Storm Day #2

Yesterday Erik was home again due to public transit still being down from the storm.  We miraculously made it through hurricane Sandy without loosing power!  Philly wasn't hit as hard as NJ and NYC, that's for sure.  We are thankful.

Peter Spier's Rain  is a current favorite of Meredith's - such great pictures!

...the balancing act...how many people can fit?!?

Meredith was a big helper to Daddy.

Mid-morning snack after Mama's nap #1 (yes, I was living it up having Erik home!)

A late afternoon grocery store shopping trip was made by Meredith - just in time for dinner!

Day 1: Super-Storm Sandy

Well, we've survived day 1 of this crazy storm.  And, we are thankful to still have power!  

(thus, this blog post is possible) :)

Erik was off work so the day was filled with both play and projects.

He and Meredith built an impressive mansion for her little people.  

Erik finished old barn floor boards - soon to become our kitchen shelves!

A rousing game of "hallway bowling" occupied several of us before the dinner hour. :)

With the potential of power outage, I found myself inspired to do some baking and cooking today.

Kale Potato Soup and Rye Soda Bread 

Buttermilk cake with chocolate frosting :)

Cake!  What a treat! :)

36 weeks = full term!

Yep - we are close, really close!  Today marks a full 36 weeks for me.  So, anytime this babe pops out is great...and definitely a very good idea to me!  The midwives estimate that this baby is right around the 7 lb. mark about now.  As you can see, my belly's not hiding this little one too well (Ha!) and by how I feel kicks and stretches from inside (at all hours), I know this baby is long and strong... ;)

Thanks for your prayers and support as we continue this journey - now on the homestretch! :)

P.S. These photos were taken yesterday, before the rain began.  Currently we are hunkering down out of the wind/rain and gearing up for hurricane Sandy.  We are thankful we still have power! :)

Emmeline

Our dear friends, Jenny and Adam had their baby this month - Emmeline Barbara!! :)  She is a precious wee peanut!  Yesterday we snuggled her up during our visit and first meeting of dear Emmie.  She is now 10 days old and adjusting to this new and different world fabulously.  

Congratulations Adam and Jenny - she's a beautiful gift and treasure!!

 Meredith tried out her soon-to-be new role as big sister and loved holding baby Emmie. :)

Just can't wait until we have our own tiny-toed wee babe in this home again.  Oh so soon!! :)

Dancing with Meredith

Erik and Meredith got out on our "dance floor" this week and were really putting on the moves together. :)  

36 week pregnant mama captured this video from the sidelines.  This babe does a whole lot of dancing inside me at the moment - more than my fair share I think. ;)

Little Pals :)

Yesterday was an absolutely gorgeous autumn day here.  So, Meredith and I picked up Mer's little friend, Lydia, and we spent several hours at the arboretum together.  So much fun!

What fun to have a little playmate to play peek-a-boo around the art sculptures!

Lydia looks up to Meredith so much (she is 11 months younger than Mer).  She gave her the most affectionate looks the whole morning.  

Too cute!

 I took a funny distorted photo of my belly on the side of one of the sculptures.  :)  

Heehee...my 35+ week belly is so funny!

'Twas the night before the move

'Twas the night before the move

When all through the new house

Three guys were stirring

Preparing the floor for the man and his spouse.

Yes, in a last minute effort, we decided to strip up the paint on the wood floors of our new apartment in Germantown.  Normally, we would not have undertaken this task, especially considering that we are renting.  But considering that the paint was gummy (not something we wanted with a toddler and new baby soon to be crawling all over) and peeling, we figured the effort of taking up the old paint would be easier than living with dirty, dark floors.  

I was joined by two friends (Kevin Radman and Mark Howard) and my father-in-law, Steve, and we made a day of it--stripping the paint, sanding what remained, cleaning, and finally sealing the wood.  It was quite a job, but one well worth doing.  And it provided a wonderful day of fellowship with good friends.

Here's a little before and after.

You'll also see from these two pictures (above and below), that I lightened up the room with a fresh coat of paint.  I don't know who wanted dark brown for all the walls, floor and ceiling!

These dust masks were a must, especially when working around the sanding machine.

This shows the perspective between sanding and sealing the wood.

Once we're all settled, we have more pictures of our new house, turned home.

Autumn Therapy

As we continue to settle into our new home, we've learned that it's absolutely necessary to get out of the house/boxes/chaos and soak up some beautiful autumn sunshine so we keep our sanity!  :)  Here are some photos of our ramble this week at the arboretum.

Mer loves kissing Mama's belly (34 weeks!).  

She's going to be an adoring big sister!

They have the scarecrow walk on display now - so fun!

Hmmm...which egg will hatch first???!!

Listening to the sounds of the forest with Daddy...

Autumn Art Projects

This week I found the box marked, "Meredith's art supplies" - woohoo!  So, we had some fun exploring creatively together. :)

We painted with watercolors.  I had seen a cool blog post about painting clothespins...so we tried it out.  And, Mer painted on paper too...as well as explore and experiment with the water/paint combo.

Wednesday morning we took a walk in between rain drops and picked up some beautiful autumn leaves.  Later that afternoon we sat down together and make autumn leaf suncatchers. :)  So fun!  This was such a great project for Meredith's level and she really got into it.

 She was so proud to show Daddy when he came home!

Germantown

This past Saturday marked one full week of living in Germantown in our new home.  So - instead of unpacking some more, we celebrating by being out and about in our new neighborhood! :)

Erik and Meredith attended a reenactment of the battle of Germantown mid-day and though they missed the actual event (yes, missing the reenactment was purposeful!  We aren't sure MJ is quite at the age to appreciate such intense noise and commotion), they enjoyed listening to the period instruments and viewing so many people dressed in historical costumes!

Later that evening, we all went to Grumblethorpe for an Oktoberfest celebration.  Grumblethorpe is a local and kept up 18th century home in the heart of Germantown (a mere few blocks from us!).  They have chickens and impressive gardens behind the home and caretakers keep up the home and grounds for tours and educational programs.

Meredith enjoyed drawing on a pumpkin during the evening.

(The grape vines behind me in this photo date back to the 18th century!)

And, we had AMAZING German chocolate cake and homemade/hand-cranked ice cream!

(of course Baby Ellie attended the festivities with us!) :)