rosy-cheeks and pink snowpants

After Bentley greeted us with her signature shaking of the door handle and declaration of "Good morning! Mommy get up." We both oohed and ahhed at the snow outside. It was a must-get-out-of-the-house (with friends) day.

blue eyes and black hair

At dinner the other night, I asked Bentley what color eyes she thought baby sister would have. Very definitively she said, "blue." Then I asked her what color hair she thought baby sister would have (expecting to hear either pink or green), and after she thought about it for a moment, she said, "black".

mommy-daughter day downtown

After being gone this weekend at the ocean with a bunch of dear girlfriends, and bentley being babysat by friends so I could get some work done earlier this week. I planned a much-needed mommy-daughter outing this morning. I told her when I picked her up from preschool that we were going on an adventure together!

Our adventure included riding the "train" (aka Link Lightrail downtown), sharing a "blue flower" cupcake (that Bentley picked out) and people watching at Hello Cupcake, walking over the bridge of "colors" (Chihuly glass installation at the Glass Museum), and watching the moored boats as we sat hip to hip in the crisp air.

...and she has a name

Baby Girl #2, as we have so lovingly called her the last couple months, finally has a name. While spending time at the ocean this weekend in fellowship with women over wine, chai tea, and creating, I lovingly crafted a little something to begin her nursery.






Our naming process has mostly been me stringing together first and middle names that I have liked, or thought were beautiful and feminine, whether my own brain child or from lists sent by family members of names they liked or ones that run in the family. While I would present these ideas to Drew, none really stood out to him.

For awhile this drove me nuts as I am quite the planner and wanted to prepare for this babe as well as being able to bond with her more knowing her name (We knew Bentley's name the moment we found out we were having a girl, so I wasn't used to waiting on a name!). Until finally, Drew came home one day after work with a name to contribute. The first and only name suggestion from him. I immediately liked it as well and I think part of that being that I would be able to tell her someday that her father named her. It took a few more weeks to decide on the middle name between us, but we are pretty happy as we ponder the full meaning and how God might use her as she is welcomed into the world.

emery

Emery means Industrious Leader. This trait seems positive in many ways, and yet I know that I grew up struggling (and still struggle) to not find my worth in accomplishments. So while I hope that she will be an industrious leader, Drew and I both pray, like we pray for Bentley, that she will know where her worth truly comes from.

jane

Thus, her middle name, Jane, was born. I have always loved the name Jane, but it seems the last few years of baby girls, this name has become much more popular. However, we liked it as a middle name. It not only sounded feminine and beautiful, but the meaning, "God's Grace" also paired nicely with "Industrious Leader". We would hope that she not only leads with grace, but knows that grace is hers through Christ, even when she doesn't heed the Holy Spirit in this way.

Miss Emery Jane Webster, we can't wait to meet you aside from kicks and hiccups, and look forward to seeing if you might be a brunette, a red head or another blondie. We love you already and are preparing your sister for your arrival. She is currently calling you "Em mer me".

almost Picasso

Drew surprised me with a date night Wednesday where he whisked me up to the SAM for the Picasso exhibit! Due to trying to get our kiddo out the door and to her auntie's... we would have be slighted about 20 minutes of the exhibit. Instead, they allowed us to switch our time slot to another day. His blue period's Man with Guitar will just have to wait for me. We ended up at a small coffee roaster in Pike Place (by my brother's recommendation) where we enjoyed frothy vanilla chai teas and read the seattle low-income homeless Real Change paper. (Which, by the way, don't be so quick to shoe away these guys or gals that are trying to sell this publication. Read about their mission here).



Later that night, I was surprised when our dear friends, Todd and Sondra, met us for a delightful Italian dinner complete with a bottle of wine (for our husbands) and a couple of cherry cokes for us two pregnant gals. We also couldn't resist browsing the entire Land of Nod store as we both anticipate our new little ones.

and this is how I roll.

While preparing for a halloween evening with neighbors and friends, my kitchen reminded me (and my husband) that it takes a lot of dishes and flour and sticky-ness to create alice in wonderland "eat me" cookies, bacon-wrapped water chestnuts, chex mix and butterscotch, chocolate, peanut butter cereal bars.

bentley's beauty salon