Hadley's First Easter

I used to not enjoy the Easter holiday, not because I didn't appreciate the meaning of the holiday, but because I was away from my family and always felt a little like a vagabond, hopping from one random celebration to another. The past couple of years have been different now that we have found a group of friends that has quickly become our Denver family.  We spent Easter with these friends, and I am so happy that Hadley has people that love her and will set a good example for her as she grows.

Before church. I can't seem to get those socks to stay on!

Hadley's Easter outfit #1.

Our church held their Easter service at a hotel downtown so that all three services could be together.  The service was a half hour alter than usual, but it took us so long to get out of the house!  Hadley decided to have a marathon feeding session, and we kept thinking of things we might need for our afternoon out.  The car was filled to the brim by the time we left, and we barely made it on time for the service. 

We covered Hadley up during the service to keep strangers and their germs away, and she slept soundly- right until the sermon started.  She then decided that she needed another marathon feed, so I missed the rest of the service! I did meet about three new moms in the bathroom, though! 

Some actual family in Denver- Hadley and her Auntie Marissa. 

Yard games!!

Easter outfit #2.  Love the little bunny bottom :) 

Ready for Baby!

I just put up our maternity pictures on Facebook, and it is hard for me to believe that we are going to be done with our baby bump album in just a week or so (less than that, please God!) Even though the last few weeks have dragged on, nine months flew by overall.

We are all set for Baby to get here. Tonight we ran our last errand- we got a baby book so we can start filling it out while we're at the hospital and the memories are still fresh. The nursery is done, the clothes have been washed, and now we are just paying attention to every little ache and pain, in hopes that it means baby is on her way.

Here is a little look at what we have been working on the past couple of months!

 

Baby Crafts

I am thankful for all of my friends, and this weekend, I was especially thankful for Eleanor, who lent me some of her interior decorating talents and donated her time to help with a BIG nursery craft that I kept putting off.

Nathan's mom gave us a beautiful wooden rocker, but it was just so uncomfortable that it needed cushions.  All of the cushions I found either were not the right size or were just ugly.  So I ordered some fabric with the intent of making it into cushions. I scoured the Internet for patterns.  I look on Pinterest for ideas.  The fabric sat there for weeks, and I was pretty sure I'd never work up the courage or motivation to get the job done.

Enter Eleanor.

Eleanor didn't need patterns or Pinterest.  Once I knew the size of the cushions I wanted, we started snipping, pinning, and sewing (she did the machine sewing- I am still afraid of my sewing machine!) It took us a little over three hours, but the end result was better than anything I could have schemed up myself.

It is reversible, so when I get bored of the pattern, I can just flip it over. I forgot to buy white ribbon for the ties, so after a little bit of rummaging in my sewing trunk, we found tulle.  I love the way it adds a little bit of whimsy and frill to it!

After Eleanor left, my nesting instincts were still kicked into high gear, and I still had some batting and fabric left over for the chair cushions.  I decided to get started on a bow board, which I also have been thinking of doing for ages. All it took was the batting, fabric, elastic, a staple gun, and some hot glue.

I wasn't sure how I was going to hang the headbands, but the elastic did the trick.  Now I feel like the nursery is all set, just in case Baby girl decides to come a little bit early!  

Race to Nowhere

Last weekend, I watched the movie Race to Nowhere, a documentary claiming that the Race to the Top initiative and No Child Left Behind have taken away childhood and put more emphasis on test taking than actual learning.

Nathan gets annoyed when I start talking about the sad state of education, but now that we have a baby on the way, it seems like I have to speak out so that her education is not the fill-in-the-bubbles type that the American system is becoming. Have you ever heard of expectant parents dreaming that one day, their child will be an excellent test taker?

I get angry when I see those Exxon commercials saying how far behind America is on international tests. People like to blame the teachers for this, when really it's the testing itself.  Most of the countries that outperform us do not have a yearly standardized test that is offered. In fact, many Asian countires that once used standardized testing realized how harmful it is, and have moved away from it (I'm reading a book that talks about this in depth.)   So why are Americans so stubborn?  Because there is big money in standardized testing. 

There is a lot more information out there on this topic, so do some research to figure out what you think about it. If you have children, have infants, or hope to one day have them, this does affect you. Politicians are stifling creativity, critical thinking, and general enjoyment of learning and replacing it with convergent thinking, rote memorization, and big-business. That's not what I want for our baby's future.

Christmas in Denver

Our house all decorated.

This was my first Christmas in Denver.  We were so appreciative that Nathan's mom was willing to drive out to Denver this year.  Sitting in a car for 10 hours is not exactly comfortable for me!

It was a quieter Christmas than usual, but it was exactly what I needed. We went to church on Christmas Eve, and Marissa had us over to her place where she had the cutest Pinterest inspired Christmas appetizers ever. 

Christmas Eve

Hall tree from Diane- we love it!

Cute little Christmas tree. 

Six Months Later- Seven Months Pregnant

Six months ago, we hadn't found out that I'm pregnant.  Six months ago, we still lived in Wash Park. Six months ago was the last time I updated our blog.  Someday I will get better at doing things consistently.

I am 30 weeks pregnant today.  At first, pregnancy felt like it was creeping by, especially when I kept hearing the words, "You don't even look pregnant!"  Now it feels like it's flying by, and as the countdown gets shorter (70 days), the to-do list gets longer.

We are moving along with the nursery.  I ordered pretty coral chevron striped fabric online and now I have to muster up the confidence to make it into curtains. To be honest, this will probably be a project that Mama Cathy will have to help me with when she's here in January!

Here are a few pictures of how the nursery (and bump) are coming along!

21 Weeks- With Kiowa, my shadow.

24 Weeks- Bead board is up! 

27 Weeks- Starting to buy sweet little decorations, but we haven't hung them yet.

World Tour: Barcelona

We got to Barcelona on Sunday afternoon. It was a quick flight, just an hour and twenty minutes.  Just a quick jaunt south brought us to a bright, warm world of flamenco music, swimsuits, and colorful buildings.  Out hotel, Tryp Apolo, was built for the summer Olympics in 1992. It's the perfect location: close to restaurants, shops, and the Port of Barcelona.

After we checked in, we found a little cafe with retro flair and 50's music. After a few hours of travel and since we were wearing our Paris clothes in Barcelona weather, nothing sounded better than an ice cold beer.  When we ordered, we were so happy to find that prices were about half as much in Barcelona as they were in Paris. And Spain scores another!

We spent the afternoon walking around the beach.  I had a "walking sangria" mostly for the joy of walking around in public with an unconcealed drink. The beach was full of people- and no one was in a hurry. We were getting hungry for dinner, so we found a modern little tapas restaurant. How could we go to Spain without having tapas!?  We tried to have a long, lingering dinner, but we were scared off by rain.  It must have followed us from France!

                                                             Walking Sangria!

The next day, we got smart about tourism and got bus passes for a double-decker tour bus. No more of this walking stuff! Our first stop was the Segrada Familia, a cathedral that is still being built, despite the fact that it was started in the late 1800's! The details are so intricate that it has taken construction workers and architects more than 100 years to build it!  Nathan decided that this was the most amazing architecture that he's ever seen.  From the outside, there are tall, cone-like spires that look like flowers or wheat stalks on the very top. Each side of the facade has different stained glass windows.  Despite all the whimsical beauty of the exterior, the inside is the impressive part.  Is has the feel of a forest, with tall columns stretched from the floor to the ceiling, opening up into circles resembling flowers.

The architect who designed the cathedral also had some other whimsical sites throughout the city. Our next stop, Park Royal, was my favorite.  Way up on the hillside overlooking the city, Park Royal was filled with bright flowers, benches carved from stone, and houses that looked like a gingerbread man should live in them. People were selling souvenirs and bottles of water on the steps and paths.  When a policeman approached, they all gathered their goods into blankets to form a bag, and through them in the bushes. I kept thinking of West Side Story- "Policia!"

                                                       City view from Park Royal

                                                              Stone archway at Park Royal

After a full day of site seeing (without 10 miles of walking, thankfully!) we still had the energy to go out to a nice dinner. We went to 7 Portes, apparently a hub for famous people when they are in town. I sat next to Lauren Bacall and Woody Allen ( 's signatures, that is!)  We are fairly certain that the waiter spoke English, but he didn't let us know that.  The hand gesture and broken Spanish game was fun to play, though (despite the fact that they speak Catalan in Barcelona- not the same as Spanish!) We both ordered paellas- we couldn't leave Spain the next day in good conscience if we didn't order paella!

                                                                Massive paellas.

Paris will always be my first love, but Barcelona has worked its magical way into my heart!