hymn cards: springtime

Before Ivar was born, I made hymn cards for his nursery with the hope that having the lyrics of these important songs written in a visible place would help me sing these songs to my son. I use them all the time. So much so that I am ready to retire 'I love to tell the Story' for a long while... For the baby shower on Saturday, I was planning on giving Sarah a copy of each hymn and then decided to double the song choices. I picked eight new songs, taking all of the hymns that were sung at my friend Hildur's funeral and then added a few more of my own favorites. I packaged them with a bow and thought they made for a pretty gift.

a pysanky field trip

Three years ago, Lisa invited me over to her house to decorate easter eggs. It was a brand new art for me, called pysanky or Ukrainian Easter Egg dying. Then, I led an event out at camp for women to come and try using a kiska. And this year, Lisa brought us to the queen of Pysanky herself, Luba of The Ukrainian Gift Shop.

Lisa and her mom Zina brought Sara, Ruby, Josie, me and Ivar to Luba's shop today and it was a feast for the eyes. Her art is stunning and seemingly perfect. I love the bright colors.

And then we went to Kramarczuk's for some traditional Polish food. I saw this restaurant featured on Diners, Drive-in's and Dives and have wanted to go ever since. It was a great day...and if you live in the twin cities, I highly recommend visiting both places.

celebrating babies

My cousin Kathy hosted a baby shower for Ivar and Stella on Saturday. I've said it before, and I'll say it forever...there is nothing like getting a group together to encourage and love on new mama's as we embark and continue to figure out this whole motherhood thing. Kathy threw a

classy shower and Ivar and I both felt loved and affirmed. Ivar and Stella's great grandma Bredberg got to hold each baby. She's well-seasoned at holding babies and two at a time didn't really pose any added challenge for her. In fact she probably could have held both babies and kneaded caramel roll dough without any real problems.

Kathy made Banana Punch, a Bredberg family favorite and absolute favorite for us three girls. I remember many a family function where the three of us would just hang out by the punch bowl and refill our glasses as soon as they were empty. It's a slushy drink and super good. I'll have to put the recipe on the blog someday...

Stella was full of hugs and love for Ivar. She had been waiting for this party for weeks and had a few meltdowns before the party officially began because the suspense was just too much. Then she, too, found the banana punch and seemed to be in a better place.

Kathy assembled these stinkin cute scrapbooks for us and had everyone write a message to Stella and Ivar on the paper circles to put on each page. Adorable and so perfect.

And now here's the blog bummer... I took lots of pictures, but very few have each person in the photo looking blog ready. Somehow in each shot I got someone putting food in their mouth, someone's eyes clothes, someone's backside... so I don't have any more people pics to share! And I love everyone too much than to put an unflattering picture of them up on the internet :) But the food. The food was very photogenic and delish, so I'll share these pics to close this post.

library favorites

Before I return our library books from our last visit, I wanted to share a new favorite: Sporty Babies Wear Sweats by Michelle Sinclair Coleman. It's silly and the illustrations are adorable. Apparently there are other books in the "babies wear" series and I'm eager to see those too. I'm just happy to have found a new board book to add to my list of favorites. You can only read But not the Hippopotamus so many times.

30 years later...

This little sweater was made for me 30 years ago by our family friend, Donna Solomonson. We have lots of pictures of me wearing it and now it fits my baby boy. Lately when I pick up Ivar I can't get over the fact that I have a baby that is ready to snuggle and cuddle at all times. I spent a whole lot of my childhood rocking dolls, burping them, changing their clothes, walking them around the house, taking them for walks in the stroller around the block. But now I have the real thing. I have wanted to have a baby my whole life and right this very moment I am living my dreams come true.

I think I link to her blog almost every single time she posts a new blog entry, but my friend Meta has written another gem. She also just had a baby boy and her writing always sweeps me off of my feet. Click here to read Meta's latest thoughts on mamahood.