We went to Sunriver for four days with my parents, sister, and her husband. It was such a nice getaway. It's crazy to think about how different next year's trip will be with two new babies. We hiked, played outdoors, ate good food, and relaxed. A particularly special moment was Dennis playing worship songs on the guitar and all of us singing along. Even Quinn tried to join in. I just love these people!

Oh, this almost-two-year-old is amazing me. She can count to eleven. She can identify 20 letters of the alphabet and say (at least) one word that starts with each letter. She helps me remember my grocery list and can recite events that will happen in the future in order (like if I tell her our plans for the day). When a meal is ready, she runs around the house telling people (and toys) that whatever food we're going to eat is ready. She slept with a travel mug for a couple days straight. She wants me to explain every street sign and then she'll tell me what they say when we pass them again. My favorite is "slippery when wet". She says, "it wet, you fall". We have inside jokes that she makes up. Like I said "T is for taco" once and she about died laughing. She'll still bring it up saying, "T taco" and then do a muffled chuckle. Or the latest one is she'll call an owl a hoo-hoo and then look up at me like she's being a rascal, so of course I make a big deal about what a silly idea that is and she laughs and laughs. She also does weight lifting (with toilet paper tube weights), push-ups, squats, and sit-ups. I guess my prenatal workout video is making an impression on her. She still loves books and tries to read to herself frequently. And the power struggles have begun. Oh power struggles. Lord, help me.

One of my most recent sewing projects was making a mei tai baby carrier. I found a really simple tutorial and had to give it a try. I am a big time Ergo carrier enthusiast. Quinn only rode in her stroller a handful of times in her first year of life. We always had her in the Ergo because she loved it and we loved it. We still wear her on our backs too. But when she was a tiny newborn and California was still hot, she would get so sweaty in the infant insert. So I decided that with this next baby being born a few months before summer, it would be nice to have a more lightweight carrier for the many trips to the park in the heat. I found a great twill fabric online and went to work. It probably would have only taken about five hours straight if I had that sort of time, but instead it took many 30 minute increments during naptime. 

The mini mama had to have one too with the leftover fabric. I found another simple tutorial for a toddler mei tai and it took no time at all. Both of these would make a great gift if you know a mama or sibling-to-be.

Also, I just finished the first three rows of my baby's big girl bed quilt. If I take a really long time to finish it, will she stop growing up so fast?

I've been a bit absent from this blog. It's probably because I've been sleeping a lot. And painting. And sewing. Yep, I'm pregnant. Due around March 20th. I found out on my birthday which was a pretty special treat. To add to the excitement, my sister is due a week before me and my sister-in-law is due about two weeks after me. Crazy!

It's been fun to double nest this time around. When I was pregnant with Quinn, we couldn't get to Oregon before she was born and we didn't know how long we'd be in our one bedroom apartment in California. I painted a dresser for her and had a lot of fun washing and organizing her tiny baby clothes, but that was pretty much as far as I could go. Jonathan flew to Portland for a job interview when she was one week old and we moved when she was six weeks old. She slept in a laundry room while we lived at a friend's house for a month and then a room of her own while we rented a friend's duplex for a month. When we bought our house, I pretty much left her room as is except for making her curtains out of a fabric I have adored forever. 

So before we find out the baby's gender, I'm nesting for Quinn. I just finished painting her new room a very light gray. She will be using my childhood metal bed frame and we spray painted it yellow (her favorite color). Next up is curtains and a new ceiling light. I've started working on a quilt for her using the fabric from her old curtains as a starting point because I just can't help but think of her when I see it. It's so cheery, girly, and playful. Plus, the new baby will need signature curtains of their own. 

Aside from all the nesting, we've been pretty busy. We've had some visitors, some playdates, some birthday parties, cake club, and other fun. Hopefully I'll get back in my groove of writing because Quinn is changing so much every day!

We built a house for the Hello Kitties. 

That's six kitties and a giraffe in one house for a tea party. And you thought your house was too small to entertain!

In all seriousness though, this article about gratitude is very inspiring.

Moments after I took that picture, Quinn came into the room and started sharing the Gospel with the kitties...kind of. Luckily I caught it on video.

So, get out there! Share Christ with your neighbors, invite people over, remember that all that you have is from the Lord.