wine country

some of my college friends are here helping me with thatch. they overlapped their trip and we went to tour some of the wineries in our area. it was so beautiful!! cat came thursday and today...christi is staying through the week. it is so good to hang out with old friends, it's one of life's sweetest blessings!! and this weekend i finally got my nose pierced! yea!

heat wave

i love it that the 90s (with no humidity) is considered a heat wave here in oregon. people here freak out about it. and to tell you the truth, i'm freaking out about it too. this is my kind of place. i love the mild summers and that it only gets into the 90s a few times! here's to summer in portland...it is going to be a fun one...hikes with thatch, lots of walks, and hanging outside! wahoo!!

singing

"jesus jesus how i trust you
how i prove you o'er and o'er
jesus jesus precious jesus
oh for grace to trust you more"

this is the hymn i've been singing to thatch to put him to sleep. i love singing hymns over him. they are a hell of a lot better than nursery rhythms. : ) nothing against nursery rhymes or anything.

life is good. i spend a lot of the day with thatch in a sling bouncing on an excercise ball. he is a little high maintenance and takes some work to go to sleep and stay asleep. but he loves his sling and loves to sleep on walks...and he nurses for almost an hour and every 2 1/2 hours. i'm nursing almost every other hour...whew! i'm starting to read chronicles of narnia while i'm feeding. sometimes it works better than others. and i end up watching t.v. a lot...the life of a newborn!

thatch has been so much fun. i'm just loving motherhood. and he just started to smile a little and is really starting to notice everything around him!! it just gets better and better!

japanese gardens

we went to the japanese gardens this week...they were beautiful!! and we were dorks and went thru the guided tour...it brought so much meaning to the design!

saturday

summer in portland couldn't be better...and this weekend we had a little taste of summer...the weather was beautiful and we made it to the farmer's market. thatch was in his sling the whole time and loved it...we listened to live music and walked around downtown. so much fun!

outings and dance parties

my favorite thing in the last few days has been the dance parties with thatch. his favorite song is starlight by muse...and miss the boat by modest mouse is a close second. i sing along and bop to the music...i think he thinks i'm the best singer there is! he loves the the beat and dancing/bouncing to this song...

we've also had a few outings in the last week...to target, new seasons, to a baby store...and we even were able to go to church on sunday...it was so nice to see everyone and introduce thatch!

things are going well. i'm feeding about every other hour...he sleeps a little longer at night...but i'm not sleeping much around here...but somehow i manage to get a little sleep here and there...i think i came down from my adrenaline high a few days ago and realized how tired i was...but travis and i are tag-teaming it and it is so nice to have my mom here to help out with stuff.

celebration ale

in honor of thatch's birth, travis has created a celebration ale...he started brewing it tonight. you might just be lucky enough to enjoy it in a month or so...

if you are just tuning into this blog, you might think it is a little odd that we are making a beer for our baby...maybe so...but if you lived in this part of the country, you would start brewing beer too. travis started brewing last winter and he hasn't stopped since. he loves it...and i can't wait to try this new one.

we are thinking about calling this celebration ale..."wingman pale" or maybe just name it thatcher hobbes.

any suggestions?

thatch's blog

thatch decided he needed his own blog for weekly pics...so he'll be blogging at

thatchermoore.blogspot.com

i'll still update my blog, but if you are one of those family members that just can't get enough pics, his blog is for you!

Thatcher Hobbes Moore is here!

saturday at 12:40 am Thatch made his entrance into the world at 7lbs 6 ozs, 20 1/2 inches long...the birth was absolutely beautiful and we are so excited to have him in our arms. he is so precious. travis and i are doing wonderful and are about to leave the hospital.

he delights in me...

this past weekend through a couple podcasts from bridgeway, my church in oklahoma, and the songs that were sung on good friday and easter morning, i was reminded of the love God has for me. that he loves me where i'm at right now...that he delights in me...and that is what fills me up and causes my heart to overflow with thankfulness, with life, with love for him and the people around me...and causes my heart and life to change.

"you who knows me more than myself. you who loves me more than i know. you who speaks to me more than i hear. open my eyes, soften my heart, help me to hear."

yea! the baby room

here is mr. moore's room...and travis made a trundle bed for the room when company comes (and mr. moore will join us.) and my mom made the pillows, bumper pad and chair cover...what talent!

friends from phoenix

our close friends from phoenix...the whole crew, came to portland last weekend to visit. it was so much fun. we went to the coast, hung out downtown, had dinner at our house...it was a good time. and travis took the boys on a few hikes and to the gorge. (and i took naps) it was so fun to share the beauty of oregon with our friends.

jacob and joel (13 and 10) and their dad, errol, stayed at our house. and these boys are about the best kids you could have...they are so fun to be around and so good. i just love hanging out with them...and i love watching them hang out with travis. they just have so much fun together. i miss them already...

mr. moore

i'm so anxious to meet mr. moore, to hold him for the first time, to look into his eyes, to name him. i just can't wait for him to be here...

but it has also hit me that in one month (give or take) life will change drastically...

no sleeping in (and no sleeping at all), no doing what i please. life as i know it will not be the same. i will constantly be putting this little guy ahead of my own interests...which will be an incredible and wonderful thing.

and even though i'm starting to not sleep quite as good and starting to be a little more cranky (sorry trav), i'm relishing in this last month of...freedom. of life with spontaneity and no schedule. (maybe this is just me finding a way to make this month be enjoyable and go fast...because i just can't wait for mr. moore to be here.)

mr. moore's shower

this weekend was my baby shower, (okay really it was a party with the women from our church community) i haven't had a shower in 8 years...since the wonderful wedding showers...and you forget how much that kind of stuff means, until a party is thrown in your honor. i was blown away by the generosity and being surrounded by such an amazing group of women celebrating with me. it was so great to hang out with everyone...and we had a late night, it was so fun.

i'm just so thankful that travis and i have this community around us as we enter this new chapter...i can't tell you how wonderful it is havinga community to help and support us, especially with family so far away.

and i'm so excited to be a mom. so excited...

here's to portland...

so, i'm a little late in posting about this, but last month marked 2 years in the beautiful northwest...a place where nature and culture collide...

we've experienced a lot of what portland has to offer...loving the hikes, ocean, skiing, restaurants, microbrews, the best coffee you could imagine...this really is an amazing place. it feels like we've just been here a year, though. i feel like we are starting to settle in, but i'm not sure i'm completely at home, just yet...maybe it is being so far away from family, maybe it is all the moving we have done since college, maybe it is just because it is so different from where we grew up, that it will never quite feel like home.

regardless, we absolutely love it here. i'm not sure i'm going to be able to leave this area of the country (sorry mom) it has stolen my heart. if only oregon and oklahoma lived next to each other, the world would be perfect.

i have a rare situation where i could live in the same town as both my parents and my in-laws and be completely happy. i think i'm so blessed to have such an amazing family, so it is very hard being so far away from them. and i'm sure the arrival of mr. moore will make it that much harder...but we will make it work, because we are not leaving this superb place anytime soon!

edna mae originals

so, during my void of blogging over the last 6 months, i have started a card company...edna mae originals. yea!! (named after my wonderful grandma) i'm starting with cards (bithday, everday and thank you packs) and imprintable invitations...and i'm also working on prints you can hang on the wall.

the cards are made with 100% post-consumer recycled paper...check out my website...

edna mae originals

and if you can put a link on your blog, it will help me be recognized by search engines.

I'm in one store in portland (hoping to be in more soon) and on etsy.com.

300 bucks or 15 cents, you pick

can i just tell you how much i love my husband?

our car was having a bit of trouble over the last few weeks and we took it to a mechanic b/c we thought it was related to some previous work that was covered under a warranty...unfortunately it wasn't covered under the warranty and they told us what they thought it was...and that it would be 300 bucks. we didn't really believe them...so we took the car back and travis, being the wonderfully mechanically minded man that he is, took a look at the problem himself...

come to find out...it was a 15 cent fix...it was just a nut that was missing on our starter and now our car works superb.

hooray for mr. fix-it-man! i love it!

and today was a beautiful day in portland. travis worked on the car and is finishing the bed he is making...and i hung outside, half working and half basking in the sun...wonderful, just wonderful.

week 32

trav took some pics of me this weekend with the wonderful camera he gave me for christmas!! i'm trying to learn as much as i can in the next 2 months...i have a long way to go to be able to use the camera manually, but i'm slowly getting there!

"how are you feeling?"...well, i'm feeling pregnant!! but i'm wonderful. feeling the weight of mr. moore...and my belly is starting to get in the way...but i'm still loving being pregnant. relishing in every ounce of sleep i get (and i'm getting A LOT) and taking it easy on myself. reading lots of baby books. (i can't help it, i'm one of those planners.) and we are just finishing up our birth class. (yep, i'm going the natural route and couldn't be more excited.)

travis and i went downtown this weekend to eat at a "live" vegan restaurant...we were definitely the outsiders, but it was so fun...looking around the room, you could tell the kind of lifestyle everyone was living...and it was inspiring. if i could just adapt just a little bit of them in my life, it would be great.

friends, ultrasounds, and driving tests...

this past week was superb...
first of all, travis and i are officially oregonians (finally!) we took our written driver's test to be able to get our oregon license...we still had our arizona license...but we passed with flying colors!

and we had an ultrasound this week and were able to get a good look at mr. moore's face...and his chubby cheeks! this makes me even more excited to meet this little guy!!


i also had a friend from minneapolis come visit! yea!! it was fun showing her my favorites hikes and coffee shop...and resting a lot!

life is good and i have to pee...a lot. it is the strangest feeling to be able to pee at any given moment in the day...annoying actually...but i guess that's pregnancy for you! i'm 6 1/2 months (29 weeks). so close! i just can't wait to meet the little guy. april 9th is the big day.

i've been taking a lot of trips since i've been pregnant...making the most of it being easy to travel while i can...





august (and morning sickness) was full of hikes and a vacation to banff national park where travis and i went on a 9 hour hike to in the canadian rockies...there were amazing little tea houses along the way that kept me going (and a nap)



my college reunion with my 8 close college friends, my high school reunion, a visit from my parents, a "last hoorah" vacation to san fransisco, a trip to orange county to see family and friends, to san jose to meet travis for christmas, to oklahoma for my grandpa's 90th birthday, and last but not least a trip to dallas to see christi, a college friend, and travis' brother and sister-in-law, and my brother and sister-in-law. (i just came back from that trip today...i've been up since 2:30 my time...maybe this isn't the best time to start my blog again.) i'm think i'm finished traveling for a while. it wears me out when i'm pregnant...now i'll get back to my 10 hours of sleep a night that i need, while it lasts!