finished foxes...

...just a few photos to share of my finished fox wedding cake topper. This may be my favorite fox topper yet as I liked how the colors came together, especially the buttercreamy color of the foxes.

lock tight

Today was a day I wanted to lock tight forever in my memory.To always remember the way the wind blew through the trees, dry leaves rustling and blowing...the flowers turned to soft puffs of white... my little garden sorely neglected this summer, now overrun with leaves... the blue of the sky, the perfect warmth of the sun...the content feeling of my little one riding snug against my belly in the babybjorn, holding his tiny fingers and knowing he was just as content and happy to be outside on this perfect day too... showing him our colorful Maple, just a bit past peak...

to enjoy each day, always remembering each day is a blessing, a gift...realizing anew that I have it so good to be able to enjoy each day, each moment with my little one, beginning to see them different and new through his eyes... I think (hope) I'm getting better at letting things go, taking each day as it comes, and enjoying each moment...because they are so fleeting.

Just a few memories and thoughts from today to lock tight.

in the studio {fox shadows}

Getting back "in the studio" again after a looong break...now with a sweet baby at my feet! Here are a couple snippets of a new wedding cake topper in the works...another foxy couple. I don't think I've lost my touch (I was a little worried)...but it feels nice to work with colors & papers & glue & wire again!
I have more ideas than I have time now, but that's okay...life moves at a different sort of speed right now and things will eventually happen when they can, so I jot them down for later. It's a good time right now, full of change & joy, baby laughter & smiles...so I want to enjoy every day, every moment with my little one!

the last of summer...

enjoying the last things of summer lately...like the first tomatoes, homemade basil pesto, pushing a baby stroller on a sunny walk, snipping the last blush roses from our bushes out front to bring inside.

and enjoying the first freshness of fall...chilly evenings, the first fire, harvest moon, pushing the stroller on a cool day, cozy sweaters.

and always enjoying some baby stuff too...like seeing him use the things I so lovingly made before he was born, before I knew him...like these socks, and this quilt....and finally, enjoying the ideas brewing for new things to make to decorate his nursery walls...like incorporating the vintage frames (above) that I just recently thrifted.

nine roses...

And not just any roses...but the most beautiful, big (I mean "big-as-cereal-bowls" sized) pretty pink roses I've ever received. Hub gave them to me one week ago today to celebrate and signify nine wonderful years together. And as we start year ten with a new addition to our family, we're so excited about this "new chapter" (as hub called it) in our marriage. I feel so blessed!

at the lake...

we recently squeezed in a mini late summer vacation...it was fun to do a first family vacation with our new little one...i even cracked out my knitting needles again after a long hiatus...it felt good.
and i vowed not to do any laundry while there (even though we have access to washer/dryer) and that felt even better! ;)

some other things we enjoyed... picking wild blackberries (which were the most bountiful we'd ever seen them here)

catching a glorious sunset over the lake (the only one I made it out of the cabin in time for...)

eating some (okay lots of!) delicious seven layer bars (I made them for the first time ever especially for hub's bday...we kinda got hooked on them from the bakery of our local fancy grocery store as a little indulgence after the baby was born...much cheaper to make them myself. I sort of followed this recipe but used 2 cups of graham crackers and a smaller 8x12" pan so the bars would be thicker. oh, and I poured the milk over just before finally adding the coconut...not sure just how important the order of ingredients is but that's what I did! They remind us of these "aloha bars" we'd get in Kauai at the Java Kai coffee shop...I think sometime I might try making them with white chocolate chips & macadamia nuts instead for even more Hawaiian flavor.)

fishing off the dock (hub likes to mix and match his plaids)making delicious gooey ooozing smores (hub kept making them for me while I held baby...not a bad thing at all!)

taking little walks, breathing in the fresh air (I always think its neat how a lot of the cabins up north make their own little signs with their last names on them)

just being together, enjoying the simple things...like finding a pretty blue feather in our path...

wild raspberries...

On sunny Saturday, Hub slid into his waders to trek into our wet woods a bit in order to get at the wild raspberries...
It always cracks me up just a bit when he puts them on.
And he's such a good sport (because you know that it was I who politely asked him to do this...all for the love of wild berries ya know).
He spied a pretty dark butterfly too.
I picked a few raspberries in the drier places, but mostly stood by offering encouragement from a safe (dry) distance...
...since I was not as well attired as Hub. And we (he) did okay...a little bowlful of berries, better than none!

some thoughts today...

Life with a little one is SO busy. I think my idea of what it would be like to have a baby and actually having a baby of my own is so completely different. I don't think anyone or any book or any amount of preparation can really truly prepare you for so radical a life change. Although I think it is the hardest thing I've ever done, I'm loving every single minute of it. (Just don't ask Hub at certain points in the day when I'm extremely sleep deprived and a bit snappy!) But as we're starting to have a tiny bit more of a routine, getting comfortable with each other, I'm just starting to be able to carve out little moments for myself (that don't just involve laundry or dishes) and feel some moments of normalcy...normalcy being what life was like pre-baby. Perhaps for others having their first child isn't such a major adjustment, but for me it really has been. As Hub sometimes tells me, I don't do good with change. And this has been a huge change in every way possible...yet the very best kind of change too. I don't often put personal/people photos on this blog, but I loved this recent photo of us together... It was little baby's first "wild blueberry hike." I pointed them out as Hub picked them. And baby slept through most of it all. What a special time!