"Outside"

Brady is at the age where he is saying new words all of the time. His favorite and most clearly spoken word right now is, "outside." This is always followed up with him running to the backdoor and getting his shoes. He loves playing outside! It has been so nice with the weather getting warm. I have been grabbing a book, sitting in a lawn chair, and letting the boys run! Soooooo much better than being stuck inside watching my house get destroyed and filled with cars and blocks. Below are several pictures of Easton and Brady enjoying the outdoors.

Brady eating dirt... don't let his face fool you. I don't know how many times I have caught him with a mouthful of dirt. I guess he likes it!

Easton being just like grandpa.

I don't know what it is about this corner of our yard, but the boys end up playing and digging there every time we go outside.

Cincinnati Cyclones - Easton's First Hockey Game

On Saturday night, Riley took Easton to a hockey game. He had a good time and was so excited to go. All day he would ask, "When are we leaving for the hockey game?"

Easton ready to go with his hockey sweater on and tickets in hand!

The Cyclones are a minor league hockey team based here in Cincinnati. They are actually pretty good. Two years ago they won the Kelley Cup and last year they were in the finals.

Of course, Easton was very interested in watching the zamboni. He is into any type of tractor, truck, or large machine with wheels.

Easton took this picture of Riley and Reuben (Riley's good friend). He is getting pretty good with a camera!

This was taken as Riley and Easton were leaving. Riley bought Easton a hockey puck and he is showing it off. I am not too thrilled to have a hockey puck in the house, though. Both boys have already figured out that their plastic golf clubs can double as hockey sticks. They have also found out that a hockey puck can slide pretty fast across wood floors!

26 weeks and baking cookies

I am almost in the third trimester, and I am happy about that! It feels like I have been either pregnant or breastfeeding forever! I have never complained about being pregnant, but it has now been over 4 years since I have had my body to myself. I would say that I have earned a minute of complaining after 4 years, but I am the one who keeps letting Riley get me knocked up. I also still remember the blessing that it is to have children, after our fertility issues. So, this is the last the blog readers will have to hear about it. Riley will probably hear about it again, though. Sorry!

Jessica Gets Creative

I spent a week and a half with my mom while Riley was in Africa. Since, I had her for a babysitter and sewing coach, I decided to try something new. I made Riley a T-Shirt Quilt. I have heard about these kind of quilts and always thought that it would be nice to make one with Riley's high school sports shirts. I am really happy with how it turned out. As you can see, it is also getting used! I have been reminding myself daily, 'I made it for him to use, not to be packed safely in a box and never seen again.'

The Beginning

I used T-shirts from 1995 when Riley's baseball team won the state championship. Being a McCutcheon graduate, it did seem strange to be looking at blue and orange for hours and hours.

Finished!!!

This was a great project to keep me occupied while Riley was gone. It ended up taking way longer than I expected but totally worth it! I also had great help along the way. First was my mom. She was my coach and mentor through the whole thing. She let me use all of her equipment, filled countless bobbin threads, and even had to buy a new ironing board! (I still say that her board was broken before I got it out, though.) I did a lot of the work while the boys were asleep, but she did do quite a bit of babysitting for me so I could work on it. It was so much fun to do a project with her! Riley's mom was a big help as well. She helped me at the beginning with giving me size dimensions and suggestions on what kind of batting to use. She also did embroidery on two of the squares. She put 'Harrison High School' on one, and 'Riley Gibb 1992 - 1996' on another. She also spent hundreds of hours supporting Riley at his sporting events, and without that there wouldn't have been a quilt to make. Pam, a good family friend, was my professional consultant. She owns a sewing shop and makes these for clients quite often. She had great advice, that made it look better than I ever expected it too. She basically taught me how to put it together right. There were so many steps to this that I didn't even think about before I talked to her. She even let me borrow some equipment and cut the strips needed for the binding. What a great resource!

Boys Pulling Faces

Easton and Brady's 1st Snowman

Grandpa helped the boys make a snowman while we were visiting him a few weeks ago. I think it turned out pretty good, considering we started the project in the last 10 minutes of daylight.

22 weeks and a Happy Valentine's Day

The boys treated me good on Valentine's Day. I am still not sure how I feel about not being the only princess in the house anymore. Everyone says that once I have a little girl I won't mind sharing the 'princess perks' with her. I hope they are right!

Easton with his Valentine's Day surprises.

Brady is checking out one of his cards, I don't think he really understood the holiday.