More baby pictures as promised!

I went in for another ultrasound on Wednesday.  We got some great shots of the noob!  These pictures were taken at 11w4d, and I'm 12w1d now.  Hopefully, this means that we'll be in the clear and can actually start planning for noob's arrival in December.



In the top picture, you can see the noob's hands up by its face.  It has fingers!  No more flippers for my noob.  The second one is a profile shot with its head on the right.  In the third, it turned upside down, so the white line along the top is its spine; the head is still on the right.  The last pic shows noob kind of from the front.  The face is on the right still, and then the belly in the middle, and then its legs are on the left.  The bright white spots on the left are its shins as its legs are all tucked up.  Cool!

So...pregnancy #5...

Yep.  Another one.  This is from a week ago on May 11th.  It measured 9 weeks 4 days then.  I'm due around December 12, 2010, if all goes well this time.  I've labeled the relevant parts.  It was a really great ultrasound.  The heartbeat was in the 180s/bpm, it was moving its flippers around, and we got to see really great blood flow through the umbilical cord.  Everything looks healthy, so fingers crossed we'll be adding baby number three to our family this winter.  I'm having another ultrasound next Wednesday as part of the Down's screening.  I'll post more pictures, if everything looks good still. 

Noah's Impulse Buy

A few weeks ago, Noah cleaned out his half of the closet. In the process, he discovered two pairs of pants that were too short on him. We both agreed that donating them was a good idea, and so I gave him directions to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore that is right down the road. He stopped on his way home from work and saw a piano sitting there with a sign for $50. So, he bought a very old piano. A piano has been on our wish-list for several years now, but it's still kind of shocking to own one. We think it's probably from the 1940s. It's in decent shape. The lowest two keys need repair and some of the ivory tops on the keys are missing, but the hammers are in good condition and overall it's still sturdy. The kids LOVE it! I'll have to get someone out in the next few weeks to tune it and see about the repairs. I'm anxious to see if Emerson is really ready to learn yet. I'll get some beginner books and see what happens!

Emerson loves Lego!

Emerson just LOVES Lego! I signed him up for the Lego Club magazine a while back, and he is always so excited to get a new issue. In every issue, there are pictures of kids and their Lego creations. Emerson really wants to submit a photo, so this is what he came up with. It's a space ship with an island landing site. Too cute!

Random Dinner

Noah is often amazed at my dinner creation, much to my surprise.  To me, it's just dinner.  But, after a long day of driving back home, I came up with this plate of food on short notice, and Noah insisted on taking a photo of it.  He said it was too pretty to go un-photographed.  There's Cuke-Mango-Lime salad, Cheese Enchiladas with fresh Avocado slices, easy Black Beans, and a Green Salad with Fig Vinegar, Almonds, and Dried Cranberries.  Delish!

Eleanor turned FOUR!

A few weeks ago, Eleanor celebrated turning four!  We were visiting Grandma and Papa, because Crazy Uncle John's wedding was the same day.  It was a lovely day out on the lake, and Eleanor had a blast.  Clockwise from top left: she was disappointed about having to wait until after lunch to open her presents, blowing out her candles, learning to ride her bike, hugging Grandma, and just being cute in the center!  Her new bike is really cool.  It's a Trek Float, and the pedals are removable.  So, instead of training wheels, we took the pedals off.  She'll scoot along until she gets the hang of balancing, and then we'll put the pedals back on.  It's supposed to take kids less time to learn how to ride this way.  Time will tell.

Birthday Outfit Two

I got a little carried away sewing for Eleanor's birthday. By now you probably saw the post with her monkey outfit. I also made Elizabeth, her American Girl Doll, a shirt, a dress, and a reversible skirt. I'll have to do a doll fashion show in one of my upcoming posts. The dress is a pillowcase style and matches one that I sewed for Eleanor. This dress is out of Olivia fabric. Olivia is one of her favorite stories. In case you're unfamiliar with it, it's a cute story about a girl pig and her family. The girl pig loves to read, play dress up, and wear out her loving family. Very cute! Since Eleanor loves Olivia so much, when I saw this fabric, I just knew that I had to make something for her. The design is from Ottobre magazine (Issue 03/2007). It's number 16 in that issue. I think the design is really cute with the irregular overskirt and the full underskirt. I loused up the bodice a little when putting in the back zipper. Ottobre isn't known for the best descriptions of how to do things. It wasn't until after I had the zipper sewn in that I realized that it was supposed to be between the bodice and the lining. It's a good thing that I had pre-finished all the edges with the serger. It doesn't look as neat on the inside as it would have, but it's still perfectly functional and looks great from the outside, which is all most people will ever see. If I make another one, at least I've learned my lesson!