Big Brother To Be

Today is baby Clara's due date. No signs of her arrival today, though....James was born on his due date so I've been assuming she would have been born by now. So I'm trying to find the balance between walking a lot (to set things into motion?) and resting up for labor and delivery!
In the meantime I thought I'd put together a post of random pictures of the Big Brother To Be. James has been such a hoot lately. Mark and I find ourselves quoting him, too, because he's starting to say the cutest things! Two has been such a fun age so far!

I actually took this picture upside down, in the car, by randomly pointing the camera back there (while Mark was driving). Just thought it was a cute expression....

James is just starting to experiment with silly faces....this is definitely a suspicious look...

This is the latter part of a 'cheese' smile for a picture. Yes, he was eating Nutella on toast.

Last week I thought I'd have him 'help' me make pumpkin muffins. I figured it couldn't be too much of a disaster with only four ingredients (cake mix, water, pumpkin, chocolate chips). He loved pouring, stirring, and sampling. I also gave him the task of placing muffin papers in the cups....about three or four in, though, he started wadding them up, like the one above.

It turns out that I have three costumes James could wear this year. Until last Friday, he was terrified of all of them. Or at least terrified of wearing them. He liked seeing them quite a bit but simply refused to try one on. It was easiest to convince him to wear this one because he's seen a video of his cousin Jason wearing it. He's now worn it twice for an hour at a time! Looks like James will be Tigger this year. Funny thing is, he's never seen Winnie the Pooh!

We can't wait to see James love on his little sister. I don't doubt it will be an adjustment for him, but we know he'll adore her. He's been such a blessing to us, always keeping us on our toes! I just can't imagine our lives without James.

Favorite Fall Outings

Over the past two weekends we've enjoyed a few fall outings with James. We were really trying to squeeze them in before Clara's arrival because I LOVE fall traditions and would have been sad if we'd had to take rainchecks this year! :)

First, we went to a local Cider Mill for a weekend festival. While the events for kids weren't quite right for James, he was totally thrilled to climb on straw bales and a pumpkin mound for a while.

James also watched over and over as the apples were washed and processed to be turned into cider! The cider donuts were awfully tempting but the line was soooooo long that we opted for kettle corn instead!

The last time James was here he was only three or four weeks old!! A lot has changed since then!

Then we headed to a pumpkin patch this past weekend. Thought this big pig was pretty cute, but James was a little intimidated after he snorted once!

picking out our pumpkin...

James loved being on a 'real' farm!!

It was actually really toasty Saturday so we enjoyed cider slushes...they were really yummy!!

Won't be long before we add Clara to the family picture!! My due date is October 18th...we'll see if she decides to come early! I've tried to let her know she's welcome any time. :)

Clara's Nursery Complete!

Well, the nesting instinct has kicked in and I'm buzzing around, making lists, and sorting things, getting ready for our daughter's arrival. I'm so excited that it's October! Not only is it one of my favorite months, but our baby is due THIS MONTH! This picture was taken at 36 weeks. I am now 37 1/2 weeks, full term!

BEFORE: Here's our guest room as it stood at the beginning of August, right before we (Mark) started moving furniture around....Just about everything has moved to the basement, which is now one big guest room.

AFTER: Clara's nursery! It is SUCH a relief to have it pulled together at last. There are a few bits and pieces I'd like to change but most of the decor I've worked on for m-o-n-t-h-s is finished and finally hung up last night.

The duck-mirror-turned-girly-mirror...one of my favorite projects. I love the pink knobs.

These fabric pom-poms were totally time-consuming. I read on a blog that someone had made several for a party. A party!?! These need to be permanently hung and displayed, if you ask me. I spent hours cutting circles and then hours gluing circles. (not to mention hours trying to find two smaller paper lanterns...I ended up with one large lantern and two smaller foam balls). However, after all the work, I love the result. The next most tedious part of this project was deciding how I wanted them hung. Poor Mark. He was standing on a chair, moving them around, pulling them up and down for about 20 minutes before I could decide. What do you think?

I used a frame I picked up at Good Will and leftover quilt fabric to pull together a bow-holder. I've seen these on several blogs and really wanted to try it out. Now I'm itching to make more bows/clips!

Nothing too fancy here...I stenciled her name on some blocks that Mark cut out for me. Picking out the font took the longest amount of time....surprised? :)

My very first sewing project ever!! (since 7th or 8th grade) I picked up a stack of hand towels on clearance not long ago and wanted to use some of my mom's leftover fabric to make some girly burp cloths. I know, not necessary, but a lot of the ones I had already are decorated with cars and trucks and such. My mom very patiently taught me to use her old sewing machine! I'm hooked!

Fire Engines Abound!

As you can tell from recent posts, fire engines have been VERY popular with James at this age. A month ago, when my brother and his family were visiting, we happened upon a firetruck in the parking lot of a grocery store! Uncle Joel followed James around and let him check out everything.

This fireman was so kind, patiently showing James everything, letting him touch things, and even invited us to visit the local firehouse for a tour sometime!

As they pulled away, they gave James a big 'HONK!' He loved it.

Then, on James' actual birthday, we visited Uncle Chad at work. Chad is a firefighter at a different local station. James had never visited a fire station, but was pretty familiar with the concept from a video that we picked up at the library.

The ambulance has been newly intriguing to him....

fireman James

Chad helped Mark suit up in his own gear. Mark just couldn't believe how heavy, thick and hot it was!

James was a little nervous when Mark had the mask on, but felt better after it came off....
Thanks, Chad, for the tour!

James' 2nd Birthday

This little boy is 2! I made James his little '2' shirt using a freezer-paper stencil method. I was pretty pleased with how it turned out. This is still the best 'smile' I can get out of him when I ask for it....a rather squinty, pained look, isn't it? What a turkey! The afternoon of his party started with grandparents, cousins, and aunts and uncles arriving. James was racing around, so excited about the balloons, snacks, presents, and firetruck decorations.

The party started at 5:00pm and the pizza party menu included pizza, corn dip with chips, salad, yellow and red fruit (pineapple and strawberries), dipped pretzel sticks with sprinkles, red/white/yellow cupcakes and party favors where little baggies of homemade gourmet popcorn.
We ended up with about 22 guests.

The cupcake toppers and banner were such fun to create. I'm glad I'd made them weeks in advance, because I definitely ran out of steam the week of the party!

My brother Jeff and his darling girlfriend Anna helped to pick up the pizzas!

The tradition continues! We skyped with Joel and Elizabeth so they could have a glimpse of the gift-opening excitement.

So many gifts! James was a tad overwhelmed with everything but loved all his presents. The firetruck we got him was a definite big hit!!

James blew out his candle twice...the first time he was too quick for the photographers! :) Funny thing is, he didn't actually eat any cake that night because he was SO PUMPED to play with his new toys!

I tried hard to to get a good family picture before it got too dark...the weather and lighting was so weird that evening, stormy and greenish skies. We sure love our James and had such fun celebrating two years of life with him!! The next day (his actual birthday) we got to visit Uncle Chad at work....he's a firefighter!! More pictures to follow....

One Week Ago...

...we were just warming up for James' 2nd birthday. I had signed him up for Bas*kin Robbin's birthday club, so he had a free scoop of ice cream to claim! Mark and I helped him choose (because, really, the choices were overwhelming) a vanilla cake flavored scoop that had sprinkles in it. He loved it. I wasn't surprised. He liked 'counting' the sprinkles. He does this with peas or corn, too...anything that can fit on a spoon in multiples. He was sweet enough to share a few bites with Mommy and Daddy, too!

So many more pictures to come from the firetruck birthday weekend...it's just been a wild week so I've not gotten around to it quite yet.

counting sprinkles

'Projects' for Active Little Boys

I've been trying lately to brainstorm and research ideas of 'crafty' projects and creative activities to do with James. First off, I'm expecting that both cooler weather and a newborn will soon be keeping us indoors in the coming months. I also want him to learn to express himself creatively and enjoy 'art'. But I have really struggled coming up with ideas of things that are age appropriate and James-appropriate. James puts e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g in his mouth. He never grew out of that phase and it nearly drives me crazy. We've tried crayons, colored pencils, and even markers (I was feeling brave)--he puts them ALL in his mouth and even bites into crayons...it's completely irresistible for him! Here are two activities we've done lately that James has enjoyed.

Ice Cube "Ball"

This one is best suited for hot weather and the outdoors, but I might try it out in the bathtub sometime, too, and add food coloring for fun. I froze a water balloon, peeled off the balloon after it was solid through, and let him play with it. He carried it around, sucked on it, and threw it at things for about 45 minutes. It helps that I already knew he loves ice.

Playing in the sprinkler didn't hurt either...a great activity for a hot day!

Edible Playdough

I used a recipe found in The Toddler's Busy Book but there are several online, too. Basically just peanut butter, powdered milk and honey. Sounds totally sticky, right? It actually was surprisingly NOT sticky! Greasy, yes, but not sticky. I hesitated attempting this, afraid that James will now assume that all playdough is edible, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. He LOVED this activity. I rummaged through the utensil drawer and pulled out several things for him to play with.

After sampling a good amount of the playdough, he did get to playing with it. He was really excited about using my kitchen 'hammer', my meat mallet.

I also offered him some small cookie cutters and an old fashioned can opener (because he's obsessed with it). Here he is putting it to work in his own little way!

P.S. I'd love any suggestions you may have of activities or crafts that are do-able with a very active two year old!