Grandma!

Grandma came to visit!!! We have all enjoyed having my mom here for a week. What a blessing she has been to us! Shelby pretty much took her over as her personal playmate. They had a lot of fun together playing games and cuddling and hanging out. Grandma did get to hold Vivian some :) and also was able to hang out with Josh and I, too. Here are some pictures from the week.

Lots of cuddling and snuggling and holding.

Matching jammies for the girls.

Estes Park, CO shirts from Uncle Jesse and Aunt Kelly.

My mom made some matching aprons for Shelby and me from an apron that my great-grandmother had made.

We had quite the Christmas! We will take her back to the airport today and we are sad to see her go. What fun we had!!! Of course, there wasn't enough time to get everything done that we wanted to, but we had lots of fun in what we did accomplish. Shelby will not know what to do with herself once Grandma is gone. We love you, Grandma!

Merry Christmas!

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

So glad we have a REAL tree!

We were excited to pick up a real tree for only $35! The Bonus family had helped to decorate our house which we are very thankful for! Last week we were able to get a tree and we had a lot of fun decorating it. Shelby really enjoyed putting ornaments on the tree.





My mom comes in on Thursday and I am looking forward to having her here for a week! She is such a blessing to us!

~ Merry Christmas to you all ~

Chairs are finished

Josh has been working on re-doing our chairs every spare moment he has had and we are thankful that he is finished and was able to put them together today!

This is Josh's contraption for putting on the finish and letting them dry with limited space in his shop. It worked great!

And here they are! I love the contrast and am so glad the fabric is gone.

Good job, Josh!

Big Sister

Shelby is enjoying being a new big sister. Vivian usually puts a smile on Shelby's face, unless Vivian is crying then Shelby is very serious about calming her down. Here is a video of the two of them together.

Vivian Ruth

A lot has happened since our last post! We will try to catch up. First, we had a wonderful time with the Bonus family visiting for Thanksgiving (more on that and pictures to come later). Then...praise the Lord...Sharon went into labor Monday morning at 4 AM! Adam and Kim were getting ready to pack up and leave, but they stayed another day with us to help with Shelby and to welcome our daughter, Vivian. It was very special to have Kim there with us during the labor and delivery. We have posted some pictures for you: Vivian Ruth.

Vivian Ruth Hamilton, born Monday, November 28, 2011 at 5:52 PM. She weighed 8 pounds 2 ounces and is 22 inches long. Vivian = Full of life. Ruth = Companion. We love you, precious girl!

39 weeks!

I have made it to 39 weeks! (Shelby was born at 41 weeks.) I have had Braxton Hicks contractions for the past few days. I am feeling great and enjoying these last few days of feeling the baby move around inside me. What an AMAZING feeling! God sure designed a special thing with pregnancy.

So...any guesses on what we are having? Leave a comment - boy or girl. :) We are all very excited to have the Bonus family come for Thanksgiving. Still praying the baby will be born while they are here.

This picture is for Katherine. I'll do it again next week if possible. What a fun idea.

We have had cooler weather today (50's) and are enjoying it! Josh has started on the next big project - redoing our dining room chairs. So thankful for my wonderful hubby!!!

Gum!

Shelby is always "chewing gum" and "blowing bubbles" with nothing in her mouth, or pretending while she is eating food. Well, tonight she found some gum and said, "Should I chew it?" to which Josh and I replied, "Sure!"

She did a great job until we were about to leave the house and she said about her gum, "I'm all done." After asking her what she meant and where the gum was she just gave me a blank stare. When I asked her if it was in her tummy she pulled her shirt up and looked at her tummy, then said "No." Eventually she did say that she swallowed it. Oops. Guess we'll keep working on that skill with her.

Curtains are finished

Done! It feels good to have this curtain project finished. :)

Here is the bathroom curtain when it is not tied up.

Here are the curtains I made for the 2nd bathroom. You can pull them apart to let light in.

These are the curtains for the baby's room.

And here's what they look like tied up:

So...we are ready for the baby! We are praying that I will go into labor and that the baby will be born between 11/23 and 11/27 while my sister is here. Will you pray for that with us? Thank you!

Next sewing project to begin this weekend...small kitchen appliance covers.

1st sewing project complete!

I received all of my fabric, thread and other sewing essentials last week and am so excited to say that the curtain for the main bathroom is finished! We didn't buy the curtain rod in time, but it is coming in the mail. For now I have the curtain hanging in the kitchen so that you all can see it. I am so excited at how well it turned out! I think these are the easiest curtains you can possibly make, but I am still happy that they turned out. :)

Of course, you can't look too close or you'll see a few mistakes, but from afar they look good. :) Now...once we get the curtain rods for the 2nd bathroom and the baby's room I can measure the materials and sew them up.

I have really enjoyed sewing!

For Uncle Russel and Aunt Z

(I wish I could remember the real name for this awesome fork!!!) The extension fork has come in handy tonight! Shelby wanted help eating her green beans and since Josh was across the table he helped her with this fork. Cracks me up!

Notice the sewing machine and table in the background of the first picture. All of my materials arrived today so tomorrow I plan to start on the curtains! I am so excited. Once that is done my next sewing project will be covers for the kitchen appliances. I think I'll make several - a few holiday sets and then an everyday set.

The Thanksgiving Door

We have really been enjoying our books from the library. This book, "The Thanksgiving Door" is by far Shelby's favorite! Both Josh and I read it to her several times a day, usually two or three times in a row. Coming in second is "Fall Leaf Project" followed by "Word Bird's Fall Words."

Have a great week!

For Aunt Kim

It was so fun talking with you today, Kim! Here is Shelby saying her verse, "Children, obey your parents the way the Lord wants. This is the right thing to do." Ephesians 6:1

Another project complete!

Here is Shelby warming up after a bath. It is 90 here today so we are still running our A/C! Colorado, on the other hand, has snow! And lots of it. We are already planning a trip to see the snow early next year. I don't think it has gotten cold enough here for the trees to change color, but we have noticed that leaves are falling, so Shelby and I went to the library yesterday and got a bunch of books about Fall so that she can see what other parts of the country look like. :)

Josh has been hard at work on making a stone path from the house to the laundry room and shop.

Shelby has been faithfully helping him every day. She has really enjoyed playing in the dirt and with the rocks.

Here's the completed path! (Sorry for the shadows.) It looks great! Now when/if it rains we'll have a path to walk on instead of mud. :)

Thank you, Josh!!!!

Other exciting news...onto the next project! My sewing machine arrived today!!! Hopefully soon the sewing table, the fabric, and all the other fun things I ordered for the curtain project will arrive. Do you think I'll have the curtains made before the baby is born? Just 4 weeks until my due date!!!

Shelby note: She is so stinkin' sweet! At nap time today I pulled her bedding back and left the room to go get her water. She sticks her head out the door and says "Goodnight Mom" and closes the door. Realizing I have her water she opens it, takes a drink, says "Thanks" and closes the door again with another "Goodnight Mom." A few minutes later I went to check on her, thinking she may be playing, and she was sound asleep! I guess all the path work tuckered her out. LOVE THIS GIRL!

8 Years!

Today Josh and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary! We had a nice day together ~ Josh had a good night/day at work, then we played outside most of the morning since it was nice and cool. We made brownies, then went to lunch here in town. After lunch we came home to eat our brownies and ice cream, something Josh and I have enjoyed together for a long time.

Shelby had a great time making the brownies!

And here we are enjoying our treat. Thanks for the ice cream, Carters!

It was a nice day. The weather has been cooler here the last few days and we are loving it! This afternoon Shelby and I went on a walk with some friends. Then we met another family at the park to play for a while. Shelby loves being outside, and I do too when the weather is cool. :) Just 6 1/2 weeks until I am due ~ we are all so excited to meet this little baby!

The Step Stool

The step stool is finished and Shelby loves it!

Shelby doesn't quite get that saying "cheese" is supposed to help you smile...so this is her cheese / smile face.

Josh did such a good job. Thank you, Daddy!!!

Shelby's room

Shelby's room is finished! The closet door is closed; we have her shoes and dresses in there.

The house is clean. Shelby's step stool should be finished tomorrow week. THEN...we are starting on the baby's room. Mostly just washing clothes, blankets, and sheets for the cradle. Of course, there are several other things on our list to get done before the baby is born. :)

Hope you have a nice weekend!

Psalm 4:8

Memory Verse

Shelby has memorized her first verse!

"I go to bed and sleep in peace. Lord, only You keep me safe."

-Psalm 4:8

We'll try to get it on video, but wanted to share this with you. Every night we read from one of three books before bed. Whenever there is a verse we have her repeat after us as we read it. Last night Josh started reading on the following page and skipped over the verse page. So Shelby said: "Daddy, I go" ... and we were thinking "What is this girl saying?" Then I remembered the page before had the normal verse we read. Josh turned to that page and she said the whole verse by herself! It was amazing! These little kiddos are just like sponges, soaking up so much that we don't even realize. LOVE IT!!!!

It's hard to believe, but I am about 32 weeks! Just 8 weeks to go. My downfall - food wise - has been cinnamon Teddy Grahams and trail mix (my special blend). Surprisingly the last two doctor visits my doctor has told me it is ok to gain more weight. I am not trying to, but I am sure I will over the next 8 weeks.

Josh is working on painting Shelby's dresser today. I think it will look nice. A friend of ours (Thanks Tammy!) is picking up some more curtains for Shelby's room for us. Once we get the curtains up we'll share a picture of her room with her bedding and the bed frame that Josh made for her. Then I can start on the baby's room. :) I know that I say "I" a lot, but most of the time it is Josh doing the work. He is such a great daddy!

It rained!

So today we heard lots of thunder again...and it rained! We sat out on the front (screened-in) porch and watched the rain. It was so nice! It is still in the 80's, but the rain was very refreshing and smells great. Shelby had a good time out in the rain.

Josh finished the shelves in the shop! He still needs to put everything on the shelves, but they are done and look great.

One of the things Shelby loves that we got out of storage is the shoes from my wedding. She calls them the "white shoes" and loves to clomp around the house in them.

Shelby is getting to be quite the big girl! She has been going #1 in the big potty for a while, but today she did #2!!! We are so proud of her! Now...how do we conquer naps and bedtime?

What we've been up to

We have been busy!

Over the weekend we had a drain problem with the sink - so Josh and Shelby figured it out.

Our kitchen curtains arrived! As well as our bedroom curtains. We had a good time putting them up yesterday.

Josh (and Shelby) finished her bed frame today! Once her bedding arrives we'll show you the final product. Josh did a great job!

We got this chest of drawers today from some friends. Now...what color to paint it? And what new handles do we put on it? :) We plan to use it in Shelby's room. This project will hopefully be done by the first of November, so that I can take Shelby's chest of drawers and use it for the baby's room.

Josh has a shop in between the garage and the laundry room. He is building shelves to get it all organized. He is really enjoying having the room to do some woodwork and all the little projects we have going.

Did I mention that we have been busy!? :) We are enjoying our new home! Hopefully by the end of this week we'll have our curtains for the living room. Then next week we'll get Shelby's curtains up and her bedding in.

It is the first day of Fall! What a wonderful time of year!!! Hope you all have nice, crisp weather to enjoy. We are at 91 degrees, but I hear thunder...so maybe we'll get some rain and it will cool off. Maybe, just maybe. :)

The inside

Here is the inside of our house! We still have storage boxes to go through and pictures to hang and curtains to buy and... :) We are enjoying it!

Curlers

Today we decided to put curlers in our hair! Shelby did well with them in her hair.

Here are the post curler pictures:

She does have her mother's fine hair, so it was a little crazy. But still very pretty. :)

We weren't able to go to church today, but we listened to a sermon from Pastor Craig. Josh is in training this week, so he is working days and we will be excited to spend the evenings with him.

We do hope you have a nice Labor Day!

The outside

We took some outside pictures today of our house and the yard. I have them on Picasa and I'll add the inside pictures another day. :) Check it out: Our 2nd Sanderson Home.