A Crafty Fall

This fall has been quite crafty, I must say. To kick start the end of summer. My friend Marcie and I dyed some yarn. We went the kool-aid route and the yarn came out beautifully. Now I Just need to make Winston a sweater... ya right! okay some soakers for his cloth diapers. I am not a big project knitter, I like my projects small in hopes that I can finish them! I hope to make some hats and soakers out of this beautiful hand dyed wool yarn!

I have been making hats the whole month of September, I want to get my shop on etsy set up. Yes I know, I keep saying that... but after this craft show and our trip to W.V. I hope I can sit down and get a few hours of on line time to get it going! Here is one of my hats worn by Winston.

Here is my set up from the craft show! I think it turned out nice, I got a lot of complements on my hats! and a few bites... The lip balm was also a big seller! Last weekend we also made a batch of hand made fig soap! We stirred if for almost 3 hours before we could pour! Now we wait! I am excited to try our first batch! I know it is going to be wonderful!

Winston arrived ....

I am now about to go back to work from my 12 weeks of parenting bliss. I love my new roll.. Mom! Winston has my heart, he is such a good little boy. He was born on the 23rd of April and let me tell you that they call it Labor for a reason. With out any pain medication he arrived at 6:43 in the morning after 21 hours of labor. He is absolutely perfect, and I am starting to have separation anxiety at the thought of leaving him... he is such a good baby. We have done lots in the last 12 weeks. He has gone to 2 cubs games, 1 wedding, 3 trips to Indiana, 1 trip to Kentucky, a visit to the aquarium as well as the Zoo and numerous other little outings. He is a great traveler and loves being out side. Spring baby's are the best I must say. (not that I have had a Winter baby) but it has been great to get him out side and push him around in his stroller. I also love to strap him to my chest and go. He has a few different baby carriers all of which are fun to travel with, they put him to sleep in no time. He is growing so fast, born 7lbs 8oz, he is already up to 15lbs, that is over a half a pound a week. My time with him has flown by, I would have loved to give birth in Sweden were they give mothers a year and a half with there new Born's. It will be hard for me to go back to work, especially since i am still nursing him, but I know it is best for our family. We have a wonderful friend who is going to stay in our home with him, we couldn't have been luckier! and let me tell you, Gene loves his little boy, I can't imagine our life now with out the little guy! I think he is beautiful!

Okay ...so our life is about to change?!

Can we handle it?

I sure hope so!

We are both getting excited for the new arrival to our family. We were up on the roof top of my office one night last week taking photos for our web site. We have both been trying to get some things done that we have been putting off.

Gene has been working on our web site and I finally submitted my hours to the NCARB... (what a pain) Now I wait the 3 months to find out if they think I am done with my IDP program so I can start testing...

The photos above were a few from the roof deck photo shoot, we have been meaning to add photos to the web site forever... but the extra cold winter created a delay... but I do believe spring is around the corner at this point. I am not sure if we got any good photos but I am hoping there are at least one or two we could use for now.

Photos my self always hard to like... but I love that in the last 3 posts on this web site I have had on "The Green shirt" How funny! Yep my attire has been slim through out this pregnancy and this green shirt is the softest cotton known to man and the most worn!... It sure will be nice to get a few things once this little dude pops out!

Gene and I just finished an architecture competition for a temporary out door art gallery. We submitted few weeks ago.. and have been waiting the announcement of the winner. As usual we didn't win, but they did list us in the Honorable Mention group, which was a great feeling. It takes so much work to do these competitions and often there is not even a "Thanks for entering" One day we may win one! check out our entry here! you can click on our names and it should pop up. (Shanna and Gene from Chicago!) Let us know what you think....

Okay off to bed for me, only 5 days left until our due date and we need our beauty sleep, before taking on the new roll of PARENTS....

2 weeks and Counting

(Does 12 days sound shorter?)

2 weeks and Counting. Or Does 12 days sound shorter?
Can you believe it? I can't.... time has gone fast and slow all at the same time.... Right now I guess I would say time is slowing down. We have officially moved into our new apartment! I must say it was the longest move EVER! We started on February 15th and didn't not completely finish until March 30th. 6 long weeks of lifting, shifting and arranging...But it was all very worth it, we love our new apartment, its almost like our own house.

This weekend we were able to get the little boys room put together.. the bed and the changing table, organization of clothes and the washing of bed linens. I will have to post a photo of his room at some point. We still have art work that needs to be framed, but everything is starting to come together. We also did the hospital tour which scared me a bit, I must admit. Me, someone who has never had stitches... but I will say that North Western Women's Hospital is an incredible facility. So it will be okay, I can not wait to meet this baby boy... (at least they told us its a boy, It would be quite the shocker if it wasn't). I have learned a lot about my child over the last 38 weeks. yet I often feel like I don't know anything about hi.

Here are 3 thinks I do know
1. He gets the hic-ups once or twice a day...... May be he likes to eat as much and as fast and I do?

2. He likes to dance.... We hooked up the ear phones to the belly a few days ago and boy did he know know to move.

3. He sleeps a lot. ......He is not one to make big moves but rather gentle little shakes and snuggles.

It will be fun to see what personality this little child will have. I still can't believe a baby is going to come out of this funny stomach bump that I have been carrying around for almost 10 months, It is such an alien-ish experience.... but It will be so worth it all when we meet him. I am looking forward to getting my pre-Prego body back, not that it will ever be exactly the same, but then again, my body was ever a knock out slender shape to start with. Although I can say I will miss the little tugs and shifts of this child with in... it is such an amazing experience that some women never experience. I hope I will have the opportunity to experience it again.. it is truly amazing!

The weather has starting to turn to spring, which is nice. We had high 60's this weekend and sunny! Which was great as Chicago winters seem to last forever! This weekend we were able to grill out in the sun on Saturday and go out for breakfast on Sunday followed by a hike to the park 4 me to lay in the grass and read about the herb garden I am planning for this summer and For Gene to run a hole mile and a half. It was a beautiful spring weekend.

Okay I have rambled on long enough... take care.

31 Weeks... and I could use a BEER!

Time is quickly approaching! We are so excited yet we have so much to do before the little boy is allowed out of the sauna... yep that's what I am calling it now. He is in the belly which is his own personal sauna, all warm and safe. Mean while mom is hashing it out in the real world, carrying him every where she goes! :) Yet I am enjoying almost every minuets of it.....

So here are the top 3 things we have to do before he can come out ....

1. Move:
we found this great apartment that we love! We get the keys this weekend, which is so exciting. It has 3 bed rooms, on the 1st floor, large kitchen, bath our OWN washer and dryer which is a huge deal here in Chicago. People love laundry mats here! and a great deck with a shared back yard! We are so excited... although moving sucks especially 8 months pregnant!

2. Unpack:
Yep we are not even packed and I am thinking about unpacking....yet good thing is we have 6 weeks to move...
I am really looking forward to setting up the baby's room and figuing out what I have and what I need.

3. Baby showers:
The girls at work are throwing me one here in Chicago at a spa! Which will be great fun! Then.. my good friend Chas, who is pregnant with twins, is throwing me one in Cicero. I am really looking forward to both! so he can't come too early! :)

Wish me luck, I will keep you posted.

We are Having a little BOY!

Our big news for this week is that we will be having a little boy join our family, and we couldn't be happier. They said that he looked healthy and he is growing right on target with my due date of April 19Th. We are really excited and I know Gene was amazed with the technology of the ultra sound machine. He just stood there trying to figure out how it was working. When they told us that we would be having a little boy, he was all smiles with a little laugh. All I could say was "I told you" For some reason from the beginning I knew we would be having a little boy.... I know! So it's time for I can look for anything! I will hold my hopes for little pink bows for next time...














We had a great Thanks Giving. I can't believe time is flying by. We went to Murray over the Holiday and had a nice time with Gene's family. Now I know that Christmas is just around the corner. Now it is time to create an action plan for my Christmas shopping, I have yet to start. I find my self thinking about the baby all the time, and what we are going to need for him. Although last night I was busy @ my sewing machine. Marcie and I are sharing a table at a craft show Saturday located at the Empty bottle . I hope I will find some nice hand made gifts there! I hope I can gather enough things to sell... Mom is sending up some of her earrings and I have a few hats and knitted booties, as well as some tag blankets I can sell. I guess we will see what I can some up with. I may even make some Big City Lip balm if i can only find all my supplies.

My Brother and Olivia also arrive next weekend for there weekend Christmas play in Chicago. So it will be great to see them.

Pie and pickles

I go from craving Cherry pie to pickles in less then 2 min. How is that possible you ask? I am still not quite sure! But I have a love for both. So they say that if you are craving sweets you are having a little girl and if you are craving sour things you are having a little boy? How can I explain my addiction to sour patch kids. Those little chewy candies that burn the taste buds off them after 10 candies ... they are so good. I have been trying to to eat as much meaning limiting my self to say only a pack ever 2 days instead of every day... I go to the dentist next week and I just know that they are going to find all kinds of cavities after all the Candie I have had in the last few months! wow... So I think I am starting to feel this little one move around a bit... its a funny feeling that I can't quite explain... not a flutter because what exactly is a flutter but definitely pressure and tickles but only for a moment and then it's gone..

We are looking forward to our up coming Thanksgivings I say that in a plural tense because we go home to have dinner with my Dad this weekend and then on to Gene's folks the follwing weekend! It's going to be great- but I better keep the work out up or I could explode and then I never will be my normal self agian! Okay enough for today!