let us introduce you to our littlest boy

yep. we are about to welcome one more little boy at casa hart. (smiles)

everything looked healthy and normal during our ultrasound this morning. he is measuring right at 20 weeks and is estimated to weigh about 11 ounces.

his big brother is thrilled. luca was positive it was a boy- i am not sure we could have convinced him otherwise. big sister was too busy playing with her grandpa to pay attention to the news.

luca and gia speak

it has been much too long since i have included this segment on this blog. it is one of my favorite ways to clue in our far-from-us-loved-ones about the minds and imaginations of luca and gia.

lucaspeak:

so it is easier to describe the essence of our conversations with the little man, rather than give word for word quotes. he has been asking a lot of questions about good guys and bad guys, wanting to know why some people would choose to be mean and violent, and what God does about the battle between them. at the heart of this, there are some deep and very spiritual answers. we have spent time explaining how God created man and woman, how we (humans) chose/choose to live outside of God's intention for us, and how He provided a way to Him through Jesus. luca has been very involved in these discussions and we feel he is processing this information very seriously. it has been such an amazing experience to walk through these ideas with our son.

another big issue for luca has been understanding the difference between what God created and man made. he wants to know what we have been responsible for and what God gave us.

he loves to talk about the baby as well. he asks about what he used to do when he was newborn and has big plans for helping out when cashew is born. he practices swaddling and feeding his doll david. super cute.

jesse and i both agree that his mispronunciation of words, especially those beginning with sm, sn, and st are so adorable and we will be sad when learns to properly pronounce these words.

for example:
pall=small
poozie=smoothie
take=snake
ticker=sticker
toopy = snoopy
servil = silver
mocuter = computer
coot = cute

he also still cleverly tries to create new words to help fill out his vocabulary:

"we are imaginationing we are superheroes and we have to jump over the crack from the earthquake that is under each door so we can save the baby animals from the bad guys."

when i supply the correct word in these situations (i.e. imagining), he very stoically explains, "mama, i just speak differently than you."

giaspeak:

"i love you so much." (said from one doll/animal to another every day and sometimes )

"you want to snuggle me?" (please come lay down and snuggle in my bed.)

"give me kisses!" (said to papi before he leaves for work)

"this is the mama and this is the baby." (everything she touches becomes a mama and baby - dinosaurs, dolls, hotwheels, fork and sippy cup, etc.)

"i know that." (i don't know.)

"he wants/needs. . ." (this is how she explains what her dolls want. usually ends with "his mama/papi," "paci/blankie," or "shoes" - she is still shoe crazy.)

"my want to go bye-bye." (she loves to leave the house and usually cries when we pull in our driveway. she is also really offended when we stop somewhere and she is not allowed to leave the car - i.e. the gas station - she feels she is missing out on some fun.)

"i playing with my dollies." (usually said at the top of her lungs when we can't see her. just letting us know what she's up to. she likes to play by herself and i think she doesn't want us to disturb her. )

"my looking for abc's." (we don't really know what this means, but gia uses this phrase all the time.)

how fantastic is this?

about a month ago, i spent an amazing weekend with one of my favorite people, sonya. we spent two days catching up over the last year, shopping at great stores you can't find in central illinois, eating yummy food, and even redecorating her apartment a bit. it was balm to a tired and lonely spirit.

there was another unexpected benefit of the weekend. while visiting one of those great stores, anthropologie, i stumbled across a floor model sofa that was drastically marked down and priced to sell. the only problem is that is was already being held for another customer. what could it hurt to ask if i could give my name just in case, right? well, a week later i finally get a call that the sofa is mine if i want! i wanted. we have never bought a new sofa before, so this felt like such a splurge. it is extremely comfortable - you have to sit on it to believe it.

i have been asked to post photos of said sofa by our family and friends who can't see it. here is the link from the store.

and here are a couple photos of it in the house. i added three pillows to the back, due to the depth of the couch. i also needed to add some color and texture to the simple lines of the piece. (i don't think these photos due it justice - the colors seem a bit off and you need to see and feel the texture of the belgium linen to appreciate it.)





here is a close up of the pillow case i sewed. i still need to finish the other two. all the fabrics were from my stash. i am pretty smitten with it!

fun in the sun

last week, the kids and i trekked up to saugatuck, michigan for a family reunion of sorts. my grandma organized a trip for our family, reserving a cottage that sleeps 11 with the hope that many of us would want to join her for a week at lake michigan. well, turns out it was a popular idea. at the peak, 18 of us were crammed into that place. the living room alone hosted half the group (three air mattresses, a pull out sofa bed and a fold-up cot.)

it was a great week enjoying the beautiful weather with a couple summer storms thrown in for excitement. the town was super cute and only blocks from our place and a quick 5 minute drive took us to the beach. as you can see from my photo posted yesterday and the ones in this post, it is a gorgeous place. the water is some of the clearest on the lake. when standing chest deep in the water, you could still see your feet on the bottom. (so i am told by my brother since i was not about to go that far in with a water temp of 52 degrees.)

unfortunately jesse stayed home to make a deadline at work and refinish our downstairs wood floors. the payoff is that they look amazing!! but he definitely plans on joining us for any future trips. it was for sure a little much for me having responsibility of the kiddos for 8 days while in my fifth month of pregnancy. my mom, grandma, aunts, siblings, and cousins were superstar helpers though.

i was so glad that everyone was able to come. we have missed so many family holidays lately and i grew up seeing these people on a weekly basis. it was so neat for luca and gia to develop relationships with my aunts and cousins. they have been talking about everyone for the last 4 days pretty much nonstop.

gia had this obsessive love of all things beach - especially sand. she would swim in it, sleep in it, and even eat it.

luca showing off his superhero pose.

oh so chic little g.

missin' him

a buried picomon - his hair kept falling in his face so he couldn't see.

sandy faced girl - so happy to be there.

cousin max took them for a little boat ride. they pretended they were pirates in a storm.

luca and i went on an ice cream and park date one night.

my little beauty watching the sunset.

the sunset coast

take a peek

welcome to the hart potager. still a work in progress, but at least that progress includes actual green growing things. the gravel went down last weekend and the plants that survive each squirrel attack* are doing fantastic. (well, i do wish the peppers were bigger by now.) what is so fun to me - the majority of these plants started as little bitty seeds in my hands. it really amazes me how it all works.

*the squirrels are ridiculous. they continue to gnaw my plants off at the base of the stems - not to eat, but just to leave in the soil. like a joke. i imagine them thinking, "we don't accept these peace offerings. we require more sunflower seeds/seedlings. and don't put your plastic cups over them anymore to protect them. we will just keep picking off your green beans, digging up your strawberries, and wreaking general havoc on your lettuce and carrots." i have lost three sets of sunflowers to these critters, but am determined to have big, tall, beautiful flowers in my garden. i will not lose this war.