my worker bees

my worker bees, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

yep. I've been taking the role as queen bee latley and I've been putting my worker(s) to work. "nesting" in the baddest way- as Erik put it. Everything has to be done and I want it done NOW!!!
Erik laughs at me.. "like the baby is going to care if the kitchen outlets are shiny and new! HA!" but ya know- to me it matters... I think a lot of it is me trying to finish up anything around the house that bugs me- I figure I'll be here more, and be less able to get tasks accomplished, and that is why, my friends, the paint on the ceiling in the bathroom- never bothered me before... but now it MUST be re-painted white like the rest of the ceiling... and it must be done NOW! THIS weekend.
With Derby this weekend, MAYBE I can let us a bit and we can just hang out and enjoy ourselves... I just know that we theoretically have 12 weekends left... and that at least one of those shouldn't be counted- because there will always be surprises...or because my belly will be too big, and get in the way of MY productivity. Two of those weekends are graduations for our sisters... and one of them is a yard sale (where we'll hope to get rid of all the 'junk' around here, you know- piles of stuff that didn't bother me before- but now it needs to get out of the house NOW!)... leaving us with...10 weekends!! A mere 10 weekends to complete it all...

sleepy boy!, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

So, yeah. I'm a slave driver for now.

Can't even swing around here with out passing out from exaustion because of the morning's work.

you won't see this on women's pants

you won't see this on women's pants, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Unless maybe they are maternity pants- and then they'll promise to fit perfectly the whole 9 (10) months... but that's a lie.

Guess 'they' know that men dress for comfort and women dress for looks? I don't know that I dress to impress too much any more- so I sure wish that 'they' would make some pants for me with an extra hidden inch of comfort!

Fresh Cut lampshade

Fresh Cut lampshade, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

So here's what I've been working on the past few days during nap time. I used the instructions from here... and here. I had this fabric leftover from the quilt I made for my mom for Christmas. I really do love Heather Bailey's Freshcut fabric collection. I was thrilled when I had fabric leftover from making the quilt (due to a misprint in the pattern)- and even more thrilled when we found out that we'd have a little girl- because I can totally see adding a few of the other fabrics from the freshcut line to this room so that we don't have to paint it a girly color (yeah- less work!) and so that the rocking chair you see beside the table in the picture will still work in the room. Man alive- that rocking chair is the BEST for rocking a baby back to sleep in the middle of the night- trust me- That chair and I have LOTS of history.

Thomas' baptism

Thomas' baptism, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Sunday was the Baptism. Thomas slep through it all- and only woke up to throw a fit when we put his gown on. An awesome reception followed with 'traditional Pennsylvania" reception food: meatballs sandwiches, stuffed shells, macaroni salad and a different kind of potato salad, it was great!

The ride home was good too- Matthew again didn't throw a fit and was an awesome traveler the whole way.

Cotton Candy

Cotton Candy, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

On Saturday Matthew got some cotton candy at the school's celebration for something or other... We all got to try some "wuter ice" (water ice). WOW. so much better than an Icee or whatever. So yummy and so difficult to describe.

Day 4 and 5

IMG_2178, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Day 4 was a great day at IKEA where we ended up with a new dresser for Matthew's big boy room, a nice throw pillow for the sofa and some 'art' for the kitchen. It was also our anniversary- what a rockin' day!

Day 5 we went to the Constitution(al?) Museum where we saw statues of all of the signers of the constitution. Matthew was just a little freaked out by all the bronze life size people.

IMG_2209, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

We also got to see the Liberty Bell, which is roped off because someone who visited started to hit it with a hammer a few years back. Up until then, you could walk up and touch the thing of you wanted to.

IMG_2213, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Then we went on a duck boat tour. We got these great duck whistles to blow at people as we drove by. Matthew thought it was pretty cool once he got the hang of it. He also loved yelling at people as we drove by "Mahoo a riding a BOAT!" It was later in the afternoon when we started our tour, and Matthew sadly didn't make it to the water part... his head was bobbing... He did wake up for just a bit after we ended up in the water... to sleepily wave and then pass out again...

Day 3

shopping, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

On the third day we went to the Please Touch Museum and Matthew had a BLAST. His favorite things were 'shopping', 'drive driving a tractor' and 'drive bus, daddy work'.

driving dad to work, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Day 2 of Fun

paying another toll, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Well, paying tolls wasn't a ton of fun...

meeting baby Thomas, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

but meeting Thomas was!

Matthew kept calling him Shiloh for about the first 3 days...

Day 1, Part 3

the guys, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

So, yeah. We headed to the monuments- we saw the Washington monument, the new WWII monument, the reflecting pond (which was MUCH cleaner than when my family visited years ago), the Lincoln monument and the Capitol. It was a LOT of walking, and that's why we opted for a longer metro ride and to skip seeing the white house.

crying, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

and here's Matthew's big fit of the trip, because we wouldn't let him stomp through the puddles. If he'd have had a change of pants, well, then MAYBE we could have let him, but with the cold and windy day- it wasn't a good day to be wearing wet pants... you just have to draw the line somewhere.

Matthew at the capitol, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

He did get to run and run and run at the Capitol though. And was quite happy about that.

waiting for the train, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

So happy to ride the Metro 'train'... I think he'd have fallen asleep during our ride if he hadn't been SO excited to be riding something different. He did pass out in the truck on the way back to Mike's... and slept ALL NIGHT until AFTER Erik and I woke up. Amazing what a busy day will do.

Day 1, Part 2- the Air and Space Museum

a family picture, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

The 2nd part of our busy day was the Air and Space museum.
This museum is the newer of the two, and is located away from 'The Mall' in DC where all of the monuments are located.

Matthew was thrilled to look at all of the airplanes- His only 'complaint' was that he couldn't climb on them to 'ride' like he could the 'tractors'.

wow! airplanes!, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

He had a great time running around in the large open walkways, and there were just enough people NOT there that we didn't have to worry about his getting lost in a croud if he ran just a little too far. The Museum was a huge open 'garage' of sorts with airplanes in the middle and hanging from the ceilings with other displays by the walls.

shoulder ride, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

He also had a great time pretending to be an airplane himself- especially while riding high on dad's shoulders.

waiting for the metro, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Next we headed to a place where we could park and ride the Metro into DC, a 45 minute ride.... which Matthew slept though. It was sad becasue we knew he'd have LOVED to ride the 'train' but good, because the boy needed a nap!

Day 1 of fun, part 1

riding in the truck, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

So, hooray- we made it home safe!

There were so many days FILED with fun, and SO many cute and fun pictures to share, that I think I'll be trying to relive each day day by day here on the blog... perhaps in more than one post per day.

first day started with moving the car seat over to Uncle Mike's truck. Matthew couldn't have been more thrilled to be riding in "a mikul truck". We headed over to Mike's work site in the drizzling rain.

initial excitement, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Matthew was really happy to get to SEE so many huge earth movers ("tractors") and even more thrilled when he was told he could pick which one he wanted to climb up on.

"driving", originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

he chose the biggest of all first... and "drove" for about... 20 seconds...

I wanna ride that one!, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

After climbing the first, it became a marathon of climbing up and down and choosing the next 'tractor' to 'ride'.

big digger, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Matthew was such a happy boy and would have spent the day there if we'd have let him...

dirty shoes, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

but we started to get REALLY dirty (it was a good thing we'd packed an extra pair of clothes for the little guy...) and had to go clean up in Mike's office.

Matthew cried for just a bit, but we had an Air and Space Museum to get to so we could see all of the airplanes!

No pictures again...

So, Sadly our computer/ Erik's lap top won't connect to the Internet here, so I'm on borrowed computers and time... Pictures and descriptions will have to wait. :)

so... Monday we traveled and such- yesterday we went to the please touch museum- Matthew had a blast- if you ask him what he did yesterday, He'll tell you that he went shopping (in their kid sized grocery store) and drove a tractor.

We got to try some yummy cheese steak for lunch- and I was even able to eat, though I'd been feeling sick for a while... I think I'm better now (knocking on wood, crossing my fingers).

Today we're off to Ikea and to try to find me some dressier (non heeled) shoes for the Baptism. I have no ability to walk in heeled shoes now- none at all, I'm sure I'd end up flat on my face.

Baby it's cold outside

We spent the day around town and in DC yesterday while visiting Uncle Mike! (Matthew's uncle- not mine or Erik's)

We started out by visiting Mike's work site where Matthew has his pick of tractors to "ride", then we headed to the air and space museum, had a pizza lunch and drove to park and ride the Metro- which Matthew was asleep for. We toured around the monuments and had a great dinner and then a very exciting 'train ride' bck- which Matthew was THRILLED about...

hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures of our adventure later in the day, we're off on the next leg of our trip later this morning- Philly!

Slackin'

KA CHOW, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Yep. I've been missing- and for no real reason at all... Just hanging out at home in my slippers... well, not really. I've been getting stuff ready for a trip to Philly! We're headed out tomorrow and looking forward to the fun things to come. Today we recieved our itennerary from our Travel Agent and it goes something like this:

**************
Monday: Day of rest! If you arrive and it is still daylight, we could take Matthew to a nearby park to play, or to Grey Towers Castle on campus.

Tuesday: Historic Philadelphia and the Constitution Center (we could take a "Duck Tour" if you'd like) and cheesteaks!

Wednesday: Depending on what time Stuart and Sarah arrive, the ladies can zip over to Ikea while the men whatch the kiddies.

Thursday: Reading terminal in the morning -- Please Touch Museum in the afternoon (better to go here in the afternoon due to crazy class trips!)

Friday: Adventure Aquarium at the Camden Riverfront

Saturday: free day!

***********


man! Makes me want to take a nap...

W sleeping, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Well- I don't know if I need a nap THAT bad!
(I don't see how this could be more comfortable than last time...)

****WOW! I didn't even know what a Duck tour was before posting this- looks like a TON of fun!****