Thanksgiving.

My mom's side of the family came out to Ohio for Thanksgiving this year. It was so nice to have them here and spend a bit of time with them. I wish they could have been here longer!

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.

Drawing Katie.

This week at drawing group, our model was Katie. Here are a couple of my three minute sketches.

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.

Drawing Bob.

Click on an image to enlarge.
{45 Minutes}

I finally went to the Friday figure drawing group last week for the first time in a while. It starts at 7 am, and it has been hard for me to drag myself there. I'm always so glad when I do though. With our little guy almost here, I'm not sure how many more Fridays I'll be able to attend so I figure I should go as many more times as possible!

This week Bob was our (clothed) model. I had a lot of fun drawing his face. It had so many interesting shadows. Here are my results.

{10 Minutes}

{10 Minutes}

{10 Minutes}
With this last one, I went a bit cartoon-ish with his features. I really like how the hatch marks in his hair came out.

I need to draw more. I love it.

Our little family...

We are only one week away from the due date!

Lately.

{Photo found here}
I miss the beach today.

It's 91 degrees out, and the local pool is closed now that school is back in. I was hoping it would still be open and devoid of school kids, but not so.

Yesterday was my last day of working at the coffee shop. It hasn't sunk in yet and today just feels like a special vacation.

I got some caps sent out for Octopus Caps. We've been getting lots of international orders this summer. I want to get shipped along with the caps sometimes, especially when they are going to Paris or Sao Paulo or Australia.

I was reading Sweet Fine Day's blog, and came across this quote from her six year old daughter:
“Sometimes when I get excited I don’t show it. I just wiggle my toes instead.” – Mia

I can't wait to record all the funny, inspiring and sweet things that my little man is going to say.

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!

Teal and Mustard.

Yes, please!

I love this bedroom of Ben Brougham, seen on The House That Lars Built. (She got it from elsewhere, but you can go to her site if you want all the details).

Oh boy do I love teal and yellow with gold details. How wonderful is that mustard metal bed frame?