Babies

So I've been thinking about what this next baby will be like. I can't imagine having another kid with a completely different personality than Nathan's or Rylie's... We felt like that with each kid, though. Also, their personalities change a LOT over time, or at least they go through phases and they're still young enough that you're not sure which one is the real personality. Or maybe I just feel that way about Nathan. He was so sweet for such a long time, and he still is, but he also has extended periods where he's kind of a beast and he seems to feel that he is at the center of a world that is out to get him. Ho hum. I hope it's a phase, but I do many adults like that so I just don't know what to think. Not that I'm always a peach, either... and I worry that he's exactly like me and that I don't know how to help him learn to be more self-reliant and optimistic. I know I can be difficult to live with, for sure. I don't think of myself as a pessimist, though. Just a realist. And I try to have a sense of humor about my negativity. I don't know. I'm rambling.

Anyway. I've also thought about what she will look like. I wonder if she'll have blue-gray eyes like Rylie, or brown eyes like Nathan. I feel only about 67.38% positive she'll have brown eyes because Jared and I are both carriers of the blue eye gene. I used to think all our kids would have brown eyes and then along came Rylie. And both kids have different features from Jared and me (or through our parents and ancestors, really). Like their lips, for example. It appears Nathan has lips like Jared's and Rylie seems to have ones like mine. I'm curious to see what this third child will look like.

Since my card reader is lost and I can't give you any new pictures, here are a few pictures of the kids when they were around 9 or 10 months old. They are so goofy and cute. Still are, actually. So first is Nathan:

And then Rylie:
Anywho. I am very tired of being pregnant. Sound the gong. I am TIRED of being pregnant. I have symptoms up the wazoo. When is the last time I threw up, you ask? (If you didn't ask, too bad) Last week. Also, there are tons of things I want to get done but I'm not only tired, I'm trying to take it really, really easy so I don't end up doing the whole premature labor thing again and spend extra money to go to the hospital and get drugged up so I don't pop out a baby too soon. You know, it could be worse. But I like to complain sometimes. Okay, I'm done complaining for now.

I find I have nothing else to say. Ha!

p.s. Again, if the spacing is wonky, it's not for my lack of trying to make it normal. Blogger just hates me or something.

Stuff I worked on this weekend...

I made some stuff this weekend and I wanted to show you...

First I finally fixed the sleeve placement on this shirt. It's still kinda low but not enough that I want to rip out the (double) seams and do it again. It'll do. It's just supposed to be a light, airy top that Rylie can wear when it gets hot.

I also made this skirt for Rylie. It was my first time trying a French seam and I think it turned out pretty well! But, since it's me, that means there are a couple things that bug me about it. Like I wish I'd made the pattern match up at the seam on the side, and I really wish I had paid better attention to length when I was hemming it, because when I put it all together it was slightly uneven. (sigh)

I also started this shell garland that I'm going to hang in our bedroom. There were a bunch of shells with natural holes in them (some of them I had to widen, though) so there aren't nearly as many I'm going to have to try and drill after all. Wish me luck... I'd hate for every single one to shatter when I try to drill little holes in them...Anyway, I worked on some other stuff too, but I haven't finished yet. I'll show you those later.

Storytelling in 30 Photos

This one is going to be kinda long, sorry. But will you forgive me since I don't post that often? I saw this done here, so I thought I'd do my version. I can see my mom or some of my other relatives doing a hilarious version of this, but if any of you want to do this, I'd love to see any version!

1. Someone I spend a lot of time with... (two people, really)

2. A picture of myself... (from last September... clearly I don't look like that right now!)

3. Someone in my family... (my grandparents on my dad's side)4. Something that makes me happy...5. An old picture of myself... (that's one sweet farmer's tan - check it!)6. A sibling... (my brother Ian, who's on a mission in Boston right now)7. A class photo... (this was during my over-plucked stage)8. A random photo of my significant other and me...9. A picture I've never posted before... (see why? you can kinda see my lazy eye. however, you can see my incredible, hand-crafted, favorite dinosaur shirt as well.)10. A relative of mine... (dad)11. A person I can tell everything...12. A picture from everyday life...13. A picture from a place I love... (the meadow garden at Anne Hathaway's cottage in Stratford-upon-Avon)14. A picture that reminds me of old times...15. A great night...16. An unusual picture... (yes, that is a Barbie car on the back of a semi...)17. A picture of my spare time... (um hi, I'm looking at nekkid pregnant bellies)18. People who are closest to me... (besides Jared)19. A person who is always there... (and helps me remember I'm not the only psycho one)20. A time in life I miss... (when we were newlyweds and could take spontaneous roadtrips)21. Last summer...22. A picture that makes me sad... (it's sad because it's not true)23. A picture I will always laugh at... (it's hard to decide which is funnier to me: my sisters and me being bizarre as usual, or the fact that Ian doesn't seem to have a clue what's going on!)24. A crazy picture... (if you can't tell, this is Jared... before I met him)25. Latest picture of myself... (This is the most recent picture of myself that no one's seen)26. My parents at my age... (I'm not sure exactly how old my parents are in these pictures, but I'm guessing they're in their 20s. Sorry I don't have better ones - I only have a couple from that time on my computer! In the one with my dad, he's with my 3 aunts on the Wood side and my grandma Wood. My mom is sitting on the steps of St. Paul's cathedral in London.)27. From the best days of my life... (pretty much any vacation... ha. This is from when we went to Myrtle Beach back in 2008)28. Favorite vacation... (our honeymoon to Hawaii)29. An accomplishment... (I guess there are actually 2 in this picture)30. A picture I'm satisfied with...

Holy cats that took a long time.

p.s. If the formatting is stupid, blame blogger. I did try to fix it, but it just doesn't want to stay fixed. Whatev.

The past couple days' pictures

Sorry I don't have many of Nathan... I really want to get more of him reading, though, since he's started learning how! I do have a picture of Nathan right after he finished registering for kindergarten but it's on my phone and I haven't figured out how to email it to myself yet. =P

Anyway, here are a couple of Rylie playing while Nathan was at preschool on Tuesday.

And a couple from when Rylie was in my room (she took some pictures herself).

And some pictures from our family dinner right before my parents left for California. My sisters and Rylie (and my mom, for a while) were having lots of fun with the play-dough!

This is the Little Mermaid ensemble. Clockwise from the top left: Prince Eric's dog (can't remember his name), Prince Eric (who can't believe what he's seeing, apparently), Ariel, Sebastian, Ursula (missing her more human traits... very telling), and Flounder. And in the middle you can see some lovely waves.

Nathan reading to Grandma Prince.

We had yummy food (including a new-to-me lemon pasta recipe I'd never tried before) for dinner and strawberry shortcake for dessert.

p.s. If you want to see my California trip album, click here.