Handmade Gifts

We have received so many wonderful things for our sweet boy so far, both used and new. Our little nursery is bursting at the seams with things to make life easier for little Titus and his parents! Each gift is special but I thought I'd showcase some of the handmade gifts we have received because these, I know, take extra time and love poured into them.

Baby Toms knock-offs: "Titus'" made by Rebecca.

Crocheted blanket by Shannon, suspenders and bow ties by Rebecca, crocheted sweater, hat, and matching ducky by Linda.

Quilted blankets by Aunt Judy (back and front below), Aunt Cherrie, and Judy.

Reversible bib by Aunt Tammie, quilt by Tinsey, crocheted blanket by Debbie.

Some Favorite Things

Some things we've been enjoying lately:

End of the summer harvest, particularly some yummy garden tomatoes:

Flowers blooming around the yard:

Flowers and Sunsets:

A new dishwasher installed after another year of life spent washing dishes by hand. So thankful my husband blessed me with this!

A glimpse of sweet little Titus who we should be meeting in person very soon! He likes to keep his arm in front of his face for his photo shoots, so see if you can make him out below. Look for his chubby cheeks first.

Look Who's Been Growing this Summer

34 weeks

35 weeks

36 weeks

37 weeks (starting to feel a lot bigger!!)

Meanwhile, we've let the carrots grow to be monster carrots:

Third Time's a Charm

Wow! I know I'm blessed to have had three baby showers for this little guy, and truly the third one was charming. Talitha with help from her sisters, mom, and Rhaquel and Kaylee too, I think (who drove 2 hours to be here!), put together this really special event. The guests included friends from our old church here, and other miscellaneous and dear friends from around the Vancouver/Portland area. Some I have known for more than a decade, but a lot of them have only become friends since I moved here 2.5 years ago and I thought that was really special to see how much the Lord has blessed us with good friends now.

The food included berries and cream and fondue~both chocolate and cheese. YUM!

The decorations went along with the theme I'd like to have for Titus' nursery: World/Travel. And so each table had a different continent that Titus was traveling to.

Some of my sweet and beautiful guests:

Mrs. Mack read a short chapter of encouragement to remind me that not everything has to be perfect in my house once baby is here.

It was such a warm and delightful evening that we enjoyed being outside until I was opening gifts in the dark. A thunderstorm rolled in just as we were finishing. Again, I was so blessed by some wonderful things for our little guy. I have some handmade ones to highlight in the next post.

The hostess with the mostest and the special gift she made for Titus' room.

33 weeks. The following two were taken by Shannon.

Beach Vacation

Earlier in the summer we were considering driving down to New Mexico to visit Chris' family while he had some leave time. Timing just didn't work out though so we ended up scheduling a few days at the coast with his parents who kindly flew up here and rented a cottage for us. It was a really relaxing trip in every way and a special way to spend our last few days off together before Chris went back to work. Life for 4 days basically consisted of eating, sleeping, chatting, walks on the beach, more eating, reading, playing guitar, crocheting, and hanging out. It really was wonderful.

We let Wolfie hop on the bed when we got there-something he does not get to do at home. He was a little puzzled but I think he liked it. Still, not room for all 3 (plus baby) of us at night though so back to the floor for the dog.

My high school self would be appalled at the fact that I only have one tiny mirror in my house right now--hardly a good spot to take bump photos, so I had to take advantage of the one at the rental to show off my growing bump. ~31.5 weeks here~

My view as I worked on crocheting. Chris is enjoying playing classical guitar with his dad.

Reading together on the porch.

Checking out the views.

Together again!

I tell you what, having a dog has been good incentive to keep moving during my pregnancy.

Wolfie loved running on the beach. He was spoiled to get several walks/runs down there each day from various family members.

Hi Dana! :)

So fun to see an old dear friend and her newest little one in PDX this weekend. Just wish we had even more time to catch up. I'm pretty sure Jacob smiled at me the whole time we were talking and even smiled for the photo. What a great kid! :)

Clara Turns 6

Clara Mae is my sweet niece born in July. Because of her July birthday, I have not yet been able to make it to one of her birthday parties! Poor neglected Clara. Over the past 6 years I have been on some trip or another when she celebrates her special day! So this year we made up for it by hosting her 6th birthday party at our house. Her family was on their way to the beach to go camping and stayed a night with us on the way. It was fun celebrating with the family and while mostly a low key evening, we did put up a few decorations in honor of the birthday girl. We spent the evening having a yummy BBQ'd by Chris dinner, eating yummy birthday cake, presents were opened, gift bags were passed out to siblings, and s'mores and story time with glow sticks around the camp fire rounded out the evening.

Not enough couch space for Greta so she had the privilege of sleeping on the floor. Wolfie made sure she was not lonely during the night (or perhaps rather, he liked the special treatment of having a blanket for a bed on the floor).