I'm back!

Well, we replaced our computer and I am back to blogging. So much has happened that I don't know where to start.

My good friend Nicole came to visit from Austin and she brought her son Will. Will is only 2 weeks younger than John and the two of them had a blast together. Nicole is a wonderfully sweet person and lots of fun. Both of my boys immediately fell in love with her. It was very strange to have John NOT want me to do everything for him. He wanted "Cole" instead. Nicole had Norm smiling and laughing too. Will was great fun although he wasn't always happy about sharing him mom. I don't blame him--I wanted her all to myself too!

Norm laughing at Nicole's silly antics.Just a cute pic of my Norm.Nicole with John and Will at the zoo. People thought they were twins.Watching the gorilla.Having fun in the wading river at the children's zoo (a huge hit!--glad we packed a dry set of clothes.)John and Will with their "zoo juice."

A few days after Will and Nicole went home, the boys and I flew to Virginia to visit with my family. The flights were not quite as nice as they were in July, but both boys did pretty well. (On one flight, John let out a little "I'm tired and bored" squeal and a man actually yelled "Gee, Shut up, kid!" Nice, huh? Oh well.) I'm still glad that our next time flying (for Thanksgiving) will be with Brian and not on our own. We had a lot of fun in Virginia as always. My parents were wonderful hosts and both boys had lots of fun with "Mooma" and "Papa." We also got to see a lot of my sister and her two children. The biggest excitement of our trip was getting to celebrate Reed, Mary and Madeline's birthdays. My brother's triplets turned 1 year old this weekend and we had so much fun at their party. John grilled up some delicious burgers and hotdogs and Shelley made the most fun cupcakes. The triplets were adorable. Reed dug right into his cake and ate most of it. Madeline just poked hers with her finger and spread it around on her tray. Mary ended up covered up to her elbows in icing and then decided she had had enough. They all seem so grown up. Both Mary and Madeline are walking already and Reed should be soon. My oldest nephew Michael is in Kindergarten this year and seems like he's about 10 all of a sudden. It was weird not to have him around because he was in school. It was wonderful to get to hang out with everybody and to watch John having so much fun with his grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins.Norm and my oldest niece Lizzie.John and my oldest nephew Michael coloring. Got to love those cheesy grins.Lizzie and my nephew Joe. They are 12 days apart. My mom sometimes calls them "the twins."At the birthday party--my mom, Norm and Michael.The three oldest cousins: Lizzie, Michael and Joe. Nice ad for Motts for Tots juice.Mary, Reed and Madeline eating their birthday lunch of cheese toast and lima beans.My sister-in-law Shelley (mom of Joe and the triplets--doesn't she look amazing?), her wonderful sitter Nicole and Mary.The birthday cakes, cupcakes and hats.Mary, Reed and Madeline with their birthday cakes.

Talking of family, this weekend Brian's sister Kristin arrives with her husband and one year old son. I can't wait!

That's all I have time for now. More blogging to come. Hope you all are doing well!

Virginia Reel

We went to Virginia for a belated Christmas celebration from January 1st through January 8th. It was strange to not have been there for the actual Christmas, but this belated visit was great fun and actually much more relaxing. We had lots of time hanging out with my parents, my sister and her family and my brother and his family. Little Man LOVED hanging out with his cousins. There are tons of cute photos, but I'm limited on time and energy so I'm just including photos of my brother's triplets and two movies. The first movie is of Little Man's cousins, Michael, Joe and Lizzie, dancing to a Santa on a motorcycle someone gave my dad. The second movie is my little guy dancing to an Elmo Christmas movie. I've never tried doing movies on blogger before so I hope these work. They are both pretty adorable.

Madeline

Mary

Reed (yawning)

I hope these pictures and movies bring smiles to your face. Sophanne just reminded me that it's been forever since a Top Ten Tuesday post. Maybe I'll do a Top Ten Thursday post this week. Until then, I hope you all are doing well.

Crafts and Christmas

Hey everyone! Hope you all are doing well. Even though it's Tuesday, I'm not in the mood to do a Top Ten Tuesday so I thought I would just talk about what I've been up to recently. Despite my lack of blogging, I have been doing some fun things I'd like to share.

First, I made another set of hats for Reed, Mary and Madeline. I used this simple free pattern and a combination of Caron Simply Soft in White and Paton's Beehive Baby in blue/pink/lavender. Both yarns were leftover partials that I had in my stash. Go, stash-busting! This hat uses very little yarn so I could make a ton more if I wanted--but I don't! I've not been much in the knitting mood recently. Oh well.

The hats with my hand for scale.

They fit better a month or so ago when I made the sample hat for sizing. They're just growing too fast for me to keep up!

Second, I've made a few Christmas ornaments for my mom. I make her one of these for each of her grandchildren. These are in honor of the triplets. I still need to add their names and birthdays to the ornaments. These beaded ornaments were my initial crafting love and I still really enjoy making them.

Top view of the ornaments.

Side view of the ornaments.

Third, I decorated a stocking for Little Man. He's really into farm animals or "baa," "moo," and "neigh". He likes pigs and chickens, too. So I decided to decorate his stocking accordingly.

Little Man's farm animal stocking. Baa! Moo! Neigh!

I did these stockings for Brian and I a few years ago. I love coming up with the fun details like the beer-drinking snowman on Brian's.

I still love how these stockings turned out.

My favorite part of Brian's.

Fourth, I've been decorating for Christmas. It's the only holiday I decorate for and I love pulling out all the decorations each year. They are so full of memories that it makes me happy. Can't wait to do the tree this weekend.

My nativity. Unbreakable--so Little Man can touch it and move the animals around without fear.

Baby Santa who I inherited from my grandmother and who stays out all year round.

Our mantel.

A Santa that Brian's dad painted. Isn't he amazing?

My newest Christmas decoration bought last year. They're salt and pepper shakers. Alligators in Christmas clothes! She's wearing high heels!

Anyway, that's me for now. Hope you are all having a lovely start to your holiday season. Sending much love and cheer your way!

Top Ten Tuesday: Thankful Edition

Hey everyone. I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving. We spent ours with my family in Virginia and had a blast. Little Man LOVED hanging out with his cousins and Mooma and Papa. I loved seeing my family and FINALLY meeting the triplets. They are adorable. We ate well (including my first Haley-made pumpkin pies) and played well (lots of time with cousins including a visit to the Natural Bridge Zoo). Anyway, I am very thankful for everything this Thanksgiving. So, of course, I wanted to do a related Top Ten Tuesday topic. To help narrow it down a little because there is SO much to be thankful for...this week's Top Ten Tuesday Topic is

Top Ten People I Am Thankful For

10. My internet friends (You are there for me even though I've never met most of you in person. Thanks for your kind comments and words of encouragement. Of course, I thought of Julie when eating that pumpkin pie)

9. My extended family (Even though you're all crazy, I love you all so much!)

8. My in-laws, not just my mother- and father-in-law, but the whole Lottig/Marlowe clan. (But especially my mother-in-law and father-in-law: You who took such good care of my girls while we were in Virginia and who take such good care of us when we're in town.)

7. Old friends, you know who you are. (You are always there when I need you. We may not see each other very often anymore, but I know you will always be there for me.)

6. My nephews and nieces (You are some of the coolest little people I have ever met. You enrich my life every time I'm with you. I feel so blessed that you are all so healthy and happy.)

5. My sister and my brother (Despite the picking or maybe because of it, you will always be two of my favorite people.)

4. My parents (You are always so good to me. You made this trip another wonderful, wonderful week. You always make me feel so loved.)

3. My new baby due in May (Oh the ways you will change my life.)

2. My Little Man (Can't imagine my life without you.)

1. My husband (Honey, where do I even start? You are the greatest.)

I do still knit

I've been a bit of a slacker knitter and blogger recently, but wanted to share one of my recent knits. I wanted to knit little pumpkin hats for my newest nephew and nieces since they are too small for costumes this Halloween. Anyway, I have yet to meet them so I wasn't sure exactly what size to make the hats. So I made up my own preemie pumpkin hat pattern, made three of them and mailed them off to Virginia without taking a picture--oops!

But I just got these pics from my sister-in-law, Shelley.

I think I may have made the hats a touch too small, but they look pretty cute anyway.

Reed, Mary and Madeline

I think they really like them.

Happy almost Halloween, everyone!

Good News

Thanks, everyone, for your thoughts and prayers. Reed is coming home from the hospital tomorrow. It did end up being viral meningitis. As far as I know, all is now well. Just wanted to pass on the good news.

Prayer Request

Hey everyone. Just a quick request for prayers if you have a few extra moments. Reed (my almost three week-old nephew) is in the hospital. The bad news--it's meningitis. The good news--they think it's viral which is apparently the good kind. Anyway, if you have a moment, please pray for Reed and his family (John and Shelley, big brother Joe, and sisters Mary and Madeline).

Reed, Mary and Madeline

Top Ten Tuesday: Hat Edition

As it's been in the 80s for the last week, I've been less than inspired to work on Little Man's sweaters or to start a sweater for myself...so I've been knitting a lot of hats. I love to knit hats--especially children's hats. So I was inspired to make this week's Top Ten Tuesday topic

Top Ten Reasons I Love to Knit Hats

10. Hats don't use a lot of yarn. In fact, they're a great way to use up partial skeins leftover from larger projects.

9. Hats make great baby gifts. (They are easy to mail, too).

Ribbon Hat from Itty-Bitty Hats by Susan B. Anderson

8. Size and fit are not such a huge issue with hats. If the hat doesn't fit its intended recipient, the child will either grow into it or it will fit a younger baby who is bound to come along sooner or later.

7. You can sell hats inexpensively. And moms of young children are more likely to buy something that isn't a huge investment. I sold enough twizzle hats last winter to buy my husband's Christmas present with the money I earned.

Some preemie size hats for the triplets. Free pattern here. Pink hat is two strands (one pink, one white) of Paton Beehive Baby. White hat is one strand Caron Simply Soft in Coconut.

6. When knitting hats, you can have fun playing around with different color combinations.

5. Even people who are somewhat conservative will wear a fun hat.

Hats for little boys in my life. Pattern (Cable and Rib Hat) from the 2006 Knit Pattern a Day calendar. I just deleted one repeat of the cable to make the hats childsize.

4. Once you've knit a few hats, they're an easy way to try to create your own pattern. If they don't work out, you haven't committed too much time or yarn to it.

3. Hats are a great way to try a new technique without committing to a large project (in case you don't like the technique). My first stranded work, doublepoint needle work, i-cords, magic 8 cast-on, and many more techniques were all done on hats.

Some hats I knit for Little Man: cabled preemie hat from the 2006 Knit Pattern a Day Calendar; twizzle hat (part of Little Man's clown costume), Helloyarn's Topdown Bonnet, Fair Isle Tassel Hat from Zoe Mellor's Adorable Knits for Tiny Tots.

2. Hats are fast to knit. Sometimes you just need a quick FO.

1. Hats are FUN to knit.

Preemie Pumpkin Hat (my design). Still playing with the design. Halloween gifts for the triplets.

Hope everyone is having a great week. If you've never knit a hat, I hope this will inspire you to try one. Off to knit more preemie size hats for my wee nephew and nieces. They are all home from the hospital now and off to a great start in life. I'm so proud of my brother and sister-in-law for making three such lovely and healthy babies!