wow.

SEPTEMBER!  REALLY!?  HOW IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THAT'S THE LAST TIME I POSTED?!!!

so you seriously deserve an update from me.  sorry.

we moved out of our house september 30th and sold it shortly thereafter(her loan took longer than expected).  HUGE sigh of relief there.

 

 listening to the nso concert on the mall

 nonna is crazy.  ezra is concerned.

 isaac's 4th birthday... watching the planes at gravelly point again.

 bidding farewell to our garden and house in upper marlboro... knowing full well she won't know what any of it is and will rip it all up and plant azaleas.

 never even got to eat our cantelope!

 should have made rose water while i had the chance.

 isaac and ezra saying goodbye

 mama and gideon saying goodbye

isaac made me a lego elephant.  his facial expression is no indication of the way he was feeling.  maybe he'll be an actor... oh boy.

 spent a lot of time at the play area in annapolis mall.

 spent a few consecutive days and nights at my parents' to see my sister and say goodbye to my youngest brother who went to marine corps bootcamp a few days after thanksgiving.

get it? going for a cover-of-garden-state thing... yes that would be my husband's butt.

 took the opportunity to do some belly henna.  TOTALLY FUN.  

everyone should do this when they're pregnant.  yes, elise, i'm volunteering to come paint your belly.

 we bought medium brown henna powder from MOM's(i read you should stay away from black henna powder because they put something extra in it that's bad for you... can't remember what) and mixed it with lemon juice until it was peanut butter consistency.  then we let it sit for a few hours until it started to look aged(like apples and avocados do).  then we mixed in lavendar essential oil(probably about 20 drops) until it was smooth and put it in a ziplock and snipped the tip to make it like a piping bag.  we googled "henna belly art" and copied a design we liked.  i left it on until it dried and then some... altogether probably about 2 1/2 hours.  very happy with the results.  turned out a little lighter than i expected, but it was prettier that way.

dried final product(some was already starting to fall off)

scraped off with a butter knife(felt so good to get it off... pretty itchy)

rolling pie dough with nonna

 my talented friend maria took our picture for a family christmas card which i STILL haven't mailed.