special delivery

Charlie Tait Dickson
1/30/2012, 9lbs, 3oz. 21"




13 days overdue, 9 hours of labor, 2 midwives, 1 nurse
1 bruce, 1 fiercely squeezed hand
1 screaming momma
0 needles in my back
9 lbs... that's right, 9 lbs, 3oz!
1 perfect baby
1 excited big sister
2 adoring parents
4 proud grandparents
48 total cousins



happy birthday charlie. you are irresistible!

'twas the night of the due date..

..and all through the house, there was bashing and banging with the ceiling falling out.
the bathroom was stripped right clean of it's tiles
and the wood and debris seemed to stretch on for miles
the dust wrapped around us and waffed in our noses
and we smelled nothing of new babies or roses

and so we will wait.

which is clearly fine by me- we're up to our knees in projects, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. We've wanted to work on our basement for a while now so I'm actually really excited it's happening.
Great timing though, right?

Well, we're even more excited for this baby boy to make his debut.

I'm excited to see Claire with a real baby of her own.
I feel just a little sad to end the threesome phase of our family
but more excited to be growing our bunch.
I'm curious just how much this will rock Claire's world,
and mine and Bruce's for that matter.
I feel so blessed to have a strong body able to carry my babies
and experience the miracle of life.

So little baby, despite the mess downstairs, the dust & debris and not even having a name for you yet, we're excited beyond words to have you in our family.

come when you're ready ;)

the making of a chef

Before: killer deal at DI, $15 for this solid wooden kitchen, even came with a plastic cup and pringle (not pictured)

Bruce: "I don't think you even need to paint it!"
Snee: "ha ha. You're kidding, right?"

Christmas Eve: 2am... which actually makes it Christmas Day

Bruce: "You've got to be kidding me it's this late and we only have a 2 yr old?! These hooks aren't made for this..."
Snee: "They'll fit. I'm almost done sewing and we're done!"
(silent note to self: don't take on more than one diy project in December)

Christmas morning
Claire: "IT'S MY KITCHEN!!! Hey, where's the food?"
Bruce: "What I wouldn't do for that girl."
Snee: "phew, she loves it as much as I do!"

...going overboard...

Snee: "what? extra material = table runner, and ruffle on the oven mitt, and matching apron. It's what childhood is all about, right?!"

After:

and we've had a little cook in the kitchen ever since!

did I say kitchen? ok, everywhere.

Falling Away

These random clear, sunny, can I say pleasant January days have been just lovely. It makes us miss the sun and remember how nice Fall was, and how great Spring will be.

Is it too early to have Spring Fever?!
Hey, can you blame a girl? I sold my soul to the sun long ago and it seems to be an irreversible deed. Winter ends for me at the end of the year. Sorry January and February.
Poor Claire asks to go swimming or to the park every. single. day.
It breaks my heart just a little to tell her it's too cold. On the bright side, the cold only brings the Spring warmth with even more welcoming arms.

Then I promise Claire we'll spend every day poolside ;)

Here's a mass amount of pictures from the Fall where we spent as much time as possible enjoying all the beautiful canyons, mountains and parks.
Thanks Utah. We really do love you.

going dutch

It came, it went, it was everything we hoped it would be.




Het gezin
"the family"





Ik houd bier en grote vrouwen.
"I love beer and large women."


Heb ik gezegd grote? Ik verwacht betekende!
"Did I say large? I meant expecting"



Meer kandy papa? Alstublieft? Mijn mand is leeg.
"More candy papa? please? My basket is empty."


Tweeling.
"twins"



Ik hou halloween
"I love Halloween"



dromerig
"dreamy"

Claire rounded up so much candy and sweets from multiple parties and trick-or-treating that I'm having to slowly wean her off to control the sugar monster.
...and truth be told, Bruce and I both are attempting wean ourselves off too- she'll never know we took the good stuff!



Originally I didn't plan to be exactly matching Claire in our costumes, it just turned out that the fabric I picked-up for $2 at the DI was the fabric that kept on giving... and the results was Matchy-McMatch Town. (mine very much less flattering being the maternity version. ahem.)

nesting is real

You would not believe the length of my to-do list. overwhelming. stress-inducing.

This pregnancy is flying by and I just can't find the drive and energy to get everything done that I want to before #2 comes. Plus, with the next 4 months already seemingly packed with the holidays, birthdays, etc. coming up, it's serious crunch time.
It doesn't help that any sunny, warm day, all we've wanted to do was hit the pool. Thank goodness for the Sherman's pool within walking distance! ..and staying open post-Labor Day! ;)

Now with the cooler weather and it being October, my biggest distraction is our Halloween costumes.
People usually fall into 2 categories when it comes to Halloween- those who love it and dress-up and those who don't and think it's a pagan evil.
We're proud to be in the first group.
And now that I've decided what we're going to be, I'm seriously excited about pulling our costumes together. Like, I couldn't sleep yesterday before work because of plans in my head- it'll be awesome if I can make the images in my mind come to life!

We are glad to check-off one big to-do....Claire's potty trained!
See those little cupcake panties poking out? I'm so proud. She's even learning to uh, "pass the time wisely."

We actually started the diaper weaning in August and finally reached the point of fewer-to-no accidents the end of Sept. I really am so proud! What a champ!