Baby sweaters

{Wikstenmade}

{wee textile}

These baby sweaters kill me. Learning to knit in five, four, three, two...

Because I'm a mom now.

Let's talk about diaper bags, shall we? I never thought I wanted or needed one. For the last four months, my large purse has been taken over by all things baby. It's getting increasingly hard to find my wallet in "the abyss" as Rudy calls it. So I cracked. I bought one. But I had to do my thorough research first...

Or just find the cutest sack that would pass as a diaper bag and call it a day, which is what really happened.

I bought this one:

It is cute, zips closed, has lots of space and wipes clean with a damp cloth. Bonus, it's made from recycled plastic so I'm saving the earth also. Yay me.
I got it online at House8810.
It was also the cheapest ($15) of the options. Yay me again!

I could have gone for something sensible with loads of pockets like the Skip*Hop above, but not only is it the most expensive ($58), it's just not so fun.

I did think about getting one of Skip*Hop's Zoo Packs to use as a diaper bag. The idea was that Noah could use it as his little back pack once he got older, but I decided against it. While they are cute, I just don't know if I wanted something that cutesy.

Do you have, or are you planning on having a diaper bag for your babies? Did you go for conventional or fun?

Noah's first laughs.

Yesterday I was sitting in Rudy's parents living room with Noah and Cody, (Rudy's brother). I was describing the smell of Noah's farts, (please excuse this), to Cody and used the words 'egg milk'. Noah thought that it was hilarious! As any parent would do, I said it about a hundred times and had Cody grab the camera.

The rest of the family heard his laughing and came to join in. I'm so glad that a)Rudy and his family were there to see, and b)we had the camera ready. It feels like Noah does new and exciting things just for me, and I can't capture them on film. The telling of them just doesn't compare.

Enjoy.

Noah Benjamin!

In my last post (from a month ago!) I mistakenly said that the first day of Autumn is September 21st. If I may correct myself, it is September 23rd, which coincidentally is my son's birthday!

Noah Benjamin was born at home on September 23rd at 10:58pm. He was 7 pounds 4 ounces, 20.5 inches long, and perfect in every way.

Having a home-birth was even more amazing than I thought it would be. I couldn't imagine having been in a hospital for such an intense and personal event. I'll be posting our story here when I can. It seems like everything takes ten times longer when you have a baby around!

Autumn is here, baby is not.

{all photos from we heart it.}
Tomorrow is the first day of fall. It is also the 9th day past our due date with baby Perkins. As hard as it has been to wait, I feel pretty good about the fact that he will be a fall baby. There are so many lovely things about fall. I'm beginning to think that it is my favorite season.

Apple cider. Breathtaking colors. Scarves and boots.

My mom is visiting (!) and we've been doing lots of fun and useful things together around Columbus while waiting for the little man. I keep thinking, "Oh, I really needed to get done with that before the baby could come. Now that we've done it, he can come!" But alas, he hasn't heard me. I guess I should get used to being on his time schedule.

September 12th, we've made it.

{Click on a picture to enlarge}
Well it's our due date! It looks like today is going to come and go without a birth, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a wonderful day. In fact, this whole weekend has been awesome! I went to drawing group again on Friday morning, and we had some friends over for a BBQ that night. After eating, we walked over to the local high school football game. On Saturday, Jess, Evey and I checked out a new "play cafe" called Firefly. 3 year old Evey had fun dressing up and running around. Jess and I had a nice time chatting and sipping (decaf) coffee.

Today after church, a big breakfast, and a nap, we took Gatsby on a walk at Whetstone Park. It was the perfect late summer / early autumn afternoon.

We're all waiting for you, Baby Perkins! Come anytime.

Our little family...

We are only one week away from the due date!

Lazy afternoon.

I think that this picture is worth sharing. Rudy took it last Friday afternoon, after coming into the living room and saying "WHOA! Look at that belly!"...he just had to grab the camera.

I was eating sweet potato fries (the best!) and chatting online with Sierra (also the best!).

With only two weeks till our due date, I've got to get all the "me time" in that I can! Can I also say that I'm looking forward to dressing a non-pregnant body again? Finding cute things to fit over this tummy is getting hard!

Baby Shower!

I have been a very bad blogger lately! But I have so much to share! The baby's nursery is coming along, and I've been doing some crafts here and there, so hopefully I'll get some more pictures and inspiration up this week.

Anyhow, here are some pictures from my wonderful baby shower that my amazing friends threw for me.

{Shannon, Rachel and Karen}

{Jessica, me and Jaymie}

We made origami cranes for a mobile in the baby's room, ate dumplings and visited. It was a perfect afternoon.

{Aunt Susie and Grandma Tissy making cranes}

{Rachel and Becky}

{Susie, Tissy and I}

I can't thank everyone enough for all of the love and support that you've shown me. This has definitely been one of the best years of my life, and that is because of all of you.

Baby Beans Rudy.

With a bit more than a month to go, I've been thinking about what our baby is going to look like. This picture of Rudy as a little guy, feeding himself refried beans, is a bit of a preview. Look at all of that hair!

I've been having a lot of acid reflux lately, and Rudy's mom told me about an old wives tale that says that this means your baby will have a lot of hair when they are born. I don't doubt that this is true!

Belly! 33 weeks prego!

Well I've finally gotten to taking a couple of belly pictures. I really think we need to start taking weekly picture because this little guy is growing fast!

Sorry about the bad quality photos, but you get the idea I'm sure.

Also, I cut all of my hair off again. It's so nice and cool on these hot Ohio summer days. I wonder if one day I will actually grow out my hair again. I don't think I care all that much either way.

India Print.

Another one for the baby's wall. Oh boy this one is good. Elephants, pups, teacups and cameras. Yes please!!

Get it here. Except if you buy the last one, and not for me, I will be sad.

Blabla dolls (and impulse purchasing).

Hello Blog-o-sphere. I've had a long day, but a good day. Work this morning and an appointment with our Midwife, Kathy, this evening. Everything with mama and baby P are looking great. I can't believe how fast all of this is going. It feels like our little man will be here in no time.

I just happened upon Blabla Kids' website, and am in love with their knit dolls. Ever since I found out I was pregnant, I have wanted a sock monkey sort of doll for my little one to be. I found this perfect guy in Blabla's selection of their classic dolls, and I couldn't be more in love! So I decided, after much going back and forth, to go ahead and get him.

Is it considered an impulse buy if you have known you wanted one for six months? I'm going to go ahead and say no :)

Mister Alligator.

Dear Mister Alligator, would you like to come live in my little boy's room?

Mothers.

So I thought since it was Mother's Day, I would announce to all of you readers that Rudy and I are having a BOY!!

Here are some pictures of the little guy from our first ultrasound. It was so amazing to see him, and watch him move around. I can't wait to meet him in person!

Also, happy Mother's Day to my wonderful mom, soon-to-be Grandma Cici.

Picture wall.

I've been thinking lately about the baby's room. One thing I definitely want to include is a wall of pictures in white frames. This picture (found here), is from a cafe in New York, and is exactly what I had in mind.

I would like to do a mixture of my art as well as prints that I love from etsy. This way it would be affordable, and then as the little one grows up I can change out the prints with their artwork!

Babies Movie.

Holy cow, I want to see this movie.

And it's not just because I'm growing one myself. Ok, maybe a little bit because of that.

Oh! PS. we have our first ultrasound tomorrow night and will hopefully get to find out the gender of the little one moving around in my belly! Anyone want to weigh in on whether it will be a boy or girl?

Oh! Hi baby!

Dear Readers,

I've got some exciting news! Many of you already know this, but some of you don't... Rudy and I are expecting a baby! We found out in early January, and couldn't be more excited. I started a pregnancy journal, but haven't done a very good job of keeping up with it. Only three entries and two drawings have been made in all of these 17 weeks. We get to find out if it's a boy or a girl in just three weeks! I thought I would share one of my notes to our baby and a new drawing doodle.

You have been making me very sleepy baby. When I'm home from work, all I want to do is sit on the couch. Needless to say, nothing's been getting done around the house except for what Rudy has the time to do. He's been so busy with school.

We are at 11 weeks now! Just one more to go and we're through the hardest part for you! I decided weeks ago to stop worrying about if you would make it. I know that God has it all worked out. Since the beginning of time it has been! We have our appointment with Kathy, our midwife, on Thursday night. It has been rescheduled three times because of all the snow! Hopefully we'll be able to see her, and hear your little heart beating. I don't think there will be a more beautiful sound in the world.

Love your mama 2/16/2010

*Belly pictures and more to come*