Whew!!!

The month of December was so hectic for us! It kind of went by in a blur. The weekend after Thanksgiving my entire family (minus one sister) came out to help celebrate Gavin's 4th birthday. Yes, that's right - my baby boy is four years old! We had fun exploring the city - well as much exploring you can do when it's freezing out and you have four kids under four to tote around.

Right after my family left I came down with the worst cold I have ever had in my life. I do not remember ever feeling that badly before. Of course, my sickness had to linger into the weekend. Ryan's brother Jason, his wife Katie and their son Will came out for a visit. Even though I was sick, we had a fun time with them. We celebrated an early Christmas, went downtown for a bit, drove out to Ryan's grandparents for a visit and pretty much just hung out. We were so sad when it was time for them to leave!

After Jas and Kate left we had a quiet week before Christmas. All of our shopping was done and we didn't really have much to plan for. It was just going to be us this year. We went to church on Christmas Eve and then came home and stayed home for the next few days. It was wonderful. It was a great time for us to relax as a family and spend time playing with Gavin and all of his new toys! I look at it as the calm before the storm - the "storm" being baby coming.

I am at 36 weeks now and am counting down the days. I've been very busy the last week or so cleaning like crazy and cooking and freezing meals. My sciatica is FINALLY gone - that was rough - so I feel more like myself again. I am trekking out to the Dr.'s every week now, which is super annoying.

Well, I guess I am just rambling. I will try and be better about keeping up with this thing! I hate to say it, but facebook is so much easier! But I love my google reader and keeping up with everyone blogs! I am sure I will be posting like crazy once the baby is born!

Hope you all had a great 2008! I am so looking forward to what 2009 brings our family!

Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving came and went so quickly! I can hardly believe it is over with already. Ryan's parents came to stay with us over the weekend. We had a wonderful time. I made my first Thanksgiving dinner. I have to say, it was a lot of work but TONS of fun. I really enjoyed doing it. I learned a lot - the most important thing being: never make that much food for five people again. I went a little bit overboard. I guess I just got a little too excited about it all.

After we stuffed ourselves that night we got to open our Christmas presents from Ryan's parents. We aren't going to be able to be with them this year and they wanted to see us open our gifts! I am a huge kid when it comes to opening gifts I was so excited. I think I tore into mine just as fast as Gavin did! My in laws are so generous and give us so much! We loved everything and had fun opening them up. Gavin got a double dose b/c he got to open his Birthday gifts too!

Friday morning Ryan's mom and I woke up at 5:30 to go shopping. It's the first time I've ever gone shopping on black Friday. I am pretty sure I'd do it again. We didn't have that bad of an experience. We just went to Target and got some deals and came home.

Friday night we went to the Lincoln Park Zoo for their "Zoo Lights". It was relatively warm (well, it's alwasy hot to me these days), so it was really nice. The lights were fun and we got to see some animals and Gavin even got a cookie.

Saturday we headed downtown in the a.m. and went to Navy Pier. They Christmas decorations are so festive. I love it! We only spent an hour or so there and then we headed out to Ryan's aunts house for another Thanksgiving feast. There was food and family galore! We always have with with Ryan's cousins and aunts and uncles.

Sunday was the sad day. It was time for Grandma and Grandpa to leave. We headed out to church the same time that they left to go home. Gavin didn't know quite what was going on. When we got to church he looked around and said, "Where's Grandma Sue?" I guess he thougth they were meeting us there!

Overall it was a great Thanksgiving. I was missing my family a lot, but I am taking comfort in the fact that they are all pulling in tomorrow for a nice long weekend visit. I've almost recouped from last weekend and now I get to turn around and do it all over again! It's worth it, though! I love being with our family.

We hope your Thanksgiving was as good as ours!

Baby News:

I just thought I'd give a Charlotte update - I had a dr.'s appointment today and everything looks good. We are at 31 weeks and a few days. Every keeps asking me if I am "sure they got the due date right." I just make big babies! The dr. told me the second one usually increases by a lb. I am not sure if I can handle a 9lb. 12oz. baby! We grow 'em big!

Conversations in the Car

We are riding in the car this morning taking Ryan to work and all is quiet. We were just listening to some music. All of the sudden, Gavin pipes up and this is what transpires:

Gavin: When did you get married?
Me: Seven Years ago
Gavin: Were you a princess?
Me: Well, I had a fancy dress . . .
Gavin: Well, Daddy didn't have a prince outfit on.
Me: He had a nice suit on.
Gavin: Yeah, it was black, I really liked it.
Gavin: Was I there?
Me: No, you weren't born yet
Gavin: I was in your belly still?
Me: No, God hadn't created you yet
Gavin: Did you get married at the Disney Store?
Me: No
Gavin: Did you get married in Africa?
Me: No
Gavin: Well, that would have been really cool.

I don't know where he comes up with this stuff or how his thought process jumps from the Disney Store to Africa! He's such a crack up sometimes! I love it!

Sneak Peak

Well, it's not done yet, but here are some pics of Charlotte's room.

We aren't allowed to paint, so this is fabric that I put on the wall above the crib. I was told that you could use a corn starch paste to stick the fabric to the wall. I googled it and voila! It worked!

C is for Charlotte!

I got the giant letter C from JoAnn Fabrics (with a 40% coupon, I have to add) and then painted it brown, punched out all the circles and went crazy with the decoupage! Ryan hung it up for me!

Here is the view from the doorway. I am still waiting on my (FREE) changing table. It is traveling here from Michigan over Thanksgiving weekend. Once I get that, I'll post pics from the other side and the wall decor I did over there.

This was my latest idea. I bought this hanging thing from Ikea over a year ago and decided to re purpose it. I used my left over fabric and cut out circles and applied them with some good old fabric glue. I love how it turned out! I should have taken a before picture!

I have to say, when I envisioned having a girl I always thought I'd go pink, pink and more PINK! However, I love how this theme is turning out!

I don't mess around!

Christmas is by far my favorite Holiday. I usually wait until about the third week into November to put up the tree. However, Ryan had the day off and we were rearranging things to make room in our storage space. I suggested we get the Christmas stuff out, so we wouldn't bury it in the back behind everything. Well, then it was all out and I made the mistake of opening up some of the boxes. We weren't really doing anything else so . . . we went ahead and put it up! I love it. Gavin was really loving it. Although, I think I may have confused him a bit b/c he knows his birthday comes right before Christmas. He asked me if I was going to set up his birthday after he went to bed! He had a great time cluttering the ornaments around the bottom of the tree. He didn't mind when we moved them around, though.




He still hasn't taken off the Santa hat, either. He ever wore it to Target and the grocery store today!

Charlotte's Room

We are slowly but surely getting Charlotte's room all organized and put together. Since I wasn't sure if we were going to be able to find out the gender, I had to pick a neutral color scheme. I didn't want to go all out and redo the whole nursery like we did with Gavin, but I really liked this set at Target by Dwell Studio called Circles. So, I am going off of these colors but am not going to buy the set. This is the blanket that I made for the room,

I have a few other projects in the works, as well. I am sure I'll post a pic of the finished product, whenever that may be . . . We aren't allowed to paint the walls in our apt., so that is a HUGE bummer to me. But, I am getting over it! It just makes me have to kick the creativity into a higher gear!

We really have been blessed beyond measure with gifts and hand-me-downs. So far we have received:
1. lots of adorable little outfits from family and friends(I am sure we will subject Charlotte to some sort of fashion show that borders on torture for her once she is born).
2.We already had a crib, but we were given a mattress.
3.We were just given a beautiful changing table.
4.My sister in law is handing down lots of clothes that her girls wore.

I'd say we are pretty much prepared! I know that the Lord will always provide for our needs, but I am amazed at how He constantly provides for our wants as well! What provisions has he made for you this week?

pumpkin carving!

We carved up our big pumpkin last night. It was such a job! Of course, Ryan and I did all the work. Gavin doesn't like to get all gooey. Seriously, who's kid is this? Anyway, here is our end result!


and some pics along the way

27 week belly pics

Here's baby Charlotte at 27 weeks!

Hair Cut

While I was in Michigan I got my hair chopped off! Nine inches, to be exact. I know this because I actually have the ponytail to prove it. No, I am one of those weird people who is/was attached to her hair! I am donating it through the Pantene Beautiful Lengths drive. It is not something I would have done on my own. However, after reading this post by my friend Brenda, I decided to take the plunge. She is organizing a big event to get 50 - 100 people to participate. Here is a before and after:

Favorite Fall Picture

This is, and I think always will be, my favorite Fall picture. Gavin was 10 months old when this was taken. I put it up every Fall as part of my fall decor. I just love those chubber cheeks!

Bean Boy

I don't know I got so lucky, but my boy LOVES raw, green vegetables. Here he is snacking on some green beans fresh from the farmers market.

G is for Gavin

Gavin and I have been learning all of the letters and the sounds they make. With each letter we usually do some fun crafts, trace the letter quite a few times, learn a Bible verse that starts with that letter and learn a Bible story as well. For the letter G we:

Baked and decorated ginger bread cookies

Told the story of David and Goliath

Made a giant goliath and threw "rocks" at him

Memorized I John 4:8 - God is love

It's had its up's and downs, but for the most part it has been going well. There are a few things that Gavin DOESNT like about it. He does not like 'sit time/self control'. I make him sit still with hands folded and mouth closed for about three minutes every day. That way when we are in public and he is getting too riled up all I have to do is say, "Gavin, sit time/self control" and he closes that mouth! (I learned this trick from my super mom of a cousin, Beth!)

He also has a hard time with "book time". Book time, like sit time/self control, involves keeping the mouth shut. This is by far the hardest thing in the world for Gavin. I increase book time by five minutes or so every week. We've made it up to about 1/2 hour of silently looking at books. I am hoping that this will be so valuable to me when baby Charlotte is here and she is nursing! For now, it gives me some peace and quit to do some reading of my own!

Well, here are some pictures of Gavin and his ginger bread cookies

Michigan

Today Gavin and I are on the trian and on our way to Michigan! I love Michigan in the Fall! I am so excited to spend six days with family and friends! We have plans to go to a Cider Mill, celebrate some birthdays, go to Greenfield Village (Gavin's favorite) and have our annual Dobbertin Family Harvest Party. Gavin is excited to see all of his cousins, grandmas and grandpas and aunts and uncles! I am sure I will have lots of pictures to post when we get back! Hope you all have a great week!

Pumpkin Puree and Pumpkin Muffins

Last year I started using an actual pumpkin for my baking instead of buying it in the can. To be honest, the taste is not that much different, but I love it anyway. I love baking from scratch! Today Gavin and I made these yummy pumpkin muffins. I made half with chocolate chips and half with out. It was fun. Although, I was on my own when it came to getting the guts out of the pumpkin. Gavin did not want to get "gooey". What a nerd! Anyway, here is the recipe we used. It was very easy, time consuming, but easy!

Ingredients
1.5 cups of all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice*
1 cup sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract

* pumpkin pie spice = 1/2 t cinnamon, 1/4 t of ginger, 1/8 t cloves and 1/8 t of nutmeg!

Directions:
In a large bowl add the sugar, pumpkin, oil, eggs and vanilla. Beat well to combine. In a smaller bowl stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pumpkin spice. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir just until moistened. Spoon into greased muffin tins, filling 2/3 full. Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes. Yields 1 dozen.

This recipe is very versatile. It can be used to make a quick bread as well. I also like to add a 1/2 cup of chocolate chips to the batter. If you are making it as a bread bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour.

This year don't just carve your pumpkin - EAT IT!

Another thing checked off my list!

We've been slowly making room for baby girl for awhile now. One of the things we had to do was to move our "office" out of the spare bedroom and into the front living room. Ever since we've done that its been in a revolving state of organization and chaos. I can never seem to keep it clean for more than a few days. The problem being there aren't enough spaces/places to put everything. Well, leave it to Brenda to give me some inspiration! After reading her post on her nifty mail center, I went to work! I ended up making a mail center and organizing everything else as well! I even added some decorative elements. Now, I love my workspace and don't mind that it is out in the open for all to see! Thanks Brenda!

I added some of Gavin's art work to the left there and I covered my white file holders up on the shelf with some decorative paper. You can't really see any of that really well.

This is the mail center. I actually had enough room to add more things than just the mail. I was able to add a spot for recipes I look up online, crafts I want to do eventually and even a folder for the organizing and decorating ideas that I clip from magazines!

Answered Prayer

I had a dr.'s appointment today. I was going to be seeing a different dr. than I normally do. My Dr. had to go out of town at the last minute. I had been planning on asking my dr. to do another ultrasound to try and get a peek at the gender of our little one. When I found out that I would not be seeing MY dr, I was a little concerned. I knew I wouldn't feel comfortable asking this new dr that I had never met. Since I found out this new information, I began to pray. I prayed specifically that the dr would offer to check for me without me having to ask at all. I knew it wasn't likely for him to take time out of his busy day to check this insignificant (not to me, but to him) thing. But I still prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed. I really wanted to know the sex of this baby. So, we head into my appointment and I am sure you can guess what happened:

Dr. Says : Hi, I'm Dr. so and so
Shake hands
Ryan: Hi! I'm Ryan
Me: I'm Suzanne
Dr.: Who is this?
Ryan; This is Gavin
literally next sentence:
Dr.: Do you know what you are having?
Me: No, the baby wouldn't cooperate at the ultrasound
Dr.: Well, I'd be happy to take a look, if you want
Me (inwardly): WHO HOO
Me (audibly): that would be wonderful

two minutes later we were looking at our beautiful baby girl. Talk about a specific answer to prayer. God cares so much even for the small things in our lives!

Then Gavin pipes up: I didn't want a girl, I wanted a boy!
He's excited now, but it just took a minute. He just knows he wont be able to wrestle with Charlotte Mae Dobbertin.

Harvest Days

Gavin and I have been enjoying some fall crafting. We got this idea from the October Issue of Martha Stewart. Gavin has been seeing lots of Fall decor on peoples houses and expressed interest in adding some of our own. Gavin wanted to hang these in our front windows for all to see.



We decided to make a fall scene to hang up in Gavin's room. I think (okay, I know!) I had more fun with this than Gavin did. He enjoyed using the glue and he loved the idea, but I just went a little over board. At one point I wouldn't allow him to touch it anymore because he was trying to pick off the hay.

The Lincoln Park Zoo had some Free Fall festivities this past weekend. We got to pick and decorate a pumpkin, make a visor, watch a real John Deere blacksmith at work, and ride on some battery powered John Deere's. It was pretty cool. Gavin, of course, loved all the John Deere stuff!





I hope you are all enjoying your Fall! We sure are!

Peter Pan

So, hooray for the Disney Store putting their costumes at 40% off already. I was planning on making Gavin's costume this year. Then I saw how cute this one was and saw the price, I was SOLD! I think I could have made it for maybe $5 less and it wouldn't have looked nearly as cute. Gavin has hardly taken it off in the last few days. He loves it! I am glad he is getting his use out of it! He even fell asleep on the couch in it!

I was asking him to do something for me the other day and I said, "Gavin, can you . . . (whatever it was)" and he says, "Peter Pan will do it!" And he hopped right to it!

( side note: some of these pics were taken on my phone due to the loss of my camera. What happens when you contact the warranty department and are completely honest about putting your camera in the washing machine? Nothing, that's what.)

Here's another cute Gavin story, although it does not involve Peter.

He was asking us all these questions about God the other day. How tall is He? Can He fit in our house? and he was just going on and on about it. Finally I said, "Gavin, you are asking some great questions!" Gavin's response, "Yeah, I talk too much!" It was a hoot! Now we are wondering who told our inquisitive boy that he talks to much! Okay, so it was probably me in exasperation on a day when he wouldn't stop speaking to let me think clearly!

He is just growing up so much. I have really noticed it in the last few days. I thought the point of Peter Pan was NOT growing up? He is wanting to help me all the time with big tasks. I love it, but I just can't believe that he can do some of it! He is officially in 4T clothes now. Ryan and I were cracking up as we sent him off to Cubbies in a pair of floods and a too small t shirt. I knew it was time to drag out the next bin! I am proud to say I accomplished that today! YEAH!

Well, on to accomplish many more tasks! I am a woman on a mission!

Hope you all are having a great day!