Having Fun and Enjoying My Boys

We had a fun relaxing weekend of just hanging out and it was really nice. It's so nice to have the craziness of the holidays over with.

I love that J and N are already enjoying playing with each other. It is great because they entertain each other (some) and they're fun to watch together.


N is crawling all over the place these days and trying to pull up on everything to stand. His new skills and our open floorplan house were not making my life very fun, so we borrowed a "baby prison" from one of our neighbors. N actually seems to enjoy it. J likes to play in it too. It's like a little fort for the boys. J even invited B to join him and N in the fort. I was waiting for the "No Girls Allowed" sign to be posted.


Yesterday, B and I took the boys to the zoo. It was chilly, but sunny and we had a really nice time. Here are a few pics.

B calls this fountain, the Zoolander fountain. It makes me laugh everytime.

J went to the bathroom at the zoo twice yesterday. That's very exciting as he used to get really upset about using public bathrooms. In general, J is doing really well with potty training these days. I ended up resorting to "potty treats"--a jar of jelly beans, Mentos and Sweetarts that sit on the back of the toilet. J gets one each time he uses the potty (if he thinks to ask for it). It's made him go more frequently. He was trying to hold it for hours and then having "leaks" (mini accidents). Now he's gone in the potty so often, it is no longer a big deal. He used to have to get naked from the waist down in order to pee, now he just pulls down his pants and underpants. This may not seem like a big deal, but undressing a two year old in an airplane bathroom or some other dirty public bathroom so he can pee is NOT fun. Anyway, the whole potty training thing is very exciting. I'm no longer stressed out about J having an accident because he is going much more frequently. I'm passing the potty training section of the motherhood test. Yay!!!!!!

Hope you all are having a lovely Monday.

Too Late...Again

Apparently I have the same taste in puppies as everyone else adopting from petfinder.com in this area right now. I found a new puppy who showed up on petfinder.com yesterday--a little female Shepherd mix. I got the okay from Brian last night (actually he said, "Why don't you go pick her up tomorrow.") I didn't have time to drive to the shelter (30 minutes away) this morning because J had school today and I had a doctor's appointment. I called about the puppy this afternoon (in hopes of picking her up tomorrow). She was adopted this morning. I'm glad she was adopted, I just wish it had been by me. I'm way more sad about this than I should be. I'm off to pout. Ridiculous, but true.

A Sign?

Yet another dog we were interested in adopting is no longer available. Is this a sign that we should wait? We will see...

Crazy? Quite possibly.

As many of you know, my dog Pauli (otherwise known as my baby girl) died in July. She had lung cancer. It was a great loss to us and very surprising as she was only 7 1/2 years old. Anyway, Pauli was a wonderful dog. She was very sweet and loving. She loved to be cuddled, pet, kissed and hugged. She was very good with J and N. She was just a great pet and we miss her SO much.

Zoe and Pauli (February 2008)

We originally got Pauli because our dog Zoe was lonely. Zoe is very much a dog dog. She loves to be around other dogs. We always joke that she would choose a complete stranger dog over us any day. Anyway, we got Pauli 7 years ago because Zoe, then 3, was lonely. Since Pauli's death, we have thought about getting another dog but just can't bring ourselves to do it. We know that Zoe is lonely without her. We know that we are missing her. But we don't really want another dog, we want Pauli.

Anyway, while I was home for Christmas my mom was looking online at dogs and puppies because her dog passed away in June and just recently her 19 year old cat passed away. I started looking too and decided that we are ready to get a puppy.

I've been obsessed with petfinder.com ever since. It's a great source for adopting pets. There are TONS of them available for adoption in this area. But we decided to focus on female puppies that would grow up to be medium size. There are a lot of really great looking 1 and 2 year old dogs, but we feel that with the boys we really need to get a dog that is 6 months or younger. With older dogs there is too great of a chance that they have had a bad experience that may lead to a bad reaction to a curious child. We are generally drawn toward dogs that remind us in some way of Pauli. She was a German Shepherd/Hound mix so we keep going for Shepherd mixes. Anyway, on Thursday I found a set of puppies that I fell in love with. They are 3 month old German Shepherd/Welsh Corgi mixes (3 females). Imagine a shepherd face on a short stocky body. B wasn't convinced, but I decided we had to go to the shelter and check them out. Two of the three were adopted on Friday. I was sad, but determined to go get our little girl on Saturday. We drove the 30 minutes to check her out. We got there and she wasn't in her cage. We looked around. The shelter was really nice. There were some other cuties, but none that said "I'm the one!" Then we saw her. She was adorable. She was a little ball of wagging cuteness. She was with another couple. They had just adopted her. I was crushed. B tried to make me feel better by saying she was too short and stocky and he didn't think she was the one, but I thought she was adorable.

We came home. N, in his into-everything-crawling-like-a-mad-man way, crawled over to Zoe's dog dish and dumped her water all over himself. I thought to myself, am I crazy? I have a demanding 2 year old, a 7 month old who's very mobile and very curious, and a husband who travels a lot. Am I really ready for a chewing, not housebroken, not knowing the rules puppy?

I decided that I was just lulled by the joy of having B around for two weeks straight. I was just sucked in by those sweet puppy eyes and the thought of having a little puppy to snuggle with. I think I was suffering from temporary insanity. So as I sat and enjoyed a little peace and quiet (and knitting time) last night as the boys were snuggled in bed for the night and as Zoe lay peacefully on the floor, I decided that maybe a puppy is not what I need right now.

But then as I did an end of the night e-mail check, I decided to look at petfinder.com just one more time and I saw this one and the insanity began again. I need to call and find out more information. Is she the one? Are we ready? We will see...

Finished Projects Parade: Part 3

Here are the rest of the Christmas gifts I made this year.

I found this really cool handmade facial soap on Etsy at Amethyst Soaps. I just couldn't resist it! I decided to make some knitted washcloths and give them with the soap as Christmas gifts.


The first pattern I found was this flower washcloth. It can be found FREE online here. I made one for my friend Emily. I think it turned out well, but I didn't really enjoy making it. It's an easy pattern. You make the five petals, then join them and knit the center of the washcloth. I just got tired of making the petals before I got the third one done and then still had two more and the center to do.

Knitted Flower Washcloth
Pattern: Knitted Flower Washcloth by Cindy Taylor (Free here)
Yarn: Less than 1 skein of Numei Cotton Chenille in Off White (100% Combed Cotton/1.75 oz/50 g/98 yds)
Needles: Size 6 (16" circular and doublepoint)
Modifications: I added a crochet loop for hanging the washcloth in a shower


I decided to try the Mason-Dixon Washcloth from Mason-Dixon Knitting next. This one is knit in the round on circular needles from the outside in. Eventually, you have to switch to doublepoint needles. This one knits up quickly as well (once you get past the first few rows). I enjoyed this pattern more so I made three of these to give to friends and family.

Pattern: Mason-Dixon Washcloth from Mason-Dixon Knitting
Yarn: Less than 1 skein of Numei Cotton Chenille in Off White (100% Combed Cotton/1.75 oz/50 g/98 yds)
Needles: Size 8 (16" circular and doublepoint)
Modifications: None

Both patterns called for Crystal Palace Cotton Chenille. I found the Numei which had the same contents and gauge and yardage. I don't LOVE the color, but am otherwise very happy with this affordable alternative to Crystal Palace Cotton Chenille.

I also did some crafting this Christmas. Most of these crafts were silhouettes of my nieces and nephews. I framed a set of all 8 for my mom and made individual ornaments of each child for my sister and sister-in-law. I didn't take pictures of most of them before I gave them away, but I did remember to snap a shot of the ornaments for my brother and sister-in-law. The large one is their three year-old son and the smaller ones are the triplets.


My only sewn gift was a lovey for N. He used to sleep with a cloth diaper/burp cloth so I thought he needed a real lovey. He likes prints so I picked a few fabrics with animals and kept putting them in front of him. I used this one because it's the one he went to every time.


It also has his name embroidered on the white side.

That's all for now. Off to start on those thank you notes I've been avoiding. Have a great weekend!

Finished Projects Parade: Part 2

My next piece of Christmas knitting was a Christmas vest for J. I like to do simple Christmas outfits that can be worn throughout the winter so this year J got a pair of red corduroy pants, a white shirt, and a green vest (designed and knitted by me). N got a pair of red corduroy overalls and a white shirt.

I found a simple toddler vest pattern (FREE), but did one fancier cable in the middle instead of two simpler cables on the sides that the pattern called for. The back is plain stockinette. I also did 2 x 2 ribbing instead of 1 x 1 ribbing. I picked up stitches and added the neck and armpit ribbing after the rest of the vest was complete and sewn together. It was an easy knit and went quickly with worsted weight yarn and size 8 needles.

J's Cabled Christmas Vest
Pattern: My own (Adapted from Lion Brand Free Knitting Pattern Cable Vest)
Cable pattern: Braided Cable from Vogue Dictionary of Knitted Stitches
Yarn: 2 skeins of Plymouth Encore (25% Wool/75% Acrylic) (1 skein=100g/3.5 oz/200yards)
Needles: Size 8
Vest size: 3 years/26 in. chest (pattern includes 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years)
Gauge: 17 st x 24 rows = 4 inches in stockinette stitch

If anyone wants more details about this project, just leave me a note in the comment section and I will get back to you.

Finished Projects Parade: Part 1

As you know, I made quite a few Christmas presents this year but didn't have time to blog about most of them once they were finished. The final few weeks before Christmas were like a race to the finish line. I am happy to say that I managed to finish all the knitted, sewn and crafted gifts in time. Well, I finished the last knitted one on December 26th but as I was planning to mail it after the holidays anyway I consider that on time.

Anyway, I am finally getting around to blogging about the finished gifts. Although I should be writing thank you notes for all the wonderful goodies the boys and I received, today I will be blogging instead.

The first gift I finished was this knitted Hello Kitty purse for my niece L. She's 3 and fell in love with Hello Kitty after her mom bought her some Hello Kitty underwear--funny, but true. I decided I wanted to knit her a purse with Hello Kitty on it, but couldn't find a pattern so I made one up. I used the chart from a dishcloth found here and the general purse construction of the cabled purse from Last Minute Knitted Gifts (Raveled here). I had some difficulties with intarsia in the round, but eventually found some help online and the purse turned out okay. My colorwork is not great, but the purse itself turned out pretty nice. The construction of the purse itself was very easy. I knitted a lining and picked up stitches for the handle. I ended up picking up additional stitches and doing a second handle because the first one felt too flimsy when I filled the bag full of Hello Kitty goodies (most from the dollar bins at Target--I love the dollar bins at Target.)

I love the knitted lining. So simple yet it really adds a lot to the purse--and especially important for hiding the ugly back of my colorwork.

Hello Kitty Purse
Pattern: My own
Chart: from Knit Diva's Hello Kitty Dishcloth pattern
Purse design inspiration: Cabled Purse from Last Minute Knitted Gifts
Yarn: Pink Heather (Lion Wool-Ease, 1 1/2 skeins)
All other colors are various worsted weights (Wool or Wool/Acrylic blend) from my stash
Needles: Size 7 16" circular and size 7 doublepoint needles (for the handle)

I cast on 90 stitches (45 for the front and 45 for the back). I knit 5 rounds with pink and then started the chart. I just centered Hello Kitty on the front 45 stitches. It ended up that there were 8 stitches before the chart began and 5 stitches after the chart (before the 45 stitches for the back). I did intarsia in the round which isn't really in the round at all. Here are some links to explanations of this method if you want to try it (here and here).

To do the simple knitted lining, you knit the purse until it is the size you want (I knitted 5 plain rows after I finished Hello Kitty), then you purl a row for your turn row. During the turn row, you put your stitches for the handle on holders. I did 4 stitches on either side for my handles--so there were 82 stitches (41 for the front and 41 for the back) left to be knit in the round for the lining. Then you just knit in the round until the lining is long enough to fill the inside of the purse. You then turn it inside out and do a 3 needle bindoff. Then seam the bottom of the outside of the purse. Then all that is left is to rejoin your yarn to the stitches being held for one end of the handle and knit the handle (I did 4 stitch i-cord). Once the handle is a good length, you graft it to the stitches being held on the other end of the purse. As I mentioned, I then picked up four additional stitches and knit a second handle.

Anyway, my niece really liked her purse and all her Hello Kitty goodies. Just wish I had gotten a picture of her with it. Oh well. More finished objects to come soon!