Crafty Mama

I've been wanting a kitchen for Luna for some time. The thing is, we hate plastic and most wooden ones are above my price preference. I follow a few craft blogs and got the idea to make one myself. I searched Value Village and the Re-store and found these treasures...

With Gig's help, I turned them into this treasure. Luna loves it! We're still not finished, need to add a faucet and sink knobs as well as burners. I found play food at Goodwill and stocked her cupboard. Among her specialities, Luna likes to make jalapeno and lettuce tea for us. I think this kitchen will provide years of imaginative play for both Luna and Ruby. Plus, it looks pretty good in our dining room.

Happy Birthday Baby...Luna is 2!

We celebrated Luna's 2nd birthday today with a small Elmo themed party. She is becoming such a little lady, full of energy and spunk (read: defiance). She is talking up a storm, with 3-4 word sentences and coming up with 3-5 new words a day. We celebrated today with a pancake brunch and Elmo cake. Gig made an Elmo bean bag toss board and I sewed up bean bags of Elmo, Cookie Monster and Oscar the Grouch as party favors. At the last minute last night I whipped up birthday hats as well. Throughout the day today I've been thinking of what I was doing 2 years ago today. As I write this it's 2:45 pm, we would have just been heading to the hospital after having pushed unsuccessfully at home for over 3 hours. I was exhausted and had given up any plans of a home birth at that point when I couldn't handle the pain nor find the energy to push any more. The midwives had seen Luna's dark hair already but she was stuck. Imagine having to get dressed at that point and hop into a car! It took another 4 hours at the hospital until we welcomed her into this world around 7:20 pm. I didn't think about this as much last year on her 1st birthday. Maybe having another one due in 13 short weeks is stirring up some emotions (i.e. fear and excitement all in one).

Vacation

Before we got preggo, we were planning a 2 week Mexico vacation, but decided we should save my vacation days for maternity leave instead. So, we went to Winthrop for 5 days...not Mexico, but wonderful none the less. We rented a ski sled for Luna and spent 4 days cross country skiing. We had a great time and Luna tolerated the sled well enough to allow for a few hours out at a time as long as we promised hot cocoa at the end. We've always loved Winthrop in the summer but this was our first time over in the winter. It will be a yearly occurance now. The skiing there is beautiful with miles upon miles of trails. We just sprung for our own ski sled on craigslist too!

Buddha Belly

The belly just keeps growing. Just starting my 3rd trimester, can't believe how fast it's gone by. If you haven't heard by now, it's a girl. Her name is Ruby Skye. Luna loves to kiss my belly and say, "Oh baby Ruby, hi baby Ruby, soft baby" as she digs her head into my belly to cuddle. I think Luna will enjoy being a big sister. It's interesting how much time I had before to just BE pregnant. Between work and motherhood, it doesn't leave a lot of time for lounging. I'm due May 14th. I have a feeling parenting a newborn and a toddler will be chaotic, tiring, and wonderful, all wrapped up in one. Here's a picture of the ever growing buddha belly from 26 weeks.