ruthie is here

We are so thankful to welcome our little girl-Ruthie, she arrive March 10 & is healthy and happy (most of the time). We didn't know how we'd make room in our hearts to love another child as much as little Henry man, but Ruthie has shown us this is possible.

Ruth was Tim's grandmother's name-his dad's mom. And Elizabeth is a family name on my side. I am part of a Bible study this year where we are studying women of the Bible. And one week we covered Ruth, as I was reading about this strong, optomistic, devoted woman-it made even more certain about giving her this name.
mom, me & ruthie. funny story, mom was in the birthing room with tim & me and tim put her on video camera duty (she was to catch the highlights, not like the birthing video you watch in 7th grade health class). anyway, mom is the least techy person i know & I was laughing between pushes at tim trying to give her a quick how-to. So it turns out mom was diligently videoing for about 30 min and had it on pause the whole time. It wasn't until Tim came up behind her at the ruthie clean-up station post-birth that he realized she still had it on pause. oh, well. I wasn't on as much pain meds this time, so the experience will surely stay in my brain!
here's baby girl in her pank.
Snacks for the hospital room.
Here is her little door hanger at the hospital with her stats.

more largen life

Okay, 2 little ones in diapers is interesting, lots of poo & I've got the picture to prove it.
henry has done well with the new little sister. the only thing is that he does like to chew on a pacifier when he sees ruthie with hers. i don't think he even remembers how to use the paci-he gave it up at 6 months. he usually gnaws on the wrong side of it. if this all he's doing so far, totally fine with me. i'm proud of him.

the painting i did for baby girl's room. goodness, i was finishing it the week before she came. birds were the theme for henry's room & I was sure crazy for birds & now she gets dandelions.





henry meeting ruthie for the first time back at home & him trying to palm her head.

baby cave

Just a heads-up, I will take a baby break from orders and such starting February 16. I will get back in the swing of things probably in May (maybe). I really love my painting projects, so I hate to turn anything away. So just email me to check and I'll see where my sanity/sleep level is. Now, I need to start thinking of painting ideas for baby girl's nursery-it is the hardest to paint things for my own house! I've been having so much fun with all this fabulous pink though. Henry has no idea what is coming his way-I try to warn him.

Any pointers to prepare for two, send them my way. They'll be 21 months apart. I've been buying up Dora & Backyardigan videos lately-poor Henry, he's going to be watching so much TV. Got the double stroller en route. We'll keep ya posted.

julia's blooming room

These 2 were done for Julia's big girl room. Her mom hooks me up with fun commissions-thanks, Sissy! And I hope Julia is enjoying her flowers.

allanne's favorite things

This is a sassy, girly painting I did for a very special girl-Allanne. Her favorite color is hot pink & she loves purses-my kind of chicky! I had so much fun doing this for her and I do hope she likes & it sparkles up her room. I added the glitter just for you, Allanne!

frannie's verse

The below verse was painted as a Christmas gift for Frances-we lived together 3 years in college and she's seen me at worst and best & still loves me. I wish she lived closer. This is a college pic-awww, makes me want to go back. We tell each other what we want for Christmas and this was her request. I love this verse and I'm glad she reminded me of it. Love you, Frannie & am thankful for you.

angel friend

This 5x5 chunky angel canvas is inspired by my fun, sweet, thoughtful, creative friend Mandy-for her birthday. She's been a friend since college and always makes me laugh. I'm laughing now thinking about silly Mandy things (your beloved fart machine, yours & sarah's batesville stories, New Year's Eve in Memphis, Dallas {i think}, Atlanta & NYC). Love ya, chicky! We are the 2 on the right below. The other two girlies are sarah b. & christy f.-all sweet friends from college. We lived together our 5th year in this great house (little funky now, thinking back on it), but at the time we thought it was fabulous. I think this was some sort of graduation party we had in our front yard. We are gathering up for a girls trip in Memphis soon and I'm soooo looking forward to it.

Mary Clayton's step stool

Can't believe it was 3 years ago when I painted MC's big brother's step stool. Now she has her very own to grow into!

Aislynn's monkeys

I did this painting for a little girl who LOVES monkeys & gymnastics. This was alot of fun to do. Misti, thanks so much for being in touch and the order. Hope Aislynn's monkeys make her happy!

nursery painting

Here's a painting I did for a baby boy's nursery. Thanks for the order, Jodi!

Recent work

A watercolor invite commissioned by my very talented graphic design friend-Meredith.
This was a single invite I created for a birthday girl's 40th party weekend. It was hand-delivered to inform her of the surprise weekend away with the girls. A fun little project for a very sweet birthday girl! Also with it is the "logo" for the celebration-notepads, napkins and such were printed up using this mark. The flower was taken from a floral wallpaper pattern she has in her home.

Above is a painting I did for my nephew, Mont, who is 5. These are his fave things & my sister said it got an "awesome". Love you, Mont-so glad you like!
A step stool commissioned by my friend Sissy for a new baby boy. Thanks for the order, Sissy!

Happy 2009

We had fun with silly string and saying bye-bye to 2008 with my sista's kids. Looks like Tim is getting got with some string in this pic.

2008 was a great one for us-I have loved seeing Henry grow, loved doing my painting and little projects & have so enjoyed sharing my work with you all. So much to be thankful for. And we can't wait to meet our little girl coming in 2009-I am due March 14 & had a good check-up the other day, she is weighing 3 lbs. these days.

I pray 2009 brings wonderful things to you.

Thanks for indulging me and letting me post my largen life pictures here along with my paintings. They all are intermingled-like one inspiring the other. So it makes sense to me.

Holiday memories

My fabulous in-laws rented a beach house for the Christmas week and the Largens gathered up there-it was great. You're lucky to get the back view of me and all my prego grandness.
Had to remember this. This is one of the only presents hubby wrapped-it was so hilarious. He claims Henry was distracting him. But it was a great gift inside, so I didn't care about the wrapping. He has an accounting background, his little wrapping jobs are usually very tidy and precise.
Henry man looking warm in his hat.
I broke down and got him an Elmo. It is like the highlight of our Wal-Mart trips, to spot the Elmo aisle. How does Elmo do it & lure all these kiddies?
The 4 wisemen. Our neighbors have this very alluring nativity set in the front yard. We spent much time hanging with the nativity family this year.

More Holiday Cheer

I love decorating for Christmas-I think I realized this even more today as I was taking it all down. It is a time when I think anything goes, the more colors, the more sparkle the better-I don't have to edit. We had pink, blue & red lights on our tree & it made me so happy. Here's some Largen decor.

Holiday Cheer

Too funny not to share & too funny not to shell out $20 for two 4"x6" prints of it. Santa had all sorts of tricks for us to do, but Henry was on to us. Santa suggested me holding Henry with my back to him & walk backwards so Henry doesn't see Santa and then just kinda drop him in the lap and scoot out of the way. And above was the result.
We have this Japanese maple in the backyard and it has the prettiest red leaves for a few weeks. Here is a more serene Henry enjoying nature in his Santa suit.

I hope you all can take some time to enjoy this month. I know it is so crazy for everyone. I'm loving this Christmas song by Amy Grant-I Need a Silent Night, here is a link to the lyrics. Download it at Itunes. It is great song and sums up the hustle of the holidays and the need to slow down and think about our most precious gift we've been given.

Thanks

Henry with Honey & Big Daddy (this grandfather name was not chosen by him) in the background. I loved this picture.
This is my mom's table at Thanksgiving. Growing up, mom always did these beautiful table centerpieces and I know I took them for granted. Not sure if any of her 4 daughters gave her the proper response. Now as I try to attempt these holiday decorations and table decor-I def try to channel mamasita's touch & realize it is harder than she made it look.
Henry and his cousin Lewis, who is his nonstop entertainment when they are together. Henry laughs at him and that keeps Lewis entertaining.

My niece Clara and mom making gingerbread men. Notice the Piggly Wiggly raisins, I'll be so sad when the Piggly Wiggly is no more. BTW, they have the very best 5 layer Caramel Cake they sell in their bakery-they don't make them there. But they are fabulous, better than our local Primos & half the price.