Introducing Our Baby Boy

Blake Winston (Ruthless) Penick made his entrance to the world, purple and yelling, at 5:15 Saturday evening, Sept 29th. He weighs in at 7 lbs, 9 oz and measures 20.5 inches long. We are all doing great!

Passing the Time...

while we wait for Ruthless to arrive.

Downtown brunch excursions... 

Family dinners...

Some of you may remember Kayla, the barely-toddler flower girl from our wedding. She is now almost as tall as my mom.  :)

The huge daily migration of crows that passes over the slough behind our house.

In other news, we won't starve when Ruthless does come. I spent most of Thursday prepping freezer meals & organizing/cleaning the kitchen. We will most definitely still be accepting meal donations -- this just extends the time we won't need to worry about meals!

Levi is feeling ready now that he has stocked up on caffeine-infused drinks & earplugs.

It is a strange feeling to have your life on hold, not making many plans, just awaiting the newest member of our family. We're doing all the tricks to induce labor -- hopefully he will join us soon!

Nursery

I finally got around to taking photos of the nursery, though I wish I had a better camera, lighting, & photography skills. It was super fun for me to decorate, make some things & arrange the room. I didn't go with any traditional pastel colors or prints & was a bit concerned about how my eclectic tastes would come together, but it worked out. While Ruthless won't care either way, I feel happy bringing him home to this space. The first few photos are of the room as a whole (as much as I could capture), followed by some detail photos with info. 

Remodel Tour

We bought our little townhouse in the spring of 2005 & have talked about remodeling it ever since.  We decided that this was finally the year with a baby on the way & the reality that we won't be swapping for a house any time very soon. After gathering lots of ideas (many from Pinterest), we started ripping apart the entire downstairs in April. A tour of both the process & the results...

The kitchen as it used to look.

Levi did most of the demolition & building of the new (IKEA) cabinets himself. Calvin helped.

First punch into the closet wall (we torn down or into 4 walls).

 

  

Kitchen taking shape.

Holey closet walls.

Almost 5-month baby bump in the middle of the mess.

We finished up in late June (minus a leak in July that required replacing the brand new wood floors in the kitchen). 
Now for the full tour -- with 500 square feet downstairs it doesn't take long...

I actually like being in the kitchen now!

Looking towards the front entry from the kitchen...

Admire the lovely new bamboo floors & recessed lighting while ignoring the ugly plastic chandelier yet to be replaced...

New slate fireplace.

An under-the-stairs office nook that really opens the room.

 It's amazing how much more we enjoy our home now!

Family Outing

An outing of Totem House Fish n Chips at the Ballard Locks has been a family tradition for as long as I remember. Saturday afternoon was a beautiful day for it. It was exciting & strange to think that next time Ruthless will be with us!

Penick/Slagle Baby Shower

This past weekend I helped Elyse's best friend Whitney host a baby shower for the mom-to-be (a baby boy due just 4 weeks after Ruthless!). We had lots of fun with the teacher-theme (including a school photo booth, recess activity & prego-pong for sex ed!) & everybody had a great time showering Elyse with love & support.