This past Saturday, Kyle decided it was time to rake out some of the accumulating leaves in our front yard.

The wind had moved most of the leaves up against our stone wall and while it was quite picturesque, there does come a time.

Turns out he was able to recruit some help.

There are certain people who've been in your life ages and ages and they just deserve that little something extra when certain events arise, such as the impending arrival of their first daughter. And since I've been in a creative mood lately, I flipped through my knitting books to find the right gift for this particular person. Handmade seemed appropriate.

So, I settled on a project I've never done before and went at it. I had to teach myself how to do French knots (which is really not much fun) and I think I literally sat on my bum for 12 hours on Saturday finishing the little guy, but finish it I did. As each piece was finished, Kyle, my biggest fan, was more and more impressed and I think August and Brooklyn just about decided I wasn't allowed to give this guy away.

And I have to say I'm pretty proud of my handiwork. I only hope that its new owner, the baby Lizzy, due to arrive on the 21st of this month, will enjoy it as well. I do so love my dear friend, Lizzy's mom, and enjoyed the opportunity to create something special in honor of our enduring friendship.

I don't know about you, but I tend to dread the weeks following New Years Day. Perhaps this is because the next thing to look forward to is a Super Bowl game, followed by Valentines and then the year stretches into an endless summer and for me, the doldrums. Perhaps it's just because the build-up and anticipation surrounding Christmas comes crashing down almost immediately after the big day. I so love Christmas and hate when it's over and passed.

But this year is slightly different. I do have something to look forward to. In about 8-9 weeks, I'll have a new baby! So between now and then I have to get ready! And have I done so? Not really. I've been prolonging the feeling we captured around here during our holiday break...that of utter and complete relaxation.

Ok, I did break down and clean my house from top to bottom on Monday, and I'm trying to get back in the swing of paying bills, managing the daily life of a household and all that, but I'm determined to relish this winter. I forgot that the wonderful chill of a cold day doesn't stop after Christmas, it's (hopefully) just getting going! So as I walk outside and breathe in deep gulps of crisp air, my cheer returns! As I ask my kids what they want for dinner and they unanimously chime, "SOUP!", the cheer meter goes higher! And as I sit here watching the sun sink below a tangle of tree skeletons, painting the sky pinks, blues and lavenders, my cup overflows.

But beyond those sweet things, I've continued to give in to the urge to create. And lately, that creation has taken the form of knitting. Surprise, surprise... So, to share:

Little Avery all decked out in her Christmas frills.

Merrick models her new Razorback sweatshirt from Ran-Dad & DD.

Chad, Rachel and Brooklyn skype Jeremiah who is in India until next summer.

My precious two - Brooklyn (almost 5), August (2.5)

Brooklyn wore the scarf I knitted her and got so many compliments on it while we were out and about! It made me so happy! August couldn't be forced to part with his pink earmuffs, either.

29 weeks, 4 days (Christmas Eve!)

From the front...

It's official: Time is ticking away. I am in my 3rd trimester and am going to see my midwife every 2 weeks. I have begun my Bradley Method refresher course in earnest now. Not anything official, just my own pouring over of my Bradley book and remembering the things I've used for my past two deliveries. Kyle and I will be working through practicing the relaxation techniques and breathing exercises. The thing that is most critical to the Bradley method of natural childbirth is training your body and mind to consciously relax every single muscle you have in order to allow your body to relax fully during contractions. The goal is to get out of the way of your body and let it do what it was designed to do.

As the book says, in theory, it's simple. But it is most definitely not easy. We're so used to carrying tension all throughout our bodies and this is the biggest enemy to natural childbirth. So you train yourself to scan your body head to toe, eliminating tension as you go. It's an on-going process during contractions when all your body is doing is flexing the uterus muscle and if you fight it, it makes it that much more difficult.

So I'll spend the next few weeks focusing on being able to relax to the point where it looks like I'm sound asleep, but I'm really wide awake, working my way down my body loosening things up and relaxing, relaxing, relaxing...

On a side note, Kyle and I worked through a practice contraction last night as I lay on my side in the running man position and I found it really hard to concentrate on relaxing because this little one was doing calisthenics in its little water bubble and it pretty much overrode all my other efforts and sensations! The good thing is that during labor, they're usually quiet as a mouse, busy being born!

I've been knitting again. I can't stop myself! To make it even better, I got some gift certificates for a yarn store for Christmas! But I had actually already made this little bag, or most of it, before I got those!

This project, like so many of mine, was inspired by Purlbee.com. It's the Gooseberry Stitch Purse and it's designed to hold odds and ends of knitting paraphernalia, such as tape measures, stitch holders, place markers, whatever you need a little bag for, basically. I made this for my sister, Rachel. It was intended to be all purple, but I ran out of yarn, so picked up with the green and then used a contrasting hot pink for the little button I made. Yes, I made that little thing. Having no idea what I was doing, despite instructions, I labored for hours last night at my parents house - trying to figure out how to crochet a chain around a little round place marker. Eventually, I stumbled upon the basic gist of it and managed to pull it off, if not PERFECTLY, with a certain degree of dignity.

All while taking brief pauses to boogie the night away on Josh and Lauren's new Wii dance game. It was seriously fun. Especially when my Dad and another family friend, Jim, decide to face off. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. It was painful, it was so funny. You think you've seen hilarity, well...it's even better when you're 30 weeks pregnant and just pretending you're not in order to shake your groove thing. I may post a tiny clip later, if I can get it to work from Kyle's phone. At huge risk of mortification.

Anyway, Merry Christmas - hope yours was delightful! I know mine was!

Oh my goodness, you must be thinking, multiple posts in one day! Don't get spoiled...I'm just as likely to get sidetracked for another month.

But I'm trying to make up for my bad behavior by treating you to some good things! Recommending good books, giving you a superb recipe...

Background on this recipe: This past summer, I read a book by David Lebovitz called The Sweet Life in Paris. (See, another book recommendation!) The best thing about this book was the myriad of recipes nestled within its chapters. I liked them so much I made copies of all the recipes before turning the book back into the library. Teehee.

Every now and then I pull out my sheaf of copied papers and flip through them for ideas. Usually when my sweet tooth gets to wiggling, because David Lebovitz is a renowned pastry chef and so far, hasn't led me astray.

These little guys look like muffins and/or cupcakes, but don't really fit into either category. They're in their own little arena of goodness. You don't ice them...and I don't really think you'd want them for breakfast, although Kyle did mistakenly scarf one down a few mornings ago. And I didn't hear him complaining. They go exceptionally well with coffee and equally well with plain ole milk.

7 ounces (200g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup (125 ml) vegetable oil

1/2 cup (125 ml) plain whole-milk yogurt

1 cup (200 g) sugar

3 large eggs, at room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract

1 1/2 cups (200 g) flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp coarse salt

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper cupcake liners or lightly butter the pan.

2. In a heatproof bowl set over simmering water, melt the chocolate with 1/4 cup of the oil. Once melted and smooth, remove from heat.

3. In another bowl, mix the remaining 1/4 cup oil with the yogurt, sugar, eggs, and vanilla and almond extracts.

4. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt.

5. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the yogurt mixture. Stir lightly a couple of times, then add the melted chocolate and stir until just smooth.

6. Divide the batter among the muffin cups and bake for 25 minutes, or until they feel barely set in the middle.

7. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack before serving.

Storage: the cakes can be stored in an airtight container, at room temp, for up to 4 days. (and in my own personal experience, even slightly longer).

Note: although you can use regular salt, the coarse salt really adds something special here. Somehow, you get a hint of salt with each chocolatey bite and it adds some serious dimension to the typical chocolate/cake experience. I made these really for my kids, but found myself LOVING them. And with the yogurt, well, they're basically health food!

I'm currently reading a book called The Distant Hours by Kate Morton. This on the heels of her first novel which I read on our Seattle vacation: The House at Riverton. If you're looking for books to read, thick ones that drag you in and haunt your waking hours with a persistent need to steal away and continue reading, this might be an author for you.

Her books, at least the two I've read, weave a story between the present day and a past point in history (the 20's, the 40's) during which the story's chief narrator (in present day) relives and/or revisits the past to uncover a mystery, explain their own personal history and bring to light previously unearthed truths. It could be because I love the time periods Kate Morton has chosen to explore or just the gift she has at portraying the enigmatic nature of human relationships, but she has quickly become one of my favorite authors.

Not only that, but at the back of The House at Riverton she divulged some of her own favorite authors, people whose style of writing has influenced her own and inspired her. I looked into some of them, such as A.S. Byatt (Possession), Thomas H. Cook (The Chatham School Affair), and a few others who kind of creeped me out. I will say that Possession and The Chatham School Affair are excellent reads, though. She also cited as inspiration period movies which explore the interplay between servants and masters, such as Gosford Park (a personal favorite!).

In short, it's good stuff! So if you like to read, you might take a gander at some of her material!

There's one aspect to knitting that I've never really mastered and that is the whole gauge thing. I mentioned this many posts back in reference to a certain Rose Pillow I knitted. Cutest little thing....little being the key word...

Usually, each project you undertake comes with instructions (one hopes), the first of which is to check your gauge. What that means is to knit up a sample size piece with so many rows and stitches to ensure that you are using the right size needle, right size yarn, your stitches aren't too tight or too loose. The idea is that when you finish your real work, it will be the size intended. You'd hate to knit a sweater for yourself that will only fit a 4 year old. Or vice versa. Or a blanket that ends up being the size of a place mat.

I tend to feel there's some wiggle room here. And thus far, I've never had a problem. I either have used the yarn suggested for a given project or the gauge wasn't all that critical to begin with. I think overall I don't knit too tightly or too loosely. So I recently undertook a small project from one of my favorite knitting books, More Last Minute Knitted Gifts, a book I think I've referenced before. From one of my favorite blogs (www.purlbee.com)and yarn stores (www.purlsoho.com). This book has some gorgeous projects! The chief flaw of this book being that the suggested yarn is often INSANELY expensive. Which would be no problem for the author of this book who happens to OWN a knitting store in Soho, New York. Obviously, she can just pick a yarn from her well-stocked shelves and not give it a second thought.

I, on the other hand, am more likely to pause when a project calls for 2 skeins of yarn, each of which cost $45 per skein. GASP! Ok, I'm gonna have to find a substitute....

This particular project was a baby cap. For my own pending little one. I had acquired (on sale) some really nice yarn in a lovely neutral grey color for which I've been searching for the right project. On a side note, while I know I'm not the slowest knitter there is, I must not be nearly as fast as I could or should be. These projects are listed by approximate time to completion. Such as 1-2 hours, 2-4 hours, 4-6 hours and 6 + hours. So far, either I just haven't given myself a chunk of time required, or I knit more slowly than the author, for I exceed by several hours the time estimate. Sigh.

The moral of this story is....check the gauge...or suffer the consequences.

I love this season. For so many reasons, and not just because there are presents! Although those are nice, too! I love the cold weather, the barren trees, the fact that you don't have to water your yard and thus, your water bill is lower! I love that you can drink hot chocolate and wassail and hot tea to your heart's content and not break out into a sweat! I love piling quilts on my bed and snuggling deep beneath them. And just on that note...is there anything better than a really old quilt? I think not. I collect them and use them at the same time.

I love letting the house get cooler right before you jump into bed beneath layers of quilts and blankets and then feeling the substantial weightiness and warmth of the quilts just embrace you. There's something about the feel of an old quilt, how it was hand-pieced and stitched by some unknown hand that could never have known just how appreciative you'd be some cold night in December.

I love dragging down the boxes from the attic and slowly putting up all the Christmas decorations (I actually didn't wait till after Thanksgiving this year). I love EGGNOG! I love Christmas music and seeing the city put up street decorations and thinking about what gifts to get my children, my husband and my family. I love decorating the tree! That's actually our plan for tonight and we're all super-excited!

I love telling the kids about the Christmas story...Christ's birth and what it means for them. They love to play with our many nativity sets and boy, does some imagination reveal itself then! I love making a list of my Christmas goodies - this year I'm thinking home-made cinnamon rolls, my former neighbor Heidi's toffee recipe, maybe even divinity (crossing my fingers), cinnamon/oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, who knows what else. It's just a great excuse to bake and then surprise my neighbors.

I love proof-reading my Dad's annual Christmas card and seeing how it turns out after months of deliberating, writing and re-writing. I love getting Christmas cards from people I've known all my life - seeing the changes in their families...kids growing up, new kids...it's this time of year that my mom strips her own refrigerator of its hundreds of Christmas family photos and awaits the arrival of this year's pictures. It's always fun to go to her house and try to spot the newest picture!

And this year, I have yet to mention it because it still doesn't quite seem real, we have a new car. Knowing we were moving from 2 car seats to 3 sort of necessitated a car change. And this was something that Kyle and I both really struggled with. We were completely content and happy with our current car situation as it was. Guess we should have thought of that before I got pregnant. There is just no room in the Audi for another car seat, as hard as we might try. And none in the 4runner, either. So we've been looking for a Suburban or Yukon XL for several months now. As devoted as many of my friends are to their mini-vans, it was not an option for us. We hadn't been looking too hard...we figured we'd get serious after the holidays.

And then, upon our return from Seattle, my Dad found a car for us through his banking connections. And it was way more than we were even expecting or hoping for in a car. Just another way that God blesses us more than we can even ask or imagine or hope for. It's a Lincoln Navigator L, the Suburban length Navigator. Everything we wanted in a car and then some - black with chrome accents, tan leather interior, DVD system, navigation system, heated and cooled seats...it is so pretty and again, it doesn't feel like it's ours. We feel ridiculously humbled to have been so blessed. And we're officially ready for car seat #3.

Now, if only we could sell our 4runner! Anyone know anyone who needs one? It's a 1997 SR5, 143,000 miles (which will go for at least another 150,000), leather seats, 2wd, wood trim interior..and it's Kyle's baby so he's taken really good care of it. And is quite sorry to see it move on, but it's a necessity. So, that's our current prayer - a new owner for the 4runner!

In the meantime, we're settling in for Christmas and hoping you are enjoying doing the same with your sweet families.

Sadly, I have no pictures to post with this blog entry. Just tales of a great night with even better friends. I have to say that in the friendship department, Kyle and I are so so so richly blessed. I am reminded of that fact every time we spend evenings, dinners, afternoons, or even just moments with any of these friends of ours.

I am also convicted that as easy as it is to get wrapped up in enjoying life on your own and no matter how ok that IS, there are times when it is just really good to bask in the warm glow of sweet fellowship with people you just plain love.

Last night, Kyle and I shared dinner with one of those special families to us - Geo and Alana and their sweet kids, Elijah and Ethan. We tackled the meal jointly - Geo prepared his Guatemalan black beans and rice (to die for!) and some authentic tamales (none of those greasy, tasteless, pureed meat fabrications that masquerade as tamales), while I prepared the appetizer of potato skins (thanks, Pioneer Woman!) and dessert - a tres leches cake (also a PW find). The whole meal was something dreams are made of. Delicious, sublime, scrumptious...wishing I had more room to pack that food! My kids kept begging Alana to go back and refill their bowls over and over again. Good stuff!

The kids played beautifully with only minor squabbles over who got to ride the little car, and Kyle and I simply enjoyed talking with our sweet friends. It was one of those evenings where time just gets away from you. One moment it's 6:30, the next it's 11!

And this is how you know your friends are true. When you sit in their driveway at 11:30 trying to figure out why the remote start button of your new car actually shut the whole system DOWN and why the car won't start in the 34 degree weather....and your sweet friends usher your kids back into their warm house, back their car out, jump start your car and don't even seem to mind. And then text to make sure you got home safely. I love these people.

I feel very blessed these days to just soak in such moments. I know life has horrible, awful heart-breaking moments, too. I've been faced with several of them this past week alone. And it is a sweet blessing from the Lord to enjoy some moments of pure happiness in the midst of this world that can so often take our breath away with its evils, life circumstances and unexpected events. And to be able to remember that God is good is never a bad thing.

I am so blessed to be pregnant again, this I know without a doubt. And I do enjoy most things about pregnancy, such as watching your body blossom with new life, feeling the baby move all the time, even having an excuse to buy a few new maternity clothes. I love how thick my hair gets and how I can take naps in the afternoon and no one thinks less of me for doing so. I love snuggling up to August in bed and feeling his knees in my belly prompt the baby to kick him away. I love when Brooklyn and August fight over who gets to talk to the baby inside me. And feeling the little one seem to respond to them! I love when Kyle gives me a hug when he gets home from work, then lean over to kiss my belly hello. I love just rubbing my belly. I find myself doing it unconsciously all the time. Just patting it, rubbing it, telling this little one how I love it. I love knowing that God made my body to do this. I feel so incredibly blessed.

What I don't enjoy is feeling like a fat cow. I read somewhere how Angelina Jolie loves pregnancy because she feels ripe, lush, etc. That may be when you're a twig the whole way through your pregnancy. Which I am not! I don't enjoy seeing the numbers on the scale creep up and up and up. No matter how much weight I lose afterwards, the gaining of it is really hard on me. No judgment. It is what it is.

I hate having to pee all the time. Particularly at 1 am, 3am, 6am...when the heat in our house is on its lowest setting and our hardwood floors freeze my feet and bare legs! I wish over and over again that I had heated toilet seats. I hate having to pee at inopportune times. Such as today, when I was trying on maternity jeans at Gap and just about cried because suddenly just shifting from my knees to standing made something smush my bladder insanely. And I refuse to use mall toilets. Needless to say, we hussled out quickly.

I hate the way you constantly have to grab the waistband, pull up and do a little dance to keep your maternity pants from slipping - no matter what kind of waistband they have. And how underwire bras start digging into your ribs. But I'm just not ready to pull back out my nursing bras, sexy as they are.....Kyle's not quite ready either, I don't think.

And I will say, it's more challenging being pregnant this time of year simply because it's impossible to eat really healthy over Halloween, Thanksgiving and then Christmas! Best intentions and all...it's hard!

Sleeping is also challenging. I'm really only comfortable on my left side, but I desperately want to sleep on my stomach and will find myself waking up in the middle of the night trying to lay on my belly and it just not working.

I just have about 3 more months to go, then I'll be remembering how lovely it was to just plain get any sleep. But I'll also be holding the little one as my great reward for persevering the prior 40ish weeks and every day of nausea they represented, every pound they packed on, every bit of discomfort...it will all be worth it. So forgive me while I grunch a teensy bit about the not so fun bits. All in all, I wouldn't trade it for the world.

24 weeks

Our house was equipped with a basket of rocks. Oddly enough, it was just about the kids' favorite form of play. And it was always warm near the fireplace. What could be better?

(Oh, and yep, this lovely flowered number is the preferred comfy outfit of my daughter. Aka, her pjs).