Missing you, Bramma...

While going through some of our old pictures from when Hails was born, I found these...and I'm sobbing...I don't know if anyone was more excited for Hailey to arrive than my Grandma Pauline! Even in the midst of some pretty significant health challenges, she was there for as much as she could be. It was not easy for her to come up and sit all evening in the waiting room while I was in labor, but she did it anyway. She was NOT going to miss the birth of her first great grandchild!

Now, with Owen coming so soon, I feel this bittersweet longing for her to be here to share in this next chapter with us, but thankful that she's with Jesus in Heaven with a perfectly healthy body...

I miss her so much.

A Case of the Sillies...

Todd and I were tucking Hailey in tonight when she started this...

Hailey: Dear Jesus, I love you, bless Mommy, Daddy, Owen...

Todd: ...Grandma...Grandpa...

Hailey: Grandmath...Grandpath... (insert huge giggle here...from all three of us!)

Todd: Silly girl...now pray for Nana...

Hailey: ...Nanath... (giggle, giggle)...Papath...

Needless to say, the rest of prayer time took a little longer than usual, due to Hailey laughing at herself after she added a "th" sound to every name on her prayer list...then she had the hiccups...Todd had to get her a drink of water...you get the drift...

Goofy girl!

Our Productive Saturday...

We finally got around to hanging some stuff on the walls in the basement...above are two framed pictures of two of our favorite places (Malibu and the camp formerly known as Wildhorse Canyon...WFR). Below is a set of wooden skis that Todd's had since before we got married and this cool shelf we got on clearance at Pottery Barn about a year ago that has speakers and an iPod jack in it...

We re-arranged the toys in the basement to make room for the baby swing...and hung up this alphabet poster that Hailey just loves.

And the mammoth task of the day was organizing the pit that our laundry room had become. We got three sets of metal shelves from Ikea, took EVERYTHING out, threw out so much junk, and put it all back in. I can barely move tonight... :)

Ummm...nesting much? :)

Bargains, bargains, bargains...

I decided to try to be a bargain shopper when re-doing the baby room. My first bargain was the fun boy bedding I found on clearance at Babies R Us...love it.

Thank you Grandma Patty for finding these blue Pottery Barn curtains at your neighbor's garage sale for $3!!

My favorite project so far is this little collection of letters. I wanted bigger letters since Owen's name is so short, but couldn't find any I liked...so I bought these, painted them cream, and put them on brown painted canvases. For now they're on the shelf...I kind of like it there.

Now all that's left is some kind of picture for above his crib, hanging the framed Michael Jordan poster above his changing table that Todd found tonight (he's had it since he was little...and it's been a source of grief in our marriage since the beginning! :), and choosing a few of Todd's old model cars for his other shelf beside the window...BUT none of this is necessary, so COME AS SOON AS YOU WANT, BABY BOY!! :)

Every time I turn around...

She's doing something crazy!! Here she is in a basket. Don't ask me how she got in here by herself. :)

Goofy girl!! :)

So ready to be a BIG SIS!!

Hailey has become obsessed with baby dolls lately. A foreshadowing, perhaps?? :) She loves to snuggle them, wrap them in Owen's blankets, and her favorite is tucking them in and saying prayers with them. The other day she insisted on getting in Owen's bed with her baby so she could tuck her in...

"Tuck a taco", she says.

"I go sleeping too, Mommy..."

There they are...all tucked in. :)

This girl is gonna be such a good big sister...

And in other baby news, I had my 36 week appt today (two days early due to scheduling) and my doc says things are looking perfect! Measuring good, strong heartbeat...when squishing around my belly to determine the baby's position, he found that he's head down and doesn't think he'll be any bigger than Hailey was. GOOD! :)

Workin' our way out of debt...

A while back we decided that it was time to be done making a car and boat payment. This was a bit of a painful decision (especially for my water-sports LOVING husband). We prayed about it and the Lord did the miraculous and in this economy we were able to sell our boat for more than what we paid for it!! Yay God! We then decided to use cash to buy a car. We considered many options...mini-van (Yes, Mom...I remember all those times in high school when I said I'd NEVER drive a mini-van), a smaller SUV, and then settled on the wagon (formerly known as the STATION WAGON!!). Thankfully, my visions of the car driven by Mike and Carol Brady were pleasantly replaced with this! We drove 10 cars this week and drove everywhere from Lynnwood to Tacoma...and the Lord made it clear with every single one that they were NOT the car for us. Either the price was too high, mileage was too high, or the condition of the car wasn't what we were hoping for. Finally, God led us to this 2004 Passat Wagon and it is just perfect for our little family!

Now we're asking Him to quickly provide us a buyer for our Yukon...so if you think of it, pray for that. :)