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.

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.

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! 

Where Did the Time Go...2012 Year End Round Out...

Hello everyone! Wow what a wild 6 months this has been. 6 months? Did I really just say 6 months?

I hardly know where to begin but I know I must or we'll never get anywhere will we.

First let me say that I've missed you greatly. I've wanted to keep in touch, I truly have. Thankfully now the app I want/need to use has upgraded is now easier to use than a few months ago.

I know pictures are more interesting than a long winded commentary so let's begin...

After bringing Saige home from the hospital and after my mother left to go back to Ohio we lost power and in the summer heat that was NOT fun, especially with a one week old. We were forced to leave the house in search of food and cooler temperatures.

Saige was a trooper but by her 2 week Dr. check up she had lost 2lbs and was admitted into the NICU at Children's Hospital in DC. Que major parental freak out.

After more blood draws than an adult could handle, what seemed like hundreds of tests, a weeks worth of sleepless nights not leaving her side Saige was finally given the all clear by her Dr.'s and was able to return home to the utter delight of her parents, family and friends. During her hospital stay she was the concern of people across the country and even internationally. This little darling is loved far and wide. We will NEVER forget the love that we received in this thankfully short lived time of need.

We returned home and settled into a comfy routine.

Our little Monkey! After being called Button for nine months it seems that Monkey is now a term of endearment used most often. So is Miss Wiggle Pants McGee!

 

In September I took Saige for her first trip to Ohio. I couldn't think of a better Birthday present for my mother than some quality time with her first Grandchild. Saige was 3mths at this point and it only seemed appropriate to give her her first Carmen Miranda Headpiece. I'm jealous of the fabulous way she pulls off this look!

 

After our trip to Ohio we were off to Ocean City MD for her first ever beach trip. Bear needed to go for a Surveying Conference so we tagged along. I know she won't remember this trip but I'll have fun telling her all about it some day.

I wasn't about to leave without getting this "toes in the sand" picture.

I had this in mind the day I made the hotel reservation.

This next picture is a milestone and one that I missed!

I laid her on the blanket on her back as I had done umpteen times before and I walked into the kitchen for a drink of water. Upon my return this is the site I was greeted with.

SHE'D ROLLED OVER AND I MISSED IT!!

So proud of herself. And she hasn't stopped being on the go ever since.

I've discovered that this little Monkey is one independent woman. The moment I bought handles for her bottle and gave it to her she no longer needed me. Que sad mommy face.

This pic was taken 2 minutes after handing it to her for the first time.

"I don't need help mom, I can do it all on my own"

Finally at the end of September she was starting to nap longer and I was able to take that time to go into my still trashed, never unpacked studio space and begin to clean, paint and organize. Slllllloooooooowwwwly it's coming along. It's still in pieces but much much closer to being useful. 2013 is going to be the year of the studio so watch out!

Apart from being independent this girl is tech savvy. She LOVES anything iPad, smartphone etc. I still have a hard time thinking about how she'll never know a world without iPads, iPhones etc. CRAZY! I still remember our first computer, a comador 64!

The studio was starting to come along by the end of October and I had completed a dream of mine to have one whole wall painted with chalkboard paint. Bear couldn't wait to christen it.

Come November things were settling down into a nice routine family wise but then one day I woke up to some new friends in my backyard.

The neighbor behind my house is Grape Creek Farm LLC and she raises heritage turkeys. I LOVE these turkeys. I love listening to them gobble, how they run up to the fence when I walk outside, how everything seems so fun to them. Well it seems that they love my yard as well. And I wouldn't have tattled on them but well you see, the pic below is of them crossing my fence into my front yard! Yep, they were about to make a break for the great free unknown. So I had to tattle and help toss them back over their fence. Sorry turkeys.

Thanksgiving found us supporting the neighbors farm and purchasing a turkey for our Thanksgiving meal.

Oh how delicious it was.

This is one of my favorite pics. Saige is always giggling, being a ham and making me laugh.

Yes, her feet are this blurry in person as well. She NEVER stops moving, NEVER.

After Turkey Day it was time to get ready for our first Christmas Season as a family.

We Decked the Halls and though friends and family are spread far and wide we brought them a little closer to us by making a batch of Famous Daddy Mac Deth Nog or as I like to call it...

MacGrog Nog!

(Bear says it's like a cookie you can drink)

Here in MD we rarely ever get snow for Christmas. Normally the snow holds off till late January and February when it unloads on us in blizzard after blizzard.

But this year we has a Christmas Miracle! SNOW on Christmas Eve! It was gorgeous!!

The next morning found me up in the dark and outside photographing.

Narnia!

After everyone was up we settled in to unwrap prezzies! I carefully photographed Saige unwrapping each gift she got from relatives then emailed them the pics in order to help them feel a little closer to us than hundreds of miles that separated us.

She enjoyed every crinkle of the wrapping paper.

And of course toys that light up and make noise!

Finally, despite the chaos of my studio/office, year end paperwork for the accountant and a teething 6 month old I was able with the help of a wonderfully supportive husband to finish a painting! The painting I had imagined for my annual Holiday Card.

THe cards may have been late but I got them out before New Years so that counts right?

This year has been a wild ride.

I can't wait to see what 2013 has in store.

It's gonna be awesome!