Tuesday, October 29, 2013

20 Weeks and Innie or Outtie??

Well here I am at 20wks which is the half way mark. I've only gained 5lbs but boy I look a little bloaty already. Oh well. This month's smile is not nearly as cute as last month's. I must practice in the mirror more often. 

Yep, starting to look preggers.

As usual I have my little muse/shadow with me. Still acting a little camera shy.
Trust me, off camera is a whole other story!

And here is Sketch!
20wks along and very healthy. Quite a wiggler, flipper, kicker and twirler. I don't think Saige was nearly this active at this stage.

So what's your vote?
Innie or Outtie?
Girl or Boy?


Are you ready to find out?















Are you Sure????
















Drum Roll Please......















  

Yep that's right, A BOY!!!
So, was your guess correct?

We had more people vote Boy than Girl this time 'round.


We are beyond excited! 
It's like it's the first time all over again.
I can't wait to meet him.



Punkin Fun...

Fall is the best time for taking pictures. There's just so many fun things going on.
We took Saige to a local Pumpkin Farm the other weekend and she picked out a few tiny pumpkins. We pet some animals and even took a hayride! 

      

And you simply have to have a costume even if you are too little for Trick or Treating!
Her Grandma (my mother) came for a weekend visit and we carved pumpkins together. 
Here she is posing with her Grandma's Owl Pumpkin.


And here she is posing with my Sugar Skull Pumpkin. 
I would have liked to take the pictures later when the pumpkins could have been lit but you work with what you got. And when your 16mth old is cooperating you don't ask her to wait a few hours.

Here's what they look like lit up! Pretty cool eh?

She LOVES the great outdoors SO much that every evening weather permiting we go outside to wander 'round the yard. So as a reward after the photo shoot we were off to go see the turkeys. 

Each night she visits them. The two Toms are her buddies and they even will fly over the fence to hang out with her. Don't worry, I'm always right there incase they get too close but they never do. They are very friendly.


And finally, here she is nabbing strategically placed pieces of fruit from the table while my mother and I carve our pumpkins. 
Letting her "steal" fruit this way makes her extremely happy, like she's getting away with something. And boy can she eat her weight in fruit!

See, isn't Fall Time the BEST?
Did you carve a pumpkin this year? If so, what image did you carve?



Bucket List, Autumn in Maine...

Like a lot of people I LOVE Fall. It's my favorite time of the year. 

Back at the beginning of this year we decided to go ahead and plan the trip. Basically thinking that after Sketch arrives we won't be traveling much for some time so it's now or never. 

I know reading to some can be a bit boring so I'll keep the words to a minimum. The following are just a few highlights. Enjoy!
  

Saige is such a great traveler. She doesn't like to sleep in the car but she's easily entertained with books.

Recognize this House? If you are a Stephen King Fan you do! We stopped briefly in Bangor for this photo op. Happy Birthday to me!!!

We stayed in a little town called Lubec, Maine. It's the Eastern Most town in the US. It's small, quaint and apparently after Sept 30th Dead. Yep, we arrived 5 days after everything shuts down for the season. We still managed to have a great time. The plus side? No crowds!

Here we are eating our first Maine Lobster Rolls.
While Saige LOVES Clam Chowder and Oyster Crackers she's not sold on Lobster.
All the more for us. 


Our nephew Nathan went with us on vacation too! The more the merrier I say. Here he is eating his first Lobster Roll as well. Yummo.


I love views like this. 

We visited the West Quoddy Head Lighthouse.

You would have thought I asked her to point to it. Such cuteness.

The easiest way to hike with a toddler, via daddy shoulders.


I celebrated my birthday while on vacation. You'll notice Saige is old enough to not have to wear a bib, but mommy isn't ;)

This was the view from the deck of the cottage we rented. Brian snuck this pic of Saige and I walking back from exploring. 

I got up early many mornings and the sunrises were just spectacular.

Saige exploring on Campobello Island where the Roosevelts had a sumer home. It's in Canada just next to Lubec, Maine.

The Lubec area has the largest change from High Tide to Low Tide in the US. It's a 27' difference! Oh the exploring that can be done!!
I went out exploring the shore line at low tide one day and brought back some yummy mussels. Brian turned them into a delicious meal! He's magic in the kitchen. 

The Boreal Forests of the area are so enchanting that I just wanted to sit down and never leave. They are filled with Fur and Birch trees and smell so strong Christmas.

Everyone enjoyed the hikes.

I love taking pictures each year of my feet in the leaves. Everyone obliged me! I love pics like this. 

The view at dinner one nice. 

Our last day in Maine and we spent it at a little park. One side was saltwater the other was freshwater. 


She's very independent. She wants to walk on the boards herself!


My adorable Monkey ran up to me while I tried to snap a pic of her walking a path. She LOVES nothing more than being outside. She will bring you her shoes and if you don't put them on and go for a walk, well then you better be ready for her to tell you what for!

All in all a wonderful vacation had by all. Even if the boys complained about how I put them so far out there was no cell service, no TV or Internet! Yikes! How could I? Well, that's what family vacations are for. Making memories. You can post updates to facebook the rest of the year.



Sunday, September 29, 2013

16 Weeks And A Bit Of Rounding...

So I decided to change up my outfit from the last time. I just didn't like how the all black motif was working. I decided to liven it up a bit with some greys and few stripes. Better? I think so. 
       
Hubby was so gracious and took tons of pics for me. I kept checking them to see how they looked and asking for just a few more, you know, for safety. 
   
I think the one above is my favorite so far. I'm actually smiling like I think I always am in my head. You ever have that problem? You think you are smiling a gorgeous smile then you look at the photo and it's barely a smirk? What happens in the translation from brain to face?

And again we have miss Saige. She's my ever present muse and shadow. Today however instead of trying to climb her way into the photo shoot she was happily playing with a toy. It's one of those that she had hanging from her car seat as a baby and you pull down and it vibrates back up. Well now that it's been liberated and is free to roam around with her it's fascinating!

As you can see, my every attempt to engage her was met with a blank far off stare while she repeatedly pulled on that toy to make it vibrate. 

Mmmm, Zombie Baby! 
Miss Saige is now 15mths and more of a joy each day. I'm really looking forward to the day my studio is filled with 2 little mini muses running around. It's going to be great.


Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Arriving March 2014...

It's been busy around here. I've been working hard getting my studio up and running, rebranding Artistic Bean, starting a new Artistic Bean blog, getting my Etsy Shop back up and refreshing the Artistic Bean Facebook Page. Phew, that's a lot going on 'round here.

And with all of that going on we've still managed to put a new member of the team into the works as well!
Introducing "Sketch" who will be arriving mid March 2014!

As of this posting I am actually 14wks along. It's just taken me that long to get my act together.

Saige is currently 14mths old and is my muse. 
Those are her chalk marks at the bottom of the wall.
She loves drawing just like her momma.

We spend our days in the studio now that it's up and running. She plays happily at my feet reading books to herself or feeding the dog snacks out of her snack cup. Beanie and Saige are quite the best friends, especially since Beanie discovered Saige's hands are made of food. 
I built Saige play fort under my studio table using a staple gun and an old bed sheet. It's her favorite place to be. I was informed by my mother that I loved to do the same things when I was little. I was always in a sheet tent of some sort.

We always said if we were going to have one, you have to have two! So here we go.

I won't be updating here too much other than belly pictures for those interested as I am trying to spend most of my time working on getting Artistic Bean off the ground. I have grand plans for it. 

Please check out Artistic Bean's Blog. It's just in the beginning stages but there is so much more to come. Hope to see you over there!