Countdown of the craziest month of my year, this year.

So, as long as you are not in a coma, you probably noticed that April starts tomorrow. This is going to be the craziest month of my year this year. Ready for an itemized list of what should be happening, in order, this month? Great! Glad to hear you are on board! Here we go!

* April 2nd~ Second to last, or possibly last OB appointment before Liam's arrival. DONE!
* April 6th~ Alexander goes back to school/ Spring break ends. Done! He had a rough first day back though!
* April 7th~ Fence installation day!!!! Finally Riley will have the yard he desperately needs to have time away from the kids!
* April 9th~ Aeddon's behavioral/ social interaction evaluation Done. We get the results on whether he is eligible at this time for special education (so he can get a headstart and hopefully be able to interact more normal with the world!) on April 16th. Which reminds me that I need to add that appointment to the schedule!
* April 10th~ Don Bailey's (FIL'S) birthday. We even remembered to call him! Go us! Maybe next year we will get his present to him on time for his birthday!
* April 12th~ Easter Sunday. Owen may not be home for this! Stupid CQ! Owen did work. We made it to church, but the rest of the day was just eh.
* April 13th~ My birthday! Another bad-ish birthday to add to a long list of badish birthdays.
* April 13th~ NEW third to last OB appointment before Liam's arrival! Done. The doctor I saw was my favorite so far. To bad he wont be delivering me!
* April 16th~ Appointment with Childfind to find out if Aeddon is eligible for special education and occupational therapy. If he is approved, it will mean that they still suspect that he may have Aspergers Syndrom. If he is denied, they will re-evaluate him in 6 months. Aeddon was approved for special education services.
* April 22nd~ Second to last OB appointment before Liam's birth. There will also be an appointment on the 27th. That one hasn't been scheduled yet.
* April 24th~ Mikaela's 2nd birthday
* April 25th~ Orion's (my brother) birthday
* April 25th~ Mikaela's Birthday Party... If I can get my act together and get it organized! I want her to have a party right before she is no longer "the baby"! (I got invitations out! This is gonna happen as long as Liam stays put!)
* April 28th~ Liam's Birth.

SO that is all the big stuff in on the calendar. Somewhere in there will probably be at least 1 more doctors appointment. Also stuff I have to do that I have to squeeze in there between all the calendar items:

* Take a family picture of all of us before our family goes from 5 to 6. I had April help do this. I still wanna try to get another one, since these are not quite the way I wanted them to be, but if that doesn't happen, that is OK!
* Crochet Liam's blanket. All of the babies have had a hand crocheted blanket and a sewn blanket I made them, but since I don't have a working sewing machine... Liam is only gonna have a crocheted one, unless someone has a spare sewing machine I could borrow for the next month! I have so many things I would like to sew! DONE! I just have to take a picture of the completed blanket. As soon as I do, I will share it with you! It turned out so CUTE!
* Go through the boxes of small baby girl clothes to pull out any gender neutral stuff that got packed in there on accident, and also to find the small sized PUL cloth diaper covers so that I can use them on Liam for times when he will not be wearing wool covers. Done! Owen finally helped me. I had less PUL covers than I thought I did, but I am sure all will work out!
* Wash the 0-3 month boy clothes. Gotta have something more than pants to put on Liam!
* Set up the swing for Liam.
* Set up the bassinet. All the kids have used it!
* Wash the boppy and find the boyish cover. Washed the boppy... although I might have to replace it... It has a hole in it. I will see how it is with the cover on it. I also found my boyish cover, but I really would like to pick up a nicer one!
* Pack a bag for the hospital.
* Tour L&D at this hospital... since I have never been there? Maybe? Finally toured L&D. It is a really nice facility!
* Get a pedicure. Owen's present to me for my birthday is pretty feet before I give birth. Maybe I can get a manicure too... Maybe?
* Make a menu for Owen to follow while I am in the hospital. He can cook well enough, but lacks direction in the kitchen!
*Get a "Guess how much I love you" baby book for Liam. All the kids have exactly the same baby book. That way nobody can try to say someones was better! (Yay planning ahead!

That is all for now, although I am sure that there is, in fact more!

Elephant!

I knitted an elephant for Mikaela. I loved the Elefante since the moment I saw it almost a year ago on Ravelry. I just never got around to making it cause I didn't have size 4 needles. Well I finally picked up a set... and look!



Isn't she just about the cutest little toy you have ever seen??????



I mean really! How can you resist it?



Even its backside is cute!



I think it is love!

Mikaela

Can I just tell you how beautiful my little princess is? I mean really! Just look at her!



How could you not just wanna kiss her all over her sweet little face?

But there is something sad I have to tell you about poor Mikaela.

She has a head cold. A stupid stuffy/runny-cant breath while laying down- coughing up her lungs from post-nasal drip head cold.

You know what the upside of head colds is?

This:



How cute is that? I mean really!

Now to figure out how to stop her from getting any bigger....

Sorry that I am boring.....

Not much to say around here... No I haven't popped yet... I have just hurt to much to sit at my desk for long. I should have stuff to tell you in the next day or two... not baby related though!

The babies Wish List!

Ok. Now a list for the people who will want to buy something for the baby.

1. Ikea gift cards. Seriously. Even if it is only for $5! We want to get Liam a crib and a dresser, a changing table topper for that dresser, and some bedding. All of that stuff is at Ikea. If everybody I know sent me a $5 Ikea gift card, I could afford everything on the Ikea list! Plus gift cards cost way less to ship!


2. Green Mountain Diapers Prefolds. In a size small. They are the ones with a yellow edge. We need 2 dozen! 2 dozen ordered and on our way to us!

3. Flannel Wipes and Snappi fasteners. Both can be bought from Green Mountain Diapers and can be found on this page. Between the two Katies, I have enough snappis now! Yay!

4. Tee Shirts. Not onsies. Onsies dont work with wool longies very well and I would have to cut them! American apparel has plain ones in long sleeve and short sleeve. 3-6 month size is fine. Liam is probably gonna be huge like Aeddon.... so I will only have to roll up the sleeves for a month or so! Babies R Us also has a pretty good selection!

5. Yarn. Now I know that that sounds like a gift for me... but I make Liams longies and shoes and hats out of wool yarn... SO a gift of 500 yards of 100% wool yarn in a worsted weight or heavier weight would be awesome! Solid colors, varigated colors. All of it rocks. Just make sure that it is 100% wool and that it is not terribly scratchy. Or you could just get a gift certificate to Yorkshire Yarns or WEBS and I can just get the yarn for myself! I understand that shopping for yarn for some people can be daunting.

In fact if you just wanted to get me gift certificates for any of these places, I will happily accept that. I understand that my baby wish list is not your normal Babies R Us registery. Although I think Owen still wants me to put one of those together too....

My Wish List.

Recently I was asked by a friend for a wish list. I asked her what kind of a wishlist she wanted and she said that when a mama is pregnant, everyone buys her presents for the baby she is having... but nobody buys the mama a gift that is just for her! Linda, you are right! Nobody has ever asked me what I wanted!... Of course I am sure that there are those out there who would like to know what I need for the baby too... so I will post a wish list for that here.... right after I post the wishlist for things I want for me!

So when I told Owen that Linda wanted me to put together a wish list just for me.... he said that I should put non knitting things on there.... just to catch people off guard. My response was.... " what else do I do besides being a mama and knitting? What else would I ask for???" His response? "Good point! Nevermind!"

So without further ado... my wishlist, with links so that if you are so inclined you can see what I am talking about!


My JUST FOR ME Wish list:

1. OMG! Mushrooms! SLR Camera Strap from Splityarn

2. Addi Turbos. A size 7 in a 40" length and 2 size 13's in a 16" lenth.

3. Knitpicks 4" Harmony Wood DPN's set. (contains size 0-4)

4. 2 hanks of Malabrigo Lace Yarn in either Paris Night or Vermillion for the Clapotis scarf.

5. 1 hank Dream in Color Smooshy in the colorway Blue Lagoon for Marlene socks by Cookie A. (That second link is actually exactly what my socks would look like when done! That pair was knit in DIC in Blue Lagoon!)

6. 2 skeins Noro Kureyon in colorway 229 and a hank of Cascade 220 in colorway 8904 to make the House Slippers pattern in the Knit 2 Together book.

7. A cone of School Products Cashmere Merino blend bulky weight yarn to make the Owls sweater. Preferably in a grey color.

8. 10 hanks of Malabrigo Worsted to make the Rogue Hoodie in the colorway Marine.

9. Knit 2 Together

10. Fitted Knits

11. Stitch n' Bitch: Happy Hooker

12. Inspired to Knit


So there you have it. A completely selfish list of wants for myself!

Set completed.... mostly.

I just cant seem to get enough of making things for Little Liam's coming. My most recent project for him? A little pair of Little Button Loafers. (that is a Rav Link!)



They are so cute that I just wanna eat them up! Of course there is something wrong with them....



NO BUTTONS! I have to find the perfect set of buttons... This pair will take 4 buttons total.

So now, minus a shirt and some buttons I have a complete set!



Now (besides the buttons and a shirt) all I need to do is give birth!

God's Promise.

Genesis 9: 13-16 : "I have placed my rainbow in the clouds, It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth. When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures. Never again will the flood waters destroy all life. When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth."

I have always loved rainbows. As far as I am concerned they are one of the most amazing sights in all of nature that can been seen in every corner of the earth. You don't have to go anywhere special to see one. Just spray some water between yourself and the sun. Of course natural rainbows are even better. There is something so magical about the sun shining through rain or the mist of a waterfall causing a rainbow.

At a very young age my parents taught me that rainbows are a sign from God of his promise to never again destroy the entire earth in flood. Which is good, cause I hear that drowning is a pretty crappy way to go.

Of course when I was in Jr High and High School I got alot of questions from people whenever I wore a rainbow. Questions like "Are you gay? Is that why you like to wear rainbows so much?" This really used to upset me. Of course I am not gay! (I was also less tolerant back then, and took the question very personally, like an attack.)

So I stopped wearing rainbows. Then the rainbow came back into style again for little girls. So I started to wear them here and there... maybe a pin, maybe a sticker that people would assume was placed by one of my children.

Then Alexander got old enough to ask questions like "Where do rainbows come from?" and my immediate response was exactly what my parents had told me. The rainbow was a sign from God to remind everyone of his promise to never destroy the whole earth in a great flood again.

This got me thinking about my negative response to all the people had questioned me about my love for the rainbow. How many opportunities to spread God's word had I passed up because I was so afraid of what others might think? How many people had I given a defensive answer to "protect" my image? I was sad just thinking about it.

The other day we had several rainbows over the course of the day. I am sure that they happen quite frequently here in Washington. On Monday we had a particularly beautiful one, which if you look closely at the above picture. actually landed on the driveway of a house a block away from us. Owen went outside to take some pictures of the rainbow. ( I took the above picture. I wanted more than just the 3 shots Owen had taken) Alexander went with him. When they were done taking pictures, Alexander looked up at Owen and said "The rainbow is God's promise to us, right Daddy?" Owen of course said that he was right and they continued to walk into the house.

Just as Alexander was about to cross into the threshold of the house he looked back at the rainbow for one last look. Then he quietly said "Thank you for the promise, I love you God." and walked into the house.

Such a powerful statement from one so young.

Just cause I didn't tell you about it, doesn't mean it didn't happen!

I haven't posted knitting content in a while. So I thought that I would show you all of the stuff I have made since the last time I posted knitted goodies.... which was back when I finished my first pair of longies.

Since then I have completed all of this:



I made these for Yorkshire Yarns to use as an in store sample.




These are for Mikaela. I still have to knit a drawstring for these.



These are the second pair of longies that I made for Liam. I love the Sheepy Pants pattern! Actually I love everything Mandie does. Check out the rest of her website! Her stuff is great!



This is the mug cozy that I made for my swap partner...



These are some longies I made for Mikaela for Valentines Day. They were not done in time, but she loves them anyways!



Most recently I finished these. It is a hat and longies set for Liam. The hat is cute and tiny and the longies are a size small. SO CUTE!

Oh and I am still working on these:



This is my first pair of socks. I am about halfway down the leg on my way to the heel on my second sock. I do want to finish these... but my fingers have hurt alot lately due to all the swelling caused by water retention. Knitting with little yarn on little needles hurts!

So there you have it. The current rundown of my knitting. More posts about life coming soon!