Spencer

Spencer getting some natural sunlight at home, and
Spencer chilling out in the bilirubin disco in the hospital:

Sweet sleeper... He really is awake some of the time (but very little at this point)

Spencer Philip Jewett

Baby Boy Jewett was born at 3:32pm on Saturday, February 13, 2010 at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston. He was 7 lbs, 5 oz, 21" long and, according to the nurse, a "big sized" head. :) More details to follow in another post (for those of you interested). But know that all FOUR Jewetts are home as of yesterday and doing well. We're figuring out this newborn thing all over again and are all thrilled with our new little addition...

Our Harley

Harley with Ben, when Harley still lived with us.

Beautiful Blue Eyes, resting his head on the rocks at Nana & Pops' house.

Harley didn't like to be left behind...
Today the Dwyer/Jewett clan said good-bye to one of the best dogs that ever lived. Harley died today at the age of 13 years old. He had a wonderful (and adventurous) life--coming to live with me when he was a 10-week old puppy. He moved around with me, followed me and Jay out to California after spending several weeks with his 'cousin' Tucker at Matt & Jessica's house. When Jay and I moved to Hawaii, Harley went to live with my parents in Manchester, then moved back to the lake when we came home. He lived there, quite happily I'd say, until we added a human baby boy to the mix. Harley was never a fan of people younger than 16 or so, so once Benjamin became mobile, Harley went to live with Nana and Pops in Manchester. He stayed here for the final few years of his life- following his best friend in the world, Pops, wherever he went.
He was a wonderful dog and we were blessed to have him in our lives for 13 years.
We love you Harley & will miss you very much.

9 months pregnant

25+ pounds of weight gain, but mostly belly.
It doesn't look like much, but I'm starting to get a little uncomfortable and anxious for little one to arrive!! Baby is moving around a lot and I'm feeling contractions (I think), so I guess my body is starting to do what it is supposed to do! Less than 3 weeks to go...

The beginning of the bar

Jay managed to get some work done on the bar that will go in the kitchen. The plank was milled out from one of our huge trees that was felled several years ago. The piece needs to be planed and sanded and finished and all that, but you can see how beautiful it is going to be! :)

Making Valentines

Ben is learning to write his name (he's only been at it for 2 or 3 days-- look at his progress!). We spent the afternoon making Valentines for Ben's daycare Valentines party on Thursday. He wrote his name on the back of all of the hearts & did some of the cutting and gluing as well. His favorite job was peeling the backs from the foam heart stickers and putting them on the Valentines for the finishing touch. We had a great time & we're so proud of how well he's doing with his name writing! :)

Play in the snow

Exhausted and HOME

Jay arrived home shortly before 4am this morning. He had a long (and turbulent) flight from the DR to NY, then a layover followed by delay. He finally got on the flight and made it to Portland in the middle of a white-out. Traffic was traveling at 25 south of Topsham so it took him a while to make it home. But he's HERE! He's sleeping in the barn (smart) and Ben and I anxiously await his wake-up so we can visit with him and hear all about his trip! Thanks again for all the thoughts while he was away. It sure is nice that the snow held off for the entire time he was gone! :)

On his way home

Jay is scheduled to leave Santo Domingo, DR later this afternoon and arrive in Portland (via a layover in NY) around 11:30pm tonight. I hear we're supposed to get some snow, but am hoping this won't slow down his travels at all. If all goes according to plan, Jay will arrive back in Winthrop early, early tomorrow morning! Yay! :)

Jay's DR trip

Jay is still in the Dominican Republic, scheduled to be home late Sunday evening. From emails I've gotten from him, all is well with his Yestermorrow crew. They are on the Semana Peninsula, which is on the north east border of the DR, while the earthquake hit Port-au-Prince Haiti, on the south part of the island. According to Jay, they didn't feel any of the actual earthquake where he is located. I am uncertain as to how any of the aftermath may have affected them, though I don't think it has. I have not spoken to him on the phone since the earthquake, but continue to receive emails telling me all is well.

What a sad and devastating event this earthquake is for the people and the country of Haiti. Please consider donating to the Red Cross in an effort to help victims of the earthquake.

Hanging Out

Here's Ben with his newest kitty- Gilbert. Good thing Gilbert likes a lot of attention.
Ben loves to be outside & spent a good hour crawling around in the snow (eating a lot of it) during the last big snow storm.
And B got a new Adirondack chair for Christmas that he loves to hang out in. :)

7 1/2 months pregnant.

Christmas in Florida. Talk about a *white* belly! :)

Ben at Christmas in 'Tween Waters, Captiva Island, FL

Ben was brave enough to sit on Santa's lap (I think it was the candy cane bribe) and smiled for the picture even. He loved the 'Tween Waters Express and wished he could get a ride on it (though it didn't move). The lights and decorations at 'Tween Waters were really something else, but photos wouldn't do the scene justice...

On the beach

Mumma getting buried in the sand

Ben getting buried in the sand

7 1/2 months preggers

Jewett Family Christmas

We went to Florida for Christmas this year. Here are two family photos of us at 'Tween Waters on Captiva Island.

Christmas Tree

Ben helping Pops get the tree ready

Gilbert under the tree

Ben and Jay decorating our funny-shaped tree. We love it!

Concrete Countertops

As most of you probably gathered, Jay and I are making our own concrete countertops for our kitchen. We attended a weekend-long workshop at Yestermorrow in Vermont this summer and learned the process. Well, the time has come! I'm tired of washing our dishes in the bathroom sink, and am very much looking forward to a countertop in the kitchen as well as a dishwasher. Last weekend we did our first piece of countertop-- photos to follow.

The prep for the whole process is quite time-consuming. We decided to start with a free-standing piece (a stand-alone countertop that is the espresso/coffee bar). The process: measure cubic inches of the space (we did 1.5" thick countertops), figure out cubic feet, and figure out how much weight (in lbs) the concrete mixture needs to be to adequately fill that space. Once total weight is figured, the total has to be divided into 4 parts: aggregate, sand, concrete (including the weight of the dye-- we used jet black), and water... All those parts need to be weighed out and, once the mold is ready, mixed.

Getting the mold ready was mostly Jay's department, as I'm the calculations guru (apparently). The mold needs to be made on the plexiglass surface, so the whole thing is kind of sandwiched down. The edges of the mold are measured and screwed down into the table to keep the whole thing in place. The table needs to be sturdy enough to hold all of the weight (our first piece was close to 200 lbs, and that's a fairly small piece), and level so that when the piece sets it too is level... The photos help give a better idea. As I mentioned, Jay could give pages of detail about making the mold...

1st pour (part 1)

The mold is on the table & Jay is prepping everything (which is the most time consuming part of the process). Plexiglass is the surface that the mold is placed on, so top of counter will be smooth...

Mixing the concrete:
So, we decided it was worth it to rent a cement mixer for future projects. It was HARD work for Jay and took a lot of the energy that was needed to 'mallet' the table & vibrate the mixture once it was poured. Jay was a machine this day).

1st pour (part 2)

Here is the form with scoopfuls of concrete mixture added. After this, Jay and I (with Ben's help) used rubber mallets to vibrate the table. This causes the mixture to settle in and air bubbles to rise to the top, so the top surface (which is actually the bottom of the mold) is smooth.

The concrete is all poured, with metal supports added half-way through. The bottom surface (which is the top in the photo) has been smoothed and troweled (is that a verb?). Now to sit and set...

Here's the finished piece (minus sealant) in all it's glory. We learned a lot about the process, and are hoping to continue to improve our techniques. You can see the glossy surface of the countertop- that's all due to the vibrating of the mixture and the careful prep of the plexiglass prior to pouring in the concrete. So no, our countertops will not look like a sidewalk. ;-)

Another new kitten

Jay thought that our Ragdoll kitty, Marley, needed a friend so he brought Gilbert home. Gilbert was named by Ben (as was Marley) and is definitely Ben's kitty. Gilbert is ALL kitten and both kitties spend the night in the basement (thank goodness we HAVE a basement now!) so that the rest of us can get some sleep. I really didn't know how much trouble a little couple-pound cat could get into, but it's quite stunning. It's a good thing he's so darn cute.
It was touch and go for the first couple of days as to whether Marley was going to allow the new addition, but the two kitties play hard together and seem to be friends now.