largen life

ruthie at her friend charlie's bday party! cute boy!!!

 these are little mustache tattoos that you put on your finger-cute, right?

 So this picture makes me want to get back on FB. I took a Lent break & haven't rejoined. Don't they look alike.

henry & his name-my boy does not feel the need to practice his name. i want to remember this little scrawly writing.

my men snoozing.

henry has a summer bday, so we celebrated early with his class. fabulous teacher, sweet classmates...

 sooooo, this cookie cake could be a cake wrecks entry. thinking they goofed henry's name and fashioned some icing clouds over the boo-boo. when the clerk asked "what do you think"-my reply "perfect". more icing the better according to henry. give me that cake.

ruthie in the middle belting out "it's a grand ole flag" at end of year school program

so henry comes marching out with his class and he's the only one with a super-sized dress t-shirt. what the heck? then i remember the request for a plain white t-shirt from his teacher. But at the holidays, she requested a men's white t. mommy oversight.

new project

Above is a confirmation gift for my niece. I added the confirmation date & this verse that I pray will carry her through her ups and downs. She's about to be in jr. high-YIKES. Such tricky territory.

 

This one can be yours. Wouldn't it be cute with an anniversary/wedding/graduation date?

I can add a date to it. I can do more-just give me a little time.

SIZE: 4"x6"x1/2"

Price: $25

Wooden block with paper collage/stamps/acrylic.

anniversary

Hubby and I celebrated our #9 the other weekend. We got a deal and stayed at the Grand Hotel near Fairhope. What a beautiful place! We dropped the big kids at Tim's parents and we (with max) kicked around Fairhope for the day. 

At the Grand Hotel at Point Clear, AL.

Would recommend this spot in fairhope: panini pete's. The lemon on the beignets was so yummy.

These kookie crazy live oaks-so much character.

tim with max at the hotel's putting green. close as he's getting to golf these days. pretty sure max is not being smothered.

can't buy it-just paint it

Nightstand REDO
-Lightly sanded the wood
-primed with Kiln's
-spray painted with high gloss creme spray paint
-sealed it with polyeurethane
-left the brass handles as is-they worked with the creme

(and of course you know my nightstand table always looks this tidy)

babyland

Reporting from babyland...these things typically happen to me while I am here:

1. I get pulled into some various TV/book obsession during the night feedings...

 HENRY (baby #1): Veronica Mars series

 RUTHIE (#2): Freaks & Geeks, My So Called Life, Twilight books

 MAX (#3): Hunger Games books & MAD MEN. And so obsessed with HG, I took Max to see his first movie at 1 month. Not a peep!!

2. I get the itch to do home improvement projects, too much time in the house & watching Nate Berkus!!! I'm spray painting chairs & I made mom break out the sewing machine to try to teach me. Can I remember how to thread this thing on my own??? See below a chair before & after.

 BEFORE (this little chair I got for $15 when I lived in Chattanooga about 10 years ago)

AFTER (sanded & spray painted it and covered the seat with fabric using spray adhesive & staple gun)

3. I am reminded of God's goodness:
-I have a love/hate relationship with nursing (thrush!!!) & I am soooo close to b-feeding in public. Beyonce did it! I would lose my nerve, I'll just keep hiding out in my car in various parking lots. I can see God's purpose in all of it. It makes me stop and rest for 20 minutes each time. I smile when I realize things like this-God looking out for tired mamas.
-When I'm not reading Hunger Games, there is nothing like this still time with God & little Max in the middle of the night. 
-All the things I was so anxious about post-baby, God has taken care of...my freelance work has been manageable, life with 3 is nutty at times but not all the time, the sleep thing is not that bad.
-I love seeing Henry & Ruthie & their tenderness towards this little one-it is a side I don't see often. They know he's fragile & don't seem too stressed by the crying.
-I am reminded of my need for God as a mom, I surely need Him-because there are days when I really stink at it. I just pray they know Jesus despite of me & my yuck.

zinnias!!!

 My "helpers". Ruthie is wearing her h-ween costume from 2 years ago. I'm sure she was burning up.

So if Martha Stewart & were to sit next to each other on a plane, I would be able to tell her that I plant zinnias each year and this would probably be all we have in common. The most-martha thing I do & you can too! This is what we do:

-Get seeds from Home Depot, dollar tree, Kroger, Lowe's (i've found them at all these places!)
-Find a sunny spot. They like sun!
-So we just till up (is this the word)? a space
-Add a couple of bags of top soil
-sprinkle lots of seeds on the dirt, roll the dirt over the seeds a little & water
-I prob buy more than I need to
-They aren't the tidiest of growing flowers, they grow tall. This does not stop me from planting them in the front yard.
-Sometimes I water if it has been dry.
-Keep cutting them once they bloom & more will come.
-Easy Peasy.
-Plant now. One year I planted them too late, and they were puny.

largen life: canton time

Gotta say that it is retreat going to my parents' house in canton. In the middle of pastures, cows, horses, dogs. And mama takes care of us. kiddos love it. these are some shots from a saturday out there.

 max!!!

 henry & ruthie with gladys & claude. dad said he would live longer if mom would let him get these dogs. 

mama-the grill master.

grilled salmon. you didn't think i cooked this.

 

what my dad was doing while mom was grilling. love how secure he is with his masculinity to not feel he has to grill. must be a good book if he's reading & standing.

 

this bunny has been hanging like this awhile, no ears/mom won't ditch him. sad little easter bunny.

max is here!

He's here & a week old today! Maxwell "Max" Robert Largen. Born Thursday, March 1.

In the below picture was the first time I could let myself relax and truly welcome him. That cry is the best sound ever-to have him here safe and sound.

 

 Chillin' in the hospital room on check-out day. Ruthie may have liked the crunchy hospital ice more than Max.

It was good sweet seeing Henry & Ruthie when they came to meet Max-they came on the last day so we could all leave together. So glad I recorded that precious first encounter of baby Max. It was so fleeting-they moved on to hospital ice & the huge remote control connected to the hospital bed.

Ruthie keeps saying-He is ours, no one is going to take him away from us. (We've watched Tangled too many times-you know the baby Repunzel is stolen from her birth parents).

-----------------------BELOW SHOTS TAKEN BY LISA SIDDALL----------------------

 

We had a great session with Lisa Siddall, I just discovered her work a few weeks ago. She is great with the newborns & very patient & reasonable (I got the CD digital package). She's in Ridgeland.

maggie & max

So my sister Polly had her baby girl in Dallas-Anne Margaret "Maggie", Feb. 21 & Max came a week later. My mom is sweating it, wanting to be in 2 places at once. We are blessed, blessed, blessed.

These are paintings I did for her & below is one I did for Max, it is nothing fabulous. I was in early labor while I was working on it.

Funny baby stories that I want to remember:
BABY SWAP
-After Max came, I texted out a little picture of "max" and the stats, etc-to at least 10 or so people
-But later that day, I realized I really sent out a picture of "maggie" with my text
-I truly didn't realize that was not my baby & it was such a better picture of "max"-I corrected myself to a few friends, but left it as is with most
-In my defense, they offer you very good drugs while you are in the hospital. And a baby pic is a baby pic essentially.

BELLY LAUGHS
-Funniest show on air to me
-So I went in to the hospital Wed night with contractions. Unfortunately they were about 5-10 min apart & not very productive
-So I was watching Happy Endings & trying not to laugh during my contractions-I was cussing the TV for making me laugh and adding to the pain

CVS
-Went to CVS the other day-first post-baby outing. So not 1 but 2 people asked me if I was expecting. Okay, I'm not that vain, but geez-once was enough. It is a perfectly round 5mth baby bump for sure. Henry keeps asking me what's in my tummy. Promise, it is not another baby.
-Also saw another new mama in the parking lot and she was one of the innocent ones who asked when the baby was due, well told her I just had the baby actually-last week. What did you have? she asked. I replied, A baby girl. What did I just tell her? I completely spazzed and corrected myself. I told her I was crazy and got myself in the car really fast.