The Photographic Display of Nine Pictures.

Over a year ago when I went crazy with home organization in our apartment I purchased a book. Real Simple: The Organized Home.

I used this book for all sorts of inspiration and carried it with me everywhere. Somehow, just seeing a bunch of pictures of clean, tidy spaces made me feel relaxed.

I see something that has a lot of order and I audibly sigh and think to myself, "my that is beautiful." Similar perhaps to how one might feel when seeing a beautiful picture of nature. I love those too, but seeing a picture of a purposeful organized space (or better yet having one in my home--that stays realtively intact) and I'm a happy girl.

There is a picture in this book of a wall photo collage. It is so orderly, square in shape, neatly positioned behind the dining room table. As soon as I saw the dining room wall in our home, before we moved even, I had visions of creating a photo collage wall of my own.

When I get excited about something I tend to share the story or vision or whatever multiple times to the people I love.

Well, I must have been really excited about this because I think I mentioned it to my poor mom every time she came over to my house (and quite possibly other times as well). So much so that she began to tease me about it often.

That blank wall was quite the joke, "and on it, I am going to do a square photo collage."

So finally I did it. Just in time for Dashing Boy's 30th birthday party.

I wanted to make my mom proud and I knew she would get a kick out of seeing it actually carried out.

Mom is wonderful. She is my best friend. She is the best at teasing me and getting me to relax and she knows just how to love me and make me feel special. I love you mom!

Mom left this very kind and nice comment on my blog at new years. She is so funny and nice. She slyly added my photo wall as an accomplishment for the last year. Can you spot her wit?

"what a nice post! i am so proud of you for so many things! this has been quite the year for you! as you have eaten your salads ( to name a few accomplishments) you have bought your first house, painted your whole house, planted your first gardens of vegetables and flowers, made your first quilt, arranged a great photographic display of 9 pictures, cooked great food...love, mom"

Only mom's can make you feel so good and valued like that. I hope I can be as good of mom as she is. I wonder if my children will ever make me listen to them excitedly discuss the same thing over and over as mom has had to listen to me.

Now that the collage is up there I have visions of changing the pictures out every so often as the years go by.

(frames were purchases at Micheals for $2.99 each!)

Laughter Makes the Day.

Every day Dashing Boy and I spend a good amount of time laughing our heads off together.

I love it.

I have a bit of a lame sense of humor. Like yesterday Dashing Boy was reading something and he said "nevaw" instead of "never" on accident. And the other day while reading something he read "We are a step-TEE-ahm," when it really said "We are a stepteam." (He had just been speaking Spanish earlier so perhaps that is why?)

Anyway things like that make me laugh and laugh. I am giggling away even as I type this. Silly Jenny, and her lame sense of humor.

Laughter is a tried and true mechanism that Dashing Boy experiences in lots of situations. He just can't help it. I have seen it happen many, many times in both appropriate and awkward situations.

Always I end up in laughter too, especially as his laughs become increasingly higher pitched and uncontrollable. (also when he's tired- those are the jackpot laughs).

Pregnancy has provided no shortage of these moments.

Like: a few random emotional moments for me. These include tears over mostly nothing. While I am crying, Dashing Boy is laughing. He is still trying to be sensitive with me, but the laughter is what overwhelmingly comes out. Then I am cry-laughing.

The other day when I left for my pregnant women water aerobics class he started laughing as I was heading out the door. "Why are you laughing at me?" I asked him.

"I just think it's fun to imagine you at water aerobics with a bunch of other pregnant women!" he said. It is pretty funny- that class.

One day I was in the bathroom looking at my changing stomach excitedly chatting away to him and pointing out some new developments-- and his facial expression looked a bit horrified (Dashing Boy says "baffled")- shock at how much my stomach had grown in a short amount of time. And then we were both laughing so hard and I was telling him that he better hide his bewildered facial expressions during birth because then it might not be funny.

It's good to laugh with each other.

I think I could use even more laughter everyday, so I've started writing down funny quotes from Dashing Boy and things that have happened.

I look at it often and laugh and laugh.


And so if anyone has lame humor like me here is a recent one for you to laugh at today (provided with Dashing Boy's approval):

Dinner prayer offered by a very hungry Dashing Boy

Dashing Boy: (begins prayer) "In the name of ..."

Me: (laughter bursting out but trying very hard to hold it in and be reverent).

Hungry Boy: (does not think it is funny) "oh never mind."

We have been laughing about this one for days now.

Velvet Crash

(Crushed Velvet Boots by Burton)

On Saturday morning Dashing Boy went snowboarding.

And I went (well, was going) to go see a silly girly movie with mom.

Dashing Boy is so hot on his snowboard and skis. He is so natural. I love to watch him. He's been doing it since he was four.

He can really exude "cool" pretty effortlessly in this environment. (While I mostly look pretty dorky). Dashing Boy can even exude cool in his new pink velvet boots (a la steepandcheap) that I have been making fun of all week. He pulled them out of the box and I started laughing- the velvet, the kiss- they are pretty funny looking don't you think?

But Dashing Boy said they got excellent reviews, and he is one that most definitely cares much more about function over image. And sure enough, he put those things on with his snowboarding gear- and cool. That's just what he was.

These new boots were quite magical for Dashing Boy. They felt really solid and nice, he said. And so he was having a grand ol' time in them and his confidence was running high.

And then Dashing Boy went over a roller. This is how he tells it: He went on the roller, flew way higher and longer in the air than he anticipated and freaked out midair and sat down.

He landed very hard on his bum.

very hard.

He laid in the snow with his back killing him, wheezing, unable to get his breath. His family found him a bit later. Ski patrol arrived. And he was placed on a board and taken off the mountain.

I found out about it when Dashing Boy was still in the snow. I was frantically calling his family to find out how he was doing. He could move everything, they said, but he was shaking, couldn't breath very well, and hadn't moved much on the board for 45 minutes.

In a situation such as this, the best protocol when there is a possible back injury is to not risk it. Everyone agreed it was most wise to send Dashing Boy down the canyon on the board. Which meant he would have to go in an ambulance.

I waited at the base of the canyon, nervous as could be and wishing I could just be with him so bad.

So I parked the car in the most strategic position possible for quick exit and as soon as that ambulance came out of the canyon I was following it, not going to let it out of my sight.

And then I followed the wrong ambulance to the wrong hospital.

Finally, I made it to the correct one, found Dashing Boy and breathed a sigh of relief. His breathing was getting better, he could move his toes, kiss, and smile and joke like usual.

An x-ray and a good four hours later and we could go home. Both of us feeling so grateful, happy and relieved.

Dashing Boy's back bruised and worse for the wear, body stiff, but still looking pretty cool in the remainders of his snow get-up.

Now we just need to go retrieve those boots.

Cutie Booties

I just completed my first baby project!

Grandma and I were at the fabric store the other day when we spotted Amy Butler's Little Stitches For Little Ones. It is full of cute little baby things to make. And it has a nice selection of both boy and girl things, which is wonderful because so so many cute designs these days are exclusively geared to the girlies.

I fell in love with these little booties the moment I saw them.

Here is my review of the cutie booties pattern:

• it took about as long to cut out all the pieces as it did to sew!
• the next time I make these I am going to place the velcro (the female piece)further away from the edge--the ankles seem really small. Moving the velcro will allow for more adjusting room on baby.
  
• I had to ask Dashing Boy and google which piece of velcro was male and which was female. Now it seems obvious, go figure :) but I admit I was confused on this one!
  
• the sole lining is sewn by hand and after sewing mine in I realized it was a bit bulkier than I intended. Next time I'm going to cut the fusible fleece on the sole lining even smaller so there is less bulk.
• they are very cute and tiny! I sewed size 0-3 months.

I think I'll be making more of these with a few alterations. I also want to try out Heather Bailey's bitty booties and cloth baby shoes by Stardust Shoes.

Baby Bump.

(22 weeks)

Sometimes I look in the mirror and I can't believe it is me. Me with a pregnant belly.

You know how they say men think about you-know-what every 8 seconds or something crazy like that? (this of course, is not truly true) Well, pretty much that is how often I am thinking about the baby.

And yet it still takes me be surprise when I see myself sometimes. It is just so amazing, the miracle of life. I continue to be enthralled and humbled by it. I hope I always will be.

I am so happy to be pregnant. I think the faint linea nigra forming on my belly is awesome. Come stretch marks or less perk, I am in love.