Baby Shower!

The ladies from our weekly dinner group got together and hosted a "sprinkle" shower for the new baby. We had such a nice time! A great afternoon of snacks, time to chat, and a little project as a special gift for the new baby.

 

Jessica & Kim take a break from painting for a quick photo.

 

 

We each painted a block from a set of a dozen, and it was so fun to just sit around and snack and chat, and then take home such a beautiful, special gift. Second babies are tricky because you already have the gear you need, but it was so nice of them to celebrate the new addition to our family, and it will be really special to have such a thoughtful gift just for the little bean.

Oh, and they also stuffed a gift basket full of goodies- special chocolate, tea, soaps, gift cards for dinners at restaurants close to our house for after the baby comes, and tons of baby sitting coupons. And diapers! I felt very spoiled :)

The ladies ready to eat some tasty tapas. And see all those cute decorations? They are hanging in our living room to welcome the baby home :)

 

Kailie & Alex,the littlest party goer!

 

Jennine & Elizabeth, painting away. Kailie & Angie are in the kitchen making brownie sundaes. Seriously, a perfect afternoon!

September

Some recent pictures from September.....

Ginny has discovered the blackberry bushes around our house and LOVES to eat the fruit right off the bushes. In the summer we often open up the french doors onto the back porch, and it becomes an extension of our living room. Ginny loves to run out there and eat all the berries she can reach through the rails of the deck!

 

We tried our hand at making homemade pickles (again. The first few times we used different canning packages and recipes. One batch was so salty we had to rinse them off in the sink before eating them, and even then could only really be used in an egg salad sandwich, or something like that, where the flavor was dilluted. Other batches were soft and soggy... yuck). We went down to the Duris Cucumber Farmstand in Puyallup and picked up all the ingredients for their cold pack recipe (you store the cucumbers in the fridge for 4 weeks instead of canning them). We just popped open the first jar, and they are GOOD- spicy, crunchy, and vinegary. Yum!

Todd's Grandpa came for a visit on his way to a fishing trip in Canada. We had a wonderful evening together, and a great dinner on the deck before he headed up north. We even got to enjoy a cocktail hour on our deck, one of our favorite traditions at their house, complete with Beecher's cheese and smoked trout from Gramp.

Ginny is busy, busy, busy these days, and keeps aquiring new skills at opening cupboards, jars, tricky cannisters. Her current favorite is to empty out this low cupboard of all the pasta and canned goods, and just climb on in!

 

Baby update: I'm currently 38 1/2 weeks along, fast approaching that October 2nd due date. Looking forward to meeting the little bean, and finding out if we've got a boy or a girl joining our little clan. I keep calling the baby "he" without thinking about it, but just had a dream she's a girl. So, who knows?

 

And what has Todd been up to? Catching sharks! Of course, he's not a keeper, but still a fun catch :)

 

Granny Annie came for a weekend visit in August, and we snuck in some hot tub time, worked on some projects around the house (attacking the blackberry bramble trying to take over the garage) and just really enjoyed some time together.