As promised, Emily has supplied MUCH better pictures of the Red Barn Festival.
Thanks Emily. Your talent is truly a treasure!

Fall is here- well, at least it looks like it's here!

It's still gorgeous 70 degree weather with a tiny breeze. I would never guess it's almost Halloween. We have been going to all kinds of fun fall activities. These first photos are of a "fire safety class" that our complex held for the kids this morning. I invited Erin, Jed and Benjamin and I'm so glad they came. I think Erin had as much fun as the kids and Paul and Jed played with the airplanes that the firemen gave us more than any of the kids did too. It was fun for Eirik and Ben to climb into the fire truck and ambulance and hear the sirens and see all the equipment. They loved the cookies and free firemen hats too.





These pictures are of a really fun party that the hospital threw for all the students and their families at a place called Fun Acres. There were all kinds of games, animals for the kids to feed, a corn maze and pizza and cider in the barn. It was great to meet some of the people Paul has been getting to know and to see all of our friends. The kids loved it. And the light was gorgeous. The hay ride was the best. Eirik woke up talking about it in the morning.






Anona, Erin, Christine and I all went out to Apple Charlie's this week too. We let the boys pick apples off of the trees and we watched the ducks and geese and saw a whole slew of other animals in pens. The boys loved it, except Eirik was driving me nuts since I guess he was ready for a nap at 10:00 instead of his usual 12:30/1:00. He was so tired he kept falling down in the rotten apples and making me carry him everywhere (he says, "mommy, cavy, cavy" or "mommy, hold it" and then he whines and whines. We skipped the pumpkin patch on account of the whining and the fact that Eirik sat down right in the mud and became caked in mud. No big deal if I didn't have to carry him everywhere. :) In the end, it was for sure worth going, and what great women I get to hang out with!

I finally got my haircut last night, and Paul got dragged into giving me a pedicure. What a sweetheart! I feel spoiled and renewed. I also made Paul document my haircut since I have hated my hair for so long. It's better! I'm glad. I really always will be a short hair girl from now on. What was I thinking!!!


Thanks for everyone's nice comments on my last whiny post. I think we all have those days, but you are all so kind!

51 Days Left

This is one of those vent posts where I tell you my woes and we all laugh and hopefully it helps me stop whining.
51 days left of pregnancy seems like such a short time... if it's someone else! I have to say this pregnancy has been nothing to complain about. I have been surprisingly well and uninhibited by this little man growing inside me, until this week. It seems like my body was holding on until the Red Barn Festival and then I came home and crashed. I've been exhausted, panting going up the stairs, unable to roll over without pain in bed, not sleeping as well, stretching like homemade taffy on a jig and just sore. I know, I know, it's all to be expected and it's nothing really, but I guess I'm just feeling more emotional about it all. There it is.. it's the hormones or something that blew up this week, because the rest is different, but not that different. Anyway, I'm lucky because Erin and Anona insisted on watching Eirik this morning so I could sleep, and I can't say how grateful I am for friends that act like family here. Thanks girls!
We're all getting excited for this little one to get here. Eirik loves to give my tummy hugs and likes to cry out "Chorn (Joren) ugs... ugs.. (hugs)" over and over until I come over and let him wrap his little arms around my huge belly. It's really cute and I think he really understands now. I showed him a picture or two of a baby inside a tummy in an anatomy book and I think he got it then. We talk about babies all the time and he's pretty excited.

We're pretty set on this name, but no one order anything that says Joren Paul or anything crazy like that... we are bound to change our minds at the last minute. (I speak for my husband mostly.) So here's the first pictures of our little man. Just in time for Halloween. JK. He does look a little skelital, but you can tell he's going to be pretty cute I think. His nose isn't really missing, it's just shoved up against the side of my uterus so it's hard to photograph. I love my doctor who does these 3D ultrasounds with each visit!

Of all of us, of course I'm the most excited about Joren coming though because I'm not happy about all the weight I'm gaining and the way my hips are streeeetching and no one has to say anything about how cute my beach ball belly is... I'm not asking for that, it's just a lot more weight than I gained last time and I'm worried. I always gain extra weight starting in October so I have to remember and not let the hormones speak for me. I just look awful now though and am dreaming of the days when I looked like this.... Oh well. ha ha... Paul does look like he's about to cry, but I promise it's not that bad to be married to me. :)


I'm getting my hair cut finally on Friday and hopefully that will help my mood. I hate going to a new stylist. It always stresses me out. It seems like stylist don't understand what it is like to hate your hair and have it be a stress since they got into doing hair because they love their hair and can do anything with it and it will look good. They're often so unsympathetic! I hope my new stylist gets me and tries to help me out of the hair mess I'm in with dignity.

Speaking of dignity....
Katherine dared me to post some embarrassing photos of me when I was a child. I finally have them scanned and I am posting them just to show that I have no shame and I'm not afraid of a dare... And with this post, I extend a challenge and dare to all of my viewers to also offer up some, or at least one, of your most embarrassing childhood photos. It's only fair!

Red Barn Festival!

I had a lot of people give me the "you are crazy" look this weekend. I drove to Kirksville, MO - (supposedly a 10.5 hour drive- for some reason it took me 12!) to exhibit my paintings in a booth at the Red Barn Festival. I wanted to make this crazy trek at 7 months pregnant for a couple of reasons.
1st- I wanted to see my K-ville friends that I miss so much.
2nd- When I moved to Michigan I immediately realized that I needed something to keep me busy that would help me transition to living in a new place. Emotionally I always do better when I'm busy and creating. Red Barn was perfect because it was a close deadline, - lots of pressure- and it was almost a guaranteed success since I didn't need to invest very much money to make it happen.
3rd- I like a challenge. :)

I had a wonderful time seeing so many of my old buddies and giving/ getting lots of hugs, having lunch with old friends and renewing friendships. Going back really made it apparent to me just how wonderful it is to live in a small town and develop close friendships with so many people.
I shared the booth space with three other very talented artists who all showed great work. Debbie, Tasheena and Rachel are awesome and our work all really seemed to flow together well. The day went really well when I overlook the sopping wet setup and cold wet aftermath of the rain, and the $100 bill I lost somewhere during the day. The rest was great. I actually sold enough paintings and prints to pay for the costs of the gas and the prints and to make a tiny bit of money on the deal. I call it a success, even if I am not much richer for the experience.

A few of my pictures turned out really blury, but luckily for me, my awesome friend Emily drove up from St. Louis and photographed all of us and is sending the pics to me soon. Thank you Emily!!! You are awesome!
I'll update the pics as soon as I have them.
Thanks everyone who made this weekend so fun!

A Brother is coming!!!!

Paul and I have been trying to prepare Eirik for the coming of a little brother. He is in a stage right now where he is very, exasperatingly needy. He won't let me leave the room he is in without a tantrum. This concerns me since very soon some of his needs will have to be superseded by a new baby. We've been reading a bunch of books about new babies and little siblings and we have been talking about the baby at least once a day. I think this exacerbates the problem for Eirik because he now refers to himself as the baby and wants to be held and rocked and sung to like a baby more often than he used to. Still, Paul has really taught him to be excited by the word "brother." It's so cute how Paul gets Eirik to squeal with delight about it even though I'm not sure he knows what he's getting excited about. This video really cracks me up and sums up life in a sweet little microcosm.
(Obviously I didn't learn my lesson about filming sideways since last time!) sorry...


PS. What does everyone think of the name Joren for Eirik's little bro??? Any middle name suggestions? We are stumped..