album
wedding photo books
choose photo sorting program
fix back seat
clean new toys (half done)
install carseat
compile phone lists/groups on phone
freeze a week of meals (we’ve got two days done!)
make Sam/Jack/Maci quilts
get bassinet ready
lots of bow ties ready to list
clean chair
write in Jack’s book
houseguest cleaning
organize baby stuff in garage (thanks Garth!)
crib bedding

So what should I work on tonight? =) I’ll keep all ya’ll updated as the big day draws near.

xo
soon-to-be-mama elle