Quick update

The house is a crumby mess (meaning there are crumbs everywhere in addition to the laundry, random toys, shoes, grocery bags, more), but I wanted to check in. Nate has today off from school, so we went to Chick-fil-A and Trader Joe's, where the kids behaved well (always makes for a better outing). Funny side note about that: often, when Nate does a great job of listening, I make an effort to praise him specifically for what he has done. For example, today when we got to the car after Chick-fil-A, I said, "Nate, when Mama said, 'One more minute to play,' and then, 'OK, it's time to go--please get your shoes,' did you obey?" He answered, "Yes!" and was so proud of himself. I do that a lot. Once recently, after school, he did the entire conversation by himself. He said, "In school today, when Miss Meg said put away the toys, did you obey? Yes!!!"

Oh, and one other Nate thing I don't want to forget (I was reminded of this from one of Ricci's posts): he thinks McDonald's is called Old McDonald's. (And I'm sure he thinks the song is about the restaurant.)

Tomorrow we're driving up to Ventura for the day to visit with Nate and Louise and their three girls, who are in the states on furlough.

Several people have mentioned in the past few days that it looks like I've "dropped." I have my next appointment on Monday, so we'll see what the doctor says. I'm not quite 34 weeks, so I don't want anything moving along yet, but ask me again in 3 weeks! :)

Pictures

Lucy so proud about eating with a fork:


Nate riding his bike in the garage:


Me last week at 8 months (32 weeks):


And Lucy just looking cute:

Grosgrain mini store opening November 6... and a giveaway

GROSGRAIN MINI STORE OPENING NOVEMBER 6 AND BIG PREVIEW GIVEAWAY

My sister

Today is my sister Lucy's 22nd birthday! Happy birthday, Luce! Here are some of my favorite memories and thoughts about Lucy Clark McCann (with a contribution by Greg below)...

• I remember playing with Greg one day and Mama stopping us, saying she had something important to tell us. She stood in the doorway to the living room and said that we were going to have a new baby. I vaguely remember thinking, "Uh, OK. You made us stop playing for that?" (I'm sure my excitement grew when Lucy actually arrived.)
• I don't remember too much about Lucy's baby years (except what I'm reminded of by watching home videos), but Mama tells me that she would let me "play" with infant Lucy in my room by myself. I was 6. I think I mostly just talked to her and showed her things while she was on the floor.
• Lucy and I shared a room when we lived in Lake Forest (from when she was 2 to 6 and when I was 8 to 12). These were some extremely cute years for Lucy. I remember her dressing up a lot and speaking to anyone and everyone who would listen. Anyway, sharing a room was fun.
• One of little Lucy's favorite things to do was dress up in one of my old tap dance costumes and dance (move for move) to the home video of my dance recital. Mama says she would rewind the video--sometimes to well before the dance recital part--and Lucy would stand completely still in the first pose of the dance (one hand on hip, one hand in the air), waiting for it to come on.
• Lucy began horseback riding when we lived in Massachusetts (I think she was about... 9 or 10?). I remember being proud of her for doing her own thing and getting better and better at it. She continued riding after we moved to CA, and I would often pick her up at the barn in San Juan after she worked and rode.
• During the summer when I was about 17 and Lucy was 11, she and I would go to Lake Mission Viejo together. We'd swim around and "lay out" and just have a nice time. I never felt like I was doing a favor or babysitting or something; I was just hanging out with my sis.
• Apparently, Lucy's voice and my voice are very similar, especially on the phone. When Jon and I were dating and he called our house, he very often mistakenly said, "Hey babe" to Lucy if she answered. I think it got to the point where she would respond, "Hey babe" back to him. I realized how extremely similar our voices are when I heard a lengthy recording of myself talking (back when I recorded Nate's IEP meeting with the school). It was eerie--I couldn't believe not only how similar our actual voices are, but also how our inflections and word pronunciations are the same too.
• A phrase that describes Lucy well is that she always just does her own thing. She doesn't care much for trends or what everyone else is doing. When it comes to clothing, if she likes it, she wears it (although that penchant for jackets must be costly).
• Some other great Lucy qualities: she is very "go with the flow," she can be silly, she is smart, she is a hard worker, and she has strong values.
• I'm so excited about the woman of God Lucy has become. There is a reason we chose to name our daughter Lucy, and it wasn't just because we liked the sound of the name!

Here are Greg's thoughts (get a tissue ready):

When I think about Lucy, my favorite thing to think about is what kind of a person she has turned out to be. When our family lived in California, as Lucy wrote for my birthday, Lucy was known as little McCann. She was my little sister. Since we moved to Virginia and Lucy went to high school here, Lucy naturally knows more people and families in town than I do. Our roles completely reversed--I became Lucy's older brother. We have been here close to 6 years and still to this day I get introduced or meet someone and they know me through Lucy. I am always so proud to be known as her older brother. Lucy has grown up to be the sweetest, kindest, and outright most amazing woman I have ever known. When Lucy tells you something, you know she means every word from the bottom of her heart. Every time I think about Lucy, I smile because I still think of her as "Little Lucy," but in reality she has completely grown up into an amazing person. Lucy is everything anybody would want out of a friend, sister, daughter, and for some lucky guy, a wife! I love you Lucy! I can't wait to see you in a week! Happy Birthday!!!

Keeping busy

I've been sewing some more, and Ricci inspired me to start on some craft-y Christmas gifts. I ordered this cute Robert Kaufman fabric (it's brown corduroy) to make a wintery dress for Lucy... We'll see how that goes! I also ordered some fun boy fabric to try to make a skirt for the bassinet I have.

I've finally created a list of all the things I should do before this baby arrives, including freezing a few meals, making that bassinet skirt, getting out all the littlest baby/boy clothes, and finding a small dresser to go in Lucy's closet (I've already found a few good options on Craigslist).

OK, I'm off to do some more nap-time sewing!

Lucy today

Smart son

I figure it's OK to brag on my own blog, right? Here is Nate reading. This doesn't even do justice to the amazing things he can do already with letters and words.

More sewing

I realize all the clothing items I've made recently are very summery, including this project. I'm easing into this clothing-making thing by doing beginner stuff--no sleeves! I'm hoping to do a cooler-weather dress with sleeves soon, once I can find a cute jersey/cotton stretch knit.

Anyway, here is my first piece of clothing made using a pattern. It's a reversible pinafore, and I love how it turned out. It should fit Lucy in the spring/summer as a top, especially since it has two buttons on each shoulder for adjustability. I love the fabrics!

A fun day

We took the kids out for a fun-filled day yesterday, including an open house at the fire station, lunch at In-n-Out, and then the pumpkin patch. The fire station was not planned, but we saw the signs when we drove by to the bank, so we stopped there. Nate got to meet "fireman Mark," who showed him the fire truck and around the station. He got to sit in the truck and hold the captain's hat. We read the words on the hat--"Captain" and "O'Hare." Later, when we got in the car, we were talking about all the things we had seen. Nate loved that he had gotten to sit in a fire truck, and we also talked about the hat. Jon asked Nate what the hat said on it. Nate thought for a minute and said, "Ummmm.... Old Head!"



(The shirt he is wearing was a coincidence!)

Next we went to In-n-Out, always a highlight for our family and especially for Nate. Lucy now eats an entire cheeseburger on her own--with everything on it. She's a piglet for sure.

Last we headed over to the pumpkin patch at the mall. I didn't get too many wonderful pictures (the first one is the only picture of both Nate and Lucy together), but I did catch some funny shots, including Nate before the train ride started (all smiles), Nate after it started (not a happy camper), and Nate after he decided he was OK. :)

Bath fun

Artwork and teeth

Here is some of Nate's work from September and October:







And some fun pictures of Lucy (you can really see all of her new teeth in some of them):

Note home from Nate's teacher yesterday:

"Nate is such a joy! Today he was teaching all the children the months of the year... Miss Ann and I said, 'Maybe we aren't needed--we have Nate to teach.' :) It was adorable."

Friday pictures and video

Nate is in Cubbies this year (the 3- and 4-year-old class in AWANA). That is a whole separate post--he is doing great--but I wanted to post pictures of him in his vest, which he is so proud of. :)




Lucy has been doing a hilarious scrunched-up face when you ask her to smile:

Pregnancy cravings and baby names

Eating a snack right now, I just realized that I've had some food preferences this pregnancy. I guess you could call them cravings, but they are foods I do like anyway. The craving this pregnancy (besides citrus in the first trimester and Del Taco all the time, which has occurred all three of my pregnancies) has been balsamic vinegar. My snack right now is a diced tomato and half an avocado in a bowl drenched in balsamic vinegar. The other day, I made my mom's cucumber salad (just cucumbers, a little bit of sour cream, pepper, and balsamic) and devoured a big bowl of it. I've been doing carrots, celery, and cherry tomatoes in a bowl with bv too. I guess it's not unhealthy, so that's good. Yum!

As for the name of this baby, Jon and I have thrown around a few ideas but haven't settled on anything yet. We might head to the hospital with a short list and decide there! :)