Viking Tea Party

Light My Fire

Matt and Emmett bought me a Kindle for my birthday. I wasn't exactly a Kindle fan before or at least I really didn't think I wanted one. The idea of reading a book on a screen, without the heft of the book in your hand and turning the pages, just really didn't appeal. I'm one of those people.

No longer.

Like my iTouch, it's something every new mom should have. It's much easier to pick up than a book (especially since I'm currently reading Game of Thrones and it's 700+ pages thick) when Emmett's taking a snooze in my arms.

Even though I'd already paid £9 for a paperback copy, I had to buy Game of Thrones for the Kindle. It's taking me forever to get through it and not because I'm not interested. I've read more of it in the past couple of days than I have in a week.

Back to the Kindle. The screen is gorgeous. When I opened it, I assumed the screen saver (like the one above of Virginia) was actually something that would peel off with the sticky screen protector - nope.

This, though, is what sold me...

I can email PDFs to a special Kindle address and, like magic, they'll appear the next time I turn it on! That means rather than keeping track of paper patterns and keeping them away from little hands that like to crumple and a mouth that likes to chew, I can keep my current project on the Kindle. Awe-some. That's the Bunny Nuggets pattern but Rebecca Danger, by the way. I haven't checked to see if you can add notes to a PDF but that's on my list of things to investigate in the user's manual. If not, I'll still have to keep a notebook to write down where I am which is a bit of a pain but easier to keep away from Emmett than pieces of paper.

Anyway, I love it and have been trolling Etsy and Folksy for a sleeve. I really need to see if my sewing machine works here because it's going to kill me to buy one when I could make one myself.

I'll end with a little gratuitous Emmett. He's wickedly fussy - damned teething - at the moment so I really need to close up and get some dinner in the little fellow because eating always soothes the savage beast!

Got My New Shoes On

I'm a Croc fan. My pregnant feet loved them and they are about all I've worn for the past year.

This is my latest pair, bought for me by my Dad while we were in Ohio. My mom and dad both love them, too, and we tried a pair on Emmett but he's a bit too small. He can have his first pair next trip. And when he does he needs one of the cool new 3-D Jibbitz like this one.

I've never been one for charms on my Crocs but when I found this little squirrel, I had to have him. While Dad was paying, I was going to the car to get a cooler outfit for Emmett but Mom told me later that he also bought a squirrel for himself and one for Emmett...and he choked up a little bit. He does that a lot now and has since he turned fifty but still - it's really sweet. He also bought E a crazy Croc toy that's a shoe with arms and legs since he's too small for his own pair. It's creepy but kinda cute.

I just searched the Croc store for a Jibbitz using the word "yarn". Yeah, they're not quite that cool yet.

Going to Work, Using My Hands

The other day I asked Matt if he wouldn't mind if I "went to work" once or twice a week. I wanted at least an hour where I could go into the conservatory, sit at the table and blog without interruption - as if I weren't in the house at all. I'm not actually in the conservatory because right now it's as far as the folded laundry gets so the table is covered with piles of clothes (although Emmett's always gets carried upstairs and put away - his room stays tidiest as well) and I'm really only blogging because Emmett's napping on Matt. Still, it seemed like a good opportunity.

On Monday I started a class called My Space, My Time for mothers with post natal depression. Considering that I struggled with depression before I was pregnant, I wasn't surprised when it smacked me in the face a few months after Emmett was born. On top of it all, I'm horribly homesick - so much so that going to visit any of Matt's family really got me down. Then a little over a week ago my papaw died and it absolutely broke my heart that I couldn't be there. I'm happy with the things we said when I saw him last summer and when we last spoke on the phone but not being able to be there to say goodbye...I still cry at least once a day.

Even after one class I felt better. It's a small group that gets together over an art project and coffee, tea or hot chocolate and cakes to talk..or not talk. It's the art project part that got me interested. I really, really miss being creative. During this class we painted little boxes.

 

I know this photo is terrible - sorry. I wanted to take one earlier when the sun was still out but things don't work that way anymore.

I actually stuck the stickers from my sticker stash on the yellow one when I got home because I ran out of time in class. They're far from perfect but it felt to good to make something. Next week we're making little pigs out of clay - I'm really looking forward to that even though I'll be in the states when they'll be glazing them. We're also going to paint tote bags, a mug, a frame...and make a couple of other things I can't remember. Simple projects but immensely rewarding. It's a great way for me to meet other moms/mums, too. I'd run into one of them at the doctor's office and at the library so we kind of already "knew" each other but this meant we finally got to talk a bit which was nice.

For the first class Matt was at home and could stay with Little E but he'll be at work next Monday so I'll have to bring him and put him in their daycare for the hour and a half. I'm super nervous about that but they have three carers and there are only eight or nine of us in the group and we're one door down so they'll bring him in if he starts fussing. I've never left him with anyone but Matt so this will really be something for me. I'm ready to try, though.

And now for a little gratuitous Emmett. This little man is my world. No matter how bad I feel, I can always find a smile for him.

He amazes me with something new every day. He's using his hands a lot more now and can hold his little head up like a champ. He lights up when either of us walks into the room which is crazy rewarding. My favorite thing he does is sing himself to sleep on my shoulder. I sang him to sleep myself many nights (singing "The Pie Song" from Waitress which we played for him in the womb in hopes that he would recognise it and I think he does) and I really think his little cooing noises are his version and a real comfort. That's when I can tell he's really tired. 

I mentioned it earlier but our latest news in that we're heading to Ohio next month! Actually we're going to New Orleans for a few days first for my brother's wedding and then driving (with a five month old!) fifteen hours to Ohio. I can't wait for Emmett to meet the rest of his American family. I also can't wait to eat at a million places and browse Target and Kohls for hours (I miss Target and Kohls more than any other stores in the US)! And knit group - I can't wait to stop by the Sunday night knit group. A million things I'd like to do - hopefully we'll have time to do at least a few of them!

For now, though, it's quitting time. Glad to be back.

 

Dear Emmett,

My friend Kim is taking on an awesome project, 52 Weeks, 52 Letters, for 2011. It appealed to me immediately - I love collecting stationary and writing letters and before I'd even finished reading the post I was mentally compiling a list of potential friends and family that I could write to and had even come up with a couple of teachers that really deserve long overdue thank you letters.

After talking to Matt about it, though, reality struck. I can't commit to that. Not this year. But he came up with an alternative that I'm even more excited about. Believe it or not, the hardest part would be getting to the post office considering that 99.99% of my letters would be going overseas and would need to be weighed. Matt's suggestion was to write letters to Emmett and I can't wait to get started! Sure, some weeks might just be a little postcard with something special that he did that week or just to say how much I love him but I look forward to writing real letters as well. He may never feel the need to read them (but I hope that he does) but I know I'd enjoy looking at them over the years.

And if I were to write him a letter now I'd talk about this:

He's taking a nap on the couch and keeps crossing his little feet - so cute!

This post is my attempt to continue to talk about my life since Emmett is my life right now as some of you suggested in my last post (thank you!) while keeping it a little crafty as well (I think letter writing is craftly, anyway).

And I think I'm going to take advantage of this nap and get a little crafty with some crochet!

Happy New Year, everyone!

Letterbox Love

It's a good day when two out of three things that fall through your letterbox are Real Mail!

Look, look, look at the cardigan my friend Sarah knitted for our little acorn!

 

And yes, the buttons are exactly what you think they are: acorns!  And since I have never knitted anything but top down sweaters, may I point out how impressed I am that this actually isn't knit top down?  

Thanks again, Sarah - I can't wait to see how handsome he looks in it!

The second piece of real mail was a card from my parents.

I think I've mentioned this before but it bears repeating.  They've been sending us a card a week which has been such a nice way of reaching out from so far away.  Nearly every one of them brings a tear to my eye (although, these days, what doesn't) and this was no exception.  I can't bear to take any of them down!  I told Matt today that I would miss getting them in November and then laughed at myself.  I think a baby is a pretty good replacement for a weekly card in the mail!  

And lastly, something I didn't get in the mail that still shows lots of love ...

Our little acorn had his dad bring me some flowers and a card the other night to thank me for pricking my finger several times a day to take care of him.  Sweet!

I've only been monitoring my blood sugar for a few days but it seems to be going well.  Even when I totally blew a day by eating Burger King for lunch and pizza from my favorite pizza place for dinner, my numbers were still perfectly fine.  I  made up for it by having a Quorn burger with carrot sticks today, though, and I have to say, Quorn burgers are pretty good!  The hardest part of this is eating enough of what's good for me and the baby.   I find myself hungry more often and fear has me waiting longer than I should to eat something so when I do it ends up being one of my three main meals.  I should be eating something every couple of hours.  We've stocked up on some snacks that are healthy but quick which should help me not reach for the tea biscuits.  In fact, I'm off to dish myself a bowl of Greek yogurt right now....

Woodland Stitched Awesomeness

Thanks for all the anniversary and baby boy wishes!  We've been doing a lot of baby shopping over the past few days and the dining room table is currently heaped with cute little outfits covered in puppies and monkeys.  We have quite a few things in blue but brown is really popular now, too, which I love.  We might have even already found our "coming home outfit".  :)

But today I wanted to show you my favorite gift so far: little woodland creatures by Chris that are perfect for our woodland theme nursery!

Look!  A squirrel!

How cool is he?!  Check out his tail!

 

And here's his little friend the turtle...

I love the print choices.  They're perfect for the shell and skin.

I can already tell our little boy likes them as he's been kicking me like crazy as I've been playing around with these photos.  :)

And there's more!  Chris also made these gorgeous, colorful bibs.

 

Note the hippo down there in the right hand corner!  For some reason all of these remind me of going to the beach.  Maybe because it's so hot here that a dip in some cool water sounds like the best thing in the world....

Thanks again, Chris!!

Happy 101 Awards

Kate of Lazy Kate Creates tagged me for the Happy 101 Awards (thanks again, Kate!) over, um, a month ago and I actually started this post exactly a month ago.  Yikes.  Since then I've managed to misplace my little Casio camera (argh! where are you?!) which has the photos I took to finish the post so I took a few more this afternoon and am determined to finish and post about the things that make me happy.  You know, like actually finishing this post.  :)

Matt - This one is pretty obvious.  I remember saying to my mom, maybe even before Matt and I got married, that he would be The Man to be married to while pregnant and he is.  I keep telling him he should save some of the 'doing everything for me' (although if it weren't for him I would forget my vitamin more often than not) for when I really can't do things for myself so easily but I don't think he will.  Pregnancy is a good time to be married to a squirrel!  

Our Little Acorn - Also obvious but high on the list never-the-less.  Sure, the way that little acorn makes me feel sometimes doesn't exactly make me happy but I've known since I was 17 that I was meant to be a mommy and am happy to finally get to have this experience.   I can't wait to see him or her again at our next scan here in a few (okay, four) weeks!

Going Back to Ohio* - Even the slightest little thought of this one makes me smile!  We're going back to Ohio for my family reunion in June!  Not only will I get to see my family and my family get to see me showing. I hope, at least a little bit, I'll also have the chance to see Ginny showing quite a bit and I'll be there for her baby shower.  And the food - I'm so excited about the food!  I think we'll have to eat out every day considering the length of the list of places I miss.  My brother and his fiance will be up from New Orleans, too.  I haven't seen him since the wedding and have yet to even meet my future sister-in-law.  The one night we did a Skype with them while Mom and Dad were here, I was so prego-tired that by the time the call actually took place, I was in bed and fast asleep. 

And, as an added bonus, Matt and I will also be able to spend our first anniversary sitting in the shade under the tree where we were married last summer.

My iTouch - I had no idea what an iTouch was when Matt took me shopping for one.  Now I can't live without it.  It's a quick way to check email and surf the web and it's also a great way to play games.  I have an embarrassing number of apps...

This is a tower defense game called The Creeps! that Matt and play constantly.  By strategically placing weapons like ray guns and boomerangs you try to make sure the ghosties, vampires and other scary things (although there are other levels with space and underwater scary things) don't get to the scared kid hiding under the covers in the bed.  Sounds silly, I know,but it's fun.  For some reason it recently reset our games so we're starting all over again but neither of us really mind. 

I read an article a few weeks ago that made me realize that this little gadget it really going to come in handy come this fall.  It'll be perfect for those middle of the night feedings!  I can browse the internet, Facebook and, if I get a chance, tune in to the BBC iPlayer and catch up on a little television. 

My grey cotton yoga pants - I seriously wish I'd bought more than one pair of these last summer at Kohls.  I'll admit I kind of spent quite a lot of time in them before I was pregnant but now that even the jeans I have that still fit aren't really comfortable enough for all day wear...I live in them.  They're stretchy and comfy and will see me through many more months, I'm sure.  Heck, yesterday I had to walk into town to return a movie to Blockbuster and, after a few moments of deliberation and thoughts concerning the fashion police, I just threw on a jacket and left while still wearing my heavenly grey pants. 

Fresh flowers - Nothing cheers up a room more than fresh flowers.  These are my first Mother's Day flowers - pretty tulips that opened up nearly the minute I put them in front of a window full of sunshine. 

 

Lucy & Mina - My cats.  :)  One of the photos on my missing camera was of Mina in her usual spot - sprawled in my lap (with Lucy sometimes curled up on the couch beside us) - and, of course, for the first time today she's nowhere to be found so a replacement photo isn't going to happen any time soon.  I've read that animals can tell when you're pregnant and I think Mina is one of those who can.  She's always been cuddly but her cuddleness is in overdrive now.  She comes running from where ever she was lurking as soon as she hears me sit down and jumps into my lap.  Of course, this behavior could also be because I'm actually sitting down more often....

A good book - I've had a really good run recently when it comes to books.  I've actually been keeping a list since the beginning of the year and can't believe that I've yet to post a link to it here.  I just started reading A Patchwork Planet by Anne Tyler last night.  Tyler has written two of my very favorite books, The Accidental Tourist and Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, and makes me wish her characters were real people because I would love to have a long talk with Macon or have dinner with Ezra at the Homesick Restaurant.  I've not had this feeling with any of her books since but this one has potential. 

Stationary sets - Paperchase makes the best stationary sets!  This is one I bought yesterday and I can't wait to break it out later tonight.  We finally printed off photos of the baby from our 12 week scan to send to my grannies and, of course, I have to include a letter.  :)

Paper, envelopes, address labels and stickers.  I love the paper because the reverse side is always printed with a super cute design.  This set is especially cute because the paper comes in two shades - white and brown - and the designs are completely different.  So cute!

So I know I'm supposed to pass on this fun award by tagging ten people but, honestly, I'm not a tagger.  It's not that there's no one out there who makes me happy - if you're reading this, trust me, you make me happy - but I'm just not good at knowing (beyond a handful of people) who actually reads this blog.  But, like I said, if you're reading this, you make me happy and I'd love to hear what makes you happy, too!

*My experience promises to be nothing like The Pretenders song.  :)

I've Got a Notion to Use the Wildcard Today

I don't really have a favorite yarn.  I like a little bit of everything but if pressed I'd probably have to mention Malabrigo or Manos del Uruguay but not enough to write a whole blog post about it on this the last day of Knit & Crochet Blog Week so I thought I'd use the wild card and talk about knitting notions instead. 

These are my favorite notions cases (or "noodle cases" as Matt calls them since he misheard me once).

 

My namaste case and the incredibly awesome Altoid tin case my friend Catherine made for me before I left Ohio.  I mostly use the namaste case at home and use the acorn as my little traveling case because it's perfect for carrying things such as these.

Okay, the row counter doesn't fit in the case but it's still a staple.  And yes, those are the little plastic thingies that keep your loaf of bread closed there on the Super Sticky Post-Its (which also don't fit but I always carry).  The girls in my Dayton knit group used these to wind up the yarn left over from casting on which I thought was a fantastic idea.  Sure, sewing that end in after knitting a couple rows might be a little more practical but I'm one of those knitters who often ends up knitting the first row with that little piece of yarn so immediately winding it on one of these little bread thingies is incredibly helpful.  

No, this is not a shout out for Tesco.  It's a project bag.  A concept introduced to me by Catherine along with the Super Sticky Post-It's for keeping your place in a pattern.  I had a couple of projects floating around in my bag at knitting one night and one must have gotten tangled or something because she offered me an extra bag she had and I've used them ever since.  I have to say, though, recently I've not been so good about keeping my projects organized (or anything else in my life for that matter) but am trying to get myself back in the habit.  I can proudly say that the project I'm going to post tomorrow is indeed in it's own little bag, all together, safe and sound.

Speaking of not being very organized: I've misplaced the little bag where I keep the majority of my stitch markers but these are a few of my favorites that always seem to be close at hand.  

And, finally, some of my very favorite knitting tools: my Knit Pro Symfonie Interchangeable Needle Set.

Matt got this set for me for Christmas and I pimped it out with some extra needles, cables, cable extenders and those little discs which you would put on a cable to let you know what needle size you were using if you needed to take the needles off for another project.  If I take the needles off a project there's a good chance I won't be coming back to it for a loooong time so those have come in handy.  The ruler didn't actually come with the kit - it's one Squiblet gave me after I embarrassed myself at a yarn shop by know the US size of a needle I needed but not the metric size...which is what they use here.  The only downside to the Symfonie needles is that the sizes that are painted on them rubs off after about one use so keeping this in my kit makes sure I don't end up saying, "I think this is a six...."

So that's it for Knit & Crochet Blog Week.  I'm a little disappointed in myself because I started out gangbusters but quickly lost momentum although, lately, that's pretty much been the way most things go with me.  I'm now in my second trimester - the "easy trimester" - and am definitely reaping the benefits everyone talks about (I can stay up until eleven or even - gasp - later which is something I couldn't say a month ago) but I seem to be a little moodier and that can swing pretty quickly from cranky to crying.  Sigh.

If you'd like to read more wild cards, click this link.  If you'd like to read about favorite yarns, click here.  Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Aspiring to a LIttle Sunshine

Today's topic is to blog about a pattern you aspire to due to skills you still need to acquire or the dedication it takes to undertake a large project.  My project is definitely (and rather frustratingly) more of an aspiration out dedication and rather than skill.  I've never been very good at committing to large projects. 

This is the Sunshine Day Baby Afghan by Alicia Paulson of one of my favorite blogs, Posie Gets Cosy.  I've been in love with it since the first moment she showed us a glimpse. 

Image courtesy of Alicia Paulson

I love the soft crochet bubbles and the colors are so fantastic that I think I'd need to match them as closely as I possibly could as I just don't think it would look the same if it were done in another color scheme. 

When the pattern was posted on Ravelry in early February I fawned over it and, rather than adding it to my queue, I added it to my favorites.  It was pretty to look at but I didn't really have a reason to commit to making it.  Little did I know!  About three weeks later there I was holding a positive pregnancy test in my hands, calling out to Matt, "Hey baby, you wanna have a baby?"  

I guess it's about time to give up my instant gratification lifestyle because this blanket would be a wonderful little bit of sunshine for our little acorn's room!

If you'd like to read more from other Knit & Crochet Blog Week participants check out this link!

tags - knitcroblo2

The Best Part of The Safari Boat Tour at Longleat

 

Feeding the sea lions!  The worst part?  Even looking at the photos makes me smell fish.

And here's a not so fun fact about sea lions that I learned today: females are pregnant for eleven months and can get pregnant again two months after giving birth which means they can potentially be pregnant pretty much all of their adult lives.  

Yikes.