Watching My Baby Sleep

Watching my baby sleep.




Is like watching a part of me breathe outside my body.




It is the gift of seeing peace.




Her rest is mine and yet I am awake.




The sweet arch of her lip and crease of her chin




four years and they are unchanged.




Is it possible an angel rests beside me?




Can she really be mine?




To be trusted with such things...




It can only mean this...




I am truly loved by someone.




Author of my story.




The gift of immeasurably more.




My heart is yours...




and I fall more in love




with every breath that she takes.

Small and orange and round and lovely...

Yesterday I got to head out on a field trip with Carter's Pre-Scool class. They were off to a quaint little working pumpkin farm. I was a little curious to see how 16 three and four year old's would behave on the loose, but their teacher runs a tight ship and they were perfect little angels. The tour began with a look at a few of the animals on the farm. Turkey's (aka someones Thanksgiving dinner)...

My little munchkin's personal fave the cats and their kittens...

She was particularly fond of this little black kitten who seemed to follow her around the rest of the day...

which made her smile...

On to the next animals...

I whole herd of these guys (I felt a little like The Pioneer Woman as I was taking this pic)...

Nothing like watching a cow eat a pumpkin, now that's something you don't see everyday...

It was then time to head out in search of the perfect pumpkin...

It didn't take her long...

Small and orange and round and lovely the pumpkin from the patch was looking (hummed to the tune of The Girl From Ipanema)...

These kids were so well behaved they even managed to get a group photo...

That was until a certain little black kitten got the attention of a certain little girl...

She was a lost cause at that point...

What a wonderful day with my little punkin'!

Monday Carter Edition #48~Gray Day

Gray day...everything is gray. I watch but nothing moves today. ~Dr. Seuss

Today was gray. It's definitely fall again here on Whidbey Island. The wind threatens to blow you away and the rain makes things just a bit more complicated. No matter how gray the day Monday Carter and her smile tend to brighten things up a bit (so gray my flash was going off at 9 o'clock this morning)...

She was also exercising her imagination and came home for the third or fourth time in the last week telling me about her "brother Marcus". Apparently she has decided that a boy in her class named Marcus is her brother. I asked her how he felt about this and she said he told her, "I am not your brother." This gave me quite a laugh. I can just see her insisting that he is, which probably leaves him feeling a bit confused.

In other news my Christmas Card Designs are officially up for grabs over at SCOOP. And I also just posted the winner of my giveaway! Feel free to meander over and browse...I am offering the designs at $25 as opposed to the normal price of $30 for anyone who orders in the next two weeks. So, if you like a little bargain this one's for you!

She even has teeth!

This past week Carter had Open House at pre-school. We have been looking forward to it for a few weeks. She made us an invitation and kept us on pins and needles by telling us about all the wonderful "crafts" she was making to show us. When Wednesday night rolled around we were just beside ourselves with anticipation. As soon as we entered the room she immediately started telling us about all of her projects, a book all about her...

A scarecrow (that she was quick to tell us she had drawn flowers all over)...

A pumpkin (she knew which one was hers because it had teeth, the only one with teeth I might add)...

She and her good friend Lydia showed off their monthly calendar...

And, as we ooohed and ahhhhed over all of her creations I realized that the pride she felt was very similar to my own. I mean just look at her...3 and a half feet of blonde hair, blue eyes and an ear to ear grin. Don't get me wrong, she has her moments, and lately they come with an overdose of sass. But, I find myself feeling the same way about her that she does her masterpieces. I have to refrain from having my own "Open House" everyday. It would be so easy to give in and tell every person we meet, "Look! She sings, dances, and can write her ABC's! Oh, and she even has teeth!"

I'm sure it is the stuff that all parents blood is made of. But, there is something so amazing about looking at a little person that you had a role in creating and just marveling in all the complex things that make them tick. I think the term is sometimes overused, but gosh, we sure are blessed...

Hey Punkin' it's Fall!

When we woke up this morning my little punkin' was in the mood to do some baking. We needed something quick, easy and preferably fall themed. Carter loves (that is sort of an understatement) the Pumpkin Bread at Starbucks and I found this fabulously easy Pumpkin Bread recipe at a great little site Lickable Spoon...

It literally took my sassy assistant and I 5, maybe 10 minutes, to whip together the ingredients...

We only had one can of pumpkin on hand so we halved the recipe and just made one loaf...


It was seriously the tastiest and moistest Pumpkin Bread I have ever had.
Just had to share...make it tomorrow, your little punkin's will thank you!

Color me Happy!

I love the home design site for children ohdeedoh. They have several new posts daily on fun finds and decorative suggestions for kids rooms. They are currently having a contest called Small Kids, Big Color. While we are quite limited in the paint on walls department (living in base housing has its restrictions) I have still enjoyed trying to make our little munchkin's room as colorful as possible! So, in spite of our lack of paint, I decided to go ahead and enter Carter's room and thought I would post the pic's here as well (let's face it, rarely is it so clean and presentable so I might as well show it off)!

But, you know what my favorite thing about this room is?

The little girl that lives in it!

Cinderella

This past weekend was the annual Navy Ball. Nate and I have actually never attended before (due to the fact that he has never been here) but, this year we were planning on going. I had scheduled a babysitter almost a month ago but last Tuesday she had "something come up." Ahhhh, the dreaded words in mommyland. I was beginning to feel a bit like Cinderella but, lucky for me another gal came through in a pinch (thanks Stefanie) and I was able to go to the ball after all! I realize I'm making the whole event sound pretty spectacular...when, in reality, it ranks about a 3 on the spectacular scale. But, when my Prince Charming "has to" attend there is no place else I would rather be than by his side...

We are always happy to hang out with our compadres the Vaughns (aren't they cute)...

Carter was so excited about seeing some dressed up gals, she wanted to get in on the picture taking action...

She is our favorite accessory...

Time to hit the town...

We headed over for a little get together at our XO's house, I'm lucky to have made some really good girlfriends in our squadron...

So glad this gal will be coming to Texas with me...

That's right, it's official, our little trio is TEXAS bound! More on that soon. But, one thing is for sure, Prince Charming and I could not be happier to be heading home to the great state we love...

Monday Carter Edition #47~BOO!

Fall has officially arrived and Monday Carter has just one thing to say about it...


BOO to YOU!!

I don't even eat eggplant...

...but apparently this month there you are, being all eggplanty...

I may not be a big eggplant fan, but I can appreciate the color combo. I'm really digging the plumb and olive contrast! You are tossing, turning and kicking like nobodies business and we all LOVE it! This can only mean one thing you are growing. What?? Don't believe me?? Well, I have the photos to prove it...

Your sister even decided she needs to start measuring you (she also asks me daily if I'm having contractions yet and informs me that when I do I'll need to get ready to "PUSH", which she illustrates fully "pushing" face and all...thank you so much TLC for your show A Baby Story, what would I do without a mini-Lamaze coach)....

Hey month 6...ready or not, here we come!!

Modern & Bright GIVEWAY!!!

After debuting my 12 Designs of Christmas here is your chance to win the design of your choice! The contest will run through next Saturday at Midnight! In order to enter all you have to do is head over to Scoop and leave a comment on the giveaway post telling what your favorite design was. For a second chance to win you can become a follower of my Scoop blog, for a third follow Scoop on Facebook, and for a fourth mention this giveaway on Facebook or your blog!! (Please let me know in your comment if you are doing any of these things that qualify you for an extra entry). Good luck, and may the best gal (or man) win!!

On the twelfth day of Christmas...

...the design that came to me...

Inspiration

*full photo card that can be customized with any verse or saying you like