Baby Gifts!

Gifts for baby cousin (parents Kevin & Katie) ETA end of October :)

A beautiful book by Pacific Northwest artist Nikki McClure, wooden rattle by Educo (this was one of Raine's favorites), sweaters and onesies like these from H&M were staples for us! We also gifted two items from their registry: the Boon grass counter top drying rack and thinkbaby bottle starter gift set.

Girly goodies for baby Ever Jean. :)

And it seems like just yesterday I was attending Mel's shower for Enzo, and super excited to buy a baby gift even though we were having trouble conceiving...! Time flies and here we are! Mel and I have two adorable boys ... and now she has a baby girl due this month! Enzo and Ever will be only 18 months apart! Holy moly. You go girl! (Yikes! Lol.) I got a sweet little owl blanket from her registry and then totally had fun picking out girly clothing. ;) (Pink tee by Paige Lauren (a new fave of mine...Raine has a great little romper and hooded jacket) and gray knit dress & leggings by Wheat or Angel Dear (I can't remember....Mel??) I found them at Posh and shopping there totally makes me miss Henny Penny. :(

Hope for the Orphan Fundraiser

I'm going to dream really big right now and imagine that I have hundreds of readers. No, thousands! And I'm going to imagine that most of you live in central Illinois. Now please do me the biggest favor in the world and go to this fundraiser! :)

My dear friends Ross and Amy are in the process of adopting an orphan from Russia and this special event at New Life Christian Church in Morton, tomorrow night at 6 pm, is to help raise money for that process. 

Here are some photos of them that I stole from her Facebook profile... LOL! (If you will remember, Amy is my lovely friend who did Raine's 6 month portraits. She will be ALSO be using proceeds in July from Amy Mulder Photography to raise funds! Hmmm...Need some photos done...??)

Running For Orphans also will use races to raise funds for the adoption & baby Mulder's orphanage in Russia! 

Hotties!

It goes to show how much I LOVE THEM that I will use this photo because it is super cute and shows how adorable they are even though they are Packers fans. Ugh.

They have been waiting to be parents since they were married three years ago and their path to parenthood has not gone smoothly. I'm just going to be honest here: It has SUCKED. Seriously. As Amy and I swapped sad stories as we tried to start our families over the past several years, she swapped more than her fair share. As her friend who loves her greatly, it has made me so sad to see them disappointed over and over again. While Dan and I finally successfully conceived and now have Raine, Ross and Amy are still waiting. I think they have waited long enough!!! However, they are patient little pookers! :) They are currently waiting for approval by the state of Illinois of their adoption home study and related reports, and then they will wait for approval by Russia. The earliest they could possibly get a referral for a child is August, and if by some great miracle that happens right away, I believe that they shouldn't have to keep waiting because of funding.

If I could hop on a plane and fly back for this fundraiser tomorrow, you better believe that I would! I would also purchase ALL OF THE BAKE SALE ITEMS IN ONE FELL SWOOP. ~Ha! I would love to be there even if I had no money to offer just as a supportive friend and cheerleader. (I like to send her texts: GO TEAM MULDER!) I would also love to hear Ross perform because he is so talented and the only time I have had the pleasure was at their wedding.

Anyway, they are not only patient, they are creative and ambitious so they are coming up with lots of ways to raise money for the adoption, but this fundraiser TOMORROW NIGHT is key. So I really wanted to help get the word out even though it is last minute! (And I also say ambitious because not only are they raising money to fund the adoption, they hope to raise a surplus that can be donated to the orphanage from where they will *hopefully someday soon* get their son or daughter.)

So if you are in the greater Peoria area and have the ability to stop by tomorrow night, please go! I will be jealous but forever grateful. 

Congratulations to Doug and Rita!

James David Herzing

December 22, 2011
11:37 a.m.
8lbs 13oz
22 inches

We've got ourselves another Nef! And how cool is it that Dan's son and his brother's son are only a few months apart? Oh, the fun they will have together! We can't wait to meet this little guy when we visit Illinois next month! He sure is supes cute.

A Birthday Gift for Nexus!

Saturday is a special day because it is the birthday of my dear friend, Tina, and her grand-daughter, Nexus! I can't believe a year has passed since Pax got himself a little sister, but wow... It has! And HOW CUTE IS SHE? Oh my goodness. Here are a few photos I stole from Jess' profile on Facebook. ;-)



I really wish we still lived close together, but I am used to watching my friends' children grow from afar. We were very spoiled to be a part of Pax's first year of life! I wanted to do something special, and because I actually had a little bit of energy and was feeling creative, I made some handmade envelopes for Tina and Nexus' birthday cards and Dan and I put together Nexus' First Year in Music, a music compilation like we did for Pax for his 1st birthday. Obviously it is something a little more sophisticated for her parents to enjoy, but hopefully it can be kept around (if at all, digitally!) and when she is older she can listen to it and appreciate it. It is surprisingly difficult to find albums released for each month of the year! We are lucky that Jess and Josh like the same kind of music that we do, and that in general they love all types of music! Here is what we came up with:

May 2010: "Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks" from High Violet by The National
June 2010: "Infinity Guitars" from Treats by Sleigh Bells
July 2010: "When I'm With You" from Crazy for You by Best Coast
Aug 2010: "Suburban War" from The Suburbs by Arcade Fire
Sept 2010: "Birds" from Buzzard by Margot and the Nuclear So and So's
Oct 2010: "Constellation" from The Falcon Lake Incident by Jim Bryson featuring The Weakerthans
Nov 2010: "Let It Out" from All Day by Girl Talk
Dec 2010: "Last Night at the Jetty" from Last Night at the Jetty by Panda Bear
Jan 2011: "June Hymn" from The King Is Dead by The Decemberists
Feb 2011: "Undamned" from The Long Surrender by Over the Rhine featuring Lucinda Williams
March 2011: "Under Cover of Darkness" from Angles by The Strokes
April 2011: "Postcard From 1952" from Take Care, Take Care, Take Care by Explosions in the Sky
May 2011: "Helplessness Blues" from Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes

And here is my pretty handmade packaging, with a birthday card by our favorite stationer, the very quirky Red Cap Cards:

Alexis' Six Month Photos!

My sister just uploaded these to Facebook and I had to steal them and share them here. :) I got her that little outfit for Christmas, thinking ahead to Spring. The matching shoes are the best. I can't believe she is already six months old! Time is going so fast! And she will be 1 year old just a few weeks before Blasty is born! :)

Congratulations to Jason and April....Again!

It's another Boy!

Nathan William
Born February 9, 2011
10:34 pm
8 lbs. 9 oz.
21.5 inches

[Proud parents!]

[Proud siblings!]

[Proud friends! :)]

the nef and lil sis glam up for christmas:

logan and lexi:

the nef has a lil' sis!!!

*~* alexis allyn mccaw *~*

born the 2nd of august 2010

6 lbs 13 oz and 19 inches

lil sis munchkin looks just like rach when she was born, with the trademark black hair! :) more photos to come...i'm anxiously waiting...

Recent Goings On

Seattle
[Baby Jonah]

Stop Off in Orting
[Ally, Dan, April, Bel, Faith, Noah, Leah (and Rocco)]

Last Night Together Watching Cartoons
[Me & Pax]

Hanging Out With Carmen & Lorri
[Kick-Ass Desserts They Brought]

See More Photos on Flickr!

Congratulations to Jason and April!

It's a Boy!

Noah Jason
Born March 19, 2009
3:58pm
7 lbs. 15 oz.
19 3/4 inches

[All of his sisters in awe]

[He's so handsome!!!]

[...And baby makes 6!]

Congratulations to Javeed and Melissa!

[Photo credit Jay...Hope he doesn't mind!]

Jonah Rafi Shah
Born March 10, 2009
1:45 a.m.
8lb. 2 oz.
19.5 inches

Today at the Coast

The Nef Meets Santa

Baby Lennon Jeffrey

Say hello to Lennon Jeffrey, son of my second cousin, Dirk Trotter, and his wife Piper. Lennon was born Tuesday, November 25th, at 1:45 in the afternoon. He weighed 8 lbs., 10.7 oz. and was 21 inches long.

Look at that blond hair!!!! Too cute.















Just like Chris, Dirk is in love, and both mom and baby are doing great. More photos are on Dirk & Piper's web site, Meet the Trotters. I couldn't help but notice Lennon's hip little Tea clothing, so I have to send some more from Henny Penny.

Love and blessings to their new family....!

Remember the NEF?

I just got a new photo!
He's growing as fast as a Thunbergia battiscombei!

(How do you like that, hubby?)

[Logan & Porter, his first cousin once removed (wow!) at the Hodel Thanksgiving.]

I love that face, that hair, and those chubby legs! I miss him...!
See other recent photos here.

Halloween Party

[Mr. Dow & Mrs. Jones]

For all the photos from October 31, 2008, go here!

Baby Abigail Grace

Say hello to Abigail Grace, daughter of my second cousin, Chris, and his wife Meggan. She was born Thursday, October 30th, at 8:02 in the morning. She was 8 lbs., 2 oz., and 20.75 inches long!



Chris is adorable, too! I was born in October of 80, and he came along the next fall in 81. We spent many days together in our early childhood. I can't believe he's a dad now!!! I'm so happy for him and so proud of him! These photos make labor look like the best experience EVER. Just look at their joyful grins! Love and blessings to their new family....!

Boinky Popus

We are more than thrilled to have Jess & Josh (& Pax) join us in the blogosphere. You can find their blog here. I had to look up "popus" in the dictionary because I had no idea what it was. Not only is it part of the blog's name, it is also listed as an interest of theirs on their profile. They are the only blogspot members who have this interest. The dictionary asked me, 'Do you mean ''porpus'' or ''pops''?' It also suggested "pop-us" or "po-pus," which neither have definitions anyway. Hopefully they will enlighten me as to the meaning of the word, but maybe it is not meant to be understood by the rest of us. Either way, I like it. And who doesn't like that ridiculously adorable boy, Pax? Or Jess or Josh? They inspire me. We are so lucky they settled here in Portland and we get to spend time with them. Our recent rendez-vous have been debate night get-togethers and football watching at the Ship. As you can see on their blog, they've already voted, which kind of bummed me out because I wanted them to come over for our "vote night." That's right! I'll be making a pumpkin filled stew, adorning guests with vote stickers, busting out our ballots (we mail in Oregon), and maybe watching a little baseball followed by Obama's 30 minute message. Yes, we plan on voting for him. We have proudly placed an ObamaRama air freshener in our car to signal our support. We also plan on voting for Linda Hendersen, who is running for city council position #4. She wants to build a dog park in Sherwood. YES PLEASE!!!! If it happens, we'll invite Josh, Jess, and Pax down for some dog play at the park-which is more fun than coming to our small condo. (They live with four dogs.) Anyway, happy reading and blessings for Boinky Popus!

Missing Lo & Grandpa...