Top Ten Tuesday: Thankful Edition (Belated)

It's a bit belated and it's not Tuesday, but I love to think about what I'm thankful for on Thanksgiving so here's a belated Top Ten Tuesday post:

Top Ten Things I am Thankful For

10. Knitting (I find it so rewarding and love that it gives me such peace.)

9. Naptime (When else would I blog?)

8. Our finances (I know that in this crazy economy, we have been relatively unharmed and I am thankful for that.)

7. Our home (I feel so lucky that we are able to live in such an affordable area and that we have a great home to raise our family in.)

6. My job as a stay-at-home mom (I feel so very blessed that I am able to stay home with my children. I know that many moms are not so lucky. Thank you, B!)

5. Our health (Christie's cancer has reminded me how thankful I should be that we are healthy. It is something that I definitely take for granted.)

4. Our great friends (new ones in Texas and old ones in Ohio and elsewhere)

3. Our plentiful and wonderful family (I love that we not only have great parents and siblings, but tons of aunts, uncles and cousins.)

2. Zoe (my baby girl)

1. J, N and B (my boys)

And some pics from our trip to Ohio:

J loved playing with all of B's old toys--especially this Sesame Street Little People set.N had his first taste of ice cream with his grandpa.

Playing Sesame Street Chutes and Ladders (J, B, Uncle M and Grandpa).

Fun with Sesame Street finger puppets and a train set. Do you notice a Sesame Street theme yet?N loved his Uncle M.J loved doing puzzles with everyone. This one was Lady and the Tramp (100 pieces).N and Grandma.Thanksgiving Day: W, the newest addition to the family, and N.J and me.J's Thanksgiving Feast: A bowl of corn.Everyone enjoys the feast, including Milo the dog.More family feasting.Isn't Milo a cutie?

Hanging out with our old neighbors.

We also had a great night at my friend Erica's house where I got to see all my "mommy" friends and J got to see all of his buddies. It was so much fun, but I didn't get any good pics. Thanks, Erica, for hosting and organizing a fun night out!

What's Black and Cream and Red All Over?

A dirty skunk with diaper rash? A newspaper printed on recycled paper?

No, my new 1154Lill bag...and I'm in love!

My belated birthday present (bought using birthday money I've been holding on to since March) arrived while we were in Ohio for Thanksgiving. Isn't it adorable?



My Andi bag with Coming Up Daisies, Red Basketweave and Bowtie Weave.

This is the yummy interior: Red Basketweave with Moroccan Tiles inside the pocket!

Thank you, Tara, for introducing me to 1154Lill and for helping me get this wonderful bag!

Christie's Wrap

My cousin Christie had her first round of chemo last Thursday (a week before Thanksgiving). The chemo seemed to go fine, but by Sunday Christie was in a lot of pain. When she went to the doctor on Wednesday with severe stomach and chest pain, the doctor decided to admit her into the hospital. After running a bunch of tests, they found that the chest pain was caused by pneumonia and the stomach pain caused by cancer cells in her lymph nodes that were inflamed in reaction to the chemo. They are treating the pneumonia and plan to change the combination they are using for her chemo. Amazingly, Christie has managed to stay in relatively good spirits despite having to spend Thanksgiving in the hospital. She hopes to head home tomorrow. Prayers are still very much needed and appreciated. If she gets the go ahead, Christie will have her second round of chemo this Thursday.

I finished Christie's wrap sometime the week before I left for our trip to Ohio, but since my internet was stolen by AT&T for a week I didn't get to blog about it. Here are a few pics of me modeling the wrap:

And a bonus photo of Zoe trying to get in on the FO photo shoot:


Wrap Details:
Pattern: Stolen Moments Wrap by Amy M. Swenson
Yarn: 5.25 skeins of SIRDAR big softie (Super Chunky)/ 50g/45m/49yds/51% Wool/ 49% Acrylic
Needles: Size 13 (Pattern recommended 11, Yarn recommended 15)
Finished Size: Approximately 14 inches by 60 inches (I chose not to block)

And if you have any interest in writing a few words of encouragement to Christie, here is a link to her CaringBridge journal. If you read it, you'll see what an amazing person she is.

Unintentional Blogger Break

Sorry for the long break. It was not planned. Last week we were scheduled to get our television service and internet service updated. I was perfectly happy with my old service, but after AT&T called me 6 times a day for 3 weeks and knocked on my door (during naptime) for 3 days in a row, I gave up and asked what they were trying to sell me. Ends up, I could upgrade both services for a little bit less money--so I said yes. When they came to install the new services, they discovered that due to the placement of the cables outside the house they could not do the install. Unfortunately, they had already disconnected my current internet service. So due to the incredibly sensible stream-lined paperwork of AT&T, I couldn't get it reconnected until a week later (when I was already in Ohio visiting relatives). Oh well. Hopefully, it will be reconnected and working smoothly when we return to Texas tonight. Wish me luck. Just thought I'd blog real quickly before we left Ohio just in case. I have TONS to update on so hopefully you'll be hearing from me lots this week. Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

Movie Monday: Already? Edition

Today was N's 6 month birthday. I feel bad. It kind of got lost in the shuffle of J's cold which lead into an ear infection which lead to a bad night's sleep for us all, and subsequent trips to the pediatrician, CVS and grouchland.

I can't believe my baby is 6 months old already. I know N will probably be my last baby. (I'd love another, but I think B, my body and fate have decided that two is enough.) So although I want him to grow and learn new things, I'm not ready for N to grow up too fast. So just to spite me, little N is doing everything early--or so it seems. He already has two teeth poking through (bottom ones) and two more just under the surface (top ones). He's already getting up on all fours and trying desperately to crawl.

My happy little peanut!

Can you tell that J had a hand in this ensemble?

Only 6 months old and he's already discovered a love of knitterly things!

And here's N talking to the sofa since it's in his way and he can't roll any further. My favorite part is when he decides to give up and eat his foot instead.



Oh, my N is 6 months old already. Happy Half Birthday, N!

Update on Christie, on my parents' visit, on knitting, on the boys...

Wow, life has been so busy in the last week that I feel I have so much to do and so much to update you on. So here goes.

First, thanks for all your prayers, kindness and words of encouragement you've sent in regards to my cousin Christie. She found out her cat scan results on Thursday and her cancer is Stage 3 and in her neck and stomach. We were hoping to hear Stage 1, but Stage 3 is better than 4 and we are still confident that Christie can beat this. She starts chemo (every other week for 6-8 months) on Thursday. Please continue to keep her and her husband and children in your prayers. Thanks!

I am almost done knitting Christie's Stolen Moments Wrap (more details to come when I complete it and photograph it). It has been a quick and enjoyable knit. I think I'll have some yarn left over and may make myself a scarf in it using the same stitch pattern as the wrap.

I also want to make Christie a hat, but haven't found a pattern/yarn combination yet that I love so that one is still on the brain and not yet on the needles.

My parents were here from Tuesday until Saturday. This was my dad's first trip to see our house and my mom hadn't been here since the week we moved in. It was really exciting for me to have them see and stay at my house. I had lots of fun getting the guest room ready for them--even if it is still a very garish bright blue (painting it is on B's to-d0 list...Someday).

The guest room

Little basket of goodies and toiletries for my parents to enjoy while staying at my house.

We didn't do anything major, but had lots of fun hanging out. I LOVE seeing my boys with their Mooma and Papa. It just makes me REALLY happy.

One day at naptime, my dad decided to go upstairs and read his book. J decided he wanted to read his books with Papa and Mooma. Of course, Zoe had to join them too.

At our neighborhood playground.

N, Mooma and Me

J loved playing trains with Papa.

J and I rode the carousel at the mall.

Papa and N (right before N met Santa Claus for the first time).

We did a little Christmas shopping while my parents were here and I am excited to say that come Christmas time I will be looking much nicer in a few new sweaters and a great pair of jeans. I also got to take my mom to the knit shop (The Woolie Ewe) in Plano (20 minutes away, but the closest one to my house). I love the fact that my mom is a knitter. It's so much fun to share patterns and show off our latest knit projects to each other.

I have so many things I want to knit right now. After I finish Christie's wrap, I'm going to finish L's Hello Kitty bag and J's Fuzzy Mitten Farm Animals. Then I'm going to knit J a Christmas vest (I'm going to adapt this free pattern from Lion Brand; on Ravelry here). I also want to knit a few Christmas presents (more details to come after they have been gifted). I also want to knit a hat and cardigan for my nephew O, a hat for Christie, another sweater (maybe a Wallaby) for J, a fun sweater (gray, cabled cardigan?) for myself. Not enough time in the day for it all because I really should clean my house occasionally, cook dinner, take care of my children and, oh yeah, sleep.

Talking of the boys, N turns 6 months tomorrow. 6 Months! I can't believe it! He is growing up SO quickly. He now has two bottom teeth poking through and he's not very happy about it. He plays with them with his tongue and sucks on his lower lip a lot these days. N is also getting up into the crawl position and rocking back and forth. He gets really frustrated because he can't figure out how to go forward yet. J never did this as he chose to commando crawl (and that wasn't until he was 10 or 11 months). I am so not ready for N to be crawling. Oh well. Must figure out a safe place for the Christmas tree.

I couldn't believe it when I saw N up in the crawl position.

Now what do I do?

J is totally bored now that my parents have left. He also has a cold so he's not the happiest of campers. He definitely getting ready for Christmas. When he asks for toys and things these days, I tell him that we'll tell Santa and maybe he'll get them for Christmas. He is getting quite a list for Santa. I hope he's not too disappointed when he doesn't get it all. Hmm... We will see. I still have very few ideas for N since we have so many toys already left over from J. I'm sure we will find something.

Anyway, hope everyone is doing well. I don't know how much I will blog this week as I have lots of appointments (N's therapy, N's 6 month doctor's appointment, cable/internet upgrade installation, Thanksgiving Feast at J's school, photo session for the boys at Portrait Innovations) and we'll be getting ready to head to Ohio for Thanksgiving next week. Have a great week!

A little lovey

This is little Alex with his lovey I made him. His parents were sweet enough to send me a picture of him with his lovey. Isn't he a sweetheart? I just had to share.