30 weeks and more

They came, our Santa photos with Lindsay Porter Photography and they are gorgeous to say the least. I love them! The night before our pictures we went to Macy's hoping to find the perfect combo of dress and suit, i know way to wait till the last minute and all. Iain was fast, they had at least a dozen suit combos to choose from and Iain beelined for this red and black, and though it's hard to see it is paisley embroidered black on black on the vest and super snazzy. Finn had a much harder time choosing a dress but once Iain picked red it made her choice easy. We brought our treasures home and tried everything on Iain was so handsome I was so happy with his choice, but poor Finn her dress was by far the smallest size 7 ever, it was to short, too tight, and just so poorly fit, but it was for the best. My mom had bought this dress for her over the summer and in a flash I remembered it and it fit perfect and the colour matched Iain's red it was just meant to be.

Our Christmas lights are all hung thanks to my industrious husband who is thankfully home for a full 6 weeks, he hasn't been home for 6 weeks in a row in 5 years! I love Christmas lights they make even the houses look dressed up for a special occasion and just happy.

I have been crocheting a bit and trying some new things, gifts for family and friends. The tassels on the snow bunny hat are a new thing and Finn loved them and has ordered a hat with them as soon as I'm done with Christmas gifts. The cow, oh my goodness the cow, inspired by something seen on Etsy I decided to try a cow and it is oh, so cute I can't wait to give it away.

As we sit here as a family watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas I am so happy to be in our house after last year's fiasco, I am happy to be warm and dry and surrounded by our decorations creating memories and reliving our family holiday traditions.

Today is my 30th week in this pregnancy and this boy is kicking and poking and prodding and I just know dying to get out and greet the world.  I have to admit the excitement is growing among the family, Finn and Iain talk about what they want to teach the baby and how they are going to help, it makes it so much harder to be patient. Though with this super busy time of year I'm kind of glad he is tucked up nice and warm and easily cared for.

I hope every one's holiday season is off to as great a start as ours.

A very wet pre-Thanksgiving

It has been a super wet rainy and windy week here in the northwest, We have had a number of storms come through bringing a lot of indoor time with them. This morning is definitely included the wind chimes are tinkling and the trees are swaying, as long as the power stays on we are very comfortable just being home for the day. The kids are still in their pj's and we had big plates of hot filling pancakes for breakfast, setting them up for a day of playing and coloring followed by baths for Thanksgiving at my cousin Robin's house tomorrow.

I started some baby booties and not for an order for me! The first one is done and just in need of a button, I love this pattern because they look like the kind of booties that have a good chance of staying put once they are on, but with a wiggly baby who knows.

I am 29 weeks now and in the 3rd and final trimester, only 11 weeks to go. The uncomfortableness is growing and it is getting very hard to snuggle Iain on my lap. I feel very prepared for baby though I know you never can be totally prepared but I feel like we are ready none the less.

Finnley and Iain had their school pictures back yesterday and over-all I like them, Finn's smile is a little forced which happens when someone tells her to show her teeth when she smiles. I don't know why they always want you to do that, don't they know some of us just don't smile that way and asking us to do it makes us look very un-like ourselves? Iain's picture is great, he looks so big and mature I can't believe it's been 5 years since he came to us.

The sneak peek of the Santa pictures I was dying to see! They are amazing I love this Santa and I love that my kids see the same Santa year after year. They look so big, I can't wait to get the rest of their photos back and get pictures out to friends and family embellished with snowflakes and a wintry saying of course.

I'm wishing everyone out there a lovely Thanksgiving, a chance to remember all of the things that are truly important, the things we would miss the most if taken away, hug friends, family and pets and enjoy.

carded

Just wanted to do a quick post to show the birthday card I made to go along with the Hello Kitty and snow bunny hats I made for Finnley's friend's birthday party today. Still working out the kinks with the cards but I'm really liking how it's going, next is figuring out how to photograph those metallic colours.

My husband comes home tonight after having been gone for 6 weeks and we are all so excited to see him. Though we are all used to the work schedule his job requires it is still very exciting when he comes home and even better when he is home for the holidays.

Have a great weekend.

Rainbows and bonnets

Another big project down. A friend of mine is having a baby girl and is due about 2 weeks before me so I decided to make her something special, and it's an easy way to work out my need to make pretty girly things even though I'm having a boy. I made my favorite baby gift the blessing day bonnet, I love it and wish I had know how to make it when Finn was a baby. There is something so sweet and traditional about the bonnet.

I also finished this granny square afghan in a rainbow pattern, the colors are so vibrant and I am thrilled with how it turned out. It's a bit bigger than I intended but babies grow and so much faster than any mommy would like.

All wrapped up and ready to go, I am loving all of the gifting that has been happening around here lately, gets me in the mood for Christmas.

Well, Hello Kitty

 

I finished it-the Hello Kitty hat my daughter thought up and I was hoping would work out as a hat, and I must say it turned out at least as well as hoped.

 

I'm quite happy with it and I think it would make a very cute hat with ear flaps. It is a birthday present for one of Finnley's friends I hope it makes her happy, I know Finn is quite happy with the result.

Monday-ing

 Finished these booties about a week ago and they were on their way to a new home in an order but alas the post office seems to have misplaced them and the hat that went with them. So of course I will be remaking them but had to share their utter sweetness 12month crocheted cowboy boot booties and they are the most adorable things ever.

 

Today I have been working on a "Hello Kitty" hat that will be part of a birthday gift for one of Finnley's friends, it was her idea and I hope it works out as cute as I'm picturing in my head. Sometimes things work out the way I see them and sometimes they don't, and since this was Finn's idea I'm pulling for super cute.

I have been doodling a lot lately, mostly Christmas type designs, I think I'm going to try hand drawing my cards this year, I never send out too many, mostly just close friends and family and of course if it gets to be to much I can supplement with some from the store. We had Santa pictures with our friend Lindsay at Lindsay Porter Photography on Saturday and I am on pins and needles waiting to see how they turn out, the Santa she gets is the very best, we love him-I think he may really be Santa.

This is last year's picture and if this year's is even 1/2 as wonderful I will be thrilled. Iain was telling Santa what he wanted for Christmas and was so excited I can't help but smile when I see it, I hope when he's grown he looks at this and remembers how magical Christmas was when he was a child.

It is also our last Christmas as a family of 4 and our last with Iain as the "baby" I have to admit it makes me a bit sad, he is still the baby in my heart even though he keeps reminding me he's 5 now. Thinking that next year we will have a new little one having their first Christmas, so many changes on their way.

First Frost

It was a lovely morning today, as lovely as it was cold. We had a very heavy frost last night our first true hard frost of the season. The porch was covered in white and Pixie had to slip and slide off into the grass, this is her 1st real winter so she is still learning. I have been getting up quite early lately, this baby is starting to make lying still very difficult, but it makes for lovely quiet mornings with books and yarn and coffee.

The frost makes me long for snow, the snow from when I was a child in Alaska. I was lucky enough growing up to live on a culdesac which meant when the snow came the plows would push all of the snow into the middle of the circle. There was nothing like coming home from school changing into snowsuits and gloves and climbing that hill or castle as we called it, playing until your fingers were so cold you had to go in. Growing up with snow and in Alaska is something I am incredibly grateful for.

My little sister's (she's 3 inches taller than me) birthday is tomorrow and I won't mention how old she will be I don't think she would like it. I spent the afternoon crafting her a birthday card I haven't made one in a very long time, and I am extremely pleased with how it turned out-this is the front.

This is the inside, my sister loves owls, so I thought they would add a nice touch. I know it won't get there in time-but she knows me she expects that.

 

 

On the yarn front I completed the new pattern I had been working on. It's super cozy and warm because it's worked in FPDC stitches. Finnley didn't mind modeling it until I told her it wasn't for her, but she recovered quickly when I told her it would be part of a birthday gift for one of her friends soon.

 

I hope everyone has a nice Thursday, and keep warm.



KCCO

had a busy evening last night. Iain is just starting to do homework but needs a lot of one on one time to get through it, it's so fun to see what he is learning and see the difference between where Finn was at this age. They are so different it amazes me that they are siblings. Banana bread was cooling while we worked on perfectly formed letter Ps.

Today was a bread day, the morning started sunny and clear and making bread seemed a good way to spend the morning. The afternoon has turned dark and grey and I'm sure it will rain before long, so happy I did the backyard doggy patrol this morning.

Currently working on something new, this purple bit that looks kind of like a bowl is actually a hat, it is made with a FPHD crochet stitch making it super warm and cozy. It will be going into another birthday present soon.

This is a completed project and an order it is custom and though I wasn't thrilled with the colour combo I do think it turned out pretty cute-I hope it gets lots of love in it's new home.

linking up with Nicole at Frontier Dreams for KCCO (keep calm and craft on).

weekend rehash

I love love love how this sweater/hat combo turned out-the colour is so pretty and the gift in the paper makes it look so happy.

This gift went to Finnley's friend Anij for her 8th birthday, the colour was chosen just for her. We spent a lovely afternoon at the local bouncy house with the kids running and jumping and sliding and getting sweaty and tired. We had cupcakes and ice cream and of course she opened her gifts, a bit more jumping and then we were on our way home. Everyone tired, chilled from the rain, and ready for dinner and bed.

I hope everyone is lucky enough to have a child in their life. The innocence and purity in what they think and do, even when it's naughty their motive is very simple. My son Iain who is 5 has been sleeping with my teddy bear, the one my husband gave me before we were married for months now. Last night when he went to bed he took his teddy bear and put him on my bed, explaining that he doesn't want me to have to sleep alone anymore (my husband has been away at work for for 5 weeks now). I didn't think much about it at the time it was bed time and the clocks had to be moved and Pixie wanted to go out, and well, just busy. When I went to bed though there he was waiting for me, so sweet and squishy. I had to make an extra stop to give Iain an extra kiss goodnight.

Our countdown clock has been ticking away since October 1st...we are a little excited, more Christmas to come.

Nesting and Gifting



Yesterday was an incredibly long day, I took on my nemesis-the linen closet. Things in the house that no one knows where to put and things you just want out of sight seem to end up stuffed in the linen closet, well that and it's in easy proximity to the bedrooms. 

BEFORE

Yes this is the before and no I don't know how this happened. All I can say is it is wrong, pitiful and I'm dreadfully ashamed I let it get this awful.

EMPTY

Not only did I empty the cupboards but since a lot of the things in it especially on the bottom and in the back hadn't been washed since the accident I decided to give it all a wash. There was a long time between the "empty" picture and the after because it was about 3 loads of laundry.

 

AFTER

I am insanely proud of this after photo, it's so pretty! I am truly amazed by how gratifying and fulfilling a clean and organized linen closet can be. Every time I walk by I open it just to check I'm not dreaming truly loving it.

The other load of laundry that was accomplished was prepping all of these diaper doublers and stuff-ins. They make me so happy all white and soft and absorbent, I can't wait to use them on a tiny tushie. The two big stacks of pre-folds make me especially happy they were a gift from my cousin and I'm so happy with them, they are so amazingly soft!

 

So it has been 5 years since we welcomed a new baby and buying the car-seat before Finnley was born was one of the biggest decisions we made. The colour, the style, the safety ratings, the weight limit, were all huge considerations and then when we brought it home just looking at it sitting in her room waiting to be used to bring her home for the first time was almost agonizing. This time is very different and very much the same, we knew what style and type we liked but the choices have changed so much or so it seems. The handle shape, the way the leveling system works, and the buckles, I went to the store twice just to look at the styles. I have to say I'm very happy with our choice and just like the first time around I can't wait to bring home a new little boy in it.

For the gifting bit, this is the Roselette sweater I finished this afternoon that is a gift for a friend of Finnley's friends. The colour is astounding it's called celestial and is so pretty it's such a dark blue it's almost purple I can't wait to use it for something else, I was thinking mittens for Finnley. Tonight I will make a matching hat for the sweater and it will be all ready to give away. I love giving handmade gifts it's so much more satisfying than anything found in the store and I feel blessed to be able to share the things I make with people who are special to us.